Dodge Challenger reborn


Published: Friday, August 11, 2006
DaimlerChrysler, which is resurrecting the Dodge Challenger for production in 2008, says three of its assembly plants are in the running to make the vehicle and that its Brampton, Ont., facility is not a shoo-in.

Company executives unveiled the Challenger at a flashy event in a mall parking lot in Daytona Beach, Fla., before the Pepsi 400 NASCAR race recently. Chrysler officials would not give projected sales figures for the vehicle but analysts say they expect a target of 30,000 vehicles a year.

DC's Brampton plant is the logical place to build the car because it will be based on the same LX platform as the Dodge Charger, Magnum and Chrysler 300 models, which are already built there. But that's no guarantee for the Ontario factory, Eric Ridenour, Chrysler's chief operating officer, said.

"We're looking at the competitiveness of our plants, who wants it bad enough," he said.

Chrysler says the Challenger will feature the long hood, short deck, wide stance and two-door coupe-body style that distinguished the iconic Challengers of old. It will compete with Ford's Mustang.

General Motors has not yet formally announced whether it will revive the Camaro. (Boy is he not in the news)

Nissan to get real

It's hardly uncommon to see auto manufacturers sponsoring reality TV shows. Nissan, however, is going a step further as it prepares for the Nissan Versa Larger Than Life Road Trip, a 21-day cross-Canada expedition designed to promote its new subcompact as well as send two Canadians home with Versas to keep.

Nissan spent July soliciting submissions and auditions from young, hip Canadians and will over the rest of the summer will whittling those down to five men and five women.

The finalists will be flown to Halifax, where five guy/girl teams will get the keys to a Nissan Versa and set out on a cross-Canada drive that winds up in Vancouver.

Along the way, teams will participate in challenges like those seen on reality shows like The Amazing Race.

It will all be caught on film and episodes will be shown at www.liveversa.ca.

Viewers can go there to vote for their favourite team along the way, and members of the team with the most points at the end will win Versas. In addition, viewers will be able to enter a draw to win a Versa.

The trip starts in September, and the names of the finalists should be announced on the website within a few weeks.

© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2006

CAMARO REVIVAL: Auto buffs, GM celebrate news of the beloved car's '09 comeback

BY JOE GUY COLLIER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

August 11, 2006



Chevrolet Camaro enthusiasts gather at the Tech Center to celebrate GM's announcement that it will bring back the Camaro, which was canceled in 2002. It is scheduled to go on sale in the first quarter of 2009.

Gib Loudon said he was brought to tears when he saw the Camaro concept car at the North American International Auto Show in January.

The 47-year-old Millington man who owns 19 Camaros was thrilled Thursday as he heard General Motors Corp. executives announce in Warren that the Camaro, canceled in 2002, would be back by the first quarter of 2009.

"It's a passion," said Loudon, who bought his first Camaro as a high school student in 1977. "It's been something that's overwhelmed my life."

His wife, Tammy Loudon, said they'll be among the first to buy a new Camaro.

"He can't wait to pass his first Mustang in one," she said.

Speculation about the Camaro, a former rival of the Ford Mustang, had been swirling since GM unveiled the concept car in January.

The official green light was announced Thursday by GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner in Traverse City, where he's participating in a set of auto industry briefings. An event also

 

I hope "best value in segment" translates into having an engine that competes with the GT model 303-320hp & 323-340ft-lbs of tq 5.3L and not Z28 for the same price at 400hp with 400hp insurance premiums.[:'(] I wonder which V6 it will get (I hope the 3800 series III again).