The Challenger Needs A Refresh Before It Vanishes Behind Camaro And Mustang Dust
The
year 2006 was a strange one in the world of the American muscle car.
Ford had recently released the fifth generation of the Mustang and the
public was in love. The new car looked incredible because the designers
finally stopped trying to change the Mustang’s design and decided to use the styling of the original
1965-1973 pony car as the foundation. What resulted was a modern
interpretation of the classic 60’s muscle car, an era of styling that's
arguably one of the best.
As a
result, the new Mustang sold like hotcakes while Chevy and Dodge
continued to miss out. The Mustang simply had a monopoly on the entire
pony car segment since there was no muscle car pulse detectable at the
offices of the other two US automakers. It may have been the fifth
generation Mustang that inspired the designers, or maybe Dodge and
Chevrolet were tired of giving up pony car sales without a fight, but
either way the two automakers got a start on building muscle cars again
in the mid 2000s. A concept for the fifth generation Camaro hit the 2006
North American International Auto Show and was awarded best in show.
Over at the Dodge booth, the revived Challenger was making its
appearance.
Despite
not winning the Camaro’s prestigious award, it looked ready to devour
quarter mile drag strips. It went on sale in 2008 and today, just eight
years after the release of the third generation Challenger, not much has
changed about the car. In that time, the Mustang made a revolutionary
leap in its sixth iteration, gaining fully independent rear suspension
and enough refinement to compete with European sports cars that cost
twice as much. The Camaro also clocked over into its sixth generation,
with an entirely new platform allowing it to compete with the top-selling Mustang.
The drastic updates made to the two pony cars solidified a new era of
muscle car. Meanwhile at Dodge, the Challenger continues to roam around
with its age starting to show.
The 707 horsepower Hellcat version debuted in 2015 and gave the Challenger the much needed status of being a must-have car
again, but given the limited availability of the car, the Challenger
image is at risk of taking a turn for the worst. In terms of
performance, the Challenger has never really been a serious contender
unless you take it to a drag strip. This was all good and well a decade
or two ago when that’s all Americans cared about. But in 2016, straight
line performance is not enough. The retro styling has worked in favor of
the Challenger’s sales, but its mass, archaic handling characteristics,
and girth makes it so that anyone who enjoys driving and not waiting
for the Christmas tree to turn green has to seek elsewhere.
A
decade is a long time for a car to be out. Even Lamborghini, which is
known to take its time in developing new cars, only let the Murcielago’s
production run span 9 years. That means before 2018, Dodge desperately needs to introduce
the 4th generation of the Challenger. Like the 6th generation Mustang,
it must be a two leaps and a bound ahead of the previous version.
Ideally, the new Challenger would lose 300-400 pounds and hit the race
track to train in the bends. The shape will be the biggest problem since
the original Challenger was a huge car. Hopefully Dodge designers can
manage a reduction in the footprint without hurting the classical
styling too much. Dodge may not be able to match the performance of its
competitors, but all it needs is the sales.
