We all know the players in the classic muscle car world—GTO, Road Runner, Super Bee, GSX, SS 454, Boss 429, and Charger RT are some of the big names.
The prices reflect the popularity because those cars still command mega-dollars in 2025—50K is a typical starting point for a decent example.
The big numbers are out of the average car guy’s range for what is essentially a frivolous purchase, so what other options are there?
Jerry Sutherland
You’re in luck because there are used cars with blistering performance at a fraction of the price seen in classic muscle cars. These newer cars may not have the presence of a vintage GTO, but they’ll easily run with a classic Goat.
The first example of affordable muscle is the 2006 Impala SS. Most people would see this as a car your great-aunt Mabel would drive to church every Sunday, but the 2006 SS told a different story.

The SS came with a 5.3-liter, aluminum V-8 that pumped out 303 horsepower. This humble-looking car could do 0-60 in 5.6 seconds, a ¼ mile in 14 seconds and it could hit 154 miles per hour. Those numbers put this 19-year-old Impala SS up there with any classic muscle car from the classic era and its current average retail price is 3800 bucks. Sure, it’s not an SS 396—but for that kind of money you can easily justify it as a cheap second car.
The 2007 SRT8 Charger is another great example of affordable 21st Century muscle.

This Charger had a 6.1 3G hemi option that packed 425 horsepower—the same rating as the 2G 426 hemi. Purists will argue that the 426 hemi’s horsepower numbers were vastly underrated and they’re correct—but this next-gen hemi Charger could do a whopping 165 miles per hour and had a 5-second 0-60 time.
A 2007 Charger has none of the storied history seen in a ’68 Charger RT, but the 3G version is going to outrun the 2G all day—every day. Factor in the 8800-dollar average retail price and you get the Charger name with mega-Charger performance for a fraction of the classic Charger price. To repeat, the ’68 Charger is a legend, but the 2007 Charger is a faster non-legend.
Ford’s 21st Century muscle car came in the form of the 2005 Mustang GT.

This car was a decent recreation of the original Mustang, and it came with some serious punch. There’s a 4.6-liter, DOHC aluminum block V-8, packing 300-horsepower under the hood.
The 2005 Mustang GT did 0-60 in 5.2 seconds with a ¼ mile time of 13.8 seconds at 13.8 seconds. Those numbers would easily put you in an alpha position on the street back in the late 60s. You can find a 2007 Mustang GT 2025 for an average price of $6750—try finding a Boss 302 for under 100K.

The last example of affordable 21st Century muscle is an odd one because it’s a Cadillac.

The 2006 Cadillac STS came with a supercharged 4.6-liter, 32-valve, DOHC V-8 packing 320 horses. It did 0-60 in 5.3 seconds, ¼ mile in 13.9 seconds and topped out at 154 miles per hour. That’s how much things changed in the 21st century—a Caddy became a monster muscle car, and you can buy one for an average price of 6000 bucks.
None of these cars will surpass the legend of a GTO or GTX, but all of them are faster and far more affordable
Time will tell if they become classics—nobody can deny their raw numbers .
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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