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Discover more online... 01 Culture vulture Seek and you shall find: the arts New York state of mind The highlights www.departures-international.com beyond the metropolitan sprawl. departures-international.com/NY-culture 02 Restful Retreats Beyond NYC, the Empire State’s other sybaritic hotspots departures-international.com/NY-spa 03 call of the big apple A top-to-tail, all-borough guide to the best of NYC departures-international.com/NY-guide
HOME+DESIGN THE GLOBAL GUIDE TO MATERIAL COMFORTS The SRT Viper, one of the stateside specimens wooing international petrolheads On the road TRANSATLANTIC MUSCLE How do Europe and America’s high-powered head-turners stack up against each other? KEVIN HACKETT compares the latest models © CHRYSLER More bang for your buck – that’s what the great American muscle car has always offered. Take an average looking car, shoehorn a whacking big V8 engine under its bonnet and send all that power to the rear wheels using the most rudimentary drivetrains imaginable. It’s a recipe that has served American manufacturers extremely well over the decades and, ever since Europeans witnessed Steve McQueen lighting up his Mustang’s rear tyres in the 1968 film Bullitt, there has been a fascination with these intensely manly cars. Those American carmakers know that the European market is hugely important when it comes to sales potential, and the current crop of unashamedly retro cars on offer has been designed and engineered to a standard hitherto unseen from the US. Ford’s new Mustang, for instance, has a clear mission, and that’s to steal sales from the European establishment. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Jaguar have all taken the muscle car concept and run with it, although their efforts have been more embracing of modern drivetrain technology. You get more bang, certainly, but you pay more of those bucks for bombproof construction, increased reliability and absolute refinement. That heady mix of saloon car practicality combined with the rip-snorting soundtrack from a race-tuned engine and enough power to embarrass supercars at the lights will always appeal to certain kinds of drivers and enthusiasts alike. Gentlemen, pop that brave pill and start your engines – the muscle car is alive and in rude health. Here’s the pick of the crop. departures-international.com 49
