Thumbs Up: May be the perfect American muscle sedan.

Thumbs Down: Thirsty when driven hard (as you’d expect).

Buy This Car If: Your idea of a weekend get away involves multiple time zones.

There are very few perfect things in life. Take enough pictures, and maybe you’ll eventually snag the perfect shot (hey, it worked for Ansel Adams). Try hard enough and you may concoct the perfect breakfast sandwich, to unseat McDonald’s Egg McMuffin (although we doubt that very much). Drive a particular track long enough in the same car, and you may eventually find the perfect line.

That’s why I’m trying so hard to wrap my head around the Chrysler 300 SRT8, because perfection in anything is so rarely encountered. To be clear, the 300 SRT8 isn’t the perfect car. It won’t beat a Prius in fuel economy and it won’t go around a racetrack faster than a new Nissan GT-R; in fact, it isn’t even close on either point. No, the Chrysler 300 SRT8 isn’t the perfect car, but it may very well be the perfect interpretation of the American muscle sedan.

Is it big and heavy? Yes, it is. Does it suck down gas? Sure, if you keep your foot in it. But it will also haul four people in supreme comfort from one end of the country to the other, at speeds that would make the average man curl into the fetal position and whimper for mercy. It will also lay down a righteous burnout, emitting clouds of smoke so dense they can be seen from the International Space Station. Or so I’m told, because I’d never actually do a burnout in a press fleet car.

I didn’t expect to be this impressed with the new Chrysler 300 SRT8, but the fact of the matter is that I was blown away by it. Forget everything you know about the old Chrysler, because the fit and finish of the 300 SRT8 was on par with import luxury sedans, and noticeably better than recent luxury sedans from other American manufacturers. Maybe it’s Chrysler’s way of apologizing for cars like the Dodge Caliber, but whatever the reason, the new 300 SRT8 is the most impressive sedan I’ve driven in a long time.

Chrysler updated the looks of the 300 for the 2011 model year, but it was an evolutionary restyle, not a revolutionary one. The front of the car is now more aerodynamic, with a less pronounced grille and more contemporary headlights. The car retains it slab-sided styling and low greenhouse, but that’s not criticism. The original Chrysler 300 won a significant amount of attention for the brand, and Chrysler knows not to mess with a good thing. While the exterior styling won’t appeal to everyone, it probably won’t offend anyone, either.

Inside, any remnants of the old Chrysler have been erased. Gone are the acres of cheap black plastic, replaced by coarse-grained, soft-touch vinyl trimmed in genuine carbon-fiber. Yes, the dash bottom is still plastic, but it’s solid plastic, and my 300 SRT8 press fleet tester didn’t emit a single squeak or groan during my time behind the wheel. Even the infotainment system has been seriously reworked; while Chrysler used to produce the least user-friendly systems on the market, its new ones are among the best and most intuitive. Even the steering wheel (sized to fit my extra-large paws) was above average in feel and comfort.

Since the 300 gives a nod towards luxury, the instrumentation was a bit flashy for my tastes. The tach and speedometer sit in tunnels bathed in ambient blue light, and numbers for both gauges are on the small side. They’re still functional, but I’d have preferred something a bit easier to acquire, perhaps with a little less glitz. I’m a fan of Chrysler’s driver information display (located between tach and speedo), which provides some entertaining performance data (like lateral acceleration, 0-60 time, 1/8 mile time) on the SRT8 version of the 300.

Front seats are road-trip worthy, and SRT8 models get both heat and ventilation. There’s enough bolstering to keep front seat passengers in place during spirited cornering, aided by the suede center panels of the seats. I’m not a huge fan of the red seats, but they aren’t mandatory since the SRT8 can be ordered with a black interior, too.

Rear seats lack serious bolstering, but you probably won’t be going as fast through the twisties with three (or four) passengers. As you’d expect from a car of the 300’s size, there’s a reasonable amount of rear seat legroom, though those much taller than six feet will need to watch their heads entering or exiting the rear accommodations. The rear passenger headrests aren’t adjustable, either, which may or may not be an issue depending upon how often you haul three passengers of varying sizes around.

The heart of the 300 SRT8 is its 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 engine, rated at 470 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque and mated to a six-speed AutoStick transmission equipped with wheel-mounted paddle shifters. While it’s likely that an eight-speed will be stuffed into next year’s car, the six-speed provides crisp and quick shifts, regardless of whether you leave it in auto or shift it yourself. The combination of engine, transmission and gearing is good enough to produce a 0 to 60 time of 4.7 seconds, which is even more impressive given the car’s 4,400 pound curb weight.

Despite being saddled with a gas guzzler tax of $1,000, the 300 SRT8 returned semi-reasonable fuel economy, thanks to Chrysler’s cylinder deactivation system that turns the car into a 3.2-liter V-4 under steady-state driving. The EPA says to expect 14 mpg in the city, 23 mpg on the highway and 17 mpg combined, but a reasonable blend of city and highway driving returned an indicated 18.8 mpg. I wouldn’t call that “fuel efficient,” but it’s a whole lot better than a car with 300 SRT8 mass and power would suggest.

SRT head Ralph Giles once described the new Dodge Challenger SRT8 as “driving a thousand pounds lighter than it really is,” and I’d apply the same logic to the 300 SRT8. Yes, it’s a big car, but it doesn’t drive like a big car. Turn-in is immediate, especially with the suspension in sport mode, and the car is capable of carrying a surprising amount of speed into corners without complaint. When ordinary sedans (and even a few sport sedans I can think of) would be plowing into the weeds, the 300 SRT8 just keeps sticking to the pavement. That said, you won’t be winning any SCCA Solo championships in the car, because you just can’t re-write the laws of physics. Quick left-right transitions are a weak point, simply because the car weighs in at over two tons.

While lapping a short, technical track at speed isn’t the 300 SRT8’s forte, gobbling up highway miles at whatever speed you care to drive is. I can’t think of a better platform to take cross-country, especially if your plans call for the occasional winding-road side trip. The great American road trip, where families packed their kids into giant sedans or station wagons and set off to find the real America, is quickly going the way of the dinosaur. Cars like the 300 SRT8 may not be around much longer, so here’s my suggestion to you: do whatever you have to buy one (or its Charger SRT8 cousin), pack your family into it and set off on an adventure you can call your own. In a not-too-distant future, you’ll be glad you did it while you still had the chance.

Chrysler provided the 2012 300 SRT8 for my evaluation. Base price of the SRT8 model is $48,995, including a destination charge of $870 and a gass-guzzler tax of $1,000. Options on my press fleet tester included the $1,995 Customer Preferred Package 21X (power folding mirrors, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, blind spot and cross path detection, rear fog lamps, side mirror signals and side mirror courtesy lamps), the $1,995 Premium Speaker Group (18 premium speakers, subwoofer, 900-watt amplifier), the $1,295 Dual-Pane Sunroof and the $150 summer performance tire upgrade for a total sticker price of $54,430.

For comparison, a similarly equipped Dodge Charger SRT8 would list for $50,405, while a comparable Infiniti M56 would sticker for $73,065.

Awful. That is exactly the term that should be used when describing every muscle car that came out of the 1960′s and 1970′s. Sure you had a few exceptions when it came to handling like the WS6 equipped Pontiac Trans Am’s, but for the most part, those big canoes were horrible when it came to going around corners. In today’s automotive society we can now update our old rides with new suspension, wheels and tires in the hopes of making them better. Back in the day though, well… this is about as good as it got. The following video was conducted by Bud Lindemann of “Car & Track” on the 1971 Ford Torino Cobra. Sure it had big power, but it also had big weight and little skinny tires that made it look like an elephant on stilts. I’ve got to say though that it is actually quite enjoyable to see one getting flogged around a racetrack in the same shape it left the factory. Click through for the video and prepare to be appalled by how bad things used to be.

Source: Youtube.com

Insurance rates were up, horsepower was down and under the hoods of most cars were miles and miles of performance choking smog equipment. The fire breathing muscle cars of just a few years earlier were now gone and in their place were the weez-O-matic government mandated machines of the 1970′s. This was a dark time for auto manufacturers in the United States, and an even tougher time for enthusiasts. Back then car companies were forced to rely on image more than anything else and thus we were treated to vehicles that only looked as though they were quick. Colorful sticker kits, trick interiors and funky wheels were the go-to answers for manufacturers. It was a tough deal, but as consumers there was simply nothing with any serious performance in the showrooms. Cars like the Screaming Chicken Trans-Am’s, Mustang King Cobra and Hurst Oldsmobile’s were all that were available. In fact it wasn’t until the late 1980′s that horsepower finally decided to make a comeback. Below are just a few examples of how stickers equaled speed in the 1970′s.

• 1979 Chevrolet Monza Spyder

• 1972 Hurst Oldsmobile

• 1978 Pontiac Trans-Am

• 1976 AMC Gremlin X

• 1979 Mustang Pace Car

In the world of collector cars the Dodge Challengers from 1970-1971 are some of the most desirable cars on the market today. They’re well styled, relatively quick and actually quite reliable when tuned properly. They also have this aura about them that sets them apart from average muscle cars thanks to films like “Vanishing Point” and “Death Proof”. In today’s world of instant information we can find things like car reviews on any year/make/model by simply doing a quick search on the internet. Back in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s though there was really only one place to go, that being, Bud Lindemann’s “Car & Track”. Even though the tests were crude and the results not entirely accurate, this show was the public’s one true link when it came to seeing how these cars performed in road going settings.

Concerned you’re not doing enough to promote global warming? Do you have carbon credits aplenty, or do you simply like turning meaty rear tires into lingering clouds of mosquito-repelling smoke? If you answered yes to any of those questions, consider buying yourself a Roush Stage 3 Mustang, which displays it’s prowess at leaving expensive black spots on the pavement in the video below.

Burnout ability aside, the Roush Stage 3 Mustang is a damn impressive car on the track. Two entered this year’s One Lap of America, and one car finished third overall (just behind a Porsche 911 Turbo S and a tuned Nissan GT-R). The second car, driven by Jack Roush, Jr., finished 11th overall but second in class. Not only are the Roush Mustangs fast in a straight line, but they’ve got a lot better balance than you’d expect from a muscle car.

Source: Left Lane News

Have you ever had the opportunity to purchase one of your dream cars, but for whatever reason, you passed on it? This happened to me about 7 years ago and I’ve been kicking myself ever since. Now while most people think of dream cars in terms of something exotic, I tend to go a little more blue collar… you know, like Dodge. You see Dodge, while not the greatest cars on the road, have always been innovators in terms of style and design. For years they’ve flipped the bird to conventional thinking while giving us some of the most outrageous and ridiculous cars the road has ever seen. Take for instance, the 1969 Dodge Daytona, a car that was 21-feet long with a 2-foot nosecone up front and a 4-foot wing in the rear. It was outrageous, but necessary as Dodge needed street going versions in order run their winged wonders in Nascar. Fast forward now to 1992 and the debut of the Dodge Viper, a car that paid homage to the Shelby Cobra’s of yesteryear. It had a 400 hp V10, had no door handles or windows, and was the equivalent of driving a modified ox-cart with a Saturn Five rocket strapped to its ass. Other cars like the hot-rodded, yet under powered Plymouth Prowler and retro PT Cruiser are other examples of Dodge’s willingness to think outside the box.

*Photo Credit: Hemmings.com

For me though, one vehicle that I’ve always lusted after was Dodge’s Li’l Red Express Truck that was built from 1978 to 1979. Based on a D150 pickup and equipped with a stout 360 C.I. V8 topped with a four-barrel carburetor, the 1978 Li’l Red Express was (believe it or not) the fastest American made vehicle from 0 to 100 MPH according to Car & Driver Magazine. Clad in red paint with a step-side bed, big-rig dual snorkel exhaust pipes and beautiful varnished wood in the rear, the Li’l Red Express was nothing short of awesome in a hopped up “look at me” package. I missed a great chance to pick one of these babies up some time ago, but unfortunately circumstance kept this little beastie out of my hands. Regardless though, the search will continue until I have the right one nestled safely in my garage next to my 1968 Dodge Charger and 1969 Dodge Daytona.

Can you believe that in 2014 the Ford Mustang is going to be 50 years old? The Mustang was the original pony car. It was the car that set the automotive world on its ear and captivated the essence of being a free spirit back in the mid-1960s. The Mustang is to Ford what vanilla is to chocolate and to celebrate that Ford is going to once again redesign the Mustang. This time however, as opposed to being an American only beauty, Ford intends to give their old horse right hand drive and send it across the pond. According to AutoExpress.co.uk, the 2014 Mustang will be known as a “world car” and will be offered with the same V6′s and V8′s around the world. Initially the UK, Australia and Japan will be the first to receive right hand versions of the car. It’s also said that the car will finally have an independent rear suspension, something that hasn’t been seen on a Mustang since the 1999 Cobra.

The Ford Mustang is truly a piece of American culture, so seeing it build for the world market will be interesting. However, if the styling in these renderings is any indication of where Ford is going, I would bet that this new American Pony is going to have no trouble kicking up its heals across the pond.

Source: AutoExpress.co.uk via Autoholics

He beat Hulk Hogan in front of 45,000 people at the Georgia Dome in the WWE, he’s played for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL and he’s one of the nicest (and biggest) full blown car enthusiasts on the planet. He’s Bill Goldberg and he’s just set his sights on building one of the baddest second generation pro-touring Trans Am’s to ever roll on tarmac. You see last year after hosting the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, Bill got seriously bitten by the pro-touring bug. Already a die-hard muscle car nut, the idea of melding old car styling with new car tech was something that really appealed to him. Plus, since he’d already seen a host of these bad boys in action, it just seemed right that he would jump on the bandwagon to create what he calls, project “ERNREE”.

Starting with a non-numbers matching 1970 Pontiac Trans Am, the goal is to reset the benchmark for what a second gen pro-touring Trans Am can become with the right parts, people and motivation behind the build. To give you an idea of what it takes to create what will most likely become one of the best pro-touring cars on the planet, just take a look at this partial parts list.

• Hendrick Motorsports LS motor
• Carbon Kustoms Front Clip
• DSE Suspension, front and rear
• Ridetech Tiger Cage
• Forgeline Wheels
• Baer Brakes
• Be Cool Cooling Systems
• BF Goodrich Tire
• American Autowire

The entire back-story and build, complete with progress photos is being cataloged over at Pro-touring.com, so make sure to head on over there to check it out. Also, if you would like to find out further information on this years 2011 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, please send an email to FM3 Performance Marketing.

Muscle cars, both past and present, have a mystique about them. Whether you’re talking about the big block fire breathers of the 1960′s or their now modern re-imagined siblings, the American muscle car will always have a place in the automotive world. The original cars were politically incorrect, gas guzzlers and for the most part outrageous in their styling. As for the new ones… well, not so much. In fact if you look at the current crop of today’s muscle cars you’d notice that their not only fast, great performers and comfortable, but in some cases, more economical than you might think. Motor Trend Magazine recently brought together a flock of the old and new for a little side by side comparison. As the owner of a few classics, as well as a modern muscle car, I can tell you from experience that while the old cars are simply wonderful, they simply can’t hold a candle to the refinement that 45 years of technology brings.

Source: Motor Trend via Autoblog

Hot chicks and smoking tires are like crack to a gear-head. We’ll take them a la carte or together and it makes absolutely no difference what order they come in. Ksubi is a fashion label down in Australia (which helps explain the Ford Falcons) and it seems that they’ve figured out the exact combination to get people excited about their clothing. The following video was made to introduce the return of the brands colored denim range of jeans. It features some Australian muscle cars from the mid-1980′s, 3 hot models (who really need to eat more) and a wonderful operatic soundtrack. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t dig it. Click through for the video and get ready to enjoy tire smoke, scantily clad models and some music that you’d never ordinarily listen to.

Source: Chromjuwelen.com