New shot of 2008 Dodge Challenger found
click above image to view more teaser shots of the 2008 Dodge Challenger
Are we that hard up for news on the 2008 Dodge Challenger that we'll do a post on one measly new photo of a part of the car we've already seen? Uh, yeah, in fact we are, so credit Autoblog reader Glenn who found this new shot on Dodge's website for the Challenger. It's slid in there with the rest ofo the teaser shots we've seen and shows the same grille we've seen before but from another angle. In fact, from this perspective it appears that the housing for the headlights is silver rather than black, but it could just as easily be crappy lighting messing with our heads. Check out the actual shape of the headlights, though, that give the impression they're peering out from beneath the hood even though they're not. Regardless, we now have one more teaser shot of the 2008 Dodge Challenger to add to our gallery. It's not long now until the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit when we'll have dozens and dozens of images of the new Dodge Challenger to add.
UPDATE: We discovered that we first saw this image in leaked scans of an official brochure for the 2008 Dodge Challenger, but this is the first time we've seen the actual color-corrected version.
[Source: Dodge]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
AM 11:00AM (12/17/2007)
Am I the only person that thinks that, while it's pretty cool looking, it's still kinda sad that manufacturers have seemingly run out of ideas that they have to resort to do-overs of iconic vehicles of the past? Kind of like Hollywood remaking old movies.
On the plus side at least this and the Camaro look a helluva alot better than the re-designed by committee Mustang.
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Christian 11:35AM (12/17/2007)
Nice comment, I think you mean designed by one guy. Also, both these poseur cars are 5 years late to the party.
Nivek 11:02AM (12/17/2007)
I thought it was being unveiled at Chicago???
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Brent 11:20AM (12/17/2007)
It is not that they have run out of ideas, rather doing remakes is profitable.
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C. McFeeny 11:29AM (12/17/2007)
I'm getting sick of the "running out of ideas" argument when it comes to classic design cues utilized or out-and-out re-makes like the Challenger. The automobile have seen around for more than 100 years. The design well is just about dry. It's all been done. So what? Go ahead a mis-mash, reshare redo, collage, cut and paste. It's okay!
Classic is classic. There's a reason things are called classic. The Les Paul guitar is pretty much the same guitar that it was in the 1950's. It's classic. The design is perfect.
AM 1:34PM (12/17/2007)
Maybe. but the reason they look cool is because you don't see many around anymore. That changes as soon as they start cranking them out so everyone who wants one has one. And what do they do the next year? Offer a new color? How do you evolve a design thats 30 years old and already refreshed?
If a Ferrari was $30K, they'd be the white trash icon that the 80's Camaro and TransAm were.
(Okay they probably wouldn't be that bad...)
Tim UF 11:29AM (12/17/2007)
The only problem i have with the challenger is the cost. I couldn't justify 40k on a ponycar.
It is cool looking though. Hopefully theres an RT trim that packs a V8 (or blown V6) and is in the high 20's.
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rar 11:35AM (12/17/2007)
The MSRP on a R/T Charger starts around $31,000. It should be around that for a R/T Challenger with the 5.7 Hemi.
Brent 11:58AM (12/17/2007)
You aren't going to see a blown V6 in a car like this.
There is no way the design well is "dry". Saying the car has been around for over 100 years doesn't mean much when talking about designs. New materials allow for more complex designs. We aren't going to have the designs of today in 50 years.
Zane 12:17PM (12/17/2007)
"We aren't going to have the designs of today in 50 years."
Maybe, but I'd love to see an E36 M3 stuffed with a tarmac burning engine from the E46/E92. BMW has never been able to re-create the magical appeal of the E36.
Glenn 12:28PM (12/17/2007)
I understand what you mean by this being a "V8" type of vehicle -- but they will have the 3.5L V6 version offered fairly early in production. Just like the Mustang offers a V6 option.
I can't say too much because the with the mix of fuel prices and my budget -- a V6 might be just what the doctor ordered. I am interested in the updated Hemi as well -- it might not be bad for fuel use in day to day use.
Down the road the Phoenex V6 replaces the 3.5L - it could be a dandy engine too.
Tim UF 12:48PM (12/17/2007)
I understand that there'll be a V6 coming also. I didnt know there'd be an R/T trim (31k seems steep, compared to the Mustang GT). I mistakenly thought the only trims would be the base v6 and the 40k srt8, though, thinking about it, i'm not sure why i thought that... oh well.
TriShield 12:24PM (12/17/2007)
C. McFeeny is correct. There are automobiles that are iconic and instantly recognizable by their styling, the Challenger is one of them. It will never be mistaken for anything else on the road and looks exactly how it should and how people expect it to look.
Why make a Mini Cooper that looks nothing like a Mini Cooper? How could the Fiat 500 look like anything else? Or an FJ Cruiser? Why destroy the signature look of the Jeep Wrangler which has been the same since World War II? The Mustang finally has it's timeless shape back after decades of looking like any number of crappy or disposable cars on the road.
The styling of these vehicles never gets old, it only gets better with time. Talented stylists can always keep it fresh while retaining the looks that made these vehicles famous in the first place.
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mk 12:35PM (12/17/2007)
Classic is classic... I understand that.
But looking to the past is not a strategy that has a future.
In 40 years, what is going to be classic that was built today? Stuff that was originated then-to-be 80 years prior?
It is fine for companies to celebrate the past, but that is ALL they are doing, at least "domestically."
Where is a modern design Mercury Cougar?
Where is a modern design Pontiac Firebird?
Where is a modern design Chrysler alternative to the Challenger?
ALL THREE of these could be modern styled alternatives to the retro-classic coupes that they could share platforms with.
(and BTW, not the Crossfire, which was a failed and different attempt at re-hashing old Art-Deco style...)
Are we only going to be left with new designs like the Hyundai Genesis coupe, and the G37? The Audi A5 and TT? the odd 3-series coupe?
The only truly future-classic car that I can think of, that I hope to own would be the Boxster/Cayman, especially the S-model, or maybe the Z4-M-Coupe, but just barely.
I am not considering cars significantly above 75-100k, because they are designed and built for a different purpose, and in much different numbers for a much different demographic: those only available to people with means enough for exclusivity. One does not typically compare the a 66 Mustang with a 66 Ferrari, either, even though both are classics, and both collectible.
I am not saying that the Mustang/Shelby, Camaro, and Challenger should not exist.
I just wonder what else there is, besides "second verse, same as the first"...
I'm Henry the eighth, I am, Henry the eighth I am, I am...
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TriShield 12:52PM (12/17/2007)
Yes it is mk, why in the world should Dodge not produce a car that the brand is known for and make it look how it's supposed to look? That's just stupid.
If you dislike classic cars Pontiac was selling a contemporary GTO you were free to buy. It was a Hell of a car too. Looks like the rest of the market doesn't quite agree with you about the styling these cars should have though. It turns out nobody wanted a modern looking GTO, and who can blame them? It didn't look like the cars that made the name famous.
GM, Ford and Chrysler's brands were iconic in their heyday and the cars they produced at the time are coveted and famous. They are still known for them. You can say that about hardly any of the new and contemporary models they produce today. Not only are they not producing the vehicles that made them huge, they are now shells of their former selves.
What's worse, GM thinks the road to success is remaking their brands in the image of a foreign competitor - like having Buick an American Lexus. Or making Pontiac into a BMW clone. That's ridiculous.
Not only do we already have Lexus, but Lexus does what it does better than anyone. Buick should be Buick. Pontiac has to be Pontiac. GM must review what made these brands famous in the past and remake them back into what they were and the people will come.
What is Buick without the Riviera, Park Avenue, Regal, Wildcat or Gran Sport? It's nothing. A soulless husk selling completely forgettable cars like the Lucerne and LaCrosse.
What would Chevrolet be without the Camaro? It's been rough since that car morphed into a gigantic 1990s
plastic blob. GM finally gets it and is making the car look like a Camaro again.
If you don't like cars like this, you certainly don't have to buy them. The same companies also produce many more modern, forgettable, disposable cars you can spend your money on if you just want to get from one place to another style-free.
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mk 6:30PM (12/17/2007)
I am not saying that they SHOULDN'T build retro cars.
I am saying that they shouldn't completely and solely rely on them.
And M says it well, the Accord and Camry are horrible examples of new design. I find them about as repellant as a haggis.
There are even things about the Hyundai Genesis coupe that I don't like, and it is also a current design.
You mention the GTO. The GTO was softly styled in the late 90s, as a holden, when released in the 21st century as a Pontiac, the styling was already aging and dated, almost like the oval-themed Ford Taurus. The Pontiac was imported late, and had drawbacks, like a fuel tank in the trunk, to meet US regs. The GTO was not a full re-style from the Monaro.
I have said before, that if that had been a RWD Grand Prix coupe replacement, or badged as a Tempest or something, it might have done better, without the GTO nameplate expectation. The Monaro was not styled well enough to underwrite the checks that the GTO nameplate was writing. Perception like that can make or break something, even if the hardware is pretty decent.
The new VE Commodore will likely see more success, with a new interior, new exterior, and a chassis designed from square one to be importable to the US. A G8 coupe might do somewhat better than the old Monaro/GTO.
But the Camaro is already set to be that VE-based Coupe with retro styling. What would be wrong with giving it a sleeker profile than both the G8/Commodore and Camaro, and calling it Firebird? Same platform, slick new american look? Heck, the first firebird concepts in the 50s and 60s looked like F86 Sabre jets on wheels. Pretty modern for that day.
Likewise, why not give the S197 chassis an IRS upgrade, and a Ford of Europe-designed Kinetic bodystyle in a three-door fastback profile, and the 09 Mustang's engine packages (3.5/TwinForce?/upgraded BOSS modular V8s) and you have a new, very compelling Cougar, or some "M" name (and a 4-seat sedan Marauder platform mate) and sell some Mercurys for a change...
Chrysler could likewise make an LX/LY coupe alternate to the Challenger, with a new, more modern style, and give it a new name, even if it shares underpinnings with the Challenger. (and a bit lighter weight if possible, and less expensive might be nice, too, to compete more with the Genesis and base Mustangs.)
Such a car might be a nice big intro to the new "Chryslerberus." It could even share some of the joint-developed engines from Mitsu/Hyundai, which the Genesis is also going to use.
My point is, that not everyone wants to re-live the glory days. I am at least 15-20 years too young to remember the original Challenger/Charger, Camaros, and Mustangs first hand when they were new. I remember Fox-bodied Mustangs, and F-body Camaros and Firebirds, like the original KITT, (not the new wanna-be KITT)
Those cars, for their day were completely new, and sleek in comparison to the 70's cars they replaced. Where is today's new and sleek?
As it stands... the only new coupe under 40k that I would really consider would be the G35/37. Nothing from the big-3, and the german cars are either ugly (135 coupe) or otherwise expensive (Cayman).
The GTO came close, but as I said, it had several check marks on the minus side, not just the dated styling.
I agree with you that "domestics" shouldn't try to out-import the "imports." But I see no new american alternative to the imports.
All I see from the domestics is rampant sentimentalism and living vicariously in the past. Or SUVs.
The G8 and CTS are starting to crack that egg, and get back to parity, but the style and image leaders, the coupes, are not following. Even the Corvette dilutes it's design language with quite a bit of nostalgia, and the Ford GT capitalized on it's heritage. The Viper was new in the 90's, but hasn't changed much through it's redesign, and is still above most budgets.
Again, celebrating the past is not a bad thing, but where is the forward-thinking alternative? We can't live in the past forever.
M 1:12PM (12/17/2007)
So in order for something to look modern, it has to follow the Camry/Accord styling template? The Camry and Accord have not changed much style-wise since the early 1990's. We should call our modern mainstream sedans "1990's retro". It is almost like for some people it doesn't matter if it looks good or not, it just has to look "modern".
Look at building architecture, look at the new buildings that are using classical architectural elements used in the early 20th century. They still use these elements because they are just pleasing to the eye. It is not because the architects have "ran out of ideas".
Something doesn't have to look like a UFO to look modern.
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C. McFeeny 1:40PM (12/17/2007)
Until such time as the car itself is no longer moving on four wheels, I think we've pretty much seen it all when it comes to automotive design. I don't think there will be any major stylistic shifts. Just re-hashing and collaging of what we've already seen. But so what? There are a lot of great designs out there to be re-interpreted and interloped in ways that will surely please and displease.
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Zerk 2:37PM (12/17/2007)
For those bitching and whining about Challenger being a rehash of an old design the solution is "don't buy one".
The Challenger, the Mustang and the soon to arrive Camaro all utilize classic design and they are all awesome.
For those who want new and different, buy a Pontiac Aztec!
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Tom 11:08PM (12/17/2007)
I think ou guys that dislike retro style need to move on elesware. The fact is guys or gals that always admired muscle cars from 1968-1973 now can have some choice with a hybrid option. With Vintage prices gone through the roof, these new retro cars give a new option with of course updates that are a plus. (Safety, music, comfort, etc.). There are many of us that were kids back in the late 60's and early 70's, that admired these cars and wished we had one. Now we can. Let us play. T-
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