This kind of explains why Chrysler LLC has been so tight-lipped and gave no trumpeting press releases about a special edition of their Mopar bearer modern muscle car, the Dodge Challenger. The Challenger Classic edition was made for two reasons. One, to keep the public's attention revolving around their newly revived tire-shredder, and two, to remind people how great their products used to be in the “old days”.
We can only say that they definitely managed to take away some attention from their “green” cars present at the show, including the all-electric Dodge Circuit EV. The R/T Classic edition features the good ol' racing stripes and the now-famous loopy Challenger logo on both sides of the car, as opposed to just the grill where it resides on the regular R/T model.
No mechanical upgrades are expected from the new edition, but the legendary Mopar colors Hemi Orange, TorRed and B5 Blue are back in business, giving chills on every oldschool muscle car fan out there.
The 5.7 liter V8 found in the regular R/T still develops 372 hp with the automatic transmission option, but a newly-available six-speed manual supports 376 hp from the same powerplant.
It's worth mentioning that this is the first time since the resurrection of the HEMI engine in the Challenger that the glorious V8 is available with a manual transmission. More details will follow in a press release the following week, aparently. Now, pretty much what all Dodge and muscle car lovers need is that people continue to buy gas-guzzlers that are reminiscent of muscle cars in these trying times, so that they can keep this dying breed of machines still on life support.
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