If everything goes right, pony cars are about to get really interesting. Ford is reportedly working on something new and Chevrolet is reportedly bringing back the Camaro. However, The next generation of mainstream American performance cars is going to look much different than the recent era of Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger that many of us are fond of, and all signs point to Dodge being right 20 years ago. Even if some of the discourse at the time was offended by the then-new LX-body Charger’s form factor.
That’s right! After being told the sedan was dead and the muscle car was dead, the industry shrugged its shoulders and asked the important question: porque no los dos?
Meanwhile, the venerable Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana gain something significant for 2027, Gordon Murray is set to reveal another hypercar, and the Land Rover you probably forgot about it set to end production this year. Welcome back to The Morning Dump, where we slice and dice the car news of the morning into tasting-sized portions. Matt is at Monterey Car Week this week along with most of the crew, which means I’m holding it down on desk duty. Let’s get cracking.
The Mustang Sedan Is Reportedly Real
Last year, Ford filed a trademark application for the model name “Mach 4,” which sent the internet into a frenzy of rumors. Could we finally be getting a Mustang sedan, or perhaps even an all-wheel-drive model? It turns out that the former is far more probable, as Automotive News reports that a full-scale prototype example was recently shown to dealers.
Ford also brought an early prototype of a four-door Mustang onto the stage, giving dealers the clearest view yet of a product first revealed at a 2024 meeting and reported by Automotive News. Multiple people who saw the prototype likened its size and design to a Porsche Panamera.
The people asked not to be identified because the meeting was not open to the public.
Executives promised that the four-door Mustang would have a price tag of less than $40,000, a 0-to-60 mph time of under 4 seconds and more rear-seat space than the Panamera, according to two of the people. Ford did not discuss a name at the meeting but previously has identified it to dealers as the Mach-4.
If the purported Mustang sedan is indeed the size of a Panamera, it’s going to be huge. Porsche’s large sedan measures 198.9 inches stem-to-stern in standard-wheelbase trim and 204.8 inches long in long-wheelbase Executive form. The former figure’s more than 10 inches longer than a Mustang coupe and the latter’s merely 1.8 inches shorter than the new Dodge Charger. That ballpark would make sense given the limited rear seat space in the current Mustang coupe, but it’s still quite the departure for one of America’s most iconic nameplates and it might not be alone.
A few days prior, GM Authority dropped a new report on the forthcoming seventh-generation Camaro. If it pans out, GM’s pony car could also adopt additional doors.
One of the most obvious changes for the new Camaro will be the body style, with GM Authority sources indicating the new Camaro will boast four doors, rather than a traditional two-door layout. The four-door model would reportedly feature dimensions comparable to the Chevy Malibu or Chevy SS.
So what’s with the shift? Well, unlike in the ’80s, coupes just don’t work for most people anymore. As soon as you have kids, you have rear seat access and car seat fitment and all that to worry about. Not to mention stroller and diaper bag storage. Once those kids get a little bit older, they’ll go to school and make friends which means a middle seat in the rear—a rarity in modern coupes—becomes an enormous convenience. As your kids grow up, they might get too tall for the tight rear headroom of many modern coupes, and by the time they’re through college, your knees might just say no to daily-driving a low-slung two-door.
For the most part, this relegates modern coupes to second-car status, sometimes even third-car status. And that’s hard to justify. When the median house price in America is $410,700 and the average new car carries a transaction price of around $49,000, the prospect of another new car payment is often just too much for the personal spreadsheet. However, add a pair of rear doors and suddenly, you have a far more justifiable daily driver. One that you can easily do the school run, the airport run, or the lunch run in.
Dodge figured this out two decades ago with the reborn Charger. Purists were up in arms about it having four doors, but guess what? It sold, and sold well throughout that generation’s entire production run. In 2019, the Dodge Charger outsold the Ford Mustang and more than doubled the sales figures of the Camaro. And that’s with the two-door Challenger alongside it. Understandably, Dodge still offers a four-door version of the new Charger, and while sales of the LB-generation car hasn’t exactly picked up where the old model left off due to a controversial EV-first launch and premium pricing, the four-door option opens that model up to those who simply couldn’t make a coupe work.
A Touch Of Modernity
It’s an unusually exciting time for the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans. GM’s oldest vehicles are getting their first big standard equipment addition in years. The previously-fitted old-school head unit with no built-in Bluetooth is going in the bin in favor of a modestly-sized touchscreen infotainment system. As first reported by GM Authority:
The updated system, identified by RPO code IOR, will feature a seven-inch HD color touchscreen in the Express, along with Bluetooth phone connectivity and Bluetooth audio streaming. The upgrade will apply across the Express lineup, including Cargo, Passenger, and Cutaway models.
This is essentially the same infotainment system as in a base Chevrolet Trax, although its feature set in the Express and Savana hasn’t been confirmed yet beyond bluetooth audio streaming. It might still have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto stripped out of it, but at least GM van drivers should now be able to wirelessly listen to their favorite podcasts on the go without the need for a phone dongle to split charging and AUX duties. While photos of the new unit in the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana haven’t been released yet, don’t expect a whole new dashboard. It should still be fairly simple in there, as you’d expect for vehicles with their roots in the ’90s.
A New Gordon Murray Car Is Coming
It’s just about the eve of Monterey Car Week, and Gordon Murray Special Vehicles is looking to make a splash. It just released this teaser photo of a new hypercar that seems to sport a roof scoop and NACA ducts and a delightfully flat deck. Is there a whiff of S1 LM to the silhouette? Certainly, but it’s not that few-off limited-run special that broke the internet last Car Week.
So what could we be looking at here? It’s safe to assume it runs a Cosworth V12 and features a carbon fiber tub, although beyond that it’s anyone’s guess. Just figure it’s going to be rare, it’s going to be expensive, and with several members of The Autopian on the ground for Car Week, we’ll be there with photos of it in the sunshine.
Wait, They Still Make That?
Quick, can you name every model in the current Land Rover lineup? There’s obviously the Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport, along with the Defender. The Range Rover Evoque and Velar are still with us, as is the Land Rover Discovery, but one of the marque’s seven distinct lines is coming to a close in its current form. The entry-level Discovery Sport is set to roll off into the sunset. As Autocar reports:
A JLR spokesperson told Autocar: “Discovery Sport production will end in December 2026, in line with normal product lifecycles. As part of this transition there will be a managed sunset of manufacturing ahead of this date for certain markets.”
The compact, unibody Discovery Sport is a car that I legitimately forgot Land Rover still made. Not because it had been memory-holed for any particular reason, but because it’s both the slowest-selling car in the range and it’s very difficult to tell the difference between a 2025 model and a 2020 model. It’s the Ann Veal of the Land Rover lineup [Ed note: her?], present but not massively memorable. Believe it or not, the model’s discontinuation was actually announced two weeks ago, only to be met with the equivalent of a shrug. Truly, you heard it here third, but someone could tell you again in another two weeks and you’d probably have completely forgotten the news. Either way, it’s the natural end of the Discovery Sport’s model cycle, so it doesn’t make sense to update it to meet GSR2 requirements. If you want an entry-level Landie, there’s always the Evoque.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Last weekend was a bit hectic. Several big car shows, places to go, people to see, but I kicked it all off with a bucket-list concert: Broken Social Scene, Metric, and Stars. Hearing “Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl” live is simply sensational, especially on a warm night as the sun sets on the city skyline. Sing it with me now, “Park that car, drop that phone…”
The Big Question:
All these rumored four-door pony cars beg a question: What’s the least-practical car you would actually daily drive?
Top graphic image: Dodge
My issue with 4 door vehicles is getting in and out with the short doors, if you’re tall.
The Aussies have been making four-door muscle cars for decades, the Ford Falcon, and the Holden Commodore.
(Used to make, rather).
I welcome the idea of a four‑door Mustang as long as it stays true to its heritage. The two‑door will always be the purist’s Mustang, but there is nothing wrong with offering a four‑door or other variations when the core DNA is still present. The line only gets crossed when the design drifts so far that it becomes absurd. A Mustang minivan, for example, would genuinely bother me.
A four‑door Mustang is something I have wanted ever since I had kids. A Mustang EV is simply a modern interpretation, and even the Mach E, while borderline, still lands close enough to feel acceptable.
I would rather see a mix of purist models and thoughtful variations than watch an iconic nameplate disappear because a company refused to evolve. If we only catered to the purist, and I say this as someone who leans purist myself, we would still be riding horses. Horses pulled wagons, which technically makes the Mustang wagon the first Mustang variation.
Adaptation is how a legend survives.
* I didn’t plan that analogy at all, but somehow it ended up working way too well.
The one time I drove a rental Camaro (circa 2012) I found myself thinking it was more fun than expected and thinking I might even be tempted if you could get the same experience in a more useful package (that wasn’t a Cadillac). I may be an oddity on this board but I have no use for a two door car unless it’s absolutely gorgeous otherwise I’ll take four door usefulness.
There has been essentially no Camaro ever made that would’ve looked good with 4 doors so I’m curious to see what GM does with this, though if it isn’t trying to also share with a 2 door there’s actually a chance it will be well proportioned. Of course giving current GM styling trends I don’t have much hope.
You make an interesting point, because the Camaro really does have a design problem. It can either stay a purest Camaro, or it has to go through a generation where the body leans toward a different design language so it can eventually evolve into a four‑door. The current proportions are too tight and too heavy to stretch naturally. The Mustang does not have that issue, because its proportions already allow for a longer roofline, extra doors, and subtle changes to the body without losing the identity. If Chevrolet ever brings the Camaro back, I think it needs to return to the 1967 SSRS design language. That car had the right balance of elegance and aggression, with a long hood, a clean roofline, and a stance that could support both a purist coupe and a modern reinterpretation. A design language like that could eventually support a four‑door version without breaking what makes it a Camaro.
Yeh I mean the 1967 SS/RS is a sought after classic for a reason and was one of my early car enthusiast (in the late ’90s though lol) dream cars. Though to be pedantic for a moment wasn’t the 5th generation Camaro (’10-’15) sort of an attempt to do this, albeit probably more influenced by the ’69 SS? But pedantry aside yes I think they need to look at the clean lines of the early cars and their implied aggression through stance and subtle details, and stop fooling themselves that anything to do with the Transformers is culturally relevant anymore.
Honestly I think Dodge did this shockingly well with the 2nd gen Charger sedan and possibly even with the new 3rd generation one above; though that’s the only pic I’ve seen so need to see more before I can have a real feel for it. So if GM can do their version of the Charger I think they could have a real hit on their hand, though there is also a question if part of the Charger’s success was being the last one standing.
The least practical car I would consider as a daily is a sedan. I’m not a fan of the body style as I see them as impractical form over function in the world of cars with hatches but I could see the day that we buy a sedan. Especially now that wagons are basically dead in the USA.
I’m one of the unicorns for whom a personal coupe DD is perfectly feasible. I just replace my totaled 2007 335 convertible with a 2022 E450 cabrio and can’t see going to anything larger. If all these 4-door models came with convertible options I’d be less concerned, but top-down motoring in something other than a Wrangler or Bronco might be going the way of the Dodo & manual transmission…
It’s cliched, but if you want a manual, 2-door, convertible, there’s always the MX-5/Miata.
The Charger may be ridiculously long, but it was always a large vehicle (minus the Mitsu-derived version). The Mach 4 however is based on the Mustang which for most of its history was the most compact of the American muscle cars and IMO was behind much if its unique appear. The New Mach 4 should have dimensions similar to the 1st generation Fusion.
I live in Maine and have dailied a RWD BMW coupe and would have no problem going far less practical than that. An acquaintance once slapped snow tires on a Gallardo and drove that through the winter, and I vibe with that.
As an aside quite a few years ago we had an office with no parking and I had a monthly space in one of the garages in town, and for some reason all of the impractical cars had a tendency to park in the same corner on the third floor of the garage. There were some BMW M cars, an Aston Martin, a Jag F-Type, and a few muscle cars, all daily driven in the winter, snow be damned.
Gotta love the practicality of Mainiacs – if you own a car – drive it!
That’s pretty awesome. When I lived in Montana I daily’ed at different times a Pontiac Trans Am and an e30 BMW through the winter. With snow tires the e30 was actually pretty decent. But I was a poor student when I had the Trans Am and left whatever crappy all seasons it came with on through the winter, which was a bit scary, even at low throttle the upshift to second would gently slide the tail out because of the shift kit I had put in. I think the only reason it even moved under its own power was because it had a limited slip diff. A buddy of mine had an ex-cop car Caprice with the LT1, also with a limited slip but he could afford snow tires and even with all that power it was surprisingly drivable. I imagine Maine(ers?) are similarly stoic to Montanans about the winters and snowy driving. I will say after 3 or 4 winters in the BMW I was beginning to eye WRXs pretty hard.
I don’t buy the kids/carseats argument. The avg new car buyer is 55+. Birthrates are below replacement.
I’d buy the argument that people are choosing big cars because of pets before kids.
The Mustang 4dr is here to save the Mustang couple and convertible, not bury them. Seriously the Mustang doesn’t have the volume needed to support a dedicated production line, unless the base price goes up. A sedan version will allow the coupe and convertible to live on.
As far as the name goes Falcon like many people have mentioned is definitely a non-starter. Non-boomers most likely associate the name with the hipster movement who drove them as the non-car car. Those former hipsters are unlikely to be buying a performance sedan at this point in their lives and people who are familiar with those hipsters will also be turned by the association with hipsters. Us boomers associate the name with the dowdy hand-me-down from Mom and were jealous of their cousin with the cool Mom who got the hand-me-down Mustang.
You might think the name ‘Falcon’ doesn’t work for a 4-door muscle car, but when the Australians wake up, they’ll tell you differently.
Yes, but this a vehicle for the US market.
So, we’re all too lazy to put kids in the back seat of a two-door car.
I have 3 grown kids now and I alternated with my wife to take and pick up at daycare, elementary, and high school in a 2-door Integra, a MINI Cooper S, and a BRZ. Six years between the oldest and next, so two car seats in the back. It looked like the MINI was designed with the seats. Youngest son hit six-foot while I had the BRZ.
Oh, yeah; they’ve all been manuals.
Come on people…
Before or after the requirement to have kids in a rear facing car seat until they weight 40 lbs?
It was before, but they were rear facing for a short time.
There’s an MX-5 parked down the road from me, that has a kid’s seat on the passenger side.
Hm. I daily-drove a Ural Retro sidecar motorcycle for a while, not really a car but I suppose it’s the least-practical vehicle I’ve driven daily. So I guess I’ll daily anything that’s more practical than that.
Four Door Muscle cars fit in with NASCAR. They are getting a new chevy body in a year or two. A new four door ford might gain some interest, And rumor is Dodge will be back in 2027 with a “white” engine. ie not a dodge engine just body. Hopefully sales help support these kind of cars.
TBQ: Funny enough, a 2-door coupe! I’m a loner, inconvenient/non-existent back seats are not a problem, so I’d rather lose the bulk and weight of them and the back doors.
While I had a certain level of resentment for the automatic transmission, the frameless windows made an awful racket at highway speeds, and the sunroof was on the way to giving me a permanent kink in my neck from having to tilt my head in order not to hit it, I still miss that Ford ZX2.
One thing I always found funny with a lot of older Japanese cars that came in multiple styles was that if you rank them by weight they almost always lined up in the order of 2-door hatch being the lightest, then 4-door sedan, 2-door sedan, and finally 2-door coupe being the heaviest, and their chassis rigidity also went from 2-door hatch being best to 2-door coupe being worst in the same order. Meanwhile their looks said the exact opposite.
In my honest opinion, the big trend away from coupes, 2-doors, sedans, and wagons can be blamed mostly on “big car-seat” and “big stroller” companies. If you compare what your average parent needs to carry around today vs about 30 years ago the space it takes up now is mind-blowing. I’m not in any way going to say that the safety advances aren’t also as mind-blowing, but I wish they put more effort into compactness.
(Take this with a grain of salt as I’ve never had a kid nor plan to)
Parents don’t “need” to carry around a ton of stuff, they just choose to. That said, rear-facing car seats make 2-door cars very impractical for young parents.
In my opinion car seats are a huge part of the decline in coupes and a big part of the decline in sedans.
Yeh I’ve been wondering this. Honestly can’t help but wonder if it’s helped drive some of the overall increase in car size. My wife and I have been talking about kids and I’m a tall guy and there are some small cars I couldn’t comfortably fit in front of a rear facing child seat if she was driving.
Also think about how your back will feel stooped over lifting a 30lb kid into a rear facing car seat in a sedan with low seats and low door openings.
ugh that too, let alone if it was a coupe 🙁
My sister-in-law preferred a two-door car, because once you put the front seat forward, you actually have more room in front of the rear seats, which made strapping in my niece much easier. Instead of having to awkwardly stand outside the car and bend in, she could stand fully inside the car.
If only Chevrolet had a historic nameplate they could use for a Camaro-sized, Camaro-adjacent car that came in four doors.
Lumina?
Nova. I think everyone forgot the badge engineered Isuzu I mark. Except me, I can never forget the automotive atrocities of the 80s
Your memory is a little lacking as the last Nova was a rebadged Corolla, not an I-mark.
Oh shit I thought it was based off the i mark i stand corrected
1st gen Isuzu I-Mark = Buick Opel by Isuzu (man, what a mouthful)
2nd gen Isuzu I-Mark = Chevy Spectrum / Geo Spectrum / Pontiac Sunburst
Surely not the Corvair! Though it was larger, Chevelle would be a good alternative.
I’ve dailied a Fiero before. I could probably still go less practical than that.
Ford, who love pulling old model names out and slapping them on new models for the brand recognition, not putting the obvious name on the 4-door Mustang. WTFalcon.
I’ve daily driven my Triumph Spitfire in the summer. Even I am not enough of a Mainuh to drive that car in the wintah.
TBQ: my Crosley Speedster. No weather protection, limited carrying capacity, slow and only 90% reliable. I love it.
https://itisgood.org/auto-biography/#52Speedster
Four door pony cars, bring ‘em on. Anything to hold back the SUV and brodozer onslaught. That would have been a great concert to attend! I’m envious! The JLR, and vans not really interested.
Cough cough CTS(V) cough cough
Sorry, had to clear my throat. Ummmmm, I live in CA now. I’m about 2 hours away from Monterrey. If I come down, and bring a nice jacket with me, can you get me in, please????
This almost 2% of the reason why I moved here in the first place.
Monterrey is in Mexico. Monterey (of the car show) is in (US) California.
I r enginear
Lol