Suddenly it's 2064

August '14

Suddenly it's 2064

from Hemmings Muscle Machines

August, 2014 - Jim McGowan

Dateline: September 1, 2064. "Today Chevrolet Motors, formerly a division of the now-defunct General Motors, released its long anticipated '64 Camaro. This titanium/carbon fiber retro creation strongly resembles the 2014 model so popular 50 years ago. Pre-sale orders had already broken recent Chevrolet sales numbers for a nostalgic vehicle replica, even one powered by electrically sparked Quantum Difibulation water vapor surge propulsion. Recent years have seen an increase in retro-designed, so-called 'muscle cars,' even with the demise of the internal combustion engine 28 years ago. This 15th generation Camaro will push the boundaries of Quantum Difibulation, producing a whopping 85-horsepower with 1/12th of a pound vapor spray power; and 'it's pollution free,' said J.Q. Nerdulus of CM."

Whoa! Is that scary or what? Several original muscle cars were released to the public in September 1964, exactly 50 years ago. Quite a few of those early cars could still be cruising around in another half century with the care we give them today. But could another resurgence of new retro muscle be in the future 50 years from now? Why not?

How many of us would have predicted nostalgic-based designs for the Camaro, Hemi Challenger and Daytona or Boss and Shelby Mustangs, several models with 400-plus horsepower, 20 years ago? Probably none of us would have thought it possible. This brings to mind a question: Will the car enthusiasts five decades hence be as excited as we are today by another uptick of retro "muscle machine" production, styled like today's new muscle cars?

Regardless of whether or not you are a fan of Quantum Difibulation and vapor spray power propulsion, the method of developing what we know today as horsepower will change. Science will move forward considerably faster in the next 50 years than in the last. Inevitably, the generation of power, and the fuel it requires, will have to evolve. Could the methods of moving mass with power change dramatically as we explore some totally unknown physics in the future? Is the force going to really be with us? Will vehicle travel be gone completely, replaced by transportation pods to move our molecules from place to place? Who knows, but I hope I'll find out! I'm being really good so I can look down and smile!

Over the last five decades, the car hobby has endured, so we can expect that the young drivers of today's retro muscle cars will eventually be the graybeards of tomorrow and that they will still be muscle car enthusiasts. That legacy is a given. So, doesn't it stand to reason that our current crop--and hopefully future crops--of Detroit muscle will be preserved as we preserved the originals?

Various surveys say that today's young people aren't interested in cars anymore; only digital devices keep them occupied. The number of new licensed drivers has dropped consistently over the last several years, and continues to do so. Today, buying, insuring and paying for a new muscle car is almost impossible for a young person just out of high school. In the '60s, many guys out of school for only a few years were driving new '64 GTOs or Chevelles. I'm sure the recent economic situation has had a strong influence on young folks' interest in performance cars, and gas prices haven't exactly excited them, either.

Technically, today's new muscle machines have taken away a lot of the early do-it-yourself hot rod mentality. They are not easy to work on in your home garage. You need a degree in advanced Quantum Difibulation and vapor management to advance the timing on these computer-controlled engines. All that knuckle-busting, header-installing, cam-changing fun of days of old is eliminated, plus our non-car-enthusiast society is skewed against many modifications. Ask your local smog inspection station attendant about that!

So where are we heading? Who will be the performance car consumer 50 years in the future? Again, who would have imagined the computer-controlled cars of today back then? Who would have thought we would be paying $5.00 a gallon for gasoline and bazillions for insurance? But also who would have imagined the huge performance aftermarket that still exists today, one that is growing in spite of all the regulations? Who could have predicted today's street-legal, high-horsepower muscle machines making the great come back that they have? The questions are endless and the answers broad. But, I think that the young enthusiasts buying these new muscle cars today will retain their love of power, regardless of what it's called, and the muscle car will always be here in one form or another. Muscle cars, mom's apple pie and baseball--that's it!

As long as there is automotive racing and cars that can be modified, there will be muscle cars prowling our streets. They might not be anything those of us around today would recognize, but the enthusiast of that future day will be there with that thumbs-up salute... at least I hope so. Let's see, in 50 years I'll have only written another 600 columns. Can't wait!

This article originally appeared in the August, 2014 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines.

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