Throughout the 90's the American highways and roads were adorned with “jelly bean” cars that had simply no visual differences. High priced cars looked similar to average priced cars with hardly no identifying features. Unless a person had been shopping for a new car, one would probably not know one name brand from another. I know I didn’t. Shopping for a car was boring! The horsepower went bye bye and where did all the chrome go?

Throughout the years your classic 50's cars have always made their appearances. I remember some really cool cars with their flames and sparkling paint jobs on the roads now and then when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's, a time when muscle cars were new and horsepower was the competition of the day. But car shows and the appearances of classics on the road then was nothing compared to today.

While these classic beauties will hold a special place in the hearts of Americans, the classic muscle car is the hottest trend of the today. Since the new millennium, a trend and sudden emergence of the classic muscle car has been growing in popularity. We are really reliving the muscle car era. Our beloved muscle car has been resurrected from the past. Everywhere you look you will see classic Camaros, Mopars, GTO’s and Mustangs on the roads. They appear in television commercials, music videos, and, it seems they are being restored in everyone’s garages. They are even being restored on TV! Chip Foose might even make your day with an “Overhaul!”

If you were lucky enough to save your old muscle car, hidden away in a garage somewhere, or, if you happened to buy a muscle car in the 90's, hoping to restore it some day, you have hit the jackpot! Today, you would be hard pressed to find even the worst basket case of a project car for sale under $3,000.00. The average price for a muscle car is at least $20,000.00. Restored muscle cars can bring even bigger prices ranging from $45,000.00 and up. Car collectors throughout the country and overseas are buying muscle cars at auction and paying prices well over $100,000.00. And, that’s not all, their values are still climbing.

With all this newly found popularity, more and more muscle cars are emerging from neighboring garages each spring with shiny new paint jobs, often having been restored to their original brilliance, chrome and all! The horsepower and the rumblings of the big blocks have found their way back onto our roads and into the world’s “big boy candy store.” Even the car manufacturers are waking up to the fact that they really had a “great” thing in the early years of the muscle car. Their newly designed GTOs, Camaros, Chargers and Mustangs have all brought back an identity to today’s roads. Designs of the past have been merged into the new generation of muscle cars of today. When you see one of these cars on the road, you really know that it is a GTO or Mustang.

Today almost everyone seems to want to be behind the wheel of a powerful beauty, creating a big demand for muscle cars. If you can’t afford to buy a restored car or restore one yourself, you can buy a new car that resembles the original ones with the horsepower to back it from a new car manufacturer. So relive the muscle car era and cruise down the street in a restored car or buy yourself a new car of today. However, you will be missing out on the rumble of those big engines and another thing... they forgot the chrome! Keep cruisin!

About the Author

Cheryl LeFever is Vice President of Lightning Rod ProMotions. A corporation devoted to the car enthusiast and restoration of the classic, muscle and antique car. http://www.lightningrodpromotions.com