Dodge pre-sells 6000 Challengers

[dascrow]

Apparently people really want to buy the Dodge Challenger. So much so that 4,300 people put down deposits when Dodge opened ordering on Monday. A total of 6,000 orders have come in since then. If Dodge sticks to its claim of only producing 5,000 Challengers for 2008, then several of those orders will have to wait a year before taking delivery. All of the Challengers ordered will come in the SRT8 variant sporting a 6.1-liter Hemi V8 and a five-speed automatic transmission. Three colors are available - black, silver, and HEMI orange, the latter of which was the color of choice for more than half the orders. Deliveries will start in the Spring of 2008.
While the production version will be officially introduced at the Chicago Auto Show in February, it was also hinted that we will see some real "eye candy" later this week. While we wait for that, Allpar has come through once again, as a forum poster there photographed and uploaded the official dealer presales brochure, which shows us teasers of the production car's grille (bye-bye crosshair), fuel filler cap (awesome), wheel, and exhaust outlet.

For the Gallery Please follow the link:
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/12/05/d...0-challengers/
by Drew Phillips

[Ragamuffin]

That's real good that 6000 orders have been placed. The pictures and info-in-print pics have a bit to be desired; somewhat pathetic and 'old news'.Most pictures are of the 2006 Concept.Yeah the fuel filler cap looks somewhat ok but nothing lends a hint as to which side it's /it'll be on { I know, true total reveal in February }!!! The first pic which may be the "real" one shows the Challenger nameplate in front,on the honeycomb grille: that looks a bit odd !! I mean. offhand , I cannot think of any other car which has the nameplate up front ? P.S. I think Burningman could come up with a similar written nameplate 70's style !!!

[RoostKing]

Looks like the Six-gun headlights are gone. Challenger on the front grill looks wierd. I would bet the gas cap is on the left had side, as was the case back in the day.

RoostKing...

[Ted@MPSC]

Official Dodge Sneak Peek Images Released:

6 Guns appear to still be there, integrated into the headlight housing.

[Cuda340]

According to this Canadian press release, there will be a convertible Challenger model in 2009:

Dodge Challenger is the hot new muscle car

Chris Vander Doelen
Windsor Star


Wednesday, December 05, 2007



CREDIT:
The 2006 Dodge Challenger Concept made its world debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Judging by the positive response from journalists and Joe Public alike, the Challenger stands a good chance of becoming a production car.

Chrysler LLC took more than 6,000 orders for the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 it will start building in Brampton, Ont. in April, the company said Wednesday.

The company announced Monday they would start taking orders for the 425-horsepower, high-performance version of the coupe, and collected more than 4,500 deposits from customers on the first day.

Orders were still pouring in this afternoon as the company issued a press release saying it had already sold 6,000 of the cars. "This is unprecedented," said Mark Mallie, Challenger Brand Manager - Dodge Marketing.

"There's a lot of people anxious for it . . . Customers were actually coming to us and pushing us, so we thought this was a good time to take pre-sale orders."

More than half of the buyers specified they wanted the "Hemi Orange" paint job on their muscle cars. The SRT8 version of the coupes come only in black, silver or orange.

The $37,995 car is an almost line-for-line recreation of a muscle car Chrysler stopped building nearly 35 years ago.

The Challenger will be the fourth vehicle built on the LX platform underneath the extremely successful Chrysler 300, the Dodge Charger, and the recently-axed Dodge Magnum.

But for technical reasons the company is referring to the Challenger platform as the LY. [SIZE=3]A convertible version will follow in 2009. [/SIZE]

Production at Brampton Assembly is scheduled to begin in the spring, with early summer deliveries of the 6.1-litre SRT8. Other models will have a 5.7-litre engine expected to produce 350-horsepower, and a 3.5-litre engine producing about 250 horsepower.

The Canadian sticker price for the cars havn't been set yet, and the company isn't taking Canadian orders for the SRT8 yet.

"We will have a different vehicle allocation process than the U.S.," said Stuart Schorr, senior manager of communications for Chrysler Canada Inc.

Chrysler Canada will announce Challenger pricing "closer to its spring launch date," he said. Until then, Canadian dealers are being encouraged to "work with" potential buyers of the car, who may want to "get their name on that dealer's list for Challengers," Schorr said.

The two-door sports coupe is expected to be a low-volume niche product for Dodge selling under 50,000 units per years, analysts say.

[Ragamuffin]

Originally Posted by RoostKing

Looks like the Six-gun headlights are gone. Challenger on the front grill looks wierd. I would bet the gas cap is on the left had side, as was the case back in the day.

RoostKing...

The gas cap was on the right rear quarter panel ; at least on both 1970 Dodge Challengers I had !!! Which year Challenger was it on the left ? ?? Also, in my opinion having the fuel filler inlet on the right rear is much, much safer* than the left;plus to me looks better on the RR. *-- Safer meaning- we've probably seen news clips of people leaving the fuel filler area to go back to the driver's door/seat and thus causing a static electricity event: thereby igniting gas fumes and you know what usually happens next ! These car designers/automakers continually amaze me in their seemingly irrational processes. It used to be on the rr, with no problems I heard; so why now on the left ??? It certainly couldn't be for looks !!!

[My Hemi]

Originally Posted by Ragamuffin

These car designers/automakers continually amaze me in their seemingly irrational processes. It used to be on the rr, with no problems I heard; so why now on the left ??? It certainly couldn't be for looks !!!

I agree that it probably doesn't look as nice, but there may be just a bit of rational thinking here --- I read, or heard from someone that read or heard from someone else, that the reason for most if not all manufacturers placing the cap on the left is to help stop easy car jacking. Something to do with the driver being much closer to the filler cap, vs. having it on the opposite side. I guess they feel every little bit of time matters.

It's evidently not a requirement though. Maybe a gas cap relocation mod. kit is in order. Could you imagine the number of folks that would blow their behind to the moon trying that one?

[Ragamuffin]

[quote=My Hemi]I agree that it probably doesn't look as nice, but there may be just a bit of rational thinking here --- I read, or heard from someone that read or heard from someone else, that the reason for most if not all manufacturers placing the cap on the left is to help stop easy car jacking. Something to do with the driver being much closer to the filler cap, vs. having it on the opposite side. I guess they feel every little bit of time matters.

It's evidently not a requirement though. quote]
Yes, this ,'Carjacking' did cross my mind as I've been thinking and writing about this; which to me makes it better to be on the RR since you could see anyone approaching the driver's door. That's why it's essential for anyone owning a Challenger to always remove ignition key and put somewhere safe [ a pocket]. Granted, while filling your tank there's always a possibility of some expletive coming from behind to do a bad deed !! If on the RR [ or even Lr] and a carjacker were to attempt, one could theoretically spray him with gas and then pull out a stick match and direct Carjacker to ," Hold It right There" ! !! P.S. If fuel filler is on the left side and one left the keys in ignition then a real hazard could happen if in a rush to protect , the person with the nozzle might turn to carjacker with an open door and creating another gasoline situation ! !!

[RoostKing]

Originally Posted by Ragamuffin

The gas cap was on the right rear quarter panel ; at least on both 1970 Dodge Challengers I had !!! Which year Challenger was it on the left ? ?? Also, in my opinion having the fuel filler inlet on the right rear is much, much safer* than the left;plus to me looks better on the RR. *-- Safer meaning- we've probably seen news clips of people leaving the fuel filler area to go back to the driver's door/seat and thus causing a static electricity event: thereby igniting gas fumes and you know what usually happens next ! These car designers/automakers continually amaze me in their seemingly irrational processes. It used to be on the rr, with no problems I heard; so why now on the left ??? It certainly couldn't be for looks !!!

I meant as you look from the front of the Car J/K. I guess I was thinking about my old barracuda when i said driver side.

Either way, Im glad its there!

RoostKing...

[hdfatboy01]

Originally Posted by RoostKing

Looks like the Six-gun headlights are gone. Challenger on the front grill looks wierd. I would bet the gas cap is on the left had side, as was the case back in the day.

RoostKing...

Actually the fuel cap was on the passenger side (RH) in 1970.

I had a few of these cars including a T/A.