Feature Car

	2008 Dodge Challenger SRT 6.1 L Hemi 6 Speed Manual See it at this year's Nats

2008 Dodge Challenger R/T

Making its debut at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show was the Dodge Challenger R/T Concept. Featuring a 6.1L Hemi borrowed from the SRT8 product line and coupled to a Viper 6 speed manual transmission, it was an instant success at the show. So much so, that DaimlerChrysler has rumored to already given the program the "GO" for a late 2008 debut. Based on the 1970 Dodge Challenger, the new hip-looking performance coupe was penned in Chrysler's West Coast Pacifica design studios by Michael Castiglione, principal exterior designer. and rides on Chrysler's LX platform that also is used for the Charger, Dodge Magnum and Chrysler 300. The  Challenger Concept rides on a 116-inch wheelbase, six inches longer than the original icon, four inches shorter than the current LX, but is more squat as it sits two inches wider and has a higher "thrust" line running in a horizontal arch through the fender and door to its kickup just in front of the rear wheel. The Challenger rides on five-spoke, 20-inch front, 21 inch rear chrome wheels which are moved out to the body edges to give the car the aggressive look of the 2000's.

The 6.1L Hemi has 425 hp, 420 lb-ft of torque, so geared, with its 4,100 pound weight, it can do 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, and runs the quarter mile in 13 seconds flat; top speed is 174 mph (limited by wind resistance), while gas mileage is estimated at 14 city, 20 highway, very good compared with the original Challenger. Brakes are more effective than the original - stopping from 60 mph can be done in 133 feet.

The concept car itself was built very quickly by Metalcrafters, which builds Chrysler’s concepts; the body is made of carbon fiber, not steel or fiberglass. The color is original for the concept, though the Hemi has authentic orange paint. One of the key characteristics of the original car was the wide look of both the front and back ends. To achieve this the designers increased both the front and rear tracks to 64 and 65 inches respectively, wider than the LX, wider even than the 1970 model. To realize the long horizontal hood the designers deemed essential, the front overhang was also increased.

Both the hood and the deck lid of the Challenger concept vehicle are higher than the 1970 in order to lift and “present” the front and rear themes. The front end features the signature Dodge crossbar grille and four headlamps deeply recessed into the iconic car-wide horizontal cavity. Diagonally staggered in plan view, the outboard lamps are set forward, the “six-shooter” inboard lamps slightly rearward. At the rear, the car-wide cavity motif is repeated, encompassing a full-width neon-lit taillamp. Both the grille and the front and rear lamps are set into carbon-fiber surrounds. Like the original, slim rectangular side marker lamps define the ends of the car.

The hood reprises the original Challenger “performance hood” and its twin diagonal scoops, now with functional butterfly-valve intakes. Designed to showcase the modern techniques used in fabricating the car, what look like painted racing stripes are actually the exposed carbon fiber of the hood material. Bumpers are clean (no guards), body-color, and flush with the body. “This is something we would have loved to do on the original Challenger,” said Jeff Godshall, Chrysler Interior designer, who was a young designer when the first Challenger was created, “but the technology just wasn’t there.”

The Challenger concept is a genuine four-passenger car. Compared to the original, the greenhouse is longer, the windshield and backlite faster, and the side glass narrower. All glass is set flush with the body without moldings, another touch the original designers could only wish for. The car is a genuine two-door hardtop with the belt line ramping up assertively at the quarter window just forward of the wide C-pillar. Exterior details one might expect, like a racing-type gas cap, hood tie-down pins, louvered backlite and bold bodyside striping, didn’t make the “cut,” the designers feeling such assorted bits would detract from the purity of the monochromatic body form. But tucked under the rear bumper are the twin-rectangle pipes of the dual exhausts. A modern interpretation of the original styled quad style exhaust outlets.

The interior is black relieved by satin silver accents and narrow orange bands on the seat backs. “Though the 1970 model was looked to for inspiration, we wanted to capture the memory of that car, but expressed in more contemporary surfaces, materials and textures,” said Alan Barrington, principal interior designer. As with the original car, the instrumental panel pad sits high, intersected on the driver’s side by a sculpted trapezoidal cluster containing three circular in-line analog gauge openings.

“We designed the gauge holes to appear as if you are looking down into the engine cylinders with the head off,” relates Barrington. These are flanked outboard by a computer, allowing the driver to determine top overall speed, quarter-mile time and speed, and top speed for each of the gears.

With its thick, easy-grip rim, circular hub and pierced silver spokes, the leather-wrapped steering wheel evokes the original car’s “Tuff” wheel, as does the steering column “ribbing.” The floor console, its center surface tipped toward the driver, is fitted with a proper “pistol grip” shifter shaped just right to master the quick, crisp shifts possible with the six-speed manual transmission.

As the original Challenger was the first car to have injection-molded door trim panels (now common practice), the doors received special attention. “We imagined that the door panel was a billet of aluminum covered with a dark rubberized material,” Barrington relates. “Then we cut into it to create a silver trapezoidal cove for the armrest.”

So there you have it.  A close look at the next muscle car offering from Dodge. The Challenger . . . it does its past proud

Note:  Vehicles pictured in the Mopar Nationals "Feature Car" are usually past participants of the Mopar Nationals that have submitted picture(s) with their entry. They are chosen by Mopar Nationals.  All rights reserved by Mopar Nationals per the signed Participants entry form.