Return of a classic American muscle car

published 29 August 2008

Price: $40,095 (on sale US only). Engine: 6.1-litre V8. Power: 425bhp. 0-60mph: 4.9 seconds. Top speed: 174mph.

Muscle cars are about as "politically correct as Bernard Manning in a Nazi uniform", says Channel4.com, but that hasn't stopped America's big three carmakers reviving them. The Dodge Challenger SRT-8 is the latest retro remake, and just a picture of it "will prompt tree huggers to knit letters of protest". So it "should tick all the right boxes for most car enthusiasts".

It's reminiscent of the Dukes of Hazard's 1969 Dodge Charger (although it's actually modelled on the 1970 Challenger model), and it really makes you want to skid across the bonnet on the rump of your 501s, says Ollie Marriage in Evo. What's more, it will drive fast enough to rival an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the engine sounds "as good as you'd hope", it has decent interior trim, and it handles and rides "better than it has any right to". But the car is really about "looking effortlessly cool in as nonchalant a manner as possible Just like they did in Hazzard County."

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As you'd expect, running costs are high, says Sarah Ellen Brown in AutoExpress. Even if you opt instead for the 3.5-litre V6 diesel due next year the car will still only manage 22.5mpg. Dodge doesn't even publish figures for the V8 model "which tells you something". But who buys a muscle car to save petrol? A small number of left-hand-drive models are on sale in the UK now at £49,995. Brown recommends waiting instead "until the fever dies down" and import one yourself for much less in 2009.