Where do you beging with a car like this? At first, when Daimler-Chrysler first announced that the historic name Charger was being brought back, I immediately thought about some of the past failed attemps at reviving this name. At the same time, after seeing what Ford did with the new Mustang, I thought to myself maybe this won't be so bad.
Dodge got off on the wrong foot when I first heard news about it being used on a four door, I knew right then that this would be a simple attempt at capturing some baby boomers bank accounts, nothing more. The car finally appeared on magazines and at the Detroit Auto Show, and it started to peek my interest, but at the same time I was still not sold on the idea of the Charger name being brought back.
The new Charger continued to make headlines everywhere, getting good and bad reviews from all angles, but Dodge didn't listen and continued on, which after driving it, it all makes sense now.
I remember being 12 years old and a friend of my dads giving me ride in his Charger R/T, all I remember was the rumble the car made at idle, the smell of racing fuel pouring out of the carburetor, and the loudness of the turndown exhaust at the back. I also remember how the car would twist whenever the gas pedal was mashed to the floor. When I took delivery of the New Charger R/T, I was hoping to get that same feeling I had when I was 12.
The car arrived at my shop Monday morning, I got there around 9:45am and one of my employees informed me that it was sitting around back, I acted like I didn't care, but deep down I was dying to jump and do the biggest burnout one had ever seen. I grabbed the keys and told him to come with me, It was Stone White with 18" Chrome clad wheels, had a mean stance to it and kind resembled the old Coupes, I got in and looked around for a while, the seats felt nice and supportive and they are actually made of real leather according to the tag that was hanging from the headrest.
I adjusted my seat and mirrors and turned the car on, that rumble I had waited for was non existent, and nothing but a smooth quiet hmmm coming from the exhaust. We pulled around the front and proceeded to an industrial area that is not built yet, no traffic, no cars, no people, just me and my friend and a new Charger. The first thing I did was test the 0-60, It was definitely fast, but so quite..Impressive, but I miss the twisting of the body, the rumble of the HEMI, but the New Charger lives up to it's name. It's big, fast and l ooks like nothing else on the road. 60MPH came quick and so did 80MPH. I tested the brakes to see how fast the 2 ton beast would take to come to a halt, and that was also impressive, the old Chargers could go fast, but Dodge never considered how it would stop, I'm glad they did with the New Charger.
I will continue this later. Out for now.
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