DETROIT – It wasn’t the day-glow orange paint or black carbon fiber striping on the long sloping hood of the Dodge Challenger Concept. It wasn’t the liquid burble of the 5.4-liter supercharged V8 just before unleashing a furious 475 horsepower to the Mustang Shelby GT500’s rear wheels. It was the perfume of pure, unadulterated gasoline left in the wake of a parade of classic Chevys that heralded the arrival of the Chevrolet Camaro Concept car at the 2006 North American International Auto Show.

Each tickled the gray matter of my brain, but it was the scent of fuel that got me. It flared my nostrils, invigorated my heart and, suddenly, I was once again young and invincible. My face curled into an involuntary smile of times gone by. It wasn’t a single memory or life-changing moment I recalled. It was collective – pages from the past whirling by in a cloud of fragrant fumes, my hair stirring as the first-generation Camaros revved and rumbled along Cobo Hall’s massive show floor.

In America, they say we’re largely over SUVs and we’ve moved on to CUVs. And, there are some truly safe and practical conveyances that take other forms. There are hot new CUVs that look like trucks and drive like cars, minivans with on-board entertainment studios, and slippery, wind-cheating wagons. But, let’s face it, there’s no there there. Don’t get me wrong. There’s a place for them in driveways across the land. But, do they express passion? No. Even the resurgence of roadsters generally lacks an indefinable soul.

In Detroit, at the 2006 North American International Auto Show, that soul returned to automobiles. Not simply history, nor even performance. We’re talking about legendary horsepower – real muscle. What exactly is it, this mystique that has brought a trio of two-door pony cars to the forefront in a world that has gone green and four-door? And, exactly who will buy them, if the Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger concept cars unveiled in Detroit join the 2007 Mustang Shelby Cobra GT500 in the over-crowded U.S. car market? Baby Boomers? Teenaged tuners? Twenty-something DINKs, with disposable income? These cars are not just cool looking and relatively inexpensive, but they are icons of spirited power. And – the past. Who cares a whip about cupholders? Forget diesel technology! Let the pony car wars begin!