First off, everyone should remember that these are cars movies, first and foremost, they were never intended to be Academy Award Winners. The newer version has more of a plot if you can actually say either of them have a plot....And, the second version was directed more towards the Mopar group as they talk a lot more about the cars and additionally show more details. It also has more Mopars, 70 Challenger RT (of course), a Black 68 Charger RT (Owned by cop.."It takes a Mopar to catch a Mopar"), and a 71 Road Runner.

However, the original "Super Soul", the music, and the location was much better in the first (1971).
If you love Challengers, you should have both versions in your DVD collection. If I could have only one in my collection...hands down it would be the 1971 version....

(By the way, each year on my way to the Reno Air Races, I pass through Goldfield Nevada where "Super Soul" had his station in the first version...the people there don't remember the movie even being filmed..and a lot of them look as if they have lived in the town for a hundred years...go figure)