You live near HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital on West 23rd Street, you need real back-seat room for the kids on Saturday, and you want a car that feels like a reward after a 12-hour shift. The Panhandle won't make you pick one. Our used inventory at Bay Cars carries the three performance names that fit this exact puzzle, the Dodge Charger, the Ford Mustang, and the Chevrolet Camaro. Below, we'll walk each one across a real Panama City day, and why we'd steer most families toward one before the others.
What's the Route?
The route is four stops on a single tank, starting at the hospital campus and looping out to the beach before heading home, and while it covers a lot of ground the whole thing stays short, with the US-98 beach stretch the only leg that can crawl in summer traffic. Verified drive times sit in the table below.
| Stop | Drive from previous stop | What you're doing | What to pack |
|---|---|---|---|
| HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital (449 W. 23rd St.) | Start | End of shift, commute base | Work bag, phone charger |
| Bay Cars (615 W. 15th St.) | 4 min via 23rd St. / US-231 | Browse the lot on the way home | Nothing (we'll handle it) |
| Frank Brown Park / Pier Park area (Panama City Beach) | 22 min via US-98 W | Grocery run, lunch, errands | Reusable bags, snacks |
| St. Andrews State Park (4607 State Park Ln., PCB) | 10 min from Pier Park area | Beach afternoon, kids in tow | Chairs, cooler, sunscreen, towels |
You'll run the whole loop in under an hour of driving, total.
The Stops, Car by Car
Stop 1: The Commute from 23rd Street
The Dodge Charger is the one we keep pointing to for drivers logging serious miles on the US-98 and US-231 corridors, and the case is practical rather than emotional, because it seats five, wears four doors, and steps up to a proper V8. The 3.6-liter V6 base is rated by the EPA at 19 city / 30 highway, which is reasonable for a full-size performance sedan. Step up to the R/T and you'll get Dodge's 5.7-liter HEMI V8 at 370 horsepower. The R/T is the sweet spot for a hospital commuter who wants a genuine power bump but can live with everyday fuel costs.
The downside worth naming is the cabin. In base trims the Charger's materials feel utilitarian, and it won't make you smile the same way turning onto 23rd Street at 6 AM. If that matters to you, the Lexus ES 350 is a different conversation entirely. It's not a luxury car.
Stop 2: Frank Brown Park and Pier Park Errands
The Charger earns its keep at this stop over the two-door options, since errands need cargo room and it carries the space the coupes don't, even if that practicality costs it some of the tossable feel a lighter two-door delivers on an open road. It has 16.5 cubic feet of trunk space (verified by manufacturer specs), which is about twice what the Camaro gives you. The Chevrolet Camaro's trunk checks in at 7.3 to 9.1 cubic feet depending on trim and body style. Call it a small-weekend-bag trunk on a car that looks full-size.
The Camaro is genuinely the sharper-handling car of the three. Its 6.2-liter V8 in LT1/SS trim produces 455 horsepower and 445 lb-ft of torque, and it's lighter on its feet than the Challenger. For a driver who wants a Panhandle carve on a Sunday with no cargo and no kids, the Camaro is hard to beat.
Chevrolet discontinued the Camaro after 2024. You'll struggle to fit a cooler in that trunk.
Stop 3: St. Andrews State Park
The Ford Mustang handles the fun-on-the-way stretch of US-98 to the park better than the other two, especially in EcoBoost or GT trim, though that upside comes wrapped around a serious catch for anyone hauling kids. Ford lists the 2022-2023 Mustang GT's 5.0-liter V8 at 450 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque. The EcoBoost four-cylinder at 310-315 horsepower is lighter in the nose, which means more responsive steering on the beach roads. Salt air matters here. If you're parking near the water at St. Andrews regularly, look for a used Mustang with documented service history and check the undercarriage carefully. The Gulf Coast environment is harder on brake components and exposed metal than inland Florida.
The Mustang's tradeoff for family use comes down to the doors. It's a two-door. Getting two kids into a back seat through a fastback door is a genuine daily annoyance, not a small one. If your family is two adults, or you're parking the kids-duty car separately, the Mustang is a strong call. If your daily reality involves car seats, the Charger's four doors are worth more than the extra horsepower.
- [ ] Check the used Charger, Mustang, or Camaro for salt-air corrosion on brake lines and undercarriage
- [ ] Confirm automatic climate control is included on your specific trim
- [ ] Verify the Charger's back-seat measurements fit your car seats before buying
- [ ] Test the trunk fit with your actual cooler (not hypothetically)
- [ ] Confirm model year and powertrain: a 2021-2023 Charger R/T gives the 5.7L HEMI; Scat Pack gives the 6.4L
- [ ] Ask our team at Bay Cars about the vehicle history report on any used performance car
Tweak It to Your Crew
Not everyone runs this route with the family in tow, so the right car shifts with whichever stop you weight heaviest, and the two-door options come right back into the picture the moment car seats drop out of your daily math. If it's just you and a passenger and you want the most engaging drive, the Camaro's chassis is the sharpest in the group. If straight-line punch and a sound track that carries across a parking lot matter to you, the 2022 or 2023 Challenger R/T (5.7-liter HEMI, 375 horsepower) fits that bill and gives you the Widebody option for the visual statement. The Challenger, like the Charger, seats five with four doors. The Challenger is the wider, heavier sibling (more boulevard cruiser than back-road handler).
Our advice on the lot comes down to one question. Decide which stop on this route you care about most. Prioritize the commute and the kids? Charger. Prioritize the drive itself? Camaro or Mustang. Want to own the parking lot at every stop? Challenger. All four sit in the used performance segment we've got at Bay Cars.
There's a used performance car for your version of a Panama City day. Come walk the lot with us on 15th Street, and we'll help you match the car to the life, not just the spec sheet.