american muscle

American muscle cars were known for their massive V8's, powerful engine roar, and for destroying their competition on the drag strip. These cars were very popular during the 60's and 70's, especially in america. Many people have their opinions and likes/dislikes about certain cars, but everyone can agree that the 60's and 70's were owned by the muscle car. These V8 monsters were the best performing cars in the world, and their foreign competition, including the European exotics, couldn't match the performance of the american muscle. Not only were they powerful, but they were loud - you could hear them coming from miles away. Muscle cars were built with passion to outperform its competitors, and it was successful at doing so. They were known as King of the Road, and it was this that made muscles such a popular american icon.

But as the muscle car era neared the 80's and 90's, something changed. There was something different about how american manufacturers were making their vehicles. Their cars didn't perform or look half as good as their earlier models, and they became more.....sloppy. Not only did they go down in performance and looks, american companies became greedy and started selling muscle cars in mass production, not giving a care if the car looked or performed well. The countless victories and success of the muscle car seemed to have made america cocky and greedy, and they were building cars only to make money. Take the Dodge Charger, for example. In the 60's-70's, these cars were one of the biggest, baddest muscle cars you could buy. Their incredible performance made them popular, and as american companies took notice of the rapid increase in sales, they became greedy. As the years passed, they became more sloppy, making careless mistakes. Dodge was producing chargers in mass production, not thinking about how they were ruining the car. Soon the charger went from an awesome performance monster to a crappy way for dodge to make money. This caused a rapid decrease in sales, and in 1978, it was discontinued. America's overconfidence and want for money was killing the muscle car, and this continued through the 90's and into the 21st century. Nowadays, muscle cars are crap. They don't perform or look half as good as they did 40 years ago. Current models like the GTO and Charger are examples of some of the worst muscle cars ever built. It wasn't that america could no longer build cars like they did in the past - they could still do it. But as time passed, technology advanced, and as foreign companies were keeping up with this advanced tech, americans stuck to their original muscle car "recipe". It's all because american companies lost their passion for building the high-performance muscle car, and it was replaced with the passion for money.

Muscle car enthusiasts, however, refuse to believe this. Their pride and love for the american icon is glued to their hearts. They collect and treasure muscles from years past, and continue to rebuild them and increase their performance. If only it was these people who would run american manufacturers such as Dodge, Ford, Pontiac..... . Sadly, they don't, and the people that do run these companies just want the money. America still tries to make performance cars, however - the corvette and viper, especially the corvette, have been able to compete with the new King of the Road - the Europeans. Euros these days are built with the passion to perform that america once had. Many are hand built to perfection using high-quality materials and performance parts. Now, Europe makes some of the fastest cars in the world, and lap records to almost every major track are set by euros. The corvette, although not a muscle car, is as fast as many euros and costs about half the price. This american sports car is the one of very few decent american cars that is made today. Muscle cars from the 60's and 70's remain as the most decent muscle cars ever built, and there are still some around today. But with global warming and demand for more fuel efficient vehicles, these american icons, with their loud V8's and massive power, will soon be gone forever.

dodge charger, ford mustang, chevy camaro, and plymouth 'cuda are examples of american muscle

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european car

European exotic cars are the most exclusive, most advanced, most stylish, most unique, most expensive, best looking, and best performing cars in the world. Europe makes the fastest, best handling cars , and lap records to almost every major racetrack in the world are set by euros.

European cars were not very good back in the 60's and 70's, however, during the muscle car era. At this time, american muscle were the lead performers in the world, and everyone has to agree that the 60's and 70's was the time of the muscle car. However, as european companies got the hang of it and and started making better cars, things changed. They began making the most exotic, most exclusive cars the world has ever seen, and during the 90's, they began making a lot more high-performance cars, such as the lightning-fast Mclaren F1. It was this car that proved that the europeans know how to make fast, good-looking cars. As we neared the 21st century, european manufacturers were clearly making the fastest, most exotic cars the in the world. The europeans have clearly taken over and stole the crown from the muscle cars as King of the Road.

The muscle car era ended for 2 reasons. One, american companies got cocky and overconfident after their success with the muscle car. They started making cars for money, not out of pride and passion to perform. The second reason is that as the years passed, technology got more advanced, and it was the europeans (and the japanese) that kept up with the newer tech. The americans, however, thought their original muscle car "recipe" was the best, and tried to use it on their cars today. They failed to do so, obviously - american muscle don't look or perform half as well as they did 40 years ago. As with all muscle cars, they are specially built and tuned for the dragstrip, so their understeer is expected to happen but very annoying. Their weight distribution is also a problem - majority of their weight is on the front, so the rear wheels constantly spin out of control. This leads to slow right-off-the-line acceleration and the rear end to constantly swing outwards through turns. However, muscles have a lot of torque, which explains their fast 1/4 mile times, but their heavy weight and loss of traction explains their slow 0-60 times. Euros, on the other hand, have near perfect weight distribution, and many are rear engined, so it has more grip from the rear tires. Some are also mid-engined for balance and can lead to better cornering through turns.

Unlike muscle cars, which are built with cheap, low quality materials and sold in mass production, euros are built with high-quality materials and performance parts, and many are hand built to perfection. The times and effort put into building these magnificient cars is what makes a european car european. Of course, all of this means a high price tag, however, this large tag is there for other reasons as well. European exotics are meant for the wealthy, skillful, top-of-the-line buyers who either truly want one or just have money to burn. Also, this large price tag is what keeps european cars exclusive and unique - they aren't meant for everyone. Its what makes them special, for example, you see a ferrari on the road and average of about once a month. And when you see them, it makes you say "look at that ferrari. Amazing." obviously this wouldnt happen if everyone had one, which is why they're priced high.

This shows that european cars really are one of a kind. When being built from engineers that have the passion to build cars to outperform and be the best in the world, what do you expect?

Audi R8, Bugatti Veyron, Lamborghini Galardo, Ferrari Scuderia, BMW M3, Mercedes SLR McLaren, Porsche Carrera GT, any european car

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