Cars
Dodge Challenger Concept
Muscle
America
It’s been just over two years since the Dodge Challenger Concept first broke cover at the 2006 Detroit show, and in that time it’s become iconic before the production versions even hit the road (which they will later this year.)
The original Challenger, and its brother, the Plymouth Barracuda, hit the streets in 1970 and was an immediate hit – though the end of the Pony-Car boom in the US spelled the end for that car after just four years.
With the market revitalised in the 21st century by Ford’s new Mustang, the new Challenger concept was shown to the world in early 2006 and once production was confirmed, it became one of the most keenly-anticipated cars in recent history.
Like its illustrious ancestor, the Challenger uses some parts from the larger Charger family on a shorter platform. The concept’s bodywork is all-carbonfibre – the stripes on the bonnet/hood are actually unpainted areas showing off the composite weave beneath. Under those stripes is a 6.1 litre Hemi V8, smaller than the 426cid street hemi engines of old, though just as powerful- with 425bhp. That translates to 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of over 170 MPH.
In GRID, the car is used in the US city-street-racing events that allow it to show off its fearsome acceleration and entertaining handling, just the thing for lurid powerslides round city blocks, then blasting away down the straight.
The original Challenger, and its brother, the Plymouth Barracuda, hit the streets in 1970 and was an immediate hit – though the end of the Pony-Car boom in the US spelled the end for that car after just four years.
With the market revitalised in the 21st century by Ford’s new Mustang, the new Challenger concept was shown to the world in early 2006 and once production was confirmed, it became one of the most keenly-anticipated cars in recent history.
Like its illustrious ancestor, the Challenger uses some parts from the larger Charger family on a shorter platform. The concept’s bodywork is all-carbonfibre – the stripes on the bonnet/hood are actually unpainted areas showing off the composite weave beneath. Under those stripes is a 6.1 litre Hemi V8, smaller than the 426cid street hemi engines of old, though just as powerful- with 425bhp. That translates to 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of over 170 MPH.
In GRID, the car is used in the US city-street-racing events that allow it to show off its fearsome acceleration and entertaining handling, just the thing for lurid powerslides round city blocks, then blasting away down the straight.
