ORIGINAL: Yankee

The older Challenger in the pic is either a 73 or 74.

Well............

Here we are, the day we've all been waiting for has finally come. Even though we still won't see any on the road for another few months yet, "the" Challenger is here.

My thoughts are thus:

I still think the "Challenger" nameplate is on the wrong side of the grille.

I'm not a fan of what should have been the high-beam headlights as the parking lights.

The body sides look flatter on the production than the concept, which I think looked more rounded (a look I would have preferred). That might be an optical illusion, I'll grant you, so I'll reserve final judgement on that one.

I still think Chrysler did the car a disservice by giving it a modified Charger dashboard instead of the concept's, which was a thing of beauty and one of the car's strongest points.

BUT...

In the immortal words of Mick Jagger... you can't always get what you want.

So, with that said, I'm still glad it's here and I still want one. BAD. Make mine dark red with a 6-speed please.

I remember the first thing my minister used to say before every sermon at the start of the church service, and I think it's befitting today...

"This is the day that The Lord has made. Let us rejoice... and be glad in it."

The performance "targets" were a 0-60 mph time in the low fives, a quarter-mile in less than 14 seconds, at least 0.88 g's on the skidpad and a 60-0 mph stopping time of about 110 feet.