Challenger #0001 delivered to AZ dealership
Click above for gallery of Challenger SRT8 #0001 in its new home
The very first production 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 has already been built and shipped to an AZ dealership, but it's not for sale. The first Challenger was won at auction by none other than Barrett-Jackson CEO Craig Jackson, and the world-famous auctioneer can pick up his prized $400,000 pony car at Ed Moses Dodge in Scottsdale, AZ whenever he's ready. Dodge Challenger SRT8 numero uno is completely loaded, black with a gray stripe down the center, and the plastic condoms have yet to be removed from the steering wheel and driver's seat.
Jackson wasn't the only high-profile celebrity to snap up an early Challenger SRT8, either. As you read on Autoblog earlier, Jay Leno received Challenger #0002 this week, and the comedian/car nut has already parked his new toy at The Tonight Show headquarters in Burbank, CA. Check our gallery below for pics of the Challenger One in its temporary home and click the Source link below for more. Thanks for the tip, Marshall!
Gallery: Dodge Challenger SRT8 number #0001
[Source: LX Forums]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Adam 11:06AM (6/04/2008)
As much as I like this car, you are and absolute twat to pay that much for a Challenger.
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mkg614 1:31PM (6/04/2008)
yeah, because supporting the charity NotMyKid, a mental health advocacy group, makes him such a twat.
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/media/pressreleases/011108_Detroit3.asp
Adam 1:34PM (6/04/2008)
Okay, I didn't know it was for charity. Thanks for the clarification. Now I'm the one who looks like a twat.
Vintage 11:08AM (6/04/2008)
No he's not, he's just going to stick it in a cubby hole and auction it off a few years from now for twice that to an even bigger idiot.
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Ormond 11:25AM (6/04/2008)
It's too bad the car arrives when gas is so expensive. Detroit is always a couple years behind the curve.
However, the outside styling is great. I'll take one in orange.
I think the high bid went to charity.
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jonathan charak 11:56AM (6/04/2008)
I'm pretty sure Chrysler's bottom line needs charity as well
Flashpoint 11:16AM (6/04/2008)
I'm absolutely SHOCKED how much treatment the Challenger is getting.
The Challenger is nothing more than a chopped down Charger SRT8 with a different body kit and a few changes to the mechanisms.
ITS THE SAME ENGINE.
ITS THE SAME CHEAP PLASTIC INTERIOR.
You'd have to be retarded to spend this much for a Challenger - unless it was marked #1 in production and was signed by EVERYONE in the Chrysler design team as well as the company heads.
I could see spending this much for a Maybach or a Phantom...but this is madness.
That's like someone spending $100,000 on the first Scion XB to hit the market.
AND I TOTALLY AGREE WITH VINTAGE.
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tankd0g 11:35AM (6/04/2008)
The funny thing is, if you could get somemone to buy the first Scion xB for $100,000 at Barret Jackson, it would instantly be worth that and go for more at subsequent auctions. It's a little like the art world in that all anything is worth is what you can fool someone into paying for it with lots of hype and BS.
SayWhat? 12:42PM (6/04/2008)
Hey, Flashpoint! Are you really shocked as to the amount of press treatment the new Challenger is getting? Shocked over what? The Camaro or Mustang?
Today the Challenger has center stage. Tomorrow it will be something else. In the meantime, for those of us who like the car, please allow us to savor the moment. And for those who don't, just take a number and bear with us for a while. Your "ooooh and aaaah" moment is coming.
carsteve 11:25AM (6/04/2008)
I'm pretty happy with my decision to buy a Cayman S over one of these. All due respect to the Challenger. It's an awesome looking car with great power, but it's overweight and the interior is no different from the other LX cars. Being overweight can be forgiven, but what really made the decision to not get one for me was the interior. .
Come on, Chrysler, throw something unique inside of your new, uniquely styled car. I don't want to feel like I'm in the Charger SRT8 I test drove a few months ago when I'm driving my new Challenger.
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remo 1:43PM (6/04/2008)
caymans are for women. get a 911 or if u cant afford it get a muscle car.
carsteve 2:01PM (6/04/2008)
@ Remo: That is a pretty unintelligent, useless comment.
@ My original post: Each car has its own target market and characteristics. I really like the Challenger, and was ready to get one, until I was swayed away by the interior. Not to mention the $50K price quotes I was getting from all the local dealers (car isn't worth more than it's approx. $39K MSRP). Like any car, the Challenger has its strong and weak points. The Challenger's weak point(s) happen to be its interior.
Way of the Future 2:09PM (6/04/2008)
ummm the cayman is a fantastic car and can out handle pretty much any car on the road, so i would not go into biased opinions about a vehicle.
bill 11:50AM (6/04/2008)
I gotta say I am bored to tears with the new Camaro & Challenger. Any bunch of bozos can design a 3900 lb car and stuff a honking V8 into it. The original Challenger was not much of a seller for reasons that look similar to today - high gas prices and new emission and mpg requirements.
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rar 12:15PM (6/04/2008)
Bill, I was wondering, if the Challenger bores you to tears, why did you look at this post? Did you feel the need to cry some more? There are a lot of posts on this blog where the car does not intrest me in the least, so I don't even look at them. Also, keep in mind the Challenger is built at a flex plant with the Charger and the 300. If they don't sell that many, they don't make that many.
BoostMeHarder 3:49PM (6/11/2008)
Sorry to burst your bubble but I saw one of these a few days ago in Westlake, Ca. I was driving alongside it on the 101N and was like," Holy Crap! That car isnt out yet" But yea, thats such a burn to have to pay 400k to not even get the exclusivity of it.
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Rick 3:38PM (6/04/2008)
I fail to see the big deal about yet another rehash. US car makers can't design anything fresh or new that sells, so they turn into slimy music producers who put out carbon copy all boy bands because they know there are idiots who will buy them as they did in the past.
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johneboy 6:48PM (6/04/2008)
The 300C was new and fresh and won more awards than any other car in history. Coincidently it is made in the same plant as the Challenger.
TriShield 12:04PM (6/04/2008)
I'm pretty sure if someone wants to spend that much of their own money on the first production example of a car they are free to do so, that doesn't make them a twat but it might make the person complaining about it on the internet one.
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jsjs 1:20PM (6/04/2008)
"...that doesn't make them a twat but it might make the person complaining about it on the internet one."
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Interesting words - coming from someone many here would characterize as the "resident twat".