We are now in an era of expensive fuel and in this new era governments are making big autos dearer to run. You might think this is not good news for fans of muscle cars. The answer is to follow the trend, and buy a fuel-efficient muscle car.

‘Smaller’ is relative, so if you have a powerful V-8, then a turbo six might be the answer, but if you have a compact V-8 car, you will want to go much smaller – say a two-litre sports car. A disadvantage here is that most of these cars are front-wheel drive which are not so good for muscle cars – but there are a lot about.

The VW Golf GTi is a good example, as is the Volvo C30 T5, but which is quite economical. Both of these are good examples of fast and economical cars.

Others are the Honda Civic Type R and Vauxhall Astra VXR. Or, you can get a smaller car like a

Get an ordinary car tuned up

Another option is to find a very small car and get it tuned up by tuner. There are tuners in almost all countries, even Japan where the regulations are quite strict, but there are still plenty of muscle cars about. You can also make quite an old car, like a little Ford Fiesta go amazingly quickly with the right bits and pieces.

You need a high-lift camshaft performance air filter and freeflow exhaust system. Of course, you need to improve the suspension and brakes as well. You’ll get a lot of fun making the changes and driving the modified car as well.

Not long ago, I was driving to a race track out in the country behind a queue of about 6 cars. We went round a corner, and there was an empty road ahead. In a flash I heard a roar, as someone shifted gear, and a little Vauxhall Corsa, about ten years old, overtook those ahead very quickly. I could see from the fat exahust tail pipe and big tyres that this was a tuned up car - aid did it go! So you see you don’t need a new car to turn it into a fun muscle car.