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10 fastest American cars
They've never had much practical use for anything besides bragging rights, but they were as American as a quarter pounder with cheese. Now they ought to be listed with other endangered species like the Eastern cougar and Kemp's Ridley turtle.
I'm talking about fast high-horsepower cars. Really fast cars, like in three times the legal speed limit. The kind you loved in Smokey and the Bandit and Two-Lane Blacktop. Traditional Detroit iron.
The handwriting is on the wall for these V-8-powered monsters. Gas prices are getting scarily high, the climate is getting scarily warm, and the nanny state wants to take all our fun away. Truck owners are already making the switch. Ford is selling more F-150s with sixes than V-8s.
MORE AT CNNMoney.COM
Any day now, you expect to hear rumblings about bringing back the 55 mile-per-hour speed limit. Signed into law in 1974, the so-called "Double Nickel" was widely reviled and widely ignored before it was finally repealed in 1993. As Homer Simpson observed about the 55 mph limit: "Sure, it'll save a few lives, but millions will be late." It helped make the 1970s perhaps the worst decade ever for cars. Remember those speedometers with the big "55" that maxed out at 85 mph?
Herewith, America's fastest cars and a few sensible alternatives. R.I.P.
2011 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
0 to 60
: 3.3 seconds
Top speed: 205 mph
Flagship of the Corvette line, the ZR1 is powered by a supercharged V-8 that puts out 638 horsepower. Reviewing it in 2008, Jeremy Clarkson of Britain's Top Gear said "Oh, it's not built very well. After just three days in my care, the boot lock disintegrated, and the keyless go system refused to acknowledge the keys were in the car, but I didn't mind because there is simply no other car that looks this good, goes this fast -- in a straight line and around corners." 2011 price: $110,300.
For those who like a less-rich confection, there are the Z06 Corvette (198 mph; $74,375); GS (190 mph; $55,045) and Coupe (190 mph; $49,045). GM is engineering an all-new Corvette, but the chances of it building any more 200-mph models are between slim and none.
2005 Ford GT
0 to 60
: 3.3 seconds
Top speed: 205 mph
This is a bit of a cheat because the Ford GT hasn't been in production for five years. It's included because Ford has opted out of the go-fast sweepstakes by limiting its cars to a maximum speed of 155 mph.
The production run of 4,038 GTs ended in September, 2006 with buyers paying $149,995 each. The GT is similar in outward appearance to the original GT40, winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row in the 1960s. That guarantees it will be cop bait.
2010 Dodge Viper SRT10
0 to 60: 3.7 seconds
Top speed: 202 mph
Another dinosaur, the Dodge Viper is on hiatus until the 2012 model year. Given its primitive engineering (the original was already a throwback when it was introduced back in 1991) and minimalist creature comforts, it is amazing the Viper has survived this long. Its iconic 510 cubic inch V-10 engine, which produced 600 horsepower, would clearly seem to be a thing of the past. Dodge says the new Viper will have a shorter hood, be accessible to more people, and be more forgiving on the road. Call it Viper Lite.
Price of the old snake: $92,885.
2012 Cadillac CTS-V
0 to 60
