Justinec101

I think some bright red seats would probably have the same effect on the challenger interior. . . which I plan on doing after I get mine.

Tass13

Well, A few comments. My Post was really addressed to the Challenger engineers in the hopes they might get the hint. Second, I've never owned anything built by GM or Ford but it doesn't mean you cant appreciate the effort put into the Vette and possibly the New Camaro or the GT 500 Mustang. (PS you guys, I hate to admit it but a certain 60's Mustang with the factory blown 289 had one of the greatest power to weight ratio's of any production car ever built)

Mopar ruled that era (and is missing it's chance to rule this one) because it had the balls to be different not saving money by finding a use for all the leftover "Charger" parts.(Yes Virginia, there is NO difference between my mother's 4 door Charger and the Challenger's cockpit)
Mopar made a shipload of money taking chances. Just ask the guy who wants this car in "Sub-lime". I dont believe they couldnt model the Concept closer and come on, charge me an extra 2k for a real cockpit, no big deal.

As far as my wanting a 70-71 Challenger, ( I would take a 74 if you gave it to me but only as a starter car for my daughter) If you compare the Concept Body and Interior to what we have in this SRT8 and the "old" challenger I think you'll find it more closely matches the "old" version. Like the Mona Lisa, great beauty is timeless. The pinched body and signature sweep to short stacked rear end reminded you of a crouching panther ready to strike.

The Concept had "IT", the daydream of that car, low-chugging down the avenue on a Cruise night cannot be put into words and the Interior was worthy of a rocketship on wheels. You guys who want to bow down and worship this car as a true innovation and Mopar's answer to the modern muscle machine vaccuum are going to keep those Bean Counters at Mopar Employed and you'll NEVER see what this car COULD be.

I was more expecting a 70-71 Challenger Modernized to 2008 as opposed to Mickey Mouse Version of the sad Charger. WHAT i'm saying to you is that the designers bailed on what could have been a car for the ages, Like a Viper, Prowler, Super-Bee and others.
You guys are all comparing this to a Mustang, I wanted a Vette Killer.

One last comment, to those who said I should go buy the old challenger. If Mopar won't fix this car I just might and I promise you, the 45k I use to build an old challenger will net a car that will embarrass this SRT8 version on the track or street and probably get better gas mileage. And as far as looks go, this Challenger SRT8 would look like your grandmothers car next to any well done 70-71 Model.

Any Mopar driver over 40 disagree??

kevin2323

it doesnt suck and neither does the challengers the seats are really nice on the chally and on that stang as well... but look at the rest of the car its all plastic just like all american cars... just cuz the leather is red doesnt mean its better... i actually like the challenger tight nit cockpit type seats better than that red leather but to his their own. stop complaining and enjoy the positives of the car. i hate when forums turn into this.

Carbon

Yea, no fun when people complain.

Like it or not, this is probably the Last Muscle Car that will ever be built as a production model along with the Camarro .
After this expect all Hybrids/Electric and Hydrogen from all manufactures.

I'm getting an R/T for sure!

kramtrah

I really have nothing to add to the frustrations of a few folks and Albeeno has been a regular contributor for quite some time that he is allowed his opinion. Unfortunately guys we aren't getting every thing that the concept offered, but concepts are just that, a concept and piece meal of ideas scrapped together, whether or not they are feasible for real production or not. The concept interior was right on, but as I said on another thread, making this affordable to the masses such as us will allow this car far more success than it could if they had to make everything just for one model in Chryslers' line-up of vehicles. That means using parts from various vehicles, where and when feasible. ALL manaufacturers offering real production line-ups (volume builds), Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus, GM everything, Ford/Lincoln/Mercury do this. Reality for the Challenger is low numbers of production, unlike the Mustang which allows some leeway. This after all is not a hand built one off, not a Bentley, Aston Martin, or Ferrari, but a regular guys' car that has to be afforable to make it worth it in production and effort.

Me, I am incredibly happy with what this has ended up to be, and ordering it as soon as I am able, given the availablity of sublime, if that happens, will only be the capper when I have it in my possession.

DSkippy

Albeeno, I don't think it sucks, but it doesn't seem vastly different from the Challenger/Charger interior. I think the new owner ship of Chrysler understands market driven dynamics of the automotive industry and aren't ascribing themselves to Henry Ford's marketing principles "They can have any color as long as it's black". I think they'll heed the feedback address deficiencies and perfect their offering.

Remember; before Ford restyled the sadly Toyota looking mustang back to the 60's it was kind of, imnsho, kind of vapid and blasé. For first gen and working with the constraints they are, I'd say they've knocked it out of the park. Hopefully, this hit, brings commitment and acts impetus to drive innovation and evolution.

I think this is a defining point in the history of the company and I hope they understand and appreciate the gravity. Why not gamble big and go BIG and put out some real scorchers (style, comfort, quality and most importantly performance).

MGDMike

I feel that all the complaints are legit. As a matter of fact I'm for them.. hey, isn't that we get what we want out of car. If folks don't chime in from time to time then a vehicle will stay the same and the end product will always be what we don't want.

However, I believe personally this car wasn't never intended to be a 'vette killer. We talking the the ZR1 (aka, The Blue Devil)?Please, if I had the money for that I would be all over it!

lear4406

If you want a Vette killer, then a Viper is more in step. The Challenger competes with the Camaro and GTO and Mustang. The times we live in and the state of the Automotive industry we should be glad the car was made at all. We have sweated out on this Forum for two years all the scenarios. To put down an effort to bring back a car that in your memory does so many things right. I drive a 71 Challenger and all I can say is reality check. I love my 71, but it is not a 2008 smooth ride by any means. You drive a new Challenger and then an old Challenger. Night and day. My son has a 2006 Charger Dayton and to put down a nice car like the Charger is just wrong. Stop living in the 70s and enjoy the 21 century. This my be the last gasp, but we've been there before. All said and done to whine and complain is human, but this is it and I for one will jump into the mix and thank Dodge for the effort and for what they have allowed me to enjoy from my 71. Thank you Dodge and job well done.

MGDMike

Very well put..

Axel

I love that red interior on that Mustang, I however don't love the leather and the back. Those seats in the back are so comfortable, but the height requirement is 4 ft. Any larger and you have issues. lol. I also don't care for all that bright junk. Seems that is the thing that people want in the Stangs, but I would rather not. If I could get rid of the chrome around the heater vents I would. My wife's Avenger has all that bright and it's a real joy when the sun is hitting it just right as you are driving. To me it doesn't accent the car, it sticks out like a sore thumb. I had to get mine shipped from another state just to get it the way I wanted it. I don't even like the chrome on the outside of the Rams. I had to have the sports package when I got it. Just me and my opinion though.

As for Mopar ruiling the era and bringing in the dough, maybe at one point they brought in the dough, but I don't think they ever ruled the area. There was competition all the time, but I think Ford has always had it with the Mustang and I can't quite figure out why. At least I believe that's who had the best selling of the time since I can't seem to find numbers on sales. Maybe because it was more affordable or something, I don't know because safety sure wasn't at the top of the list. I believe, and I could be wrong on this also, that Mopar came in to late to really take any domination of anything unfortunately. Had they entered sooner then I believe that they would have been able to beat the competition hands down. (Now everyone that lived that era, or know more, correct me as I'm to young to know any better. lol)

Back to the money thing, if they have been doing so good and being different, why did a Germany company buy it out and then turn around and sell it at a loss? As for the change, concepts are built without any regard to safety or any other government standards. They are a show car that is never meant to be driven by the masses. If any company tried to bring out a car exactly like the ones that they had back in the day, then they would probably be in a lot of trouble with the government. If you want to blame someone for the outside that you don't care for, which I have to say is quite awesome though I have a few complaints that are no big deal, then you need to talk to the government and ask them to relax all the safety standards that they have for vehicles. As for the interior, you can blame Chyrsler all you want for that one because I agree that was just a major mess up in my opinion.

To me this muscle car hits it right on the head in terms of reproduction. Mustang is a very close second, Camaro is a joke. Interior wise, Challenger is a joke, Mustang is close and Camaro is close in terms of reproduction of the original. Don't know who would win that one. I would have to do some comparisons.

In terms of complaining. From what I hear you could be in a minority when it comes to the design of this car. The interior may be a different story, but in terms of this being a bad desing on the outside, I don't see again. Again, I have my complaints, the mirrors are strange, the butterfly valves are gone and I miss the rear concept light, but this other has grown on me, but overall they did a pretty dang good job. You don't see many concept cars come out that are this close at all. I can think of another one, though I'm sure there are many others, which would be the Viper and I hear that thing has a bad fire wall so it gets pretty hot in the cockpit.

I'm sorry to say, but if you don't like it then there are other cars out there for you. Please enjoy. (side note, most of this is in response to Tass13 comments)