10 Problems With Owning A Muscle Car Every Gearhead Should Know
The American automobile landscape drastically changed since the '60s. Several remarkable cars disappeared. Nameplates that were once made for the drag strip became family-oriented vehicles. For a while, it was even rumored that the American muscle car was dead and buried. The fact that vehicles from Japan and Europe became America's favorite did not help one bit.
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Even if cars such as the Honda Accord and the BMW 3-Series are more present than homegrown vehicles, muscle cars are some of the greatest sports cars ever made. Some of the best muscle cars of all time are still perceived as the holy grail by domestic piston heads. With that said, muscle cars are not necessarily the most practical and economical vehicles. Owning a muscle car can be a real headache for several reasons.
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10 First-Time Drivers Beware
Via covertford.com
There comes a point in life when children become old enough to get behind the steering wheel. Fathers out there know that it can be one of the most stressful and worrisome milestones. The lack of skills and awareness of a new driver can lead to disastrous situations. The prime example is the teen that was killed after the car slammed into a parked UPS truck in Queens, New York.
The best budget cars for first-time buyers are usually Camrys and Civics. Not muscle cars. In the era of social media and the never-ending quest for clout, parents can be tempted to give in and buy Junior a Challenger R/T Scat Pack. Giving 485 hp to a 16-year-old driver is simply idiotic. Potent muscle cars should only be driven by experienced drivers.
9 Poor Handling
Via marketwatch.com
The drag strip is where muscle heads duke it out. Massive burnouts, wheelies, and loud pipes are the name of the game. Getting into the 9s and 8s on the quarter mile is every gearhead's dream. With all that said, there is a reason the strip is a straight line. Muscle cars, unlike Japanese and European cars, are not made to be driven aggressively on a curvy road.
Whether it is a classic or a modern muscle car, handling is usually abysmal compared to sports cars. If there is something American carmakers have had issues with, it is the handling capacities of their muscle cars. These outstanding muscle cars seem to have been made to be wrapped around a lightpole.
8 They Can Be Obnoxious
Via mecum.com
Muscle cars are at the top of the food chain in the domestic automobile industry. There is nothing more attractive than a car fitted with a supercharged V8 that pumps out over 600 hp. The supercharger whine is a mesmerizing sound that would encourage most drivers to apply more pressure to the accelerator. With that said, a supercharger is expensive. If there is one thing muscle car lovers tend to replace right away is the exhaust system.
Brands such as Borla, Flowmasters, and MagnaFlow are well-known among muscle car fans. They produce some of the best aftermarket exhaust systems for American vehicles. While they may provide more power and give a more serious sound to a given muscle car, they do not please people looking for peace and quietness. As a result, muscle cars and their owners can be frowned upon in some communities.
7 Insurance Will Skyrocket
Ford
Life became increasingly expensive since the 2008 recession. Wages have remained stagnant while rent, utilities, and pretty much everything else went through the roof. It has become harder for people nationwide to make ends meet. The situation became so dire that people took on a third or fourth job to either put food on the table or afford a lifestyle that is now inaccessible to most people.
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Cars such as the Corvette ZR1 are among the greatest GM muscle cars ever. Every car enthusiast would love to pull up to a car meet with a clean, top-line Corvette. The tear-inducing car payments are one thing. Insurance is another. Even with a squeaky clean driving record, insurance companies will charge an arm and a leg to insure a muscle car. When looking at the countless videos of muscle cars being abused and trashed on YouTube, it is quite understandable why.
6 Not Great Daily Drivers
Via mecum.com
Most people have a 9 to 5 job. In states like California where having a car is a must, spending 40 minutes to an hour in traffic is not uncommon. The usual stop-and-go can have a detrimental effect on someone's psyche, but also on a car. Commuter cars like the Camry are made to go to and from work. Sportier cars may become a real nightmare on a daily basis.
Muscle cars like the '70s Dodge Charger R/T come with the greatest classic American car engines ever. These engines are finicky and far from economical. While a classic and top-line muscle car will turn heads during regular morning traffic, it may end up costing its owners a lot of money in maintenance and repair. Looking cool is great, being broke is not.
5 They Have A Drinking Problem
Via mecum.com
The best-selling cars in America are not what most people outside of America would assume. With life being more expensive, Americans tend to go for more economical options. While it is true that nobody would ever break their necks over a Prius, most people do not necessarily feel like spending what is left of their paychecks on gas.
With the gallon of gas hovering at around $5, it is becoming extremely difficult to fill up the tank of most muscle cars. To put it simply, a Dodge Challenger Hellcat gets 13 mpg in the city and 22 mpg on the highway. The last Camaro Z28 comes with a humongous 7.0-liter LS7 V8 that chugs gas like nothing else. In comparison, a six-cylinder-powered Toyota Camry of the same year gets 21 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway.
4 Not The Best Bang For Your Buck
Via mecum.com
The global car industry went through a major transformation over the last two decades. In the mid-2000s, BMW released a V10-powered M5. Audi offered the V8-powered R8. Domestically, things were equally insane. Dodge had a V10-powered truck that was just as fast as some of the most revered sports cars available at the time. Today, 500 hp seems to be the minimum for a homegrown muscle car.
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The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody is the world's fastest sedan. On top of that, the mean sedan has an MSRP of roughly $85,000. While it is fair to concede that it is impossible to score 797 hp for less than $100,000, the Hellcat Redeye Widebody is not a high-end BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Lamborghini. Most muscle cars, no matter what they are, do not have the notoriety needed to be widely accepted at the next Cars & Coffee.
3 They May Drive You Crazy
Via mecum.com
The very first muscle car was the 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. Since then, domestic car fans have had the chance to see a myriad of muscle cars roam the streets. Today, several classic muscle cars are worth as much as the high-end muscle cars currently available on the market. A handful of them are worth millions of dollars, which is the price of a beautiful home by the beach in California.
Speaking of California, some of the worst drivers in the union are from there. While it must be pure bliss to cruise down the Pacific Coast Highway in a '67 Shelby GT500 Super Snake, an under-insured knucklehead in a rust bucket can easily smash into this valuable and rare collectible. As if this was not already a major problem, finding original parts to fix or restore such a vehicle can be a daunting task.
2 Tree-Huggers Will Hate You
Via Xtreme Xperience's YouTube channel
The automobile landscape changed in recent decades. Following the EPA regulations that rocked the industry in the mid-70s and wars centered around the control of oil supplies, people logically started to get on the green bandwagon. Hybrid cars took off in the mid-2000s with the Prius. Around the same time, Tesla started offering electric cars that were both fast and appealing to the eye. Personalities such as Greta Thunberg went on a crusade against sports cars powered by polluting engines.
States like California have had stringent policies in place for decades. As a result, several muscle cars with interesting engines were not available in the Golden State. As if this was not enough, the gas-guzzler tax undermines the proliferation of muscle cars nationwide. To top it all off, muscle car owners are likely to stumble across a Karen that simply hates muscle cars.
1 Cops Will Chase You
Via brodenmickelsen.com
Street racing is as old as time. Back in the '60s and '70s, street racing was already featured in blockbusters. It was just as much a part of the folklore then as it is today. While these movies are fiction, it is not a secret that fiction is based on real life. What happens more often than not is law enforcement doing whatever possible to shut down illegal activities.
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It is fair to assume that a muscle car with tinted windows is more likely to get pulled over by highway patrol than a Lexus GS350 with tinted windows. When there is a high concentration of muscle cars in one area, people present at the scene should even expect to see the infamous ghetto bird. Even if a given muscle car owner is not looking to engage in illegal activities, they will want to test the car and will become prime material for a ticket or even a license suspension.
Source: HotCars
