What 16 year old kid hasn’t dreamed of someday owning a new Mustang, Challenger, Camaro or the like? That’s how it was nearly a half century ago and, fortunately, the dream lives on more than four decades later.

With all the weeping and moaning about the state of the American automobile industry today, isn’t it amazing that right here... right now, in 2010, we still have a choice of three great American brand ‘pony cars’ from which to choose?

For Pablo and The FIN MAN^TM, choosing is what the annual new car show is all about. Like so many in today’s miserable economy, we ‘choose’ what we would ‘buy’ IF we had the money to do so.

Say what you will about the 2010 new car show held a few weeks ago at America’s Center (and many of my readers did)... one thing is certain– American muscle was well represented.

Pablo has been eyeing up the 5th generation Camaro ever since the Zeta platform based concept model was unveiled four years ago. The long-anticipated return of the Camaro nameplate was far too long in coming for Camaro fans, but their anticipation was finally rewarded when production models hit the showroom floors in the spring of 2009.

Although I grew up ‘back in the day’, and have been a long time enthusiast of collectible automobiles from the fifties, sixties and seventies, I think the new Camaro is freaking awesome... and just about the ‘baddest’ looking set of wheels on the road. And by ‘bad’ of course, I mean ‘good’. There’s no mistaking it– that roof line is definitely vintage Camaro, but from any direction, the new model is totally more aggressive in appearance. Just take a look at that front end with its hooded ‘eyes’ and sinister, toothy grin. One glance at that face in your rearview mirror and it’s all you can do not to pull over to the shoulder and get the heck out of its way. It isn’t hard to see why Pablo picked the new Camaro as his choice for favorite new car of the year.

Rolling the clock back forty years, Camaro for ‘69 found itself smack dab in the middle of the muscle car era. Competing with Ford’s fabulously successful Mustang, the Camaro was a member of the ‘pony car’ club, a more compact and personal muscle car... a ‘2+2’ for those who could have cared less about rear seat passenger comfort or luggage compartment space. Folks with that mind set could buy a Fairlane or Chevelle.

A choice of nine engines was offered to Camaro buyers for model year 1969. The standard, base model was the 230 cubic inch, Turbo-Thrift in-line six which produced 140 horsepower. Next in the lineup of ‘standard’ engines was a slightly larger (250 cubic inch) in-line six which upped power output to 155. Climbing the power ladder one more rung, Chevy’s ‘Turbo-Fire 327 V-8’ produced 210 horsepower. From there on up, one had to reach further down into the pocketbook to lay claim to one of Chevy’s high performance V-8s. Two ‘Turbo-Fire 350’ V-8s were available and were rated at 255 and 300 ponies. Displacement took a jump from this point with 396 being the magic and mighty number. Entry level 396 Turbo-Jet engines produced either 300 or 325 horsepower and king of the ‘mills’ was the 375 horse, 396... a fire-breathing, gas guzzling monster that blazed a trail from one gas station to the next at break neck speed.

Transferring the muscle to the rear wheels was accomplished by a range of available transmissions including Chevrolet’s Powerglide; a GM Turbo Hydra-Matic; Torque-Drive, 4-Speed manual in close or wide ratios and Standard or Special 3-Speed manual. Although the brochure lists a ‘floor shift’ as optional for 3-speed equipped Camaros, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one with a column-mounted shifter.

A full compliment of convenience, appearance and performance options was available to Camaro buyers including the expected power steering and brakes, power windows and seats, and various combinations of AM/FM Stereo radios. Keeping your cool while driving in the summer was made easy with Four-Season Air Conditioning, a feature that was becoming ever more popular by the end of the sixties– one that cost Camaro buyers nearly $400.00 more at the cashier’s window. Camaro rag tops went up and down by hand, unless buyers were willing to shell out an extra fifty-three dollars for hydraulics. Several sport packages with striping and performance features were offered at various price points. One of the top versions was the RPO Z-28 Special Performance Package with sport suspension; heavy-duty cooling system; quick ratio steering; white letter tires; Rally stirpes on hood and rear deck and dual exhaust with special ‘deep toned’ muffler. Now you’re speaking the FIN MAN’s language!

Now let’s set our clocks back to 2010 and do a little side-by-side comparison. In case you thought the days of corporate rivalry and muscle car horsepower races went out with leisure suits, lava lamps and Presto Hot Doggers, think again. Modern technology and design have led to great advances... like a 3.6 liter, six cylinder engine under the base Camaro’s hood that produces 304 horsepower, launches the Camaro from zero to 60 MPH in just 6.1 seconds and delivers approximately 30 miles per gallon. You had to buy a big block, 396 cubic inch mill back ‘in the day’ to reach 300 horsepower... and I guaran-damn-tee you it didn’t come within a dozen car lengths of that gas mileage figure! You were doing good to get it in the double digit range. Then there was the maintenance issues. This was when we changed oil every thousand miles and replaced spark plugs, points and condensers (remember them?) at 10k. (Follow up: I’m getting ready to replace the spark plugs on my ‘97 Lincoln Continental for the first time at 160,000 miles! And, I’ve never had an engine or transmission problem in all of those miles. [Now where did I leave that block of wood when I need it?!?])

A fully optioned Camaro coupe would have set you back approximately $4,700.00 in 1969. According to the Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator, that equals $28,974.82 in 2010 bucks... nearly dead on the mark what a 2010 model comparably equipped would run you. Those sticker prices really aren’t so bad after all when you think about it now are they? I wonder if the costs of baseball, hot dogs and apple pie have fared as well?

As I like to say, "No, they sure don’t make ‘em like they used to– and that’s a GOOD THING!

Read "Chevy Camaro flexes its muscles in classy comeback", my column from May 26, 2009 about the 1969 Camaro and the new 2010 model at stltoday.com/rides. (Click on "more classic rides" at the bottom of the page and scroll to the title.)