18 Responses to “New Dodge Challenger”

1. #1 by anon
   January 23rd, 2006 at 2:25 pm

   Good gravy, Jek is already going through a mid life crisis. This is what you did with your time after I dropped you off at the airport, look at car mags? Did I contribute to this regression in some way? What about the car I took you to the airport in that you thought was so cool? And, what’s the price of gas in Germany?
2. #2 by MRambler
   January 24th, 2006 at 5:25 pm

   I noticed that they used the ’71 style grille….. I wonder if it looks as good in person as in the picture?…. The only gripe I have about retro cars is against Chrysler…. A four-door Charger – GIVE ME A BREAK – what a disappointment….. And, Anon, if you’ve never taken a ride in vintage Hemi-powered MoPar, you don’t know what you missed… I used to own a number of Challengers, Jek grew-up around them…. One was a ’71 426 Hemi, 4-speed with a 4:11 Dana rear-end with only 21,000 miles on it…. One of only 59 built…. I sold it in 1989 for $45,000.00 dollars….. Great price…. The down side?….. That car is now worth a cool Quarter of a Million dollars and is increasing in value every day…… I wish I would have held on to it, but hindsight is 20/20, you know…….
3. #3 by Randalf the Grey
   January 25th, 2006 at 12:42 am

   These retro cars are aimed directly at us boomers. I have to admit that I’ve gazed longingly at those
   50th anniversary Thunderbirds–something that would be about as useful as tits on a boar hog up here in
   the mountains, fourteen miles from the nearest paved road. My new F-150 4X4 is much more practical–we’ve
   gotten 22.5 inches of snow in the last week. In 1966, after I totalled my first car (’56 Fairlane), I
   almost bought a ’56 T-bird, but my wise old dad steered me toward something more practical–a ’63 Rambler
   American. Yeah, I know, all my friends laughed at me back then, too. But that old Rambler had front seats
   that reclined completely flush with the back seats, so as to make a full sized bed, which came in very
   handy. I joyfully “lost” my virginity in that rascal. It could also haul a lot of band gear for a car.
4. #4 by huskysooner
   January 25th, 2006 at 8:48 am

   I don’t like them at all, though the retro Challenger certainly looks better than the retro Mustang. And the Thurnderbird…. yuck. My idea of a good looking old car is a Mercedes 300 SL or a Jag XK-E.

   These retro cars seem to follow the cubic-inches-uber-alles philosophy. Isn’t getting 290 hp out of 3.2 L V6 (non-turbo), as the Acura NS-X does, cooler than a mine-is-bigger-than-yours contest? The NS-X gets similar 0-60 and quarter mile performance, and ostensibly brakes and handles better, too. Or, for something in between, the BMW M5 — a 5.0 L V10 with 500 hp, sequential manual gearbox like they have on F1 cars, all in a conservative looking sedan. A wee bit more expensive than the retro cars, though.

   With the mentality of American car manufacturers, I’m surprised they didn’t try to turn the name into somekind of Challenger-styled SUV.
5. #5 by anon
   January 25th, 2006 at 11:36 pm

   M.R.
   No rides in that particular car. Other muscle cars though. But, ahh, The Rambler with the fold down seats! My buddy had a 40 Ford coup with a Caddy, 4 on the floor, and rolled and pleated. A show car. On serious dates he borrowed his dad’s Rambler.
6. #6 by Randalf the Grey
   January 25th, 2006 at 11:49 pm

   I still think the T-Bird is a great looking car, h-sooner. I have to agree with you about the Mustang though.
   Of course, I think we’re still talking asthetics here, and, as MR once told me, “Beauty is in the eye of the
   beer-holder”.
   Do you know why the Brits don’t make computers ? They can’t figure out a way to make ’em leak oil.
7. #7 by MRambler
   January 26th, 2006 at 10:17 am

   I like the T-Bird’s design also….. If I was a “Ford” man, I’d probably already have one…. It was the first of the “retro” look cars to hit the market and I was highly impressed with it (Don’t tell all my MoPar friends, but when I was a kid, I loved the ’57 T-Bird, but the MoPar muscle cars soon took over)…. I’m not sure if I want Chrysler to produce the Challenger or not, because if they do, I’m going to have to figure out how to finance one…. I’m sold on it….. Anyone got any loose bucks out there for a car loan?….. I will pay top interest……
8. #8 by J.J.
   January 26th, 2006 at 8:19 pm

   I Have seen It, On TV that is at the detroit auto show they broke it out for a peak I was In Det. when it happened and they covered it on the eve news.
   Everything the pics show in the article mentioned by Jek is there and then some, I am looking forward to it’s release. I probably will not ever be able to afford one but hopefully someone will let me ride in one someday. As for being aimed at the BB’s that is where most of the disposable income lies nowadays, this is a car aimed at persons who want something different not for basic transportation, thats what the acuras and hyundais are for.
   I like the mustang it reminds me of the ’69/70 the real meaty mustange (remember that Jek/MR) Not that I am a ford fan I am mopar all the way but it was nice to see the “Retros” come out a few years ago, I personally do not like the direction that the auto makers went in about 1980. I can remember when you could go to the dealership and spec out a car the way you wanted it and in 6 to 8 weeks you took delivery of a car that was yours not like the one that your neighbor has.
   As for driving a high performance muscle car I had the privlage of driving the afore mentioned ’71 Hemi Challenger one time I know this puts me in a very elite club I think only 5 persons had that privlage. I had a kid in a camaro pull up beside me and well I had to, I don’t think I ever opened the front carb up I let off at the end of 2nd gear needless to say my opponont was at least 2 car lengths behind. I have a saying “Theres no replacement for cubic inch displacement”
   By the way MR, I hope you get one of the new challengers when I finally get my charger restored I want a rematch! I think I still know where green weenie is.
9. #9 by J.J.
   January 26th, 2006 at 8:23 pm

   Thank god they dissolved the plymouth name plate else we would be up to our necks in Retro Cudas!
10. #10 by huskysooner
    January 27th, 2006 at 9:44 am

    RtG — I can just hear the Fiat jokes coming!

    JJ — “There’s no replacement for cubic inch displacement” The current 3.0L V10s in F1 produce 900-1000 hp, which is why they’re mandating dropping back to 2.4L V8s for this next season. In the turbo-era (1980s), the 1.5L Honda V6 produced over 1000 hp.
11. #11 by J.J.
    January 27th, 2006 at 7:15 pm

    Husky, You have to remember that I am an old hot rodder (NO COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY ABOUT MY AGE!MR ) and back in the day the bigger bore you had the more horsepower you could create. Then the engineers started working on important things like heads, intakes, bearing clearances and other important things. Hence being able to create over 500 HP with smaller power plants. But I still take pride in the fact that the fastest self propelled vehicles now days still use the basic Chrysler Hemi design for their motors Top fuel dragsters 310+ Mph ( My statement does not count or take into consideration the land speed record holders or the Bonneville salt flats racers)
12. #12 by Jek
    January 28th, 2006 at 10:20 am

    Wow, what a train of comments. Well, no muscle cars here, there are tons of BMWs as one would expect. Our rental car is a Fiat. Funny, I would have thought we’d get a German car. Anyway, to answer one of Anon’s questions from way back: the price of gas is something like 1.27 Euros/Liter. Before you get excited, that works out to around $6/gal.! BTW, the autobahns are fun and scary!
13. #13 by Sunn
    February 8th, 2006 at 9:10 pm

    jek, how did you post this photo on this blog? What is the procedure?
14. #14 by Jek
    February 9th, 2006 at 9:42 pm

    I’m in negotiations with MR as we speak as to whether to let users upload their own pics in a limited fashion. After we sort it out, I’ll post a message on the procedure if it’s an all go.
15. #15 by Sunn
    February 10th, 2006 at 11:48 am

    Thanks, jek. I just thought it would be nice if we could post band photos, political cartoons, etc. as an attention grabber.
    BTW, are you the Wizard of Oz behind the MR curtain? Seems like you are the computer guru of this blog.
16. #16 by Jek
    February 11th, 2006 at 10:58 am

    No prob. MR has graciously approved image uploads for registered users. Sometime soon I’ll get the instructions posted on how to do it.

    I guess you could consider me the wiz of MRC. While MR does administer MRC, I work on the essentials of the hosted machine, including installing blog plug-ins, applying security patches to the OS and core apps, and backing up the blog data.
17. #17 by MRambler
    February 11th, 2006 at 6:29 pm

    It’s a government run operation….. I’m the known elected figurehead and Jek’s the “unknown to the public” power that really runs things……
18. #18 by Sunn
    February 13th, 2006 at 11:28 am

    MR, sounds somewhat like our political system,eh?

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