Image courtesy of Chevrolet.

With the modern musclecar war in full swing it’s kill or be killed in a market that is flooded with 400+ horse V8-powered American iron. And while we are busy enjoying the cavalcade of power rolling out of Detroit, we have noticed that a pricing war has kicked off as well. You might remember that we recently reported that GM was offering all sorts of incentives to buyers to trade in their pony-badged rides for something a little more push-roddy (yeah, we just made that a word). Not only that, but for the first time in 22 months, the Camaro is finally out selling the Mustang—‘bout time. And 2017 is set to escalate—or deescalate depending on how you look at it—the rivalry between these two greats.

Chevrolet is looking to retain its Mustang-crushing lead by lowering prices even further in 2017 by offering a new, lower cost base model called the 1LS. This model will come equipped with the 2.0 liter turbocharged four cylindered backed only by a six-speed manual transmission. This eliminates the 1LT manual option which now only comes equipped with an 8-speed auto but is $1,200 less than it was before; coming in at $27,595. The base model will start off at $25,905, which is still more expensive than the base Mustang that starts at $24,815—but lets be honest, you more worried about what this means for V8 pricing.

Image courtesy of Chevrolet.

While you may be disappointed to hear that if you are looking for a hardtop 2LT, 1SS, or 2SS the pricing will remain unchanged from 2016 at $31,400, $36,905, and $41,905 respectively. However, you may be glad to hear that convertible pricing has dropped across the entire range. This includes the ragtop versions of the 1SS and 2SS who’s prices have seen a drop of $1,000 to $42,905 and $47,905 respectively.

And though $1,000 might seem like a drop in the bucket when you are paying almost $50,000 for a car, you can always put that money towards the tires you will inevitably be burning off while showing the new Mustang just how good the Camaro looks from behind.

Image courtesy of Chevrolet.