A Love Letter To The American Performance Car

If you ask Jack Baruth, the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is probably the finest sports car on sale today. And with the addition of a new 8-speed automatic (a feature that will be more popular than many enthusiasts will care to admit), the C7 will add gains in performance and fuel economy. The 0-60 mph and 1/4 mile sprints shed a tenth of a second each: 60 mph comes up in 3.7 seconds, while the 1/4 mile is covered in 11.9 seconds. Highway fuel economy is up 1 mpg to 29 mpg. Yes, these are incremental improvements, but it’s also amazing that you can buy something with supercar performance and highway fuel economy within spitting distance of a mid-size V6 sedan.

Beyond the ‘Vette, the array of American performance cars on sale right now is staggering. If you like muscle cars, you can have your pick of a Mustang, Camaro or Challenger, where even the weakest variants offer 300+ horsepower V6 engines that are quick enough to run with the V8 Mustangs of ten years ago. At the upper end, you have big block pony cars that come with more power than most Italian exotics, available at prices well south of the six figure mark.

If you want something a bit more European, Ford will sell you not one, but two turbocharged hatchbacks that are widely regarded as the top of their class. There are a myriad of sedans in all kinds of flavors, from the pseudo-Euro Cadillac CTS and ATS to the unmistakably American Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger and the under-appreciated Buick Regal GS. And let’s not forget the formidable Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, which makes the AMG and M SUVs obsolete by virtue of its existence.

I was born an import guy, and have long worshiped at the altar of VTEC. JDM parts, drifting and Sport Compact Car were my holy sacraments. But the last year has been a sort of Damascene conversion for me. The most exciting cars have, in my opinion, been coming out of Detroit, and they’re no longer the one-trick ponies..err, pony cars that I remember from my youth, good for straight line performance, big torque and little else.

For someone of my means, it’s hard to think of something more compelling than the Fiesta ST, which can hit 60 mph in less than 7 seconds while returning as high as 40 mpg on the highway. If I were a wealthier man, than the C7 would be what I’d want – but I’d take the 7-speed manual. I’m not quite ready for two pedals yet.

Perhaps I lack the context and years on this planet to make this judgement call, but I can’t think of an era where the American performance car has been so well-rounded, dynamically capable and competitive against the global offerings of the performance car world. Let me know what you think.