It’s just a matter of time until tailfins are back in style. Across the board American carmakers are drawing from the past to produce their latest string of cars.

Struggling to manufacture a car that people actually want to drive and that dealers can sell without rebates, low financing or other gimmicks, American carmakers are digging deep into their bag of tricks. Instead of a Rabbit, Chrysler pulled out a 1970 Dodge Challenger.

Americans have a love affair with their cars, and few cars inspire car lust like the Challenger. A born street racer with a Hemi for a heart, Challengers quickly dominated the muscle car market before dying out in 1971 due to tightening emissions standards and skyrocketing insurance rates. Chrysler is set to reveal their much anticipated Dodge Challenger SRT-8 in February 2008 at the Chicago Auto Show.

Ford is also leaning heavily on their iconic past. In 2008, they’ll debut their Ford Mustang Bullitt based on the iconic 1968 car racing down San Francisco’s streets with Steve McQueeen at the wheel.Chevrolet is also cashing in on the retro craze with their new Chevrolet Camaro, which will debut in 2009.

Resurrecting a classic can be a risky business. With shoes of folkloric proportions to fill, there are many ways the designers could have gone wrong. But can lightening strike twice in Detroit?

Buyers will not be disappointed

David Whittford, President of Chrysler club Mopar Alley, knows a thing or two about Challengers. Having built and rebuilt Challengers for show and competition, he’s familiar with the car inside and out. This year he had a chance to view the concept car at the Mopars at the Strip event in Las Vegas. How well did Chrysler stay true to its origin?

"The soul of the new Challenger still embodies the soul of the old Challenger," he explains. The lines are similar and even the interior was done right. "Given that you can’t remake a 1970s car, they really held on to the nostalgia feel."

Recreating an icon is no easy task, but Dodge is confident they did it justice. "We understand what the product was and what it wants to be, and we’re trying to strike a balance between heritage and new technology," says Mark Mallie Dodge Brand Manager.

While the public’s initial feedback has been "overwhelming," according to Mallie, will every retro car be as successful as the Challenger? It may be too soon to tell.

Set to debut in 2009, the Chevrolet Camaro is a hard car to bring back because except for a brief retirement in 2002, it never really went away. While Dodge Challenger has a heritage firmly rooted and confined to American muscle, the Camaro has sort of an identity complex that has spanned many eras, a variety of body styles, and assumed several personas. But the car Chevy has chosen to bring back is more Dukes of Hazzard (Cooter’s Car) and less Miami Vice.

"Some people dream about Ferraris, but I dreamed about Camaros," says David Rynard, President of the Central Indiana Camaro club. Rynard surveyed the concept car at the Detroit Auto Show in 2005 and he liked what he saw. But to Rynard, a Camaro is more than just clean lines--he hopes they’ll bring the Z28 back to what it really was, big horsepower and no fills, without the bells and whistles.

"I like to drive a car---I don’t need a navigation system telling me where to go. I don’t need heated seats to warm me up. I just like a car that I can get into and enjoy."

He’s owned a lot of Camaros over the years and in his garage are six--one from each generation. In his collection are his two dream cars, a 1968 and a 1970, and he’s excited about adding the newest generation to his family. But Rynard will not be placing a deposit right of the bat --he’s holding out for the Z28, which Chevy has not confirmed.

Whittford was also a Camaro guy and owned his fair share of street racers, including a ’67 SSRS. "They kept the nice Camaro traits. It still holds on to the pony car shape—the long front end. It looks sporty," he says describing how well the new Camaro reflects its 1967-1969 predecessors.

A booming trend

Boomers are certainly driving carmakers to reproduce the cars of their youth. "There’s a bubble of boomers that are nostalgic and entering their peak earning years, and they’re looking for reward cars. And there’s a younger market looking for a sporty car," Maille comments.

Tapping this wealthy market is a carmaker’s financial Holy Grail, and it’s also an affirmation. "If you can get a boomer to buy a mustang," says Whittford, "you’re doing a good thing."

But are manufacturers doing little more than taking history and repeating itself? "The Dodge Challenger wasn’t a perfect car. It had its issues too." Without giving too much away, Mallie couldn’t say before the official reveal what is different about the new car.

"Not all of our cars are nostalgic. But this car has a future face as well," he continues. Dodge plans to debut with the Dodge Challenger SRT-8, but they plan to have a full line up as well.

Although the final production versions of these cars are kept strictly under wraps, consumers are betting that they’ll like whatever rumbles onto the showroom floor. Thousands have reportedly placed deposits on the Dodge Challenger—a car that they’ve never seen, let alone driven. But early demand may not accurately reflect Dodge’s success, because consumers aren’t necessarily buying a car, they’re buying a dream.