SADDLE UP; Three new pony cars-Camaro, Challenger and Mustang-prove that these aren't the good old days . . . they're better.(NEWS)

Byline: ROGER HART

Forty summers ago was a magical time for performance-car enthusiastsspecifically for fans of high-horsepower pony cars. The summer of 1969 broke with Detroit in a high-octane horsepower war among the Big Three automakers. With the carmakers trying to outmuscle one another, the winners were the customers.

By 1969, Ford's Mustang had been around nearly half a decade, and hundreds of thousands were on the road. The local Ford dealership had eight Mustang engine variants for sale, from a pedestrian six-cylinder, 220-hp model all the way up to the Boss 429 cranking out 370 hp.

At the Chevrolet store, the Camaro, launched in 1967 as a Mustang fighter, was gaining traction against the original pony car, with 10 versions for sale. At the bottom was a 140-hp six-cylinder, at the top a 396-cubic-inch V8 making 375 hp.

Chrysler arrived late to the pony-car battle, but when it did, with a 1970-model-year car, it came with the biggest gun: the Dodge Challenger R/T, with a 426 V8 Hemi cranking out 425 hp, just one of the models among 11 Challenger offerings.

Those were the good old days.

Fast-forward 40 years, and you can once again find brand-new Camaros, Challengers and Mustangs for sale. And after spending a week with the latest editions of Detroit's pony carsthe Camaro SS, the Challenger SRT8 and the Mustang Shelby GT500we could make a strong argument that the cars are far better today.