stevelegel

Early on there were discussions about whether the new Challenger would diminish the value of classic Challengers?
I had time over the Holidays to organize my literature collection, for both new and classic Challengers. Here's what I found...

There was a ton of publicity in 1969 and 1970 about the Challenger, and the amount dropped off precipitously during and after 1971. There is nearly no literature on Challenger until the mid 1980's, sparse, none the less, right through 2006. Most articles in between 1970 and 2006 were in performance magazines and mostly referred to making drag race cars. Collectible Automobile in 1985 was a noteworthy publication about non altered classic muscle cars (Challenger). Since 2006 (Introduction of concept car) there has been a large number of stories about restored Challengers. The Barret Jackson million dollar 'Cuda from about that time fueled the fire as well. Auctions and restorers seem to be gobbling up classic Challengers to make big block clones, and resto mods.

Challengers both classic and new, are well represented in the die cast market. Another measure I use is the presence of Challenger in an ad for another product (non automotive). My collection illustrates lots of this for classic Thunderbird, still there has been a small increase in the presence of Challenger in the public media. Classic Challenger has been present as a major characters automobile in many movies and TV shows over the years, pretty consistently, and not just a spike since 2006. In its history in media, it seems Challenger is always driven by someone rough or tough, it is typically run roughshod.

My opinion: Thye have enhanced each other. I think the ongoing popularity of Challenger in media has helped propel the public's awareness of the new Challenger, and new Challenger has stimulated interest in the classic Challengers as well.