These days, the landscape of the American pony and muscle car sector is looking a bit deserted. Luckily, you can still find a couple of models for some good old-fashioned quarter-mile dragstrip brawls.
Last year's December wasn't the fun month of Christmas and present preparations for Mopar and GM fans. Instead, they shed a tear and poured one from the departing sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro and also the L-bodied Dodge Charger and Challenger.
Unfortunately, the Chevy Camaro doesn't have a planned successor at the moment, and it may be a long time before we see one, even as the company promised this was not the end of the road for the iconic nameplate. Meanwhile, Dodge isn't saying anything if the Challenger is dead for good, and all we know is that an all-new Charger is coming to the party with the S650 seventh-generation Ford Mustang in EV and Hurricane-powered form as it returns to the traditional two-door fastback coupe body style.
On the other hand, Blue Oval fans rejoiced because their favorite pony car recaptured the lead across the sports car segment in America in 2023 and is now enjoying the entire market all for itself and its EcoBoost plus Coyote V8-powered GT and Dark Horse derivatives. It's a long time, after all, until the end of the year when the new Charger comes out for a renewed fight.
Chevrolet's only option is now the C8 Corvette – in Stingray, Z06, and the new E-Ray guises. However, that doesn't mean the older C7 or the S550 Mustang can't have some fun together. For example, the videographer behind the Wheels channel on YouTube is a big fan of Bandimere Speedway and Mission Raceway Park but also loves The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Over there, he captured the intense brawl featuring a yellow C7 Chevy Corvette Z06, a dark and menacing black Ford Mustang GT, and a second bonus skirmish against a nimble Toyota 86. Well, Blue Oval fans had better look away from this one because the Z06 driver meant business, and the Mustang GT was left chasing it as fast as possible. However, obliteration followed, hence the 11.71s versus 14.34s result.
Last but not least, the Corvette went on to teach an even harder lesson to the unsuspecting Toyota 86 that followed – its driver was left spectating at the start line while the mighty V8-powered sports car roared toward the finish. The result was more than shameful, by the way: 11.38s versus 19.34s! Well, some people just don't know when to retire before getting smacked, so this shouldn't come as a surprise when a Toyota 86 dares to confront a Corvette packing 650 horsepower under the hood, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News