cars

Challenger Concept VS. It's 70's Predecessor

The designers at Chrysler knew they had an obligation to get this remix of a legendary muscle car right. Tasked with developing a hot-looking performance coupe using Chrysler Group’s advanced rear-wheel drive LX platform and the HEMI engine, the designers explored a variety of options, eventually gravitating to ''something'' for the Dodge brand — appropriate given that brand’s bold performance image. The idea of reinventing the highly-collectible Challengerbegan to take form. Eager to begin, the designers came up eith a “short list “of the essential attributes of a muscle car: distinctly American; mega horsepower; pure, minimal, signature lines; aggressive air-grabbing grille; and bold colors and graphics.

Visually, getting the right proportions was critical. The Challenger concept sits on a 116-inch wheelbase, six inches longer than the original. But its width is two inches greater, giving the concept car more of al persona. The signature side view accent line — designers call it the ''thrust'' line — is higher up on the body, running horizontal through the fender and door, raising up just forward of the rear wheel. The five-spoke chrome wheels — 20-inch, front; 21-inch, rear — are set flush with the body, giving the car the powerful muscular stance.

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A key characteristic of the original car that the designers wanted to retain was the exceptionally wide look of both the front and back ends. To achieve this the designers increased both the front and rear tracks to 64 and 65 inches respectively, wider than the LX, wider even than the 1970 model. To realize the long horizontal hood the designers deemed essential, the front overhang was also increased. Both the hood and the deck lid of the Challenger concept vehicle are higher than the 1970 in order to lift and “present” the front and rear themes.

The front end features the signature Dodge crossbar grille and four headlamps deeply recessed into the car-wide horizontal cavity. At the rear, the car-wide cavity motif is repeated, encompassing a full-width neon-lit taillamp. Both the grille and the front and rear lamps are set into carbon-fiber surrounds. Like the original, slim rectangular side marker lamps are at the ends of the car. The hood reprises the original Challenger “performance hood” and its twin diagonal scoops, now with functional butterfly-valve intakes. Designed to showcase the modern techniques used in fabricating the car, what look like painted racing stripes are actually the exposed carbon fiber of the hood material.

The Challenger concept is a genuine four-passenger car. It is a genuine two-door hardtop. Exterior details one might expect, like a racing-type gas cap, hood tie-down pins, louvered backlite and bold bodyside striping, didn’t make the ''cut,'' the designers feeling such assorted bits would detract from the purity of the monochromatic body form. But tucked reassuringly under the rear bumper are twin-rectangle dual exhausts.

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In contrast to the bright Orange Pearl exterior, the interior is a no-nonsense, black leather relieved by satin silver accents and narrow orange bands on the seat backs. All preceeded by the leather-wrapped steering wheel with silver spokes. The original Challenger was the first car to have injection-molded door trim panels (now common practice), the doors received special attention. Although the flat-section bucket seats of the original Challenger didn’t offer much support for aggressive driving, the front seats in the Challenger concept car boast hefty bolsters much like those found on Dodge’s SRT series cars. The trim covers’ horizontal pleats or ''fales'' provide just a hint of that ''70’s'' look.

The Challenger concept car offers iconic a HEMI-powered performance coupe derived from a classic American muscle car.

General specifications
Country of origin	United States
Produced in	2006
Introduced at	2006 NAIAS
Weight	4166.7 lbs
Drivetrain
Engine	HEMI 90º V 8
Engine Location	Front , longitudinally mounted
Displacement	6.059 liter / 369.7 cu in
Valvetrain	2 valves / cylinder, OHV
Fuel feed	Fuel injection
Aspiration	Naturally Aspirated
Gearbox	6 speed Manual
Drive	Rear wheel drive
Performance figures
Power	425 bhp / 317 KW @ 6000 rpm
Torque	569 Nm / 420 ft lbs @ 4800 rpm
BHP/Liter	70 bhp / liter
Power to weight ratio	0.22 bhp / kg

Also check out the Challenger RT Hemi 2008 video footage and post your own comments on the Only4Mal Blog.

 

August 24, 2007

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