The best thing about muscle cars is that they’re cheap. Not as cheap as budget econo-boxes, of course, but they present a heck of a bargain.

Take the Chevy Camaro, for example. In its home market, it starts at less than $26k. But if you want to buy one in China, it’ll cost you more than twice that.

GM has just announced pricing for the sixth-generation Camaro in the so-called People’s Republic, where it starts at RMB 399,900. At current exchange rates, that works out to more than $58,000, or more than double what it costs Stateside.

Put another way, the base Camaro – offered with in RS spec with the 2.0-liter turbo four mated to an eight-speed automatic – costs nearly as much in China as the top-of-the-line ZL1 does in America.

Want a V6 or V8? Too bad, because it’s not on offer in China, where the costs associated with importing a new car from outside the country are prohibitive, and the tax rates on larger engines are even more so.

Lest you think GM is being unreasonable, Ford charges almost exactly the same – 399,800 yuan – for a base Mustang EcoBoost in China. But the Blue Oval will also sell you a Mustang GT with a V8 in China for about 700,000 yuan, or roughly $100k in American greenbacks.

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