Once upon a time, the best muscle cars to buy were the ones with power-packed V8 engines, rear-wheel drive, and all-American roots. Nor could just any car qualify. Only in-your-face coupes and the occasional drop-top were worthy of the “muscle car” moniker. Nowadays, though, it’s a whole new world. Only four current entries trace their roots back to the muscle-car era, and one of them is a sedan.
The good news? The four modern-day muscle cars have a lot more muscle than the originals. All can deliver much more than 600 horsepower while getting from 0 to 60 in well under 4 seconds. In addition, a variety of new brands have gotten in on the muscle-car action with vehicles that fill the same basic role.