Filed under: Motorsports, Coupes, Videos, Chrysler, LLC., Dodge
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Dodge Challenger Mopar drag package cometh
by Damon Lavrinc on Jul 1st 2008 at 8:02PM 
Follow the jump to watch the video
Those of you steeped in drag racing lore are undoubtedly familiar with the 1968 HEMI-powered Dodge Darts and Plymouth Barracudas. These limited edition, track-bound '68 package cars brought out some of the biggest names in drag racing and helped solidify the automaker as a force to be reckoned with down the 1320. When Dodge unveiled the Challenger drag race package at SEMA, we knew the Mopar crew had something serious up its sleeves, and we've got an exclusive clip of what's to come.
Chrysler isn't releasing the details on this non-street-legal, drag-race ready model yet, but earlier reports suggest an overall weight savings of around 800 pounds by stripping the interior down to the bare essentials (one seat, a set of gauges and no sound deadening material), nixing the wipers and A/C and replacing many of the body panels with composite material. The front brakes will also be modified, along with the rear end and front crossmember, and a roll cage is assuredly part of the package. As for power, expect a big HEMI V8 under the hood producing over 500 hp and close to 500 lb.-ft. of torque. All of that is speculation for now, but expect official word from Mopar shortly. Check out our exclusive video after the jump to keep you satisfied in the interim.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
CarbonBlack 8:11PM (7/01/2008)
I think I'd prefer a car designed to do more than "Go in a straight line". I'd still go R/T!
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TwinTurboVR4 8:38PM (7/01/2008)
I dont think this is meant to be a road car...
Torrent 1:12AM (7/02/2008)
Yeah. The R/T at like 29K is great for the performance and to me, the more obvious choice.
rndmnme 8:19PM (7/01/2008)
This guys worse on camera than TTAC's Farago.
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TwinTurboVR4 8:34PM (7/01/2008)
WANT. NEED. MUST HAVE! YOU GIVE ME NOW!!!
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andre lavoie 8:35PM (7/01/2008)
This car sounds and looks awsome. Too bad it wont save chrysler.
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Aprime 8:39PM (7/01/2008)
Of course it will, everyone wants a low-mileage single purpose car.
You sir are obviously retarded or completely out of touch with the buying public.
/Reverse TriShield
Jrejre 9:00PM (7/01/2008)
Text and some video of the car would have been about a million times better than this guy's canned dialogue. . . awful
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Joe 9:53PM (7/01/2008)
+1.
Looked like he was reading straight off cue cards.
Nr9 9:02PM (7/01/2008)
they need to get their priorities straight, fix their small and midsize car lines, make a full line of small and midsize bluetec cars.
people talk about mercury dying.. chrysler's product pipeline looks even worse than mercury's. chrysler doesnt have anything relevant in today's automotive market. at least mercury's got a hybrid milan coming.
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MajorGeek 9:19PM (7/01/2008)
Attention your on an auto enthusiast website. I own 5 cars and dont give a crap what they get for MPG. Dodge is maximizing the Challenger publicity. Nothing more.
I agree with you completely, but all brands need to do this and are struggling, you might read the news occasionally.
Nr9 9:44PM (7/01/2008)
this is an auto blog.
and who says automotive enthusiasts are all about performance. there are probably some efficiency enthusiasts out there too.
i dont give a crap about MPG either, but people like us do not feed the auto industry. if you want niche cars to exist, there better be money making cars out there. Also not all publicity is good publicity. especially chrysler doing their gas deal thing and showing off muscle cars, it just reinforces their image of being gas guzzlers to the common public.
MajorGeek 10:40PM (7/01/2008)
Point is that a car like this can help drive a brand. Viper and Corvette, for example. It drives interest, sparks ideas, and can help a bland brand. I am frankly sick and tired of every post whining about hybrids and low MPG fuel, that is not the point here and you should know it. For God's sake, leave a few posts alone that are not relevant to your whining over a dollar spike in fuel already.
Because the name blog is in it, does not make it a blog coming from someone in the web publishing business since 1997.
From Wikipedia:
"A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog."
Again, typically 1-2 people. Original blogs were just some dork writing about his boring day, a few got successful, a few knew enough to use the word blog to their advantage. Autoblog is ranked about 2000 in the world http://www.quantcast.com/autoblog.com so they are anything but a blog, assuming they once were.
Its like a fat chick thinking shes hot. If she wears shorts that say juicy, then it must be so.
Parkerman 10:48PM (7/01/2008)
See... The thing is... A year ago if you would have asked someone.. Hey.. You think the gas is going to be near $5 a gallon next year, They would have said no...
The problem is... Is that when something like this happens, and everyone wants high MPG cars.. You can't just BAM.. make some and put them out. Generally it takes a car 2 to 3 years to make it into production.
On the Chrysler Advisory board, they tell us that it will be about a year or 2 before we truly get to see something that is coming from them.. and not the parasite known as Daimler.
Nr9 11:03PM (7/01/2008)
lol are you being serious? this drives interest from YOU, not from most people buying cars. bland brands win. why has toyota been so successful? vipers and corvettes and ford gts do not improve brand image among 90% of the buying public. corollas and priuses do.
i guess you are missing my point in this being an auto blog. this is a blog about the auto industry, not an auto performance blog or an auto enthusiast blog. Do you really believe that MPG is not important in the auto industry today?
for the record, this is the first time i ever posted about fuel efficiency. i am a gas guzzler too. but for a company like chrysler who is almost dead still doing this stuff its pretty much a nail in their coffin
Dakotart 9:11PM (7/01/2008)
This guy sounds like he sat crankshaft...........anyways sweeeet car, It makes sense for Chrysler to do this because its a niche vehicle and they'll sell what they build.
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Josh 9:16PM (7/01/2008)
First off, as mentioned this is non-street legal car designed for some unknown as of yet drag class via the NHRA. From the sounds of the video it has at least the 425hp 6.1L hemi, and its dropped a lot of weight (even though a 1000lbs out of this car still means it weighs 3000lbs).
The car without a drivetrain wouldn't even be that bad, get a nice blown 592 hemi in it and go pro-stock racing :)
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Ian 9:31AM (7/02/2008)
You're not going prostock racing with a blown anything. Carbed n/a 500ci gasoline motors only. Unless you're talking IHRA prostock, which is still n/a motors, just no real limits on displacement.
Dakotart 9:19PM (7/01/2008)
^(on a)
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Josh 9:24PM (7/01/2008)
no blutec, first off its Daimler's deisel and its way expensive (not to mention diesel fuel being even more expensive than gas).
I agree they need to adress their small cars (and they are with the hornet and other joint ventures in the works) and they are in the process of addressing their mid-sizers with a vastly updated sebring expected for 2010.
As for hybrids they have the Durango aspen twins this year and there are rumors that this same system can be used in the LX cars since they too are powered by the same 5.7L hemi's. Now they just need to work on more proper hybrids, namely plug-ins in their midsize and smaller cars.
Just like the other 2 american companies they are trying to get away from the trucks that were their life support, but daimler ran chrysler so far into the ground its going to take lots of time for Cerbus to make any drastic headway, but I have faith they are on their way.
As for reports of going bankrupt, Cerbus is privately hel and does not need to disclose any info, however, cerbus has nearly unlimited capitol available to put towards chrysler, but they are a company looking to make a profit and dumping billions in, especially with the current state of the economy just doesn't make sense right now. They are making baby steps and they will get there sooner rather than later.
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