Jeremiah 29:11

Old news but a good review.

2008 Dodge Challenger: behind the concept

August 24th, 2007 by Peter



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Chrysler Group’s West Coast Pacifica Studio had the huge task of designing the 2008 Dodge Challenger concept, which they hope as much as their design as possible will be on the final production 2008 Dodge Challenger. The designers did have a huge amount of information at their disposal as they could draw from the rich heritage of this great name”Dodge Challenger.”

So the first thing on the designers list was to develop a high-performance car that looked both hot, had a classic feel, but could also make its mark on today’s standards. The designers did have a helping as they had the added benefit of using advanced rear-wheel drive LX platform from the Chrysler Group; they also had the knowledge that they would be using the fabled HEMI® engine.

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Armed with what makes a muscle car, huge horsepower, aggressive air-grabbing grille, pure, bold colors and graphics, and signature lines the designers were ready to get to work. They also had the added benefit of having an actual 1970 Dodge Challenger in their studio.



So the first thing that people will know about the 2008 Dodge Challenger, which as we said hopefully will be as close to the production model as possible is the wheelbase, it is 116-inches, that’s six-inches longer than the good old original, the width of the 2008 model is just 2-inches wider. What we then have is a car that looks meaner and tougher. With classic muscle cars they always need signature side accent line, and the 2008 Dodge Challenger is no different as they have what the designers are calling its thrust line. The line is up high on the body, it runs horizontal straight through the fender and also the door the line then kicks up just before the rear wheel.

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To help give the 2008 Dodge Challenger its mean stance are the five-spoke chrome wheels, the front are 20-inch, with 21-inch wheels at the rear which are set flush with the body. What of the greatest design features of the original Dodge Challenger was how wide the car looked, both at the front and rear this is a feature that the people at Chrysler Group’s West Coast Pacifica Studio wanted to keep. The way that the designers managed to bring this onto the new car was by increasing the tracks to 64-inches at the front and 65-inches at the rear, this now made it wider than the 1970 Challenger.

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The bumpers unlike the original have no guards, they are also color-coded with the body of the car, and this is something that designers said would have looked perfect on the original but was not possible at the time. The hood like all muscle cars is one of the most important features of the vehicle, this performance hood has twin diagonal scoops, and you will also notice the functional butterfly-valve intakes.

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When you look at the interior of the new 2008 Dodge Challenger, you can see that it is in fact a genuine four-seater as there is room in the back for passengers. Sticking with the interior is the instrument panel which sits high; it has a sculpted trapezoidal cluster that houses three in-line analog gauge openings that are circular shape.

Not much more is known as yet about the production 2008 Dodge Challenger, here are some proposed specification though:

Length: 197.8” (5025 mm)
Width: 78.6” (1997mm)
Wheelbase: 116.0” (2945mm)
Height: 57.0” (1449mm)
Front Overhang: 38.9” (989mm)
Performance Figures:

Engine: 6.1L Hemi 425hp
0-60 mph: 4.5 seconds
Standing 1/4