The Mustang Era is Over, Raptor is King: Trucks are the New Face of American Performance
From the middle of the 1960s right up until quite recently, it was the two-door muscle car, sports car and pony car that best represented the aspirational, unmistakeable face of American performance vehicles.
From the high school parking lot to the local drive-in, and later the corporate parking garage, the cars that young people aspired to own and eventually buy were Mustangs, Trans Ams, Camaros, and Corvettes.
And for some people, that’s still the case. Because who wouldn’t want to own a C8 Vette or a new Mustang Dark Horse if you had the means? These cars still demand lots respect, and their heritage is not be denied.
But more and more in the current cultural landscape, those once ubiquitous nameplates are beginning to take a backseat — or maybe a “bedseat” — to performance pickup trucks and off-road SUVs.
Times are Changing
It’s not that enthusiast trucks and SUVs are new. Pickups have been around just as long as the cars I just mentioned, and there have been some pretty great ones over the years.
The Dodge Lil Red Express of the ‘70s comes to mind, as does the GMC Typhoon, the Ford SVT Lightning or the Ram SRT-10, but those trucks were always niche players.
Today though, with two-door muscle cars falling out of favor both with buyers and the automakers themselves, its the performance trucks that are taking center stage
The Camaro and Challenger? Both gone (for the time being at least). The Trans Am and GTO died with the Pontiac brand 15 years ago and have now shifted to vintage collector car status.
Meanwhile, trucks and SUVs like the Ford Raptor lineup, as well the Ram TRX, Jeep Wrangler 392 and others have emerged as the new torchbearers for aspirational American performance.
Why did this happen? It’s really not hard to figure out just how trucks and SUVs have displaced sedans among mainstream buyers, the pumped-up versions of them are have drastically grown their appeal with enthusiasts.
For the Everyday Enthusiast
As great as the Mustang, Camaro and Corvette are, their usefulness is limited. And they are most appealing to the opposing spectrums of car buyers when it comes to age.
If you are young or don’t have a family, a Mustang or Camaro is a fantastic, cool car to drive everyday. Likewise, the Corvette remains an attainable dream car for many, but it can’t really be a daily driver for anyone but young (who usually can’t afford a $80,000 car).
As it is well known, Vettes are most often brought home by the older buyer who can afford a new sports car as a toy. So much so that it's a long standing internet joke.
But with the exception of the recently-departed Dodge Charger and a certain high-dollar Cadillacs, there just isn’t much in the way of usable American performance cars out there.
However, change “cars” to “trucks” and you open a whole new world options. All with the ability to be used every day, 365 days a year.
Dark Horse vs. Raptor
As an example, let’s compare two similarly-priced performance vehicles in Ford’s current lineup: the Mustang Dark Horse and the Ranger Raptor.
Now in all normal ways, these two vehicles would never be compared. One is a race track-focused V8 coupe. The other is a four-door, 4x4, mid-sized pickup truck with a heavy off-road flavor.
Real World Performance
Both are serious performance products though, with a lot of R&D power behind them. They just go about their performance in different ways.
Sure a Mustang will blow away a Raptor on paved race track. But realistically, how many brand new Mustang owners are doing a track days?
The Mustang will also be faster on the street, but either one is sufficiently quick to have fun. And today’s traffic-choked and deteriorating roads offer fewer and fewer chances to actually use that performance.
On the contrary, the Raptor and others have taken the spirit of the American performance car and repackaged it into a more versatile, more usable package. One that excels in different areas but winds up being every bit as “fun” to own.
A Bigger Niche
With the Ranger Raptor, your sizable purchase price gets you four-doors and a decent back seat. You can soak up potholes in comfort without out worrying about breaking a wheel. Rain and snow are no problem. You can even tow if you want to.
And when it’s time to have fun, you can venture out to your nearest off-road park and rip some donuts, hit some obstacles, or just hit the trails for some slow-paced exploration.
The same can also be said for the Wrangler or Bronco. Or if you need more space and towing capability the full-size F-150 Raptor and Raptor R will handle it all.
Price-wise, vehicles like the Raptor or Wrangler occupy that important space where they aren’t cheap, but they are at least within the realm of being an aspirational purchase for many. And their added practicality makes that aspiration a lot more realistic.
To illustrate that same point, my Honda Civic Type R is priced almost exactly the same as a Mustang GT, but the the Honda being a four-door hatchback that could serve as my only car helped make that large purchase a lot more justifiable.
Aspiration is Everything
Sadly, though American automakers have mostly left that middle tier performance market behind. As a result, the remaining performance road cars have grown more and more out of reach for middle class buyers.
So until I reach a yet-to-be-realized point in my life where I can afford a brand new Mustang or Corvette as a weekend toy, I’m of the group that’s more likely to be interested in a Raptor or Bronco than a Dark Horse.
And that's strange to me because for most of my life, it was always that "cool guy" you saw with the Camaro SS or Mustang GT in the parking lot who you thought had it made.
But for the next generation of enthusiasts it’s probably going to be “that guy with the Raptor” who represents a window into the aspirational American dream — or "dream truck" I should say.
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- While on the subject, we'd still very much like to see a "safari" version of the Mustang....
