As is tradition in the collector-car world, a quarter century typically marks a vehicle?s transition from ?used? to ?classic,? so for a look back at the Class of 2013, that is, the cars turning 25 years old this year, let?s dig up some old photos we took at that year?s New York International Auto Show.
We?ll start off with the Shelby GT500 above, one of the highlights from the revived pony car wars of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Billed as the most powerful production V-8, the supercharged 5.8-liter aluminum-block dual overhead-camshaft engine was initially expected to put out just 650hp, but later SAE testing pegged it at 662 horsepower and 631 pound-feet. Backed by a Tremec 6060 six-speed manual transmission and a carbon-fiber driveshaft, the GT500, which Ford introduced for the 2013 model year, was reportedly good for a 3.5-second 0-60, 11.6 seconds in the quarter mile, and more than 200 MPH top speed.
Of course, the GT500 started at about $54,000 and got about 15 MPG (city, 24 highway) at a time when Americans were still recovering from the Great Recession of 2008, so Ford also had a more economical sporty car, the Ford Focus ST. The successor to the much-lauded SVT Focus, the ST also relied on boost ? in this case a turbocharger ? to pump more ponies from its engine: 252 horsepower and 270 pound-feet from the EcoBoost four-cylinder, reined in with a Torque Vectoring Control system. Also like the GT500, the ST came only with a six-speed manual transmission, but unlike the GT500, the ST started at about $24,000 and returned 23 MPG (in the city, 32 on the highway).
The GT500?s main competition was, of course, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1, which borrowed the 580hp supercharged 6.2-liter LSA V-8 from the Cadillac CTS-V, tweaked a little to fit the fifth-generation retro Camaro. Introduced in 2012, the ZL-1 offered both the Tremec 6060 six-speed manual and the Hydra-Matic 6L90 six-speed automatic transmission, which featured a manual mode. Both manual and automatic versions ran the quarter-mile in 11.9 seconds, but Chevrolet made much ado about the ZL-1?s N?rburgring lap time of 7 minutes, 41.27 seconds, about on par with the Porsche 911 Turbo S.
While Dodge?s retro Challenger ? along with its SRT8 high-performance version ? remained in the lineup in 2013, it was the four-door Charger that had more recently received some attention from Dodge, with more aggressive styling that took more than a few design cues from the 1971-1974 Charger. Other ties to Mopar history included the 392-cu.in. Hemi V-8 used in the SRT8 version of the Charger (good for 470hp and 470 pound-feet of torque) and the Super Bee package, offered only on the SRT8 version.
An altogether different approach to retro-inspired performance cars was the Scion FR-S, one of the offspring (the others being the Subaru BRZ and the Toyota 86) of the partnership between Subaru and Toyota. Ostensibly inspired by the Toyota 2000GT and the GT86 Corolla, the FR-S indeed marked a return to rear-wheel drive for Toyota?s automobiles (and the first rear-wheel-drive car offered by youth-oriented Scion). It featured a front-mounted 200hp 2.0-liter boxer four-cylinder to keep the car?s center of gravity low, a choice between a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmissions, and optional limited-slip differential, all designed with a younger, drifting-centric demographic in mind.
While BMW had a couple years prior introduced the 1-series, which many compared favorably to the earlier 2002 for its nimble, back-to-basics feel, that didn?t mean the 3 series went unnoticed. Perennially favored by automotive journalists, the M3 was hailed as one of the best all-around performance cars of its time, with a 414hp 4.0-liter 32-valve V-8, six-speed manual transmission, and suspension and braking systems designed by actual wizards in pointy hats with stars on them. The one we spotted at the auto show had taken the trend of matte finishes from a few years prior and perfected it.
Oh, hey, we see they debuted the all-new Rancor-looking Jeep Cherokee at the auto show that year too. Nobody cared.
The Lexus LFA, Toyota?s entry in the supercar/hypercar madness that continued from the early 2000s into the next decade, had just ended production shortly before that year?s New York International Auto Show. Generally considered to be a superlative car, powered by a 412kW 4.8-liter V-10 and using technology developed by Toyota?s efforts in Formula One, only 500 were built over the span of two years.
While not technically a 2013 model, the new Chevrolet SS deserves an honorable mention here if only for the return of a full-size rear-wheel-drive sedan to the bowtie division?s lineup for the first time since 1996. Based on the Holden VF Commodore ? and in turn used as the basis for Chevrolet?s stock car racing efforts ? the SS used a 415hp LS-series 6.2-liter V-8 and a six-speed automatic transmission (no manual was offered).
Of course, this overview doesn?t include everything one could consider classic or collectible from the 2013 model year. What are your suggestions for the Class of 2013?
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