JosephIV

iTrader: (14)

I voted Old School. When I had my first generation Monte Carlo the car was a fairly bland color combo of Autumn Gold, black vinyl top, black guts. Just Silver Corvette Ralleys with a built 355 and H-piped Flowmaster 40's. Everyone commented positively on that car. Nothing but head nods or a thumbs up. Even ricers respected it and felt that it was a muscle car despite starting life as a plain jane 350 2 barrel.

My '01 Z28 gets viewed as a white trash or mullet mobile by many. No thumbs up unless I giver her a rev or wind it out through the gears. The Monte got positive feedback while cruising slowly. The Z28 only gets that if someone loves the sound of the exhaust and cam or if they are 17 and dream of "affording" a heads/cam/nitrous car like I would have at that age. A modern muscle car will turn my head because I'm a car guy and will wonder if it's modded. A 1970 GTO or '69 Mach 1 will turn the head of most people, even non-car guys/gals because they are now unique and have a timeless appeal.

You can build a classic muscle and not lose your butt on it if you sell it. Hard to say that about the modern cars which continue to depreciate.

NoHope

Do you think in 30 years your Z28 will have that unique and timeless appeal? Or will it be looked on as a lemon of GM's lesser days, when their build quality was low and their visual appeal was even worse.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Hard to call it a "lemon of lesser days" when it was the only new car available in the US market, from any OEM, that was base-priced for very low $20k's that ran mid-low 13s or better stock. This was impressive for the late '90s and, as covered before, it's not really that much slower than the modern version. So which days really were/are lesser? Perhaps that is all in the eye of the beholder.

"Build quality" is a broad term that applies to everything from fit & finish to mechanical reliability. On the drivetrain reliability front, I certainly wouldn't call them low. Many of us have original drivetrains with well into the 6-figure mileage range without major failures. I would consider them to be very solid cars mechanically, in stock configuration and even with basic modifications.

As for fit & finish, they are better than what came before and on-par with other comparable cars of their era. Stuff like this is often a moving target, and used cars of any era might seem lower quality as compared to future generations. Not sure this will matter any more or less for this generation of cars as compared to any other.

toxic99

I went with Old school, but to be honest I prefer both in a sense. For instance, there is no denying the ridiculous power you can make with a LS based motor these days and for pretty cheap to boot. Im an in betweener so to speak in generations as I grew up in the car stereo wars era aka, late 80s early 90s. My first car was a 77 nova with a straight 6. In my days, you were fast if you could hang with a 5.0. Which usually was only a low 14 second car. If you wanted to see a 60s muscle car you had to go to a show or to the track. Every once in awhile you might see a 70s nova toolin around the blvd beating up on everything.

My 68 camaro was the fastest and funnist car I've ever had and built. Was also the most dangerous one too. With 4 wheel manual drums, it was down right scary to stop after a race on the street. I had bigger ***** back then because my current 67 has power discs lol. It def got more looks, thumbs up, and spinnin em signals then any others of had. Ive pretty much cleared my garage out of all SBC and BBC parts I had in favor of LS parts. You can put them in damn near anything and stock LS and LQ motors with just a cam and carb conversion will out power built SBCs and for cheaper.

But I agree with many that the 4 th gen seems to be the bubble of modern muscle car years. And like others I'll always try to keep one around to drive and have fun in to enjoy the muscle car feel with modern tech and comforts.

cowpunk

Not me. Never owned a Nissan.

Oh, and FWIW, I voted for modern muscle. Old cars are a PIA.


Cowpunk

LS1again

iTrader: (4)

I think RPMWS6 is my long lost older brother, I swear the dude takes everything I'm thinking and says it himself lol.

I'm 30, was raised by a dad and grandpa who are both gear heads both of whom don't really dig the new stuff. I personally voted for old school muscle despite being a few generations removed so I guess I'm following in their footsteps. To me, old cars just have "it", some unexplainable aura and character that nothing nowadays can duplicate. They're just pure, like the OEM's weren't trying to hard to make a car something it's not like they do today.

Personally I've never had anything old school. I started with an 88 Monte Carlo LS 305 as my first car, which was a rolling pile of ****. Moved up to a 91 Camaro RS 305 which was my baby until I got in a few accidents and just started to go downhill. Had a few DD's after that until I stepped up to an 08 G8GT a few years ago. That was my first really nice car with any sort of power behind it on top of it's semi-luxury amenities. As much as I loved the car for what it was, it still wasn't "me", and lacked a certain rawness that I was looking for. I still miss it to this day and would pick up another one for practicality purposes like having another kid. But I sold that a few years ago, drove a Mazda6 for a DD for a year, and the picked up my Camaro. As has been stated numerous times, the 4th gen is the last true muscle-ish car that can deliver that brash and unapologetic driving experience gearheads like us look for. It's loud, creaky, noisy, rough, and just about everything a 69 Camaro is, except easy to work on lol.

My ultimate dream cars are a 69 Camaro Z28 or SS, and a 70 Chevelle SS. I don't care about the outright speed, exclusivity, and attention something like a Gallardo or Aventador provide, they're just not the same as the former two cars. If I wont the lottery then yeah, I'd def pick up something Italian and exotic, but I'd also have a pristine 69 Camaro and 70 Chevelle parked right next to them in the garage.

MrBluGruv

You could always have the best of both worlds and pick up a Countache; have an exotic Italian sports car AND have a raw and finicky driving experience. lol.

Seriously though, as you've stated and as has been stated many times on this thread, something changed, I'd say around the mid 2000's when it came to muscle.

Before I owned the 4th gen Camaro I have now, I owned an '03 Marauder, and for being a DOHC-powered luxo-barge, even it had that somewhat raw and direct feeling to it. When things started going to electronic throttle and had more gadgets than performance, the "muscle car" as a concept lost something.

I don't know if I could say the same about sports cars in general though, as those have almost always tried to toss out newer technology, it's just that it's only recently that that technology tends to dull the feel of the car rather than extend or exacerbate the feel.

Strangely enough though, as much as I consider the 4th gen pretty much one of, if not THE last true muscle car, I also think it's probably one of the most sports-car-like f-bodies ever made.

Anyways, I'm getting off on a tangent there...

SSellers

New muscle car stuff in an old muscle car FTW. If I had known what I was going to wind up spending when I started the powertrain on this one I'd have done an LSx for it.....but coming from SBC's I was skeered. Of course I know if I ever need the money I can either sell an old one or go wrap it around a light pole for the in-shore-ance because I couldn't get enough out of the '02 to even buy another engine. It does at least have OD, four wheel power discs, and roller cam with EFI although pretty primative. I think if you're going to get into either one you should at least drive it and know how to perform at a minimum basic tasks on it. And I think if one of your main concerns or drivers when buying one is what it's going to be worth then you should go find another hobby because you're effing it up for the rest of us.

TransAmWS.6

Guess I'm kind of in the minority here judging by the responses in this thread, I much prefer modern muscle. Can't really get into anything before 1983 or so. Don't get me wrong, I still really do respect and appreciate the older stuff, but it's just not for me. I would rather have a pristine '02 SS or Z28 over a pristine '69 Z28. When it comes to the amount of car you're getting for your money, you can't beat the newer stuff. I know older cars have "soul" and all that, but that's just not my kind of thing. I probably feel this way because these newer cars are what I grew up admiring and in and out of because of my Dad.

Just my preference, but then again I'm 19

MRMonster

iTrader: (3)

Old for the looks, new models today are based on the originals. But New muscle for the performance. The old school stuff can't touch what is being made today. Unless you get a old muscle car that has all the parts that today cars have then a win win in my book.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

Voted "Old Muscle", but I prefer it with modern guts!