Muscle-Car Purchases Range From Cash Deals for Chevy Corvettes to Long Loans for Dodge Chargers

Americans are buying more modern-day muscle cars, and financing them in a wide variety of ways.

An Experian Automotive study says Chevrolet Corvette and Dodge Viper buyers were more likely to pay cash than were buyers of the Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger.

More than 40% of Corvette buyers and 34.5% of Viper buyers paid up front, a 101.8% increase over the next highest model.

The Charger at 12.3% was leased most often, a full 64% increase over the next model reviewed in the study.

Of financed vehicles, Charger and Challenger purchasers were the most likely to stretch out the payback terms of loans. Nearly 52.4% of Charger buyers and 49.6% of Challenger buyers had loan terms between 73 and 84 months, according to Experian.

Both models had the highest rates of borrowers with subprime credit scores of 600 or lower: 23% for Charger and 18.3% for Challenger.

“With the Viper and the Corvette being on the higher (price) end of the muscle cars reviewed, it's not that surprising that a higher percentage of consumers paid for them in cash,” says Melinda Zabritski, senior director-automotive finance, a credit reporting company.

“Our findings show that those buyers had the highest credit scores (with the average a full 26 points higher than people buying the other models), which could indicate that they have more disposable income,” she says.

One interesting result of the study is the loan profile of Challenger and Charger buyers, she says. “With so many of them in the subprime category and such a high percentage taking out longer loans, these consumers were probably offered higher interest rates, which motivated them to find ways to help keep their payments low.”

The study says new registrations of American muscle increased 35.4% over the past nine years. The Mustang took the top spot (77,000 new registrations), followed by the Camaro (66,000), Charger (55,000), Challenger (50,000), Corvette (32,000) and Viper (1,000).

“The love of the Mustang combined with the reintroduction of the Camaro, Challenger and Charger has sparked a resurgence of the muscle car,” says Brad Smith, Experian’s director-automotive statistics.

Ironically, the resurgence comes at a time the federal government has stepped up mandated fuel-economy goals. Automakers hope to achieve those in part by selling more hybrid and electric vehicles as well as vehicles with smaller engines.

The growing popularity of muscle cars “might run contrary to conventional wisdom,” Smith says. “But consumers are continuing to show their appreciation for a part of American history, and not steering away from raw horsepower to focus solely on fuel efficiency.”

Then again, modern muscle cars with highly efficient engines achieve respectable fuel mileage in contrast to their predecessors. Those were utter gas guzzlers. 

Regionally, Texans were more likely to buy muscle cars than consumers elsewhere. The next highest-ranking states were Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and Nevada.

Conversely, Vermonters were the least likely to buy an American muscle car, followed by Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire.

Different climates might explain why muscle cars are more popular in the Sunbelt than in the Northeast. “The slippery winter roads of the Northeast and the rear-wheel drive of muscle cars do not make for a safe combination,” Smith says.

Not surprising, males are more likely to buy an American muscle car, according to Experian.

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