I think this car is going to sell quite well, considering its sporty looks and relatively cheap price. You get a lot of car for a fair price, even though I am obligated to say you can buy a Mustang for cheaper that will leave it in the dust . The 20 somethings crowd is going to love these. 

What I am probably going hate about them is I believe that this will be the next Honda Civic of the "ricer" culture, but it is definitely going to have more oomph than a 4dr economy car turned "sports car". I see a dozen or so grocery getters with fartcans every day, and I already see a bunch of new TC's thrown into the mix. 

My tC has been paid off for a while. It is nice banking away the car payment every month.

 

I'd have to heartily disagree with this statement.

 

Now bear in mind my lusts in life are a Porsche, a 370Z, or a CTS V. So I'm really not the Mustang snob I come off as..it just so happens to be the most fun I can afford in my price bracket.

 

That said, I'd say the 2010+ Muskrats would surprise you on a road test. The track pack equipped models (such as mine) really blew away most magazines as far as cornering goes. They're not going to compete with Z cars or such, but for what they are they're fantastic handlers. Far better so than the Challenger and Camaro in road tests.

 

As far as the quarter mile thing, it's important to differentiate muscle cars from pony cars. Really and honestly I can't think of a single modern muscle car aside from the SRT-8 Challenger. Muscle cars were big, heavy boats with high power big blocks that shot them through quarter mile strips...think the Road Runner, GTO, GTX, 4-4-2, etc. This started and ended with the 60's muscle car era...but the Mustang, Camaro, Firebird, Cougar, and Challenger came along and invented the pony car and trans am racing. Those cars were traditionally built for a combination of light weight handling and decent horsepower.

 

Truth be told there weren't many heavy quarter mile hitting pony cars. Mustangs in the 60's were pretty absymal, and most of the cars that broke into the 12 second class were Road Runners and special order engines. The muscle car era was all about cubic inches.

 

Every car nowadays has a certain expectation of handling to it (except the Challenger...but that car really does fall into the "baby boomer throwback class"), but they also excel in the quarter.

 

As far as popularity, I really don't see quarter mile racing as popular. I think the shift to cars that measure their life blood by 0-60 / quarter mile really comes down to practicality, at least where I come from. The days where you could open up on the highway and really scream around here are over...it's too congested and the legal penalties are crazy stiff (in Texas I believe competition of speed involves a revokation of your license). So practically people just want a car that they can jam it from a rolling stop and tinker around with on back roads. I don't have many friends who build performance cars that have actually ever tested them on a quarter mile track, they just like the rush of extreme acceleration.

 

Not to say that road racing wouldn't be amazing fun...I'd love to get involved. But the price of entry to get a road ready car and hook up with a local club is pretty hefty unless you've just got the cash to do so. My sister's Corvette club has a track they use to tinker with their toys, plus a couple of airstrips, but it's crazy expensive.

but I have made my car unique and representative of me

 

You may have watched one too many Scion commercials. 

After I graduate, I hope to get a Pontiac Solstice GXP, a newer Pontiac GTO or possibly a Ford Lightning. I would really need to test drive each.

My dad's friend bought a Lightning to tow his Mustang to the track.... turns out the Lightning ended up being faster than the Mustang.

But I have to say, something the size of a Solstice with (I think) 260 HP and rear wheel drive.... That has to be fun to drive. Plus, it has a very unique look.

And, the good part is they are all relatively similar in price. Mid to upper teens depending on miles and options.

 

Psh.  We all really know that complex multi-celled organisms hadn't evolved yet and he really transported himself via a set of flagellum.

Here was my driveway in 88. 

2-78 Camaros and a low rider. 

Flip?

Don't you talk about her like that.

Sounds like mine, my dad passed it down to me when I turned 18 (after I had painted it for him), now its just sat due to another car im building ('81 Celica GT). I really hope to get a new set of floor pans and interior soonish so that I can get her back on the road.

I did a ton of work on that car. Huge cam, dual holly 650's high rise intake, (air cleaner stuck out the hood lol. ) Turbo 400 tranny with shift kit, stall converters. You couldn't take off without burning rubber. It got about 4 mpg. Hence the need for the yellow 78. I drove that when I was just goofing off, as it had a regular holly 350 carb and got about 17 mpg. 

The lowrider was my real toy though, I'll never forget my parents faces when they walked out to the driveway and I was cutting the top off with a saw... Lol. 

First convertible lowrider in NC... We had a blast in that truck. Course it was so low that I couldn't drive over a can on its side without hitting it... I won a bunch of car stereo competitions with that thing. Rockford pro 15's built into the bed with a walk through to the cab, I had a TV and VCR in it (For all you young pups, VCRs are like DVD's except you have to fast forward on tape to get to the good parts...) Bass hit so hard it would flip quarters off the roof. I could pull up to a light and shake the mirrors of the cars AROUND me. lol. Loved that thing. It was really obnoxious, but we took it to freestyle contests all over the country. 

Here it is after I hit a bear in PA and repainted it in my driveway.