I've passed the age and testosterone level where I need to have a fast car. My 06 HHR with it's 2.4L engine can easily get up to 100 mph, but I'm not sure there is anyplace where I can safely drive at that speed. I have found I don't have to burn rubber moving from each traffic light I stop at to get an adrenaline rush. I'd rather get the ~30 mpg with the HHR than have a daily driver that gets 15-20 mpg.

I'm more into cruising and I have one car in my garage, covered and on wheel dollies, that has a GM performance ZZ4 350 CID (355hp). This car is scarey fast, loud and gets, on a good day, 18 mpg of 93 octane. I had thought that it would be a fun car, plus I got it for a reasonable price as someone else paid the big bucks to have it built.

 

I agree. My comment was not directed at what I want. I could care less.If I wanted a fast car I would buy a Vette. I had my day in real muscle cars. It's just that I feel the car companies are dumping so so cars and calling them performance level cars and will most likely charge a huge premium fpr the privilege. As I have said before my wife's Spyder seems like a fast car after a week in the HHR.

The guy that put an SS emblem on his HHR 2.2 has a better idea. LOL

 

If you want a muscle car go buy a 08 Corvette which is fine for the 21st century. These muscle cars from the 1960's (of which I owned several) were gas hogs,frequent plug and point replacement,electrical problems,rust,rust and more rust and not always the best ride in winter weather...

 

Don't forget guys the muscle cars era those cars got big engine with big displacements and a lot of torque too. A 70 SS chevelle with a 454 got 450 hp but pretty close to 500 lbs of torque due of it's big cubic inches. Put that kind of engine today with a good electronic injection device and you'll get an awsome bunch of HP. The new HHR SS will get 260 hp pretty nice for small cubic inches but what it'll get for torque about 260 lbs of torque it's half way from a V-8. Just my

 

i know that's the going to be the biggest thing I'll miss from my DD being a Z28... torque. Even my gf's jeep has a V8 and has good torque. But something has to be sacrificed for the sake of fuel economy and torque is usually the first thing to go.

 

May be in 10-15 years will see some Hybrid or hydrogen "SS"

 

One factor that you are all missing!!!

Gas was $.25 a gallon!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Back in the 40's gas was that price.

In 1970's Gas Averaged Approx $1.75 a gallon. Minimum wage was approx the same.
Fuel cost is not a factor, Those of us earning 1.75 an hour out of HS at Mc Donalds were driving those 10 MPG cars. A lot.

Today Min wage is $5.85 and gas less than $3.00. A far better ratio.

 

My records show that gas was $0.899 a gallon in 1988. I remember the "gas shortage" of the early 70s and gas was about $0.409 a gallon. Regular gas was running around $1.17/gallon in the summer of 1999. Gas was around $1.50 in 2003, at least in Florida.

Where were you living in the 70s where gas was $1.75/gal?

 

I will beg to differ on the price of gas here. I have a senior memories book from my senior year in high school and I put down the prices of everything that year...and the price of a gallon of gas was one of them. I graduated in 1972 and the price written down in my book for regular gas is $.249