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Updated: MAR 25th 2022

Dan Trent

The seven best muscle cars for 2022

Muscle cars: take one saloon or coupe, insert a massive V8, sell at a vaguely attainable price, enjoy. And though this all-American ethos of democratised performance retains strong cultural roots over the pond, it’s one manufacturers in Europe and Japan have since adapted to new and wider audiences.

With the advancement of technology, silly powerful engines have remained as acheivable as ever, and the US has seen a rebirth of many of its muscle cars that had fallen on hard times in the 1990s. Some of those cars have even begun to branch out for sale around the world, and these are our favourites.

Updated 25th March 2022

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 – the scary looking one

Real muscle cars have always traded on attainability and, from this side of the Atlantic, we can only gaze in wonder at the idea of a 455PS, 6.2-litre V8 Camaro for the price of a Golf GTI. You can still buy a Camaro here in Europe, though unlike the Mustang it remains left-hand-drive only and rather more of a niche product. Which is a shame, given the Camaro arguably pulls off the modernised muscle car style more successfully than the retro looking Ford and it’s now capable of more than just straight-line heroics. Indeed, upgrade the US-only, 650hp ZL1 with the circuit-optimised 1LE pack (carbon aero parts, manually adjustable suspension, sticky tyres) and, for $70,000, you’ve got a car capable of monstering Porsches costing twice the price on both road and track.

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Dodge Charger – the vaguely practical one

Traditional muscle cars are built around big coupe bodies but if you want one with four-door practicality and the attitude and performance to chew up BMW M5s and E63 AMGs for breakfast the Dodge Charger has your back. Powered by modern evolutions of the legendary HEMI V8, it’s available in a plethora of lairy colours (choices include Hellraisin, Sinamon Stick, TorRed and White Kuckle to name a few) and in a choice of standard or widebody format. The sub-$40,000 Scat Pack with the 475PS 6.4-litre HEMI looks an absolute steal, though the temptations of the 707PS Hellcat-engined one are obvious enough

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Ford Mustang Mach 1 – The sensible one?

The Mach 1 isn't a wild, monstrous, fully hopped-up version of the Ford Mustang. That car does exist, in fact there's at least two of them and they have Shelby badges, but we don't get them in the UK. Instead the Mach one has a little more power and suspension and aerodynamic upgrades to help it compete with some of the more scalpal like Germans. What has resulted is something that feels like the best of both worlds. It has all the noise and V8 sillyness of a Mustang while being able to attach the twisty stuff with a bit more precision than before. That means it feels properly engaging to drive and does it all for about £15k less than the starting point of an M4.

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Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody – the one with the silliest name

While the Camaro and Mustang have gained vaguely sophisticated notions of handling and tech the unapologetic focus on raw power and tyre smoke make the Dodge Challenger the true modern muscle car hero. The 6.4-litre R/T Scat Pack 1320 (1320 equating to the quarter-mile, measured in feet) is intended as a blank canvas for privateer dragstrip heroes and is the fastest naturally-aspirated, street legal V8 muscle car in the business thanks to tech from the built-for-the-strip SRT Demon. Even this pales in comparison with the ridiculous (in name as well as horsepower) SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody, offering a 797PS ‘high output’ version of the supercharged HEMI and yours for less than $80,000.

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Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe – the best of both worlds

No European manufacturer has better adapted the muscle car format to audiences outside of America than Mercedes’ AMG performance division. With a reputation built on levering huge V8s into otherwise ordinary Mercedes saloons and coupes, it’s got decades of experience in this game, the C63 S combining all the raw thrills of huge V8 power and rear-wheel-drive but with all the prestige and sophistication of a range-topping Mercedes. So, it’s got the tyre-shredding attitude and macho soundtrack. But tech, build quality and luxury no American manufacturer can hope to compete with. Sure, it’s expensive. But this is a case of qualities gained in translation, not lost. 

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Lexus RC F – the forgotten one

For a brand almost exclusively associated with luxury and purring hybrid powertrains the Lexus RC F is something of an anomaly, and a characteristically eccentric Japanese twist on the established muscle car template. And it’s all put together with Lexus’s characteristic style and quality. Inspired in part by the incredible LFA supercar, the RC F is pitched as a rival to the C63 and outgoing BMW M4 but remains true to the classic format. The revvy 5.0-litre V8 is packed with clever tech and drives the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox and optional torque vectoring differential, complete with Track and Slalom modes. The Track Edition version gets carbon trimmings and aero and, while it trails the Germans for status and the Americans for pure grunt, the RC F remains a distinctive and individualistic choice.

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BMW M8 Competition – the wannabe 911 Turbo chaser

If muscle cars are meant to be mechanically simple and relatively affordable BMW must have missed the memo, corrupting the basic template into a six-figure mega coupe combining classic cues with premium quality and a dazzling array of tech. Based on M5 running gear, the M8 Competition can run as four- or rear-wheel-drive according to which of its gazillion driver modes and configurations you happen to choose and aims to offer both the raw thrills of a classic muscle car with the sophistication of a luxurious European GT. The twin turbo, 625PS V8 certainly has the power and soundtrack and the looks are plenty macho enough. But can a muscle car really operate as a six-figure 911 Turbo chaser? BMW reckons it can.

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