I didn't see anywhere in the above or the link(s) where there would not be a manual transmission in the Challenger.

The ONLY thing I've heard that excludes the 6 speed manual transmission is the "initial" 5500 units in the 2008 model year. The only reason I put stock in that is because it comes from reliable sources (more than one).

EVERY indication that I've seen/heard/read is that Chrysler will make the 6 speed Tremec available AFTER the initial 5500 2008 models. Why would they fit a 6 speed to the production car in Vegas if it wasn't at least "in the works"? That would be a huge waste of time and resources, which makes no sense to me. I can't see Cerberus doing that.

 

Not that I would care the slightest to get a manual transmission (hey...the car's gonna cost MORE than $30,000 -- I dunno about all you independently wealthy heirs or lottery winners, but for that much money, I think it should come to me when I whistle), but everything I read early on about the Challenger was that it was going to be on the LY platform, not the current LX. Now, though, stuff I've read indicates it's going to be on the LX ... which is to be replaced in '09 by the LY. Everything I've read about the LX platform is that it will NOT accommodate a manual transmission, which is why one was never offered in the Charger. If they're going to switch to the LY platform for the '09 models but are currently using the LX, maybe that's why all the '08s are going to have automatics.

 

And so are the SRT-8's 6.1's?

 

I understood the same as you about the LY platform. Don't know what you've read/heard about the '08's being on the LX platform - not sure how they can do that with differing wheelbase, or why they'd do that - just to retool after 5500 models are made?
Unless someone on the assembly line floor knows different, I was under the impression that the Challenger would ONLY see the LY platform, and the reason for the delay in Manual transmissions is the completion of testing mating it to the 8 cylinder Hemi as opposed to the 10 cylinder Viper motor.
Everything I've heard/read for at least the first model year (2008) is yes, the 6.1 will be the biggest engine offering.

Guys, I don't work for Chrysler. All I'm saying is I haven't heard anything reliable or official to refute the original information Dodge issued in 2006, and that was the Challenger WOULD have a manual transmission. I'm not jumping to any conclusions because of omissions in leaked information.

 

That's what I couldn't figure out. What I heard was in relation to the Challenger being produced at the Canadian plant alongside the Charger and the Magnum ... which, of course, use the LX platform for now. Two or three times I've seen references to how it would help speed assembly, etc., because all the cars would share the same platform. Maybe I was reading too much into that, thinking that all the 2008 models -- including the Challenger -- would share the LX platform then switch to the LY. Admittedly, I have no idea how much retooling would have to be done to fit the top of a Challenger onto a different platform. A lot, I assume.

 

All the 2008 and 2009 models made in 2008 are on the LX platform.

 

New spy shots of a Challenger mule at a rest stop on I-70 in Ohio. See:

http://moose135.smugmug.com/gallery/3802887#219483081

 

Interesting that the exhaust pipes are round going through rectangular holes. The gas cap on one of the two mules is sticking out
while the other appears to be flat as if these are two different body style cars. Bring on the racing cap!

I enjoy looking at these spy pictures.

[IMG]local://upfiles/17/5551D181246F4DF4B85785F658AAF879.jpg[/IMG]

 

These are two differnet cars for sure. Check license plates; two different states or two different countries the white plate could be Ontario.

 

It does make one think and hope and pray 4 the rectangular exhaust tips.

i ain't sure if its diffrent or just a fold in the tarp, but we can allways hope!