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Pick a Challenger: A vintage makeover or a new tribute model
09:09 PM CDT on Thursday, August 3, 2006
Terry Box/DMN Automotive Writer
Imagine this: You open the garage in the morning, and two Dodge Challengers await you – one a new Hemi daily driver, and the other a vintage weekend ground-pounder.
That fantasy is now a possibility – albeit a six-figure one.
Last month, Dodge finally confirmed that it will build a retro-inspired Challenger for 2008 that should look a lot like the tangerine-colored concept car photographed by every car magazine on Earth.
About the same time, Unique Performance of Farmers Branch announced that its next retro-mod car will be a Chip Foose-designed 1970 Challenger powered either by a new 5.7-liter Hemi or an old-school-style 426 Hemi crate motor.
If muscle cars pop your bacon, these pack some heat.
Dodge hasn't disclosed where its new Challenger will be assembled, what platform it will ride on or what engines will motorvate it.
But it's safe to presume that the Challenger will be built on the excellent LX platform shared by the Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger.
Likewise, the Challenger should be available with all the engines in those cars – from the pedestrian 2.7-liter V-6 to the great 6.1-liter 425-horsepower SRT Hemi.
"I can tell you that at this point, we have a very good idea of what we are doing, what the car will look like and what sort of content it will have," said Jim Yetter, senior manager for Dodge car and minivan marketing.
He hinted that the Challenger will arrive at dealers sometime in the spring of 2008, looking more or less like the concept car.
"You should be able to set them side by side, and they will look nearly identical," Mr. Yetter said.
The Challenger should also have the first manual transmission in decades in a Dodge car with a V-8 engine. "I can't tell you specifically what transmissions we will offer," Mr. Yetter said. "But we're committed to doing a Challenger the way they did in the '70s and make it modern. A manual transmission, in my mind, is part of that."
The porky Challenger – the concept weighed more than 2 tons – may not lose much, if any, weight as it is whipped into shape for production. But it is likely to be priced reasonably in the conventional Mustang's $19,250 to $31,280 range.
Meanwhile, Unique Performance is taking orders for its Challenger and plans to build around 100 cars, probably at prices ranging from $150,000 to something less than $200,000. Unique also builds the GT 500 "Eleanor" Mustang, GT 350SR Mustang and '69 Foose Camaro.
Details are being finalized, but Foose Challenger should be available with either late-model or old-school Hemis coupled with TKO 5-speed transmissions. The thoroughly upgraded cars will get Unique Performance suspensions, four-wheel disc brakes, Foose 18-inch wheels and Foose styling.
"We haven't dialed in how much horsepower we'll put in them," said Doug Hasty, chief executive of Unique Performance. "With the 426, it will definitely be over 550."
Unique plans to sell its first Challenger at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., in January. The growing company also is negotiating a lease on new quarters – a 400,000-square-foot building near the Texas Motor Speedway.
"With both of these cars, passion will drive the purchase," Mr. Hasty said. "They've definitely got that in common."
E-mail
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