American muscle cars make comeback with Hellcat, Z28

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The late 1960s are often thought of as the good old days of American muscle cars, but there are some ultra-hot muscle cars today.

The Dodge Challenger SRT, nicknamed "Hellcat," is the most powerful muscle car ever.

Not 500 horsepower, not 600. It's a street legal, fully-warrantied production car that makes 707 horsepower.

The jaw-dropping level of horsepower is thanks to supercharging and other engineering tricks on the hemi V8. For example, the space where the left inboard headlight would normally be acts as an air inlet.

The muscle car wars are hot in a way the industry hasn't seen since the late 1960s.

Chevrolet now offers a special version of the Camaro called Z28. Forget the trim package from the 1980s with the same name, this is a track-ready super car that dispenses with things like air conditioning and sound insulation. You can actually buy a more powerful Camaro, but not one that's geared so much toward race track use. From massive carbon brakes to aerodynamic enhancements, everything's been engineered for hot laps on a race circuit, where the Camaro's engineers spent lots of time.

In reality, the Hellcat and Z28 won't be sold in very big numbers. They're really limited production, but they serve other purposes. First of all, they show off the engineering might of the respective companies, and also to serve as halo vehicles. The coolest of the Hellcat trickles down to the other major models, including the base V6 car.

To most people, the new Challenger SXT looks close enough to the snarling Hellcat to still get the job done visually. Its V6 engine has less than half the horsepower, but for daily use it's more than capable at less than half the price. And, it's rated at 30 miles per gallon highway.

The odd brand out at the moment is Ford. The next Mustang is still a few months away, and there's been no announcement of an ultra-muscle variation. But rest assured, Ford probably has something up its sleeve to do battle with the mighty Hellcat.

If you like muscle in your ride, the good old days of horsepower used to be in the past. Today, the good old days are very much in the present.