Even now in the middle of one of the strongest muscle car revival periods in the automobile industry, muscle car lovers are worried that the days of the muscle car may soon come to an end. The reason that they have to complain that muscle cars may soon be a thing of the past is that the 35 MPG fuel economy standard is soon to come into effect. When this occurs in thirteen years, many people believe that the muscle car as we know it today will simply cease to exist.

However, there is an important reason that muscle cars will be able to continue being produced even under the 35 MPG standard. This new and stricter fuel economy law doesn’t apply to every car which rolls off of the assembly line – it only applies to the average fuel economy of the entire fleet of cars that an automaker produces. Not every car which an automaker produces will have to adhere to 35 MPG, the overall fuel economy of the fleet will simply have to be increased by about forty percent overall.

Car manufacturers will adapt to the new regulations by producing a large number of compacts and subcompacts, as well as continuing to put their research and development investment dollars into hybrid engine technology, drive trains and the like. The big car companies want to be able to continue producing the kind of high performance cars that everyone likes to buy – they will succeed in doing this by providing the full range of options.

High economy cars will become more high economy under the new laws and will be produced in greater numbers, while the major auto companies continue to produce cars like the Ford Mustang, the Dodge Challenger and the Chevrolet Camaro. These cars with their long histories in the auto industry are not going to be retired anytime soon – the auto showrooms of the future will provide plenty of muscle for the high performance enthusiast while also showing off new hybrid designs which incorporate the latest in green technology to get great gas mileage and city performance.

Muscle car enthusiasts have worried that the end of the muscle market could be nigh in the past – the 70s fuel crunch led to changes in the industry which had people thinking that muscle cars would never be able to be the same, what with the addition of such technologies as emissions control systems and catalytic converters. How wrong they were – today we are seeing more high performance muscle car inspired designs coming out from the major manufacturers than we have in years!

The point to remember is that as long as there is a market for the muscle car, auto manufacturers are going to continue to develop them. Things will continue to get better with such advancements arriving in the near future as more direct-injection engines, turbo chargers and super chargers. So don’t worry about the future of the muscle car industry – the 35 MPG isn’t going to stop anyone from enjoying the cars that they love.