Ford, Mopar, and GM – these Big Detroit Three automakers were once the epitome of muscle car madness. Now, all that is left is the craziness rather than the muscle car part. Still, we hope for the best, right?
Let's face it – if we say S550 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, and sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro – we also need to add the word 'defunct' next to each of them. This is quite unfortunate, as they can still provide us with plenty of adrenaline while they get involved in safe quarter-mile dragstrip action.
But the corner office head honcho 'gods' have ordained the S550 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 to go on hiatus early so that customers focus a little more on the S650 seventh generation 2024 Ford Mustang EcoBoost, GT, and Dark Horse. Luckily, the Blue Oval company is clenching its teeth and holding on to its V8s like a starving dog does with a new-found bone.
As such, its upcoming 60th anniversary might bring not just the customary special edition but also some much-needed news about possible upcoming Shelby variants of the S650 – those would fit snugly between the 500-hp Dark Horse and the 800-hp Mustang GTD, for sure. Over at GM, the situation is exactly the opposite – no one is expecting anything from a Camaro anytime soon after it was killed off last December.
Meanwhile, at Dodge, the situation is a bit nuanced. The L-bodied Challenger and Charger are also defunct. Still, they have a unified heir – the eighth generation Charger will soon arrive on the fresh STLA Large architecture with both the two-door fastback coupe body style first. The four-door saloon format second rocking EV options via the Charger Daytona moniker or 3.0-liter Hurricane twin-turbo inline-six powertrains as a Charger Sixpack, the latter with up to 500 hp on tap.
It's not that much, really, when the Hellcats had more than 700 horsepower in their 'base' configuration, of course. As such, perhaps it's best to retreat in the safe and comforting realm of quarter-mile dragstrip racing because over there, all these defunct muscle cars still have a word to say through screeching tires. More precisely, the videographer behind the Drag Racing and Car Stuff channel on YouTube is back at Palm Beach International Raceway for quick FoMoCo vs Mopar vs GM action.
So, after showing us from PBIR the quirky encounter between a rare Saab 9-7X crossover and a burgundy-shaded Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat where the big CUV was secretly a 'sleeper' and the Mopar got stunned into submission, now it's time to see the (possibly) the same widebody muscle car get down for a brawl with someone of its own kind – a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 muscle car.
Unfortunately for team Mopar, this wasn't their winning Hellcat – while the Challenger took off a little better than the GT500, the Shelby driver spectacularly recouped the lost ground before the end of the pass and claimed victory with 10.58s versus 11.2s ETs. As such, the videographer then focused on the Ford representative and filmed it during a skirmish with a Chevy Camaro next. Identified as an SS, the GM representative got the hit from the FoMoCo rival, but the story repeated itself, and the Shelby roared past it with a 10.44s versus 11.82s pass. Pretty darn cool, 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
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