Midnight

Challenger Concept Buzz Breaks Edmunds.com Record
FireHouse.biz

The buzz over the Dodge Challenger concept car just won't quit.

Evidence? Edmunds.com posted a story about the car on Jan. 5. Since then, the story's had almost 600,000 hits...the most ever for a vehicle profile on the site. Yup...more than that other concept musclecar hitting the auto show circuit this year.

So we just had to ring up Scott Oldham, who wrote the story to find out why the Challenger's buzz is louder than ever.

Below are some excerpts from the interview but to hear the entire 9:08 podcast, just click on "download podcast" below. As always, feel free to use anything on the podcast for your stories.

Excerpts from interview with Scott Oldham, Edmunds.com's Inside Line.
What was the Challenger's accomplishment on the site?

The Challenger story I did for Inside Line was the most popular story ever posted on the website. It is continuously breaking its own record.

How many hits?
I think we're creeping up on 600,000 pretty rapidly and that is by far the most popular story on our website right now.

Previous champ?
Not a close second, actually about half that was a road test I did on the most recent redesign of the Civic Si, and Civics are always a very popular car on Edmunds and Inside Line. The fact that that story is about 300,350 is remarkable in itself and it only reiterates how powerful the Challenger story is and how popular.

Why has the buzz around Challenger remained so hot?

The muscle cars and cars like the original Challenger are so enduring and they only get more popular with age so I believe the vehicle and wonderful execution of the vehicle is fueling it for the most part. I'd like to think my spectacular execution of the article had a little something to do with it, but people do want to read about that car and if you ask me I think they want to buy that car. Our story had a grander dimension to it. The access we got into the Pacifica Design Studio down in Carlsbad and to the two designers that were responsible for the vehicle I think really added to the story.

The designers really opened the doors to us.

I had met Michael Castiglione a few years ago when I did an article for the L.A. Times on another car he designed so when I realized it was him I recognized him, he recognized me, we remembered we were both muscle car-heads..he has an old Camaro, I have an old Camaro. We sat down and it was like two old muscle car buddies talking about their latest toy and I think that enthusiasm came through in the story.

What's the criteria for an acceptable update of an iconic design?

If I knew that I think I'd be a rich man. A car has to have a certain "it" factor. It's not the kind of thing that can just be designed in. If it was, every car would have it, every vehicle would have it and that goes for these retro designs too, even the bringing back of a retro nameplate. Either a car sort of hits that magical combination or it doesn't. We all seen product you think are going to be successful and they're not, and you see other vehicles everyone dismisses as "just ain't gonna happen" but the public responds to them. It's everything from a sub-compact "A" car all the way up to exotics, a car has to have an "it" factor. This Challenger is one of those cars. The production version we've yet to see and this orange show car seems to have that and people can't seem to get enough of it. On a personal view of it, I see it, and I'm glad that it's happening since I'm such a muscle car freak.

Jeremiah 29:11

Sounds like the Challenger is the "American Idol" as it has the "IT" factor.