‘Merica, land of the muscle

There can’t be a true petrolhead out there that doesn’t have a soft spot for an American muscle car.

Will it be the most refined of choices? No. Will it be ozone friendly? Hell no! If you want to save the planet, buy a Toyota Prius and have 2.3 children.

American muscle cars are about massive amounts of power wrapped in sexy looking metal; leaving big noisy black stripes on the road; misbehaving; living life large in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

While the rest of the world is throwing out their cowboy boots, spurs and Stetsons, and replacing them with politically correct business suits, in the good ole US of A, you can still drive into a dealership and drive out with a brand-new big capacity, over the top powerful, gas guzzling, muscle car.

This probably won’t come as a surprise to many, but Ford topped the sales charts with their Mustang range, and 72 489 units found a home in the United States in 2019. Now before you say that I have this all wrong and that you can get a Mustang in South Africa, the model I am honing in on is the new Shelby GT500 that is only available in left hand drive and not offered locally by Ford Motor Company Southern Africa.

Even though there isn’t a series on television these days that does not feature a Dodge of some sort. The bad guys drive them, the cops drive them, even the wannabe cool dads drive them. But this effort was only good enough to see the Challenger end in second place with 60 997 units sold.

Third place is taken up by Chevrolet’s sharp looking Camaro that only managed just 48 265 units in 2019, the worst number achieved by the brand since the car returned to the modern era back in 2010.

Please note I have used an extremely simplistic currency converting system to try and provide a basic perspective as to what you would be getting if you were paying in Rands today.

I have also used available models from the showroom floor, starting at their listed base price. For further perspective, BMW’s M4 in South Africa starts at R1 315 700 and in the US, it retails for R1 300 884 ($69 150) and a Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe is listed at R1 797 960 here and R1 457 968 ($77 500) over there.

If you want to shed a tear and not just because you can’t buy these American muscle cars off a showroom floor in South Africa, but thanks to our currency that is tanking, just a few months ago these same cars would have cost you less than R1-million.

Now let’s take a brief drive through a dealership and have a look at what you will be getting for your hard-earned dollar, or in this case, what you won’t be getting for your equally hard-earned rand.

SHELBY GT 500
You can pick up an entry-level Mustang from as little as R501 729, but the ultimate Mustang on the floor now is the Shelby GT500 and this will set you back at least R1 371 431 ($72 900).

For this you get a 567kW/847Nm, 5.2-litre V8 supercharged lump matched to a seven-speed dual clutch transmission, and this power runs through the rear wheels on big 315/30R 20-inch tyres (fronts are 305/30R 20s).

The power output is the least of the trio and the GT500 weighs in at 1 892 kg and sucks fuel at the rate of 16.7-litres per 100 km on average. I told you, these cars are not about always doing the right thing, they are about living life.

The GT500 is said to hit 100 km/h in 3.5 sec, 200 km/h in 9.9 and 300 km/h in 29.5 sec, while a 335 km/h top speed is on the cards. This is more than enough horsepower and performance to keep any cowboy happy in my book. This all comes with a three-year/60 000km base warranty and a five-year/100 000km powertrain warranty.

DODGE CHALLENGER SRT HELLCAT REDEYE WIDEBODY

Moving down the road to the Dodge dealer, you can pick-up entry-level Challengers from R528 537 ($28 095) and the SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody comes in at R1 472 924 ($78,295) the most expensive choice of the trio.

However, the SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody is the most powerful too and here you get a tyre smoking 594kW/959Nm of power and torque trying to get down onto the tar via an eight-speed automatic transmission and 305/35R 20-inch high performance tyres. This fury is courtesy of a 6.2-litre V8 supercharged Hemi.

Believe it or not, the SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody offers a claimed combined fuel consumption figure of 15.3-litres per 100 km. Putting it in the middle of the three of these brutes.

Weighing in at 2 03 8kg, this heavy machine still hustles to 100 km/h in 3.6 sec, 200 km/h in 10.7 and the magical 300 km/h mark in 39.7 sec, with an equally heady 325 km/h top speed on offer. A base warranty of three years/60 000km and a powertrain warranty of five years/100 000km is offered as standard.

CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1
Chevrolet’s Camaro range is the best priced at a starting price of just R470 312 ($25 000) with their ultimate offering for 2020, the Camaro ZL1 coming in at R1 215 099 ($64 590).

The Chevrolet also makes use of a 6.2-litre V8 supercharged engine, and in its Detroit fettled guise, it makes 484kW/881Nm. It is the lightest of the lot at 1 761kg, and this difference in weight translates into a best in class fuel consumption figure of 14.9-litres per 100 km. Yes, I just said that 14.9-litres is class leading!

Running on 305/30R 20-inch tyres at the rear and 285/30R 20-inch on the front, some of this weight and power advantage over the time sheet topping Shelby GT500 is lost through the ten-speed automatic gearbox.

This said, the 100 km/h sprint is still fast at 3.5 sec, the 200 km/h mark at 10.8 and 300 km/h reached in 39.8 sec. Top speed remains in the looney ballpark of 321 km/h. The Camaro ZL1 is probably the performance bargain in the trio. Just like the others, you get a thee-year/60 000km base warranty and a five-year/100 000km powertrain warranty.

VERDICT
I think at the end of the day, owning one of these cars will come down to brand loyalty as they are all similar in terms of performance spec and price. But for me, on paper at least, where the numbers are the best of the three, and based on the iconic brand reputation, I would take the Shelby GT500.

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