1996 Pontiac Firebird The all-American muscle car, with a V6 variation. By Don Fuller, New Car Test Drive .com

The definition of the American muscle car centers on lots of performance for not much

money. Big engines, driving the rear wheels, in swoopy 2-door bodies. And of all these

fairly affordable muscle cars that once poured off the American industry's assembly

lines, the General Motors F-body cousins--the Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro--are

the only two that have offered, year in and year out, an unbroken line of performance

of this uniquely American recipe.

Some diehard sentimentalists moan the passing of what they remember as truly fast

cars, but they ought to open their eyes. The current Firebird and Camaro are far

faster than their ancestors ever thought about being, and they're better in every

other way, too. At the top you'll find the Firebird Formula and Trans Am, available

with GM's familiar 5.7-liter V8 rated at 285 hp. With the optional WS6 Ram Air

package, horsepower is upped to a remarkable 305, zero-60 mph will take less than six

seconds and the top speed will nudge 160.

But there's something even more surprising than that--and with more real-world

significance, as well. The base Firebird--and its Camaro cousin--is fitted with GM's

3800 Series II, a 3.8-liter V6 that's been massaged and polished to 200 hp and 225

lb.-ft. of torque, and it will go to 6000 rpm. It doesn't require elephantine memory

to remember when V8 Firebirds didn't have 200 horsepower.

What you have with the V6 Firebird is V8-level performance, 6-cyl. economy, a total price under $20,000 and a car your insurance agent probably won't notice unless you get giddy and tell him.