Fuel prices, pollution concerns and rising costs of the cars themselves eventually killed off the muscle cars. It didn't stop us loving them though, like characters in the Terminator movies - er, sort of, anyway - even if we went 'underground' to nurture our passion and beliefs.

To do my bit, I bought a lime green Dodge Charger. It was bigger than the village I tried to keep it in and would not, technically, fit into any of our major towns. I am still paying for the petrol it used during its 12-month tenure with me. I adored it then and adore it still. Driving it, I felt as though everything but the engine was transparent and invisible, that it was reduced simply to a massive V8, rumbling and growling its way along the roads. I was subservient to the engine, and happily so.

I replaced the Charger with a Mustang. It's a 390 GT, the same year and model as the Bullitt car and, originally, in the same Highland Green. I treasure it more than my legs, despite it recently forgetting that it should have brakes and depositing me in the field opposite my drive. And now, with the arrival of the Challenger, a new generation can embrace the muscle car and feel the power.

Chrysler got it right. The Challenger uses the platform from the 300C. Not a bad thing to base a muscle car on, but ultimately, who cares? At the front, it's got a massive 6.1-litre Hemi V8, and it puts out the same 425bhp as the original.

That power charges through a five-speed automatic 'box to the rear wheels via a limited-slip diff, which should handily remove the need for a steering wheel. I have a limited-slip diff in my Mustang and find the best way to park it is to drive up perpendicular to the parking space and apply a massive amount of right boot, encouraging the tail to slither round, slotting the car in and making cool marks on the road.

There are some suspiciously sophisticated features about the place: independent rear suspension - rather than the more traditional cart springs - and coilover gas-charged dampers at the front.

These are not, strictly, in the tradition of the muscle car - they smack a bit too much of pussyfooting about the place trying not to trip over, rather than running into the saloon and kicking people's heads in. But owners don't have to tell their mates about these things - they can be a dark secret under the surface. What they will not be able to hide is the look of it; and it is bang on.

How a modern car manufacturer has managed to create such a long, low, lean and sinister shape and still adhere to the pedestrian safety laws and regulations that have everyone else turning out cars with big squashy bonnets five feet off the ground and bumpers like wheelie bins strapped on front and back, I just don't know. And I'd rather not - the more mystery the better.

The interior is terrible, and so it should be. I hope they have the sense to do a black plastic option with a vinyl dash. All I want inside is a super-wide rear-view mirror for those Vanishing Point shots of the road receding behind. There's probably room in the back for a couple of passengers, but who cares? It will have a boot, you can put stuff in it, so what? There will be a 3.5-litre V6 version next year, for idiots to buy. Why would you want that? It's like popping into the dragon shop for a pet and coming out with a poodle.

In the States, the SRT-8, with the proper 6.1-litre Hemi is going to cost $37,995, which is 25p. It won't be officially imported to the UK, and there won't be a right-hand version. There will be a lot of them on our roads very quickly though. If there's any hope left for us at all.