Big Three Look Back To Past Glories And Dream Of Muscle

DETROIT, Jan. 9 — One of the Ford Motor Companys showcase concept cars is the imposing Interceptor sedan, with its big wheels and a burly front end that suggests an armor-plated battering ram.

Lest anybody miss the point, it becomes clear as the car rotates on its turntable for a rear view. There, in brushed aluminum block letters, the license plate reads: MUSCLE, with the U and the S in red and blue.

It is a license plate that could easily appear on other cars here, most from Detroit but some from its foreign competitors. As Detroit automakers try to find a winning game plan to reverse their sliding market share, it is clear from the cars on display at the North American International Auto Show here that they are trying to play up a distinct advantage over their Asian and European competitors — nobody, after all, can design the look of the American muscle car quite like American car companies.

Its absolutely legitimate for American producers to reach back into their rich heritage, said Robert A. Lutz, the vice chairman of General Motors. The appeal of Detroits classic cars also goes well beyond American shores, he added.

Even middle-aged Chinese remember seeing secret photographs of Buick Rivieras and Camaros and Mustangs, and they thought, Whoa, communism is good, but this looks even better, he said.

But demographics and car buyers changing tastes may work against Detroits efforts, say Japanese executives. These cars resonate best with buyers who can remember them — an aging group — and they cannot be Detroits only response, these executives say, if it hopes to end a market share decline under way for a decade.

And, of course, these cars have never been about fuel economy, which has become an overriding issue since gasoline prices spiked last year.

Heritage is one play — but its not the only play, said James Lentz, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. He added, Eventually, you run out of things in your closet.

Mr. Lutz, perhaps more than any other executive in Detroit, has pushed strategy and design in the direction of muscle cars. The sculpted sides and hood stripes on a bright orange Camaro convertible concept car instantly bring to mind the Camaros of the past.

A short walk away is the latest incarnation of the Dodge Viper, which almost single-handedly revived interest in Chrysler a decade and a half ago, thanks to a design championed by Mr. Lutz, who was then the No. 2 executive there. This Viper, with a V-10 engine that generates 600 horsepower, looks even more like another Detroit classic, the Chevrolet Corvette.

There is a good chance that some of these cars will be on American roads in a few years. G.M. has already announced plans to build the Camaro hardtop, while Chrysler plans to build the Dodge Challenger, which it showed as a concept car last year.

Chrysler already has a track record with at least one of its muscle cars, the Chrysler 300 sedan, a hit with urban buyers from the moment it hit the market three years go. Though its initial buzz has faded somewhat, the 300C still managed flat sales in 2006 despite a jump in gasoline prices that sent sales of Chryslers sport utility vehicles plummeting.

Fords Mustang, meanwhile, has been a rare bright note for the company, which is facing one of the deepest financial crises in its history. Mustang, reincarnated in 2004, rose to 166,530 sales last year, up 3.5 percent.

The Mustang provides the underpinnings for the Interceptor, whose gutsy, low-riding stance immediately says gangster — a look reinforced inside with its brushed aluminum and black interior.

That can only be an American sedan, said Mark Fields, the president of Fords operations for the Americas. Its got a rawness to it that is really what were known for.

Just to underline the point, a fleet of Mustangs, in red, white and black, is parked nearby. Ford plans to turn out a new Mustang every year in the hope of building on the current cars momentum, Mr. Fields said.

The strategy has its risks, of course. By 2010, when the concept cars on display here may be on sale, more than 50 percent of the American public will be under age 40, far too young to remember when the inspirations for these cars cruised on American roads.

Mr. Fields acknowledged that. If you take 10 youngsters and show them that Interceptor, they wont give a hoot about the history, he said.

To these younger buyers, classic cars might well be something like the Acura Integra, Hondas original entry-level luxury car from the 1980s, and even Honda Civic coupes, which have become the favorite cars for the customizing crowd.

Nick Bunkley contributed reporting.

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