As I pulled in to the staging area, my journalist friend was waiting. He explained that he had just driven the new Camaro the day before, and was eager to see how the Challenger stacked up. When I encountered him later between test track and handling track, I could see the smile on his face from a good distance away. He pulled up, giddy as a schoolgirl, and I asked him how he thought it compared to the Camaro.

“This is much better,” he said. “The Camaro is a very nice car, but I like this one a lot better.” I told him that he’ll like it even more once he got on the handling track, and then stepped back as he pulled away, still smiling.