For better or worse, the upcoming 2015 Ford Mustang will be offered with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. It'll still be plenty powerful, but many will argue that a true pony car doesn't require turbocharging; only a V6 or V8 will do. It turns out that the Chevrolet Camaro's chief engineer, Al Oppenheiser, fully agrees. In a recent interview given at SEMA, Oppenheiser reiterated that although this is currently "the golden era of the pony car...there may be a day when nobody: Ford, Chrysler or GM has a V8."

But for the time being, Oppenheiser made clear his intentions for the Camaro: "As long as they'll pay me to be the chief engineer, I'm going to fight for every horsepower I can and every cylinder I can." The new Z/28 and its 7.0-liter V8 is crystal clear proof of his efforts. But what about the next-gen Camaro, which will likely be built on a smaller and lighter rear-wheel-drive platform? Oppenheiser stressed greater use of "premium lightweight materials" and other fuel-saving features such as the new Corvette's seven-speed manual. For now, the current Camaro won't get a turbo four. Here's hoping future Camaros won't either.