Tuesday 18th September 2007

Challengers Set To Go Under The Hammer

First three Dodges to be auctioned for charity

---

Bullying Mustangs from late '08

Dodge has announced that the first three Challengers to roll off the production line will be up for grabs to the highest bidder. The cars will all be Mustang-bashing SRT-8 models painted in a particularly fetching shade of HEMI Orange with contrasting black stripes. The cars are powered by 6.1-litre versions of the HEMI V8 and all feature a numbered plaque on the dash.

The first car is set to go on sale in January, where all the proceeds will go to notMYkid – an organisation which promotes understanding of youth behavioural issues; the second will go under the hammer at a private dealer auction in September, with profits going to community issues charity United Way; and the final car will be sold on eBay in early 2008, just as soon as Dodge decides where the money raised will be heading to.

The Challenger will be unveiled in final production form at the Chicago motorshow next February, with all of the auctions due to be sewn up by the time the car goes on sale in the US late next year.

[Gretchen]

What a lovely gesture.

I'm sure it will be a fantastic car, but I can't help but look at the front grill and think it looks like something 'Disney' have produced!

[LordGrover]

Not the biggest fan of Yank metal, but I like the look of it.

[Work-Shy-Wanabe]

I love this car!

How much is it eventually going to be?

[Apache]

Nice gesture. I have a feeling this cars secret will be it's presence, something you don't get in a photo

[JonnyV8]

Apache said:

Nice gesture. I have a feeling this cars secret will be it's presence, something you don't get in a photo

yeah probably, the dimensions are pretty close to the new mustang and thats got pretty good road presence (not that i'm biased or anything!!)

[wookie]

Is it going to be able to go round corners though?

Edited by wookie on Tuesday 18th September 15:30

[cycle-rick]

swerni said:

wookie said:

Is it going to be able to go round corners though?

Edited by wookie on Tuesday 18th September 15:30

ever even driven an American car??

Or a British car?...

[wookie]

Yep, hence my question being laced with a touch of irony.

[stigmundfreud]

wookie said:

Yep, hence my question being laced with a touch of irony.

Irony? The only irony is that your post had no irony!

The new challenger looks lovely though I am awaiting the 2009 Camaro which should also be in RHD

[flattotheboards]

they could give me the proceeds of the third one if they like

[Miguel]

stigmundfreud said:

wookie said:

Yep, hence my question being laced with a touch of irony.

Irony? The only irony is that your post had no irony!

The new challenger looks lovely though I am awaiting the 2009 Camaro which should also be in RHD

Wookie did put a winkie smiley with his quote... one of these

[thirsty]

stigmundfreud said:

wookie said:

Yep, hence my question being laced with a touch of irony.

Irony? The only irony is that your post had no irony!

The new challenger looks lovely though I am awaiting the 2009 Camaro which should also be in RHD

American bashing seems to be a favorite thing to do on these posts, and it does get old. I will say however that Ford didn't help the Americans cause by making a Mustang that wont handle. They really went cheap on the suspension and didn't care knowing they would sell bucket loads of them in the USA. I am hoping that the Challenger and Camaro will be great cars, even with the standard engines and suspensions.

[stigmundfreud]

?? The stang doesnt handle? What?? It has a live axle for a reason. The cars were/are in a lot of cases tuned to do 1/4 mile where they prefer the live axel. There are some indipendant rear ends on some of the specialist cars but live axel doesn't make a car handle poorly

[thirsty]

stigmundfreud said:

?? The stang doesnt handle? What?? It has a live axle for a reason. The cars were/are in a lot of cases tuned to do 1/4 mile where they prefer the live axel. There are some indipendant rear ends on some of the specialist cars but live axel doesn't make a car handle poorly

Not to argue, and maybe it has nothing to do with the solid rear axle, but I don't think you will find anyone looking to buy one for it's handling. Top Gear (and I don't really like that show) did a very good piece on the Mustang Shelby. Not every impressive for the money. Straight line .. it kicks arse.

[wookie]

Thank you Miguel. You spotted my humoured smilie. Dont start getting out of your prams chaps at the first sign of someone asking a straightforward, if slightly, leading question about whether or not American muscle/super cars handle well.

[ERIKTHEVETKING]

wookie said:

Thank you Miguel. You spotted my humoured smilie. Dont start getting out of your prams chaps at the first sign of someone asking a straightforward, if slightly, leading question about whether or not American muscle/super cars handle well.

Try a Corvette C6 Z06 that'll answer your question ...

[Miguel]

thirsty said:

stigmundfreud said:

?? The stang doesnt handle? What?? It has a live axle for a reason. The cars were/are in a lot of cases tuned to do 1/4 mile where they prefer the live axel. There are some indipendant rear ends on some of the specialist cars but live axel doesn't make a car handle poorly

Not to argue, and maybe it has nothing to do with the solid rear axle, but I don't think you will find anyone looking to buy one for it's handling. Top Gear (and I don't really like that show) did a very good piece on the Mustang Shelby. Not every impressive for the money. Straight line .. it kicks arse.

I'm no expert on the handling of Mustangs, but here's my 2 cents' worth on muscle cars in general: First of all, the version of any muscle car that makes the most sense to me is the base V8. Going with lesser engines means that you just want a car that looks like the muscle car. Judging by sales, many people want just that, but I wouldn't. Paying significantly more money for more power or some kind of performance package is usually also not the best deal.

A current Mustang Shelby GT costs thousands more than a regular Mustang GT and has 325 vs 300 hp along with tweaked suspension and a gaudy, riveted-on fake hood-scoop. Will you even notice the difference? Maybe if you must have the Shelby badge. The Shelby GT 500 costs even more and delivers 500 hp, but I wouldn't pay for it. First of all, it adds about 400 lbs to the car, most of it on the front end. Secondly, at this point, you're nudging the price of the Corvette coupe. I realize that some people in that market may be able to use token rear seats, but for those who don't, the Corvette makes more sense. Thirdly, if you must have a really powerful Mustang, there are better and cheaper alternatives in the aftermarket that don't involve replacing the aluminum block with an iron truck block.

Getting back to handling, it seems to me that that of the GT500 is seriously compromised for the above reasons. I wouldn't be surprised if a regular GT handles better even if it's not set up as aggressively. As for the use of a live axle, I believe that the reason for it is that they wanted a rear end that was cheap enough for the base V6 model and robust enough for the V8's.

And wookie, you're welcome.

Miguel

[JonnyV8]

Miguel said:

thirsty said:

stigmundfreud said:

?? The stang doesnt handle? What?? It has a live axle for a reason. The cars were/are in a lot of cases tuned to do 1/4 mile where they prefer the live axel. There are some indipendant rear ends on some of the specialist cars but live axel doesn't make a car handle poorly

Not to argue, and maybe it has nothing to do with the solid rear axle, but I don't think you will find anyone looking to buy one for it's handling. Top Gear (and I don't really like that show) did a very good piece on the Mustang Shelby. Not every impressive for the money. Straight line .. it kicks arse.

I'm no expert on the handling of Mustangs, but here's my 2 cents' worth on muscle cars in general: First of all, the version of any muscle car that makes the most sense to me is the base V8. Going with lesser engines means that you just want a car that looks like the muscle car. Judging by sales, many people want just that, but I wouldn't. Paying significantly more money for more power or some kind of performance package is usually also not the best deal.

Miguel

I totally agree, I have a 05 Mustang GT for about a year now and love it, in the meantime i've driven porsches, ferraris, drift cars and I test drove a supercharged exige a few weeks ago which was incredible. I wouldn't swap any of them for the stang, I had my reasons for buying it in the first place, although the handling can be a bit raw at the end of the day it's a bruiser of a muscle car with presence like nothing else.

[Transmitter Man]

I think the current vette can corner right up there with the best of the Euro or Jap supercar metal.

I think I'm correct in that TG Mustang shootout round the track that it was the lesser powered Salleen with their own tuned suspension that out-handled and out-paced the stock Ford Mustang around the track.

Are we talking IRS over live axles here as I cannot remember.

Phil
79 De Tomaso (IRS) Longchamp GTS

[Twin Turbo]

Lovely car, JonnyV8.

Funnily enough, whilst I've only had mine for a couple of weeks, I do find my Mustang is capable of going around corners. Just as well, really, or I'd only be able to make it 50 yards down the road before having to reverse back to my house

Anyway.........this thread was about Challengers, so