MUSCLE MEMORY

THREE SUB-$100K COUPES KEEP THE HIGH-POWER REAR-DRIVE DREAM ALIVE, BUT ONE ESPECIALLY

- SCOTT NEWMAN

AUSTRALIA’S CAR CULTURE was built on muscle cars. Ever since the XR Falcon GT finished one-two at the 1967 Bathurst 500, bestowing the beautiful gold road cars with a winning pedigree, Aussie enthusiasts have voted with their wallets. We want powerful, rear-drive performance cars, preferably with eight cylinders under the bonnet. This lust lasted as long as it could, until Ford, then Holden, then HSV wrote their respective final chapters in the book of Australian manufacturing.

The departure of our homegrown heroes left a huge hole in the motoring landscape, but thankfully the rest of the world has stepped in to at least partially fill the void – America, principally, given its similar proclivity for high-powered rear-drivers. Ford was first into the fray with the Mustang and boy did it reap the rewards, the iconic pony car proving more popular with Aussies than toilet paper in a pandemic. More than 26,000 Mustangs have been sold here at the time of writing, making it far and away Australia’s favourite performance car. Not one to sit idle, HSV began converting the Mustang’s arch-nemesis, the Chevrolet Camaro, to right-hand drive in 2018. The blue versus red rivalry would continue, albeit with fewer doors. Camaro hasn’t enjoyed anything like the popularity of its Detroit neighbour, selling around 1500 units, but it’s been a welcome addition to the market.