Vanishing Point Challenger meets tire wall at Road America
by Merritt Johnson on May 3rd 2008 at 8:41PM 
Click above to see what the Vanishing Point Challenger looked like before
The Chrysler employees who entered the prototype Dodge Challenger in this year's One Lap of America may have taken the car's Vanishing Point theme a bit too seriously. Just like in the classic film, the stark white Challenger came face to face with a solid object. The car met its demise in Round 2's time trial event at Road America after getting loose through turn 1. It then left the track and came to a stop perched atop a tire-wall. This course of events departs slightly from the original movie plot, where the Challenger did not meet its destructive fate until the final frames. The film version also somehow managed to survive its own slew of off road adventures without much harm, proving that Hollywood doesn't necessarily mimic real life. Fortunately the Challenger driver, Erich Heuschele, came away from his off track excursion unscathed. The crew has reported that the car will be out for the remainder of events, though it was spotted leaving the track under its own power so a return might be a slim possibility. Check out the source link below for more images of the carnage.
Gallery: Dodge "Vanishing Point" Challenger
5/4/08 - 2:40 PM EST - UPDATE: The team came back today with a second, orange Challenger, but since One Lap rules forbid changing cars mid-campaign, they're out of the running for points. On a related side note: one of the Chrysler employees drove the wrecked Challenger some 200 miles with no mechanical issues. The vehicle is current at a friend's shop, being repaired and prepped for the upcoming Targa Newfoundland Rally.
[Source: Car Domain Blog]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Joe K. 8:55PM (5/03/2008)
"vanishing point" meets "approaching wall"
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Ohso Clutch 9:02PM (5/03/2008)
I guess Super Soul was driving that leg.
Ligor 12:53PM (5/04/2008)
I guess the driver thought the car could handle more than it does
This car should have come in at under 3900lbs
Rob 9:02PM (5/03/2008)
I'm curious as to how much weight they had stripped out of it. The SRT-8 is a *genuinely* heavy car, with a curb weight of 4140lbs.
The suspension may be reasonably well-sorted since a fair amount of it is augmented inherited Mercedes-Benz componentry which was designed for heavy vehicles, but when that gets away from you its carrying a lot of bloody momentum.
I still like it more than the Charger, but damned if you can get me to buy one until it's offered with A) a manual transmission, and B) until they can shave around 400lbs off of it. That puts it in late-model TransAm or Camaro SS territory with a better sorted chassis and suspension giving you something a lot more manageable for when you don't want to just cruise around in it. And it'd be an amusing contrast to my 3rd gen MX-5.
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Chris72b9 10:59PM (5/03/2008)
I agree.
The 4100 lb. curb weight is a bit disturbing to me as well. Imagine the performance numbers if it only weighed 3500 lbs.
:O
Franz 11:21PM (5/03/2008)
And people complain about the Nissan's pig GT-R being too heavy.
Now don't get me wrong, I love this car and It'll be difficult not to want one when the manual SRT8 comes out, but I don't know why it has to weigh this much. This thing would be virtually untouchable in it's class if it was about 500lbs lighter. I mean, a 300C SRT8 in base trim is actually lighter than this by a few pounds... what gives?
jake 8:30AM (5/04/2008)
a few notes for rob- it is coming in a manual transmission... i believe they are debating producing a lightweight "race" version which shaves i believe 800lbs off... the late model camaro/TA weighs about 3400, and the new challenger weighs 4200 which is a huge difference...
the car is attractive, but i for one cannot get over the weight. make it below 3800 and i'll consider it. 3600 and i'm really happy
Rob 1:55AM (5/04/2008)
Here's some food for thought...
A 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A weighed ~3800lbs on the nose. It had a 110 inch wheelbase and a total length of 191.3 inches.
The SRT-8 Charger, which weighs 4160lbs, has a 120 inch wheelbase and a total length of 200.1 inches.
Yet the SRT-8 Challenger, weighs 4140lbs and has a 116.7 inch wheelbase and a 197.7 inch length. It's also 1.2 inches wider than the Charger. If you shortened the current car to the size of the 1970 model, and assumed that "all weight is equal" you'd only shave off 135lbs. Moving to a manual transmission might get you another 70lbs.
Cripes. That's just a large, heavy car. Anyone have any idea of the suspension componentry? The front is derived from the MB W220 S-Class and the rear from the MB W210 E-Class. Beyond that you'd need to start replacing a fair amount of structure with aluminum to see any major weight reduction. Aluminum hood and boot lid would help. Without compromising its everyday feature set, you're looking at replacing a whole lot of steel.
CarbonBlack 6:32AM (5/04/2008)
Rob,
Great analysis-I never had thought about it like you just did!
+1
TwinTurbo3000GT 12:52PM (5/04/2008)
pure driver's error.
Gargamello 4:28PM (5/04/2008)
They do make a smaller lighter more fun to drive and cheaper Challenger. It's called a Mazda 3.
SPG 9:04PM (5/03/2008)
I can only hope this does not start some "Save the Enzo's" type of thing.
A really nice car though, I'm guessing it will be repaired to new condition.
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Franz 9:40PM (5/03/2008)
I doubt it. It was a pre-production model that was destined for the crusher anyways.
Max 9:09PM (5/03/2008)
I am sure this is a result of getting the car getting rushed to be ready for the event. No one had seat time in it and no one had a chance to sort the car out. Its a shame, it was a really nice looking car.
I think these guys managed to crash one before the NHTSA has. At least we got that out of the way.
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zamafir 9:36PM (5/03/2008)
I'm curious why none of the journalists, who'd never driven it, didn't managed to total the Aston V12 RS at Paul Ricard. Then again that was a whole 24 hours after it had been on the stands at the show...
Seriously though, sad.
Stuka 9:24PM (5/03/2008)
I say they just pull the plastic that is off all the way off. Get any mechanical stuff fixed, and drive it. Who cares what it looks like. It has character with the front end missing :)
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Liquidretro.net 9:37PM (5/03/2008)
Well it proves it handles like the original/typical American car.
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fhlh 11:25PM (5/05/2008)
yeah... that's it...
Duders 10:05PM (5/03/2008)
How embarrassing for these guys. We just talked about how badass this car was and they wreck it already. Amateurs much?
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loudboxer 10:08PM (5/03/2008)
"Good tires... but not great tires."
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