Carmakers flex retro muscle By Sharon Silke Carty and James R. Healey, USA TODAY 1/12/06 DETROIT - Automakers are unabashedly stealing from their own histories, digging out retro cars and sprucing them up with tons of horsepower. Ford Motor shows off the 2007 Shelby GT500. By Bryan Mitchell, Getty Images At the North American International Auto Show here, which opens to the public Saturday and runs through Jan. 22, General Motors, Chrysler Group and Ford Motor are rolling out updated versions of muscle cars. (Photo galleries: Classic muscle cars | Detroit auto show) Dodge Challenger: The Challenger concept car is so similar to the 1970s versions, you may think you're looking at a restored car. The Challenger concept is a smoother, sleeker incarnation of its predecessor. Chrysler officials say the two-door coupe is not a reaction to the Ford Mustang, which saw sales jump 24% last year after the company rolled out a retro-themed redesign. Joe Eberhardt, Chrysler's executive vice president of global sales and marketing, says the Challenger was in the works long before the new Mustang hit the market. The company is still not sure if it's going to make the 425-horsepower Hemi-powered car, which Chrysler says can go from zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds. "With emotional products like that, you just want to go out and say, 'We'll build it tomorrow,' " Eberhardt says. "But we need to make sure we'll have sustainable volume." The company is going to be gauging consumer reaction to the car at auto shows around the country. Chevrolet Camaro: It's only a concept car, but GM introduced the new Camaro as if it hopes the car would single-handedly save it from financial crisis. By Bryan Mitchell, Getty Images General Motors Chevrolet Camaro concept has angular lines reminiscent of the Cadillac XLR. Led down the aisle by a marching band and four historic Camaros, the new incarnation looks anything but retro. The angular lines make the 400-horsepower car reminiscent of the Cadillac XLR. It could take years to get the Camaro into production if GM decides to build it. GM suggests it would use a version of the chassis from its Australian brand, Holden. But that chassis is being reconfigured so it can be used worldwide for a variety of vehicles. Until that is further along, the Camaro remains indefinite. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz says the company would aim to compete with Mustang. It would probably be in the same price range as the Mustang, which starts at about $20,000 and goes up to about $32,000. Shelby Mustang: Ford is bringing back a Shelby version of its Mustang, called the Shelby GT500. It is to go on sale this summer as a 2007 model, priced in the low-$40,000 neighborhood, which Ford describes as affordable for such a hot rod. It uses a supercharged version of Ford's 5.4-liter, V-8 engine, rated 475 horsepower and 475 pounds-feet of torque, coupled to a six-speed manual transmission. Shelby is a reference to Carroll Shelby, who created the Cobra sports car for Ford in the 1960s and modified early Mustangs into true high-performance cars. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************
