![]() ![]() No, this is a contest of all-around prowess, focusing on the sum total of pleasure each car delivers in the full range of driving situations-from freeway cruising to autocross flogging. A skidpad number can't reveal how much satisfaction a car delivers on a mountain road a 0-to-60 time offers no insight into an engine's refinement in the daily stop-and-go. Cold, hard performance data don't tell you anything about the quality of the driving experience. Lyons's long list of credits includes a central role in the nurturing of the trend-setting 6000STE.Īs usual, we ran the contestants through the full battery of C/D performance tests, but we can't emphasize strongly enough that this is not a simple comparison of objective test-track numbers. Pontiac sent us a canary-yellow Firebird Formula and hard-charging F-car product-engineering manager Jim Lyons to chaperon it. Just to make sure his days are full, Ford has also put him in charge of the development of the 1989 Thunderbird. Kennedy has been ramrodding the aggressive Mustang rejuvenation program since 1982. Hall (no relation to the Chaparral-driving Texan) is an old friend, having done time on the editorial staffs of Road Test and Motor Trend before deciding to go respectable.įord supplied a hot red Mustang in full GT regalia and Jim Kennedy, manager of Mustang development. ![]() Chevrolet anted up a white Camaro IROC-Z and engineering jack-of-all-trades Jim Hall. GM and Ford mailed us three engineers-all named Jim-and a trio of the most closely matched performance machines America has ever produced. For the sake of equality we specified three-door body styles, but the drivetrains, suspensions, and complements of options were left up to the manufacturer. Our instructions were simple: bring the best all-around GT your company can muster. We know that for a fact, because we invited an engineer from each division to take part in this test. The Camaro troops feel the same gut rivalry with the Firebird engineers as they do with the Mustang boys. They compete not only in the showroom but also on the street and on the track-and every pony-car engineer worth his bonus wants his brand out front. The Camaro, the Mustang, and the Firebird are high-visibility image leaders, and they have youthful, loyal followings to satisfy. There are detail improvements as well.Ĭorporate ego gets much of the credit for this. In 1987 alone, this titanic trio offers one new cost-cutter performance model, three new or improved powertrain combinations, one completely redesigned interior, and one freshened exterior. The competition in the pony-car ranks is so keen that yearly improvement has become essential to survival. The faces in this league are pretty much the same as they've been for several years, but in engineering terms there's been a whole lotta shakin' goin' on. Everything else in this price-and-performance range has a distinctly different flavor. You either like these descendants of the original pony cars or you're out of luck, because there are no alternatives. Only three agitators qualify for this wheel-driven group: the Chevrolet Camaro, the Ford Mustang, and the Pontiac Firebird. This is 1987, and it's a whole new street fight. If you were with us last July, you saw a production-line 4.9-liter Mustang LX whip a prototype 5.7-liter Corvette-engined Camaro IROC-Z upside the head. ![]() Welcome to Car and Driver's annual smoke-'em, slide-'em, rev-'em, go-for-the-jugular American GT comparison test. Natural enemies have come together again, and they are packing brass knuckles. This is the Celtics versus the Lakers, Army versus Navy, and McEnroe versus just about anybody. Sparks will fly and spirits will be tested. Just because you can tell the players without a score card doesn't mean you're in for a sleeper. If you think you've seen this show before, sit back, relax, and don't touch that dial. ![]()
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