Video: 2008/’09 Dodge Challenger Designers Pt. 4
Mar 28, 2008 at 2:47PMBy Jeff Gale and Brian Nielander
Designers, 2008-2009 Dodge Challenger
Here we discuss with Jeff and Brian their work on making the concept fit onto a production platform, which affects the exterior and interior. They also get into their adventures in the wind tunnel and trimming the weight of the vehicle from concept to production. Enjoy…(don’t forget Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 with Jeff and Brian…or our full series of interviews with Micheal Castiglione and Alan Barrington on the Dodge Challenger concept.)


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14 Comments
Can someone give me an idea of when the first batch of 2009s will be delivered to the dealerships?
I would have to agree with alot of the comments. The high impact colors are something that should have been considered before the Challenger went into production. It’s apparent that a nice cross section of Americana likes their new Mopar in the “bright” colors as well. I myself am a big fan of the Plum Crazy Purple and the Sassy Grass Green. What an amazing platform that offers so many custom add ons and factory options (Hemi Shaker hood) if the boys at Mopar let this happen. I almost ordered a TorRed R/T today but after seeing this website I will wait until I see what the future holds and just maybe I’ll be able to have the Plum Crazy Purple Challenger R/T in a new “modern muscle car.” Looking forward to the future.
i would like to have one black…..
I must agree that I am disappointed in the color choices. Also, I thought the car was going to have a pistal grip shifter? Please make a plum crazy hemi convertable with a go wing and shaker hood!! and paint the shaker the origanal argent! thanks for finally making a new muscle car!
wait how much did it weight before? It is a cow still.. i mean it weights 4200 pounds.
i for one am glad they listened to us as much as they did, sure they still leave us wanting, but is so we will upgrade every year, they want to turn this into a money earning thing not a one hit wonder
Awsure, you are correct in that they took some shortcuts, however, most cars today include these details. Although, the steering wheel and dash do need some serious improvement. That is why I never bought a new Charger. At any rate, not having that ridiculous cross hair grille is well worth the shortcuts. Further, the car doesn’t look as fat as the prototype. And the prototype tail lights looked like that of a 1969 Barracuda which I thought were awful from day one. The rear bumper would have looked better with the back up light strips in them, however, they probably wouldn’t of held up to a 5 mile an hour crash. All in all, it looks better than the rest of the cars out there so lets not be too critical. Just buy a stipped SE model for $20,000 and customize it. Just think, it has been 35 years since Ma Mopar has built a car that actually looks decent. Finally, they are listening, well maybe a little bit.
Mopar4ever…the production vehicle is NOT better than the concept by a LONG shot! Many compromises were made and I would say the only change that is neutral/better is the grill.
Let me start with the interior…The leather/fabric look is pitiful. The dropped in Charger dash & steering wheel is certainly deflating. The 2008 with their special edition number plates get no pistol grip shifter…amazing! I will stop there on the interior although we could get pretty detailed.
As far as the exterior goes the BLECH-Pillar robs the car true hard top status and compared to the concept loses ALOT of appeal. The very pretty gutter strips must make it up for you I guess. The duck-bill spoiler is a trim piece that I doubt has much function but maybe the smoke in the wind tunnel liked it. Shrinking the width (I feel) detracts from the stance significantly and adding the bulging bumper (while maybe due to regulations) is weak. The interior headlamps demonstrate the CHEAPENING of the design. Throw an amber running lamp with a chromed over piece of plastic on top to try & recreate the six-shooter look of the concept.
My God man…you think it was an improvement? Scary!
When are they going to talk about the biggest letdown for the new Challenger, the “look how many $ we saved” interior? They seem to have avoided talking about this so far.
You guys did a great job on the Challenger! The production car is much better than the prototype. You went more retro than I thought you would and that is the way to go. I don’t think that you really get it. The Mopar community has been waiting since 1974 for a decent muscle car and this is great. Now give us all the high impact color choices and stripe options (bumble bee, R/T stripe going down from the beginning of the fender to where the back of the top hits the quarter panel, etc.) the shaker hood, air grabber hood, and even the go-wing. Color is everything so let us have all the colors at once, i.e., Lemon Twist Yellow, Sublime, Plum Crazy, Sassy Grass Green, Petty (Corporation Blue), and just a basic black (not this dirty black that looks like it has dust in it). We have waited long enough and have endured that flat-sided box of a charger. Please, please, give us a break before the price of gas makes us think twice about purchasing one of these cars. Thanks and remember your new slogan: It’s A New Day! Rake in the cash now or it may be too late.
I know there’s a lot of complaining on this blog about things we would have liked to see done differently but speaking for myself I’m still thrilled that there were people behind the scenes who had the passion to make this car as close to the concept as possible, even if in the end the business side meant dumbing down some of it.
Get ready the dodge web site has made some changes and I noticed the build a vehicle pull down tab now has 09 info on the journey in a seperate catagory which is different than the past few weeks.
Its getting close very close,and they should be adding other 09 models soon.
Awsome news!!!!!!! Congrats what good news on a friday !! Time for a drink!!
Very cool!!!!!!!!!!!!
i am now in d status
i now have my vin # as of today