Great article and Challenger review driving the Vanishing Point route

[NOTSURE]

This was a great article enjoy!
Make sure to read all 6 days of the journey If your getting a new chally you have to plan this trip.

Automotive Traveler - Dodge Challenger Dream Drive - Day 1

[Cuda340]

Lucky guys who made the trip. My favorite part was when the SRT blew by the 6 cylinder mules at 110 mph.

[automotive_traveler]

Hello everyone. My name is Rich Truesdell, the editorial director of Automotive Traveler and I am the journalist who put together the old/new Challenger Vanishing Point project. The printed version of the story will appear first in the July issue of Musclecar Enthusiast which will reach subscribers in less than two weeks and will be on news stands, albeit limited as the magazine's distribution is limited, just after Memorial Day. You can go to the web site to subscribe to make sure you get it first.

I have posted a great deal of Challenger-related content besides the daily blogs. There are high resolution, wallpapper/screensaver-sized images, several videos (a new one will go up the week of May 12) and two different versions of the story as it will appear in the next issue of Automotive Traveler. This is why I am writing this morning.

We are asking visitors to the web site to vote and comment on which version we should include in our next issue. The first version show both Challengers appearing to drive into a bulldozer, which just happened to be 100 yards south of where the bulldozers were positioned in Vanishing Point in Cisco, Utah. The other version is shows both cars driving down down a road that runs to the horizon. If you visit the link, please leave your preference in the comments section along with any other comments you have about the story.

Needless to say it was a great trip and both cars performed without a hiccup. I was especially impressed with how well Buzz Graves' 1970 Challenger R/T Hemi performed. Even at more than 11,000 feet above sea level on I-70, and over the rest of the 1,500-mile route, it drove like a brand new car. The new Challenger drove as I thought it would, like a Dodge Charger with four inches cut out of its wheelbase, a bit softer than expected, a bit softer than the Charger SRT8 I drove the following week as a reference.

The biggest issue I had with the car, besides the fact it wasn't mine, was the seat belt arrangement was a joke. The shoulder belts really need to be integrated into the seat back, not to the newly added - from the concept version - B-pillar. Fuel mileage was exceptional (we registered more than 21 MPG overall, explained in the text) but the car, given that it hasn't appeared yet in showrooms, garnered far less attention than I expected; many we encountered along the way thought it to be a Mustang or a Camaro prototype. Part of that I attribute to its color, a very lackluster silver that lacked "pop" in my opinion.

I invite all of you to visit Automotive Traveler and especially to take advantage of all the Challenger-related content that we have available as well as all the other great content we have available. Feel free to leave some feedback for me here as I will monitor this thread. We are an online-only magazine and web site dedicated to the proposition that every drive is an adventure, as it was in this case.

Richard Truesdell
Editorial Director, Automotive Traveler
West Coast Contributing Editor, Musclecar Enthusiast

[Go Goody]

Thanks Richard....we love the insight!

Maybe I want a silver one.....lower profile! NAAAH----Gimme da orange one!

[JonW]

Great article, Richard! I may have to do that someday. And keep up the good work on ME, as well. I get lots of automotive mags, but when ME lands in my mailbox, I read it first.

[NOTSURE]

Loved the article thank you for such a great introspective.Ill be making this trip as well once I recieve my horse.

[automotive_traveler]

Notsure, which version of the feature did you prefer, the series of blogs, the magazine-style version that opened with the bulldozer shot, or the version with the white line between the two Challengers?

What other Challenger and LX forums do you subscribe to? I would like to get the widest possible exposure to this feature as we can generate.

Thanks,

Richard Truesdell
Editorial Director, Automotive Traveler
West Coast Contributing Editor, Musclecar Enthusiast

[Go Goody]

I like the bulldozer picture....the 08 should be closest to the reader. lxforums and chargerforums

[automotive_traveler]

Go Goody,

The first time you see an old and new Challenger together you will realize why in almost every shot I've taken of the two cars together, since the very first shot in the Chrysler Tech Center Design Dome in November '05, I've shot the vintage Challenger in front. The reason is simple; the new car simply towers and overpowers the old car visually. You see that in the tracking shot I've uploaded here as well.

But thanks for the input. I hope you'll visit Automotive Traveler, if you haven't already.

Richard Truesdell
Editorial Director, Automotive Traveler
West Coast Contributing Editor, Musclecar Enthusiast