YEP! I owned an original and HELL YEAH, it was a fun car and (beautiful) but it was by no means the equivalent of todays vehicles. There are Neons that would embarass the old Challengers today. Yes you could spend $45,000 to improve an old Challenger to todays standards, but then it is no longer THE old Challenger. Yes the body lines would be the same and you could have the interior re-sewn in leather to match the original. You can put a crate engine in it to get the performance you want. You could put on an aftermarket suspension to make it corner flat (although I could do amazing things with that crude torsion bar and leaf spring suspension), BUT you know you no longer have an original. I absolutely loved mine. Bought it at 17 years of age with my own hard earned money. I owned that car for 17 years and when we parted ways we had enjoyed over 100,000 (hard) and joyful miles together. Would I take her over a modern day equivalent-NO!
I will have a factory warranty and ALL the modern amenities with my NEW Challenger. I won't have to keep a ballast resistor in the glove box. (If you're over 40 you probably know what that is.) I won't have to add a half a quart of oil every 500-1000 miles. I won't have to worry about overheating or vapor lock or RUST! For my money I'll take the new Challenger and its supposed shortcomings. I think that this is a very faithful homage to the original without some of the quirks of the original. It lacks a few of the nuances of the original sure, but overall I think that the new Challenger has "IT" especially when compared to what else is out there. Remember the original Charger. At least they didn't screw it up that bad!