TriShield
04-18-2008, 02:49 PM
72 Hours in So Cal Car Culture
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.rnr2.500.jpg http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.rnr1.500.jpg
On Fridays, Ricky and Ronnie's in Torrance, California, draws people who want to look at muscle cars like our Challenger SRT8. But some just want to eat a burger.
By Erin Riches, Senior Editor
Date posted: 04-16-2008
"I'll never be able to face my muscle-car friends if I don't ask you for a ride around the block," Brooks reminds me.
"Sure, get in." It's not like I'm going to turn him down. This 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 in all its Hemi Orange splendor has been illegally parked in front of motorhead bookstore Autobooks in Burbank, California, for an hour, so I'd be totally cold to just drive off without giving one of the guys a ride.
Dropping the keys into the cupholder, I press the start button. It's plastic rather than some kind of pretentious metal, yet it wakes up the 6.1-liter Hemi V8 all the same. It's a hot afternoon in Burbank, but I put the windows down so Brooks can get the full aural effect.
"It idles quieter than I thought it would," he says. "I was expecting it to grumble and snort like the old cars that my friends have."
I pull onto Magnolia Boulevard, take a quick right down a side street scanning for children and pets, and go for maybe two-thirds throttle.
"That's more like it," says Brooks, bracing himself a little. "The exhaust note gets all loud and old-school as the revs build, and even though it's an automatic, the car feels fast."
A minute later, we roll up to Autobooks and my only Challenger ride-along of the weekend seems to be over. But Brooks knows better.
"Wait here a second. I'm going to see if my manager Hiram wants to ride with you."
72-Hour Cruise
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.rnr3.500.jpg http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.garage.500.jpg
We get lots of requests to rev the 6.1-liter Hemi V8; one guy even asks if he can drive the Challenger. It looks like a classic when we garage it for the night.
This is the first weekend that the production version of the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 has hit the public road, and we figure there are a dozen of them prowling the streets of Los Angeles. If I'm lucky, I have 72 hours to parade it through the Southern California car scene and collect opinions — the fresh, candid kind that you only get from people who have never before laid eyes on the car.
So I've planned a weekend cruise for the SRT8 that includes Ricky and Ronnie's in Torrance, Donut Derelicts in Huntington Beach, Cars and Coffee in Irvine, and finally Supercar Sunday in Woodland Hills.
If you've been to L.A., you know these places. They're famous weekend hangouts for car guys. Had it not been for the enthusiasm of this crowd, Chrysler might never have resurrected the Dodge Challenger.
Food 4 Less, Hidden Gem of Torrance
So I'm trying to hide the Challenger behind a Food 4 Less supermarket until the usual Friday-night crowd gathers down the street at Ricky and Ronnie's. But within 30 seconds of parking the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8, my bright-orange cover is blown.
A black Cadillac CTS speeds down Vermont Avenue, and I hear the driver scream, "Oh, my god! It's the new Camaro!"
A very illegal U-turn ensues and the CTS pulls up alongside the Challenger. "I'm sorry!" says the neatly groomed driver, who's about 30 and out of breath. "We had to take a look at your car. I thought it was the new Camaro."
"Would you have come over here if you'd known it was the Challenger?" I ask.
"Maybe not, but he probably would have made me," he says, gesturing at his friend in the front passenger seat, evidently a Mopar guy. "So is it an automatic or stick?"
With that in mind, here is our own Inside Line list of the top three questions asked about the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8:
"When does it go on sale?" (This spring, but you'll have to order one and wait.)
"How much does it cost?" (That would be just over $40K with the gas-guzzler tax included.)
"Is it an automatic or a stick? (The 2008 Challenger SRT8 is an automatic, but if our experience is representative, Chrysler better build plenty of 2009 Dodge Challengers with the six-speed manual and an authentically cool pistol-grip shift lever. The people want it.)
Hanging Out at Ricky and Ronnie's
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.dd1.500.jpg http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.dd3.500.jpg
The Donut Derelicts ask, "Why didn't Dodge put a 392-cubic-inch V8 in the Challenger SRT8?"
We're getting ready to roll down the street to Ricky and Ronnie's when a 20-year-old Toyota Corolla carrying a full complement of guys of similar vintage cruises by. "You know you look good in that car!" the front passenger shouts as the Corolla sputters past. And from the backseat, "Hey, is that the new Camaro?"
Then a kid on a skateboard restores world order by correctly identifying our 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 from 300 feet away. He's yelling so loudly into his cell phone it's as if he's standing next to me instead of across the street: "Giovanni, get down here now! The new Challenger is at Food 4 Less."
Just as I'm about to leave, a well-kept BMW 745i pulls up and an equally well-kept driver steps out. He knows what he's looking at. "Oh, the Challenger," he says, his eyes dancing the length of its 1970s silhouette. "This is the kind of car that men like. Can I see your engine?"
He studies the exposed iron-block V8 and properly appreciates the "Hemi 6.1" badge on the valve covers, then inquires about horsepower (425 hp at 6,200 rpm, thank you for asking). Finally, he says, "Come with me to Beverly Hills tonight," and I'm almost sure he's ogling the Dodge's orange flanks.
"Uh, I'm...I mean, we're on the clock right now," I say. If I stick with the Challenger, I might actually have a social life by the end of the weekend.
More Serious Than Fritters
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.cnc3.500.jpg http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.cnc1.500.jpg
Excitement is at a fever pitch as I pull up to Cars and Coffee in our 2008 Dodge Challenger. Ferraris are so been-there-done-that when a Hemi Orange Challenger pulls up.
It won't be happening at Donut Derelicts, though. These guys are highly skeptical of anything built after 1971. When we show up at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, several of the regulars remember when we appeared in the Challenger concept two years ago.
A bearded guy in his 60s steps away from his mid 1960s Ford Ranchero to tell us, "This car is one of only a couple modern-day choices for us old muscle-car guys. The rest of 'em look like jelly beans with windows."
An owner of a 1967 Firebird is nursing a black coffee and concedes, "I like the look of it, but the stance is just too high, and those 21-inch wheels just can't force it into having the right proportions." We hear murmurs of agreement in the crowd.
We leave.
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.rnr2.500.jpg http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.rnr1.500.jpg
On Fridays, Ricky and Ronnie's in Torrance, California, draws people who want to look at muscle cars like our Challenger SRT8. But some just want to eat a burger.
By Erin Riches, Senior Editor
Date posted: 04-16-2008
"I'll never be able to face my muscle-car friends if I don't ask you for a ride around the block," Brooks reminds me.
"Sure, get in." It's not like I'm going to turn him down. This 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 in all its Hemi Orange splendor has been illegally parked in front of motorhead bookstore Autobooks in Burbank, California, for an hour, so I'd be totally cold to just drive off without giving one of the guys a ride.
Dropping the keys into the cupholder, I press the start button. It's plastic rather than some kind of pretentious metal, yet it wakes up the 6.1-liter Hemi V8 all the same. It's a hot afternoon in Burbank, but I put the windows down so Brooks can get the full aural effect.
"It idles quieter than I thought it would," he says. "I was expecting it to grumble and snort like the old cars that my friends have."
I pull onto Magnolia Boulevard, take a quick right down a side street scanning for children and pets, and go for maybe two-thirds throttle.
"That's more like it," says Brooks, bracing himself a little. "The exhaust note gets all loud and old-school as the revs build, and even though it's an automatic, the car feels fast."
A minute later, we roll up to Autobooks and my only Challenger ride-along of the weekend seems to be over. But Brooks knows better.
"Wait here a second. I'm going to see if my manager Hiram wants to ride with you."
72-Hour Cruise
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.rnr3.500.jpg http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.garage.500.jpg
We get lots of requests to rev the 6.1-liter Hemi V8; one guy even asks if he can drive the Challenger. It looks like a classic when we garage it for the night.
This is the first weekend that the production version of the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 has hit the public road, and we figure there are a dozen of them prowling the streets of Los Angeles. If I'm lucky, I have 72 hours to parade it through the Southern California car scene and collect opinions — the fresh, candid kind that you only get from people who have never before laid eyes on the car.
So I've planned a weekend cruise for the SRT8 that includes Ricky and Ronnie's in Torrance, Donut Derelicts in Huntington Beach, Cars and Coffee in Irvine, and finally Supercar Sunday in Woodland Hills.
If you've been to L.A., you know these places. They're famous weekend hangouts for car guys. Had it not been for the enthusiasm of this crowd, Chrysler might never have resurrected the Dodge Challenger.
Food 4 Less, Hidden Gem of Torrance
So I'm trying to hide the Challenger behind a Food 4 Less supermarket until the usual Friday-night crowd gathers down the street at Ricky and Ronnie's. But within 30 seconds of parking the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8, my bright-orange cover is blown.
A black Cadillac CTS speeds down Vermont Avenue, and I hear the driver scream, "Oh, my god! It's the new Camaro!"
A very illegal U-turn ensues and the CTS pulls up alongside the Challenger. "I'm sorry!" says the neatly groomed driver, who's about 30 and out of breath. "We had to take a look at your car. I thought it was the new Camaro."
"Would you have come over here if you'd known it was the Challenger?" I ask.
"Maybe not, but he probably would have made me," he says, gesturing at his friend in the front passenger seat, evidently a Mopar guy. "So is it an automatic or stick?"
With that in mind, here is our own Inside Line list of the top three questions asked about the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8:
"When does it go on sale?" (This spring, but you'll have to order one and wait.)
"How much does it cost?" (That would be just over $40K with the gas-guzzler tax included.)
"Is it an automatic or a stick? (The 2008 Challenger SRT8 is an automatic, but if our experience is representative, Chrysler better build plenty of 2009 Dodge Challengers with the six-speed manual and an authentically cool pistol-grip shift lever. The people want it.)
Hanging Out at Ricky and Ronnie's
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.dd1.500.jpg http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.dd3.500.jpg
The Donut Derelicts ask, "Why didn't Dodge put a 392-cubic-inch V8 in the Challenger SRT8?"
We're getting ready to roll down the street to Ricky and Ronnie's when a 20-year-old Toyota Corolla carrying a full complement of guys of similar vintage cruises by. "You know you look good in that car!" the front passenger shouts as the Corolla sputters past. And from the backseat, "Hey, is that the new Camaro?"
Then a kid on a skateboard restores world order by correctly identifying our 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 from 300 feet away. He's yelling so loudly into his cell phone it's as if he's standing next to me instead of across the street: "Giovanni, get down here now! The new Challenger is at Food 4 Less."
Just as I'm about to leave, a well-kept BMW 745i pulls up and an equally well-kept driver steps out. He knows what he's looking at. "Oh, the Challenger," he says, his eyes dancing the length of its 1970s silhouette. "This is the kind of car that men like. Can I see your engine?"
He studies the exposed iron-block V8 and properly appreciates the "Hemi 6.1" badge on the valve covers, then inquires about horsepower (425 hp at 6,200 rpm, thank you for asking). Finally, he says, "Come with me to Beverly Hills tonight," and I'm almost sure he's ogling the Dodge's orange flanks.
"Uh, I'm...I mean, we're on the clock right now," I say. If I stick with the Challenger, I might actually have a social life by the end of the weekend.
More Serious Than Fritters
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.cnc3.500.jpg http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/driving/08.dodge.challenger.srt8.weekend/08.dodge.challenger.cruise.cnc1.500.jpg
Excitement is at a fever pitch as I pull up to Cars and Coffee in our 2008 Dodge Challenger. Ferraris are so been-there-done-that when a Hemi Orange Challenger pulls up.
It won't be happening at Donut Derelicts, though. These guys are highly skeptical of anything built after 1971. When we show up at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, several of the regulars remember when we appeared in the Challenger concept two years ago.
A bearded guy in his 60s steps away from his mid 1960s Ford Ranchero to tell us, "This car is one of only a couple modern-day choices for us old muscle-car guys. The rest of 'em look like jelly beans with windows."
An owner of a 1967 Firebird is nursing a black coffee and concedes, "I like the look of it, but the stance is just too high, and those 21-inch wheels just can't force it into having the right proportions." We hear murmurs of agreement in the crowd.
We leave.