The non-muscle American car thread (READ THE OP)

[Razor440]

Just a friendly tip, use the edit button to help avoid double-posting (or try +Quote to reply to multiple posts)


How about something a little different:

Spoiler: Trucks!

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Ok, thanks!

And trucks indeed. If you can't make a muscle car, why not make a muscle truck, if the regulations for trucks aren't that heavy? This is the reason why the Lil' Red Express truck from Dodge exists. What's nice is that those pipes are functional. That's something I wouldn't really expect to be legal on a pickup.

Wait, am I still posting Dodges? Fidget.
Here is a 1978 and a 1979.
I like how they both were photographed the same exact way. Almost seems intentional.

It's a Vega Cosworth! And there were more colors other than this "John Player Special" version.

The advertismemt explains it all. The name itself is this car in a nutshell. "Look, a real Monza race car- oh wait it's the Monza Mirage."
Incredibly rare.

Ford LTD II. Why do I like this? It's strange.

Yes, it is.

I don't see how a FOX body Mustang or a 4-cylinder SVO would be a muscle car, they almost seem like a RWD hot hatch with a V8. It's basically the Gremlin's successor!

 

[Heldenzeit]

The Monza's that raced in IMSA are so cool.

 

[Tornado]

The Howler was pretty "rah rah rah" cool, but I don't think there was any point in them actually making it. The PowerTech was a heavy engine and the Prowler was a pretty light car. It was never a master of balanced chassis design, but it certainly helped that everything up front was fairly lightweight, especially after they converted the V6 to aluminum block.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Dodge Dakota R/T

 

[Razor440]

Dodge Dakota R/T

I think these are becoming a rarity where I live. It saddens me because it sucks to see these with their fenders covered in salt and rust...

 

[The87Dodge]

Oh lord, I'd take a Cosworth Vega or a Monza Mirage in a heartbeat. They look like such awesome cars.

My grandpa owned a Dakota R/T from 2004 to 2008 or 9 and he enjoyed it. Now he has a 2012 Ram 2500.

 

[The87Dodge]

The Howler was pretty "rah rah rah" cool, but I don't think there was any point in them actually making it. The PowerTech was a heavy engine and the Prowler was a pretty light car. It was never a master of balanced chassis design, but it certainly helped that everything up front was fairly lightweight, especially after they converted the V6 to aluminum block.

The Howler was probably just made for show, I doubt the company thought that it would help boost sales, since the Prowler seemed to do the opposite of that.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Chevrolet Ferretta Prototype

 

[The87Dodge]

Chevrolet Ferretta Prototype

I wish that was produced. I have searched for quite some time, but never have I found any high performance Aries prototypes.

 

[Razor440]

Chevrolet Ferretta Prototype

Beretta Z/28!

The Howler was probably just made for show, I doubt the company thought that it would help boost sales, since the Prowler seemed to do the opposite of that.

It did however show that a car could go from concept to production...

 

[Heldenzeit]

The absolute madman.

 

[GTPorsche]

I have searched for quite some time, but never have I found any high performance Aries prototypes.

Impossible to find that which never existed.

 

[The87Dodge]

Impossible to find that which never existed.

That's too bad. Imagine an Aries V8, convertible,or even an off roader.

 

[GTPorsche]

That's too bad. Imagine an Aries V8, convertible,or even an off roader.

I can just imagine how brutally awful it would have been.

 

[LivingWithGames]

I'm lazy to check the previous pages, the early ones if this was in so, let me do the honors.

I seen the Panoz Roaster, Esperante GTR-1...Cobra. And speaking of Cobra, HAVE A DAYTONA.

 

[Panoz]

Merkur: When Ford decided to bring some of their European offerings across the lake.

The Scorpio.

The XR4TI.

The tubeframe form of the XR4Ti playing the Trans-Am and IMSA

 

[Razor440]

Merkur: When Ford decided to bring some of their European offerings across the lake.

The Scorpio.

The XR4TI.

The tubeframe form of the XR4Ti playing the Trans-Am and IMSA

What's interesting is that I've only seen two Merkur Scorpios before, and I'll bet it was incidentally the same car twice.

 

[The87Dodge]

I can just imagine how brutally awful it would have been.

It doesn't have to be, though. A masterfully engineered, high quality, reliable V8 that produces decent horsepower wouldn't be awful, but the 105 horsepower Oldsmobile diesel V8 certainly would be.

 

[Tornado]

A masterfully engineered, high quality, reliable V8 installed in a willowy FWD chassis not designed for anything like it would be pretty damn awful regardless of how nice the engine is. The Feretta up there, had it been produced, would have been exhibit A.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

The Dodge M4S Turbo Interceptor, I only know about this because of that blasted "Wraith" movie.

 

[LM7325]

Oldsmobile Aerotech. https://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/Oldsmobile_Aerotech

 

[LivingWithGames]

The '94 Taurus. Might be a plain american car, nothing else but, it still has that charm I guess.

 

[LM7325]

The non SHO 1994 Taurus is a little less charming.

 

[-Fred-]

Fun fact, my grandfather had a Mercury Sable of the same vintage when I was a teenager. In that exact color:

Easily the most boring, soporific car I ever rode in. Felt like a La-Z-Boy.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

When I was a little boy, my mother had a Taurus wagon for a while. It was kinda like this one, but it had combination locks on the front doors.

 

[LM7325]

Car and Driver magazine "made" and tested an SHO wagon back in '93.

 

[Janteag]

My father had a '91 Taurus that was handed down to him from my uncle. We had it since 2008 until about 2011 when the brakes went, he didn't bother replacing them because the car was on it's last legs anyways. I have no idea what the car is doing today, but I would assume it's either been stripped for parts, or it's just sitting in a lot, collecting rust. I do still have the license plates from when it was registered in Wisconsin.

 

[LM7325]

Say what you will about the first 2 generations of Taurus, but they sold well and the 3.0L Vulcan cars were quite reliable. But dull as dishwater too, barring the SHO which has a cool engine that looks out of place under the hood. For 1989 that was a cool looking intake manifold, but the car surrounding it...

 

[VXR]

That's still one of the best looking engines outside of exotics.

 

[The87Dodge]

A masterfully engineered, high quality, reliable V8 installed in a willowy FWD chassis not designed for anything like it would be pretty damn awful regardless of how nice the engine is. The Feretta up there, had it been produced, would have been exhibit A.

Nope, the FWD chassis was far from willowy. It was reliable, technological, and not crappy like some of the other early '80's FWD cars. So a reliable engine would work well with a reliable chassis.