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I was watching a youtube video a few days ago where they had a 1000 (YES, thousand) horsepower Tesla run a 1/4 mile in 9.44 @ 144 miles an hour on it's way to beating a 1000 horsepower Shelby. One of the comments down below said that "the musclecar is dead" meaning that the electric car is going to overshadow the musclecar and render it obselete.   Well, this past fall, we had the South Butler end of the season picnic and they had a little racing as expected. "Racin' Randy", who works for Friendly Ford in Geneva, N.Y., and friends brought out some new cars from the dealer to promo and play at the track. One of those cars was a Mustang Mach e. Now, these cars were brought there for people to see and drive (and maybe drive fast). I had heard about electric car acceleration and I seen electric car acceleration but I had yet to experiance it so, I drove the car. OK, this is a Sport Utility with the Mustang "MACH" name tagged on it (a tag I didn't think an SUV deserved). It was clean, comfortable, quiet...FAST! This thing left hard and pulled like a freight train. It earned the name tag. It actually rivaled my Corvette, which I had driven that day, so naturally, I wanted to challenge this SUV and I did. That electric SUV beat my ass. That plain, that simple. Is my 'Vette a world beater? No. Is my 'Vette the fastest car it's day? Close, but no. The 1986 Corvette had a 350 Tuned Port Injected engine that put out 220 horsepower @ 4000 RPM. Those cars were magazine tested and ran the 1/4 mile as quick as 13.9 seconds at just over 100 miles an hour. Now, I know my car is 35 years old, and maybe past her prime, but that car can still run a 1/4 in the low 14's and it got beat.   So, this begs the question...is the musclecar obselete? Is it over? I'm going to say, "not yet". Why? Well, even though hard acceleration is a big part of what the musclecar is all about, it's also about how a car feels and behaves. The electric car is an All Wheel Drive, point and shoot kind of car. Anybody can drive this car fast, it's almost too easy. A true musclecar is a handful. It can be violent, unpredictable, a beast to tame and seems to actually WANT to come out from under you. That brings out the "MAN" in a guy, ya know, the "Not just anybody can drive my s#!t" attitude that gives a guy that "swag" that the heavy hitters have. I'm a stick guy, I like to be the guy who's making things happen behind the wheel, not just along for the ride. Musclecar guys need things to be happening, need variables to control, you can't "work it" if there's nothing to work.   Hard acceleration and speed is part of the new electric car's forte' but is it enough to take the crown? The craft of driving the car is part of the musclecar experince and the new electric cars don't require it. Now, I am all but certain that they (electric cars) will take over and the internal combustion engine powered musclecar will go the way of the dinosaur but it will have to happen over time. Musclecar guys are in no way ready to change horses even if they may be faster. The next generation or the one after that will seal that fate and that will be the end of an era. The era of the greatest cars ever made.The American musclecar. Dan Davis

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