Chrysler has released the pricing on the new Challenger pony car, one of the worst-timed cars since, well, the first time they introduced the Challenger. The 250hp base SE model will start at a very modest $21,995 including destination. Also modest: the four-speed automatic transmission, likely accountable for the lackluster 18/25 rating, but probably perfectly sufficient given the nature of the V6 car. For that low entry price you also get 17" real alloy wheels and side curtain airbags (side torso not available, of course). The next model up the chain: the Hemi-powered R/T model for a much more expensive $29,995. That puts it right on point with the Charger R/T, not to mention Pontiac's G8 GT. The Challenger R/T packs 370 horses and 394 lb ft of torque, and gives a fairly reasonable and expected 15/23 mpg. It's equipped much like the Charger R/T, including a standard five-speed automatic (a six-speed manual is a $995 option). So, overall, some solid prices at the end of the neo-muscle journey– especially when you factor in the likely $1500 – $2500 rebates that are likely at some point in the next six months (if the company lasts that long).
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Assuming they last that long, I’ll wager that, after six months, they’ll wish they’d kept the Magnum and its slow-but-steady sales volume.
I liked the Maggie, but the fuel economy was off-putting. Pity the European-market 300 Touring’s diesel was never transplanted.
“Chrysler has released the pricing on the new Challenger pony car, one of the worst-timed cars since, well, the first time they introduced the Challenger.”
Oh, sweet irony…
There was one advertised in the Houston Chronicle this weekend for $61,000 OBO. What kind of new car dealer puts OBO in an add? And who is going to pay $60 grand for something that competes with a Mustang and doesn’t have the cache of the Cobra, Roush, or Shelby name?
The price gap between the SE and R/T seems incredibly wide. Is Chrysler hedging their bets against having for lay out huge discounts?
This car is really the only new product glimmer the company has and it’s something only they can deliver and deliver they did. It’s a gorgeous machine and a crowd-pleaser, whether that will translate into sales now that fuel has jumped will remain to be seen but with production at 30,000 per year they will probably sell most of them.
What you can see is the extremely favorable response on muscle car forums to the price point of the R/T, Chrysler priced it at the sweet spot and has the attention of Mustang and F-body owners looking for a new ride.
This car has also jumped up on the list of purchases for my next new ride, fuel prices be damned. I prefer my vehicles to deliver smiles per gallon and look unlike any other appliance on the road. This car checks all the right boxes for people like me.
That’s a very reasonable price for the V6 model – though still somewhat more expensive than a V6 Mustang. A manual transmission option on the V6 (which Ford offers) would be nice, though. If I was sure the company was going to survive, I’d consider this car (though I might hold out for the rumored convertible version.)
Several things:
1) 21,995. WOW. You can get into a Challenger for 22K. This shoots holes in all the talk that this was going to be niche vehicle. You can get a coupe that gets 25MPG that looks like THAT for 22K. They will sell every single one of the 30K they produce. In fact I would guess that the ceiling for this car is more like 60K per year.
2. The 4 speed automatic was selected because it is bullet proof and it designed for this type of a vehicle and can be procured very inexpensively. The R/T with 380 horses comes with a 6 speed Tremec manual if you want one.
3. As far as poorly timed, gas prices obviously don’t help here, but Chrysler was smart to build a V-6 model which can get 25MPG. You want a great looking muscle car that gets 25MPG, they’ve got it. You want 400 horses? They got that too. The 6500 2008 models all sold before a single production car rolled off the line. There is definitely a demand for this car.
That caption on the inset photo reminds me of the time I sat down next to the cutie at the sports bar.
“Soccer and Caesar Salad” I told the bartender.
Then their bouncer’s dragging me out the door !
Challenger is destined to die a slow death on sales wadi, giving up last breath of incentives and minute sales numbers.WHy?
Firstly this is chrysler. So it has Chrysler attitude in engineering, and reliability luggage with it. Secondly this car looks like a tuning version of old Zillion years aged challenger from flower children era. Look closer at headlights, and they look like they even don`t belong here, not a single matching line. Would work for west side customs, not for Chrysler corp.next, wheel arches- where else have you seen such outdated rims? Front grille- it even looks as if it is ready to fall out.Again not a single line aligned with anything. Look at the lower air intake under the grille- looks 2 dimensional, and jigsawed. foglights- look as if they didn`t have enough place in that simplistic front bumper and had to be lowerd in front black lip. I had to spend half an hour just to compare the old challenger and the new one in order to make sure that the new one is not just a refreshed up version with the same door lines, a-pillars etc. Barely. Challenger means something to those who are now 50-60 years old. Would they bother to buy now a retrospective of their youth with hemi? You really think that teenagers will step out of their Acuras just to buy their grandaddies legends? Some will. Not enough for an assembly line though….
Does anyone know if that upgraded 370hp engine is going to find its way into the 2009 Charger?
ajla – it is going to be in the 2009 Dodge Ram for sure. I am assuming that Chrysler is not going to be producing the new and old versions of the 5.7 Hemi at the same time, so my bet is that anything with a 5.7 Hemi (Charger R/T, 300C) is going to get the new motor.
And Alex, the 5.7L HEMI with a six-speed will hit 25MPG on the open road easy too.
LX HEMI cars with the five-speed already hit that figure so it should be a cinch for a manual Challenger.
The revised HEMI will become available in all of Chrysler’s cars too, not just the Challenger.
ARod – I want a manual transmission. I don’t want 370 horses, or the mileage penalty that comes with the extra power, or the extra eight grand on the sticker. Manual or not, I’ll probably kick the tires on one anyway – it’s a good-looking, affordable coupe with RWD – but it’d be nice to have the option on the base model. Then again, I wish I believed the company was going to be around long enough to make this a reasonable purchase.
The price gap between the SE and R/T seems incredibly wide. Is Chrysler hedging their bets against having for lay out huge discounts?
You know what makes the difference in outlay so huge? The lack of the mid-level SXT version. Usually a well-equipped models sits right between the two at about $25,995.
You can get into a Challenger for 22K. This shoots holes in all the talk that this was going to be niche vehicle.
@Alex:
No. It doesn’t. Not even slightly. At the end of the day, we’re still talking about a big, fairly thirsty, largely impractical retro-styled vehicle. That’s the very definition of niche. At best it may jockey for second place if the Camaro stumbles out of the gate, but otherwise it won’t sell hugely.
The 6500 2008 models all sold before a single production car rolled off the line. There is definitely a demand for this car.
Maybe, but we still don’t know how big that demand is. I postulate that a bunch of un-PC Mopar freaks with bank decided to drive up the price of the first couple thousand. Fine. Great. Whatever. What makes you so sure that in a time where the F-150 gets outsold by ALL of the Japanese’s Big Four and 10-year-old Geo Metros are being flipped like they’re hot property Chrysler can convince people who now view fuel economy as a bigger issue than power, Big Gulp-sized cupholders and number of decals that this is the car for them?
Reminds me of a page from the magazine Evo. It’s a page where they print satirical articles, kind of like PS in R&T except funnier. In one issue I have, the headline reads ‘Designer of new Ford GT admits ‘I couldn’t be bothered.”
CarShark:
“You know what makes the difference in outlay so huge? The lack of the mid-level SXT version. Usually a well-equipped models sits right between the two at about $25,995.”
My guess is that will be the 2010 model with the Phoenix V6 and DSG tranny. More power, better mpg, and sweeter tranny than the current base model. That’s what I would wait for if I had the money. Allpar reports that the Gertrag joint venture plant is on schedule for Feb ’09 if I recall correctly.
From the original news item, “… new Challenger pony car, one of the worst-timed cars since, …”
Look for GM to surpass this noteworthy accomplishment with the ’10 Camaro.
Also modest: the four-speed automatic transmission, likely accountable for the lackluster 18/25 rating
C’mon! The V6 Mustang gets 16/24, and it has a 5 speed automatic transmission.
A rating of 18/25 for a pony car seems like a downright accomplishment, given a long-term view. You also have to bear in mind that these numbers are produced by the new, stricter test cycle, which means that most people can hit these numbers in real life.
In any event, for a wildly impractical “image car” toy, buying a $22k car that gets fuel economy of 18/25 seems a lot more sensible than shelling out $30k for a “tough looking” SUV that gets 14/20 — unless you actually go offroad, tow a boat, or carry 4+ passengers for long distances on a regular basis.
Heck, I doubt it would appeal to image-concious bi-coastal high-earning urban-dwelling yuppie-types who in my experience all feel compelled to drive around in some sort of BMW 3-series, but I kind of wish it would.
Even with Chrysler in a death spiral, the Challenger looks far more appealing than the Mustang. An 18/25 mileage with a 250hp V6 and a 4 speed? Not mention it’s a bigger car than the Mustang which would then translate into more interior space. Wish they could offer the base car with even a 5 speed manual but hey, otherwise it’s a great package.
I think this car could do well in Europe…Fuel prices have been so high for so long many people just got over it and don’t even really care anymore, or rather, choose not to let it affect their car choices too much…
Except of course for that it would somehow be stangely overpriced all of a sudden when it got here, that it has a crappy interior, that there’s no stig shift option on the V6 and the company will go bust shortly…
And most would faint upon entering the Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge Caliber dealer because of the overwhelming combined smell of the not-good-enough-for-public-transportion-grade interior plastics applied in all of their models…
Yay Plastech!