San Antonio Express-News "Drive" section, 2-15-08:

G. Chambers Williams III: The Challenger goes retro


CHICAGO -- The Dodge Challenger is back.

Chrysler LLC officials unveiled the retro-styled 2008 Challenger coupe at the auto show here last week, and it's on display through Sunday.

First shown as a concept in Detroit two years ago, this is a modern version of the iconic Dodge muscle car from the early 1970s that is a favorite of car collectors.

Jim Press, Chrysler's vice chairman and co-president and former top U.S. executive for Toyota, presented the vehicle to automotive journalists during media previews for the annual show.

“When you leave someplace, you have to give something up,” Press said. “When I left Toyota, I had to leave my Prius behind. This is the car I'm going to be driving now.”

There is quite a contrast between the two.

The Prius is Toyota's groundbreaking gasoline-electric hybrid, which has fuel economy ratings of nearly 50 miles per gallon using a small four-cylinder engine and an electric motor.

But the Challenger SRT8 shown in Chicago comes with a 6.1-liter Hemi V-8 engine rated at 425 horsepower and can go up to 170 mph.

Its fuel economy? About 13 mpg in the city and 18 on the highway, Chrysler says.

To go on sale this spring, the Challenger is the reinvention of “one of America's legendary performance vehicles,” Press said.

Unlike the Prius, it's not intended to be a mass-market vehicle. This year's production is expected to total about 6,400, and each will have its own numbered limited-edition dash plaque, Press said.

The price is $37,995, but Press said that's probably a bargain because collector versions of the original Challenger now sell for about $100,000. The Challenger cost about $3,000 when it arrived in 1969 as a '70 model, he said.

The new one is not intended just for aging baby boomers who owned Challengers in the past, Press said.

“Young people who have never heard of the Challenger are buying it for what it is today,” he said, noting that Chrysler had 4,300 orders for the car within a few days after it was announced.

“While it may have a classic heritage, its technology is cutting-edge,” he said.

The Challenger's performance outshines that of its top competitors, including the BMW M5 and Ford Mustang GT500, Press said.

It can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds, cover a quarter-mile in 13.3 seconds, and go from zero to 60 and back to zero in 110 feet, thanks to its Brembo custom brakes, he said.

Based on the chassis of the contemporary four-door Dodge Charger, the Challenger has two doors but can seat five full-size adults in comfort, Press said.

Its modern technology includes advanced electronic stability and traction control, side-curtain air bags and a tire-pressure monitoring system.

The 522-watt audio system comes with 13 speakers, including a 200-watt subwoofer, and it has a 30-gigabyte hard drive to store thousands of songs internally.

Other features include Sirius satellite radio, push-button start and an optional navigation system.

The 2008 model, bearing the SRT8 designation, is a product of Chrysler's Street and Racing Technology group, which gave it the big Hemi engine.

Less expensive models with less power will arrive for 2009, Chrysler officials said.

The new Challenger probably will pass muster with the Dodge Charger Registry group that holds its annual car show and get-together on the town square in Boerne. It has two doors, and its styling is as similar to that of the original as I've ever seen in a retro-styled vehicle that wasn't intended to be a replica.

This is the group that spurned the modern Charger when it debuted in summer 2005 as an '06 model. The members complained it wasn't true to the original because it had four doors and German engineering. (At that time, Chrysler was a

 

On sale in June? they started back in december.