http://www.mercurynews.com/weekenddrive/ci_8394289

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Challenger Muscle!
Let the Ponycar wars begin!
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Article Launched: 02/28/2008 10:51:54 AM PST

Has it really been that long?

Has it actually been nearly 40 years since the Dodge Challenger first attempted to muscle its way onto the scene for a share of the Ponycar pie?

For a certain segment of the population that grew up during the last great horsepower battles fought between Ford, General Motors, Chrysler and American Motors, the new Challenger will seem like a time machine that leads straight to the early 1970s.

In those heady days, there were no fewer than eight vehicles in the Ponycar class, so called because the Ford Mustang was the leader of a herd that spawned similar long-hood, short-rear-deck models available with pavement-tearing V8 power.

As retro looking as the new Challenger is, the clock isn t exactly being turned back. Instead, key styling elements have been brought forward from the original car to find their way into a completely new and modern two-door model. Rather than constantly fussing around with an original Challenger from the 1970s a weekend, sunny-weather car at best nostalgic Baby Boomers can buy a new Challenger, loaded with technology and safety features, and drive it any time they like in any season. The looking-cool factor is a given.

As the current retro-styled Mustang has demonstrated, close physical ties to the past are more than just a good idea: they re mandatory. The Challenger s headlights are round, just like they were always intended to be. The full-width taillamp and rear spoiler have a familiar look and the
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outside mirrors are actually based on molds pulled from the originals. One obvious difference is that there s far less chrome showing now than on the original, giving it a bumper-free, slab-sided appearance.

The Challenger is actually built using a shortened version of the Dodge Charger/Chrysler 300 rear-wheel-drive platform, with four inches removed between the front and rear wheels.

The version of the Challenger initially heading to Dodge s salivating dealers, and only in limited numbers, is the high-performance Street and Racing Technology SRT8 ( 8 for eight cylinders) iteration. Anyone familiar with Chrysler s other SRT8 products, such as the Magnum wagon or Charger sedan, will recognize the Challenger s interior treatment, especially its thick, heavily bolstered front bucket seats. Other SRT standard equipment includes a tight suspension package that includes stiff springs, shocks, anti-roll bars and an SRT-specific stability-control system that helps keep the car pointed in the right direction and its over-exuberant drivers out of trouble.

For that final SRT flourish, the Challenger rides on 20-inch wheels and will thankfully stop far better than the original with 14-inch disc brakes at all four wheels.

In true SRT8 tradition, a 6.1-liter V8 Hemi with 425 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque is the sole source of motivation. The engine is connected to a five-speed automatic transmission with manual shift controls that provides at least some simulation of a good-ol -days manual gearbox, but without the fun of banging the cogs at the redline.

Chrysler states that the Challenger will nail 60 mph from a standing stop in the low-five-second range, run the quarter-mile in less than 14 seconds and can be hauled down from 60 mph in around 110 feet.

At the outset, the Challenger SRT8 will arrive with a full range of standard equipment air, cruise, keyless remote entry, power-controlled accessories and the like along with a 322-watt, 13-speaker premium audio system and plenty of safety gear.

After the serious gearheads with a spare $38,000 (list price) get their fill, you can expect less option-filled versions with more modest power output to hit the street later in the year with correspon

 

8 pony cars? There was the Mustang, Cougar, Firebird, Camaro, Javelin, Cuda, and my favorite the Challenger. Which one am I forgetting?

 

Was the Rambler Scrambler (The Machine) considered a pony car or a muscle car?

 

RLSH,

what about the torinos, cyclones, novas, chevelles, some of them had some nice horses

 

You forgot the 2-door cousin to the Javelin, the American Motors AMX.

 

Well its a class difference. I'm talking about the pony class which is a sub-class of the muscle cars; whereas, those are muscle cars in other classes.

Cuda340, okay but wouldn't that count as the same car, just a modified version sort of like the original Charger Daytona.

 

One thing I really like about the old muscle cars is that they had bold, manly names.
Now they give all the cars sickeningly limp-wristed sissy names like "Elantra."
That is so puke-worthy.

 

What would you consider a duster or a demon they should be in the pony class?

 

Check out:

http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclec...finition.shtml

Which considers 9 models to be Pony Cars. Included is the AMX, which differed from the Javelin in that it was a 2 seater, and the Barracuda and 'Cuda take up two different spots on the list of nine.

Either the AMX is a 2 seater sports car (therefore not making the other "official" pony list), or the Barracuda/'Cuda makes up one entry bringing the official number to eight... dang, why is nothing ever easy??

 

I'm not the one who classifies these cars in their classes, I'm just repeating what I've been told. It is not normally referred to as one in the talks about pony cars from what I understand, yet it is on the same platform that the original Barracuda was on so I guess technically yes but officially no.

Billionaire, you hit on something I said around a year ago. Some people are unhappy about using old names, but the question is do you want them to really use new names? Most of the new names sound so weird that I make jokes about the car itself ("Hocus-Focus").

mopar2ya, I think it would have been nice if they would have done us the favor of just listing all "eight" of them so then we know which ones they are counting.