TriShield
05-06-2008, 04:33 PM
Channeling Kowalski along the Vanishing Point Route
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/general/new.dodge.challenger.takes.kowalskis.last.ride/challenger.roadtrip.group.3.500.jpg
What's old is new again.
By Josh Jacquot, Senior Road Test Editor
Date posted: 05-05-2008
"Our sole Challenger has just broken the ring of evil the deep blue meanies have so righteously wrought — get through 'em baby, get through 'em." — Super Soul, Vanishing Point 1971
It happens deep in the Nevada desert, just past Austin. On a long, straight section of road with nothing to lose, our friends in the white 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T finally put the hammer down. At once, the rawness and purity of Kowalski's ride pulverizes the well-insulated interior of our 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8, shredding the peace inside the modern car's cockpit with the same brute force Kowalski used to pierce a hole in the cool desert air 38 years ago. Even with my right foot buried, I see nothing but taillights until they disappear into the desert.
In these few brief seconds, the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 is clearly defined by its soft edges and quiet exhaust. Manufacturers don't let us feel cars raw and unfiltered anymore. Hammering down a desert road with a thin-rimmed steering wheel and pistol-grip shifter — that's raw. Four hundred and forty cubic inches and a four-speed — that's raw. Powerslides unhampered by electronic intervention — that's raw.
In 1970, when Kowalski drove this very road — U.S. Highway 50 through Nevada — he felt it. And it was raw.
Kowalski, Can You Hear Me?
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/general/new.dodge.challenger.takes.kowalskis.last.ride/challenger.roadtrip.group.5.500.jpg
Being Kowalski is easy on a road like this. Having the right car doesn't hurt, either.
If you're unfamiliar with Kowalski and his mission, here are the CliffsNotes: Kowalski — a former racecar driver, motorcycle racer, Vietnam veteran, cop and lover — turns (for whatever reason) to delivering cars for a living. At 11:30 on Friday night, he bets his friend and dealer that he can make the run from Denver, Colorado, to San Francisco, California, by 3pm on Saturday. And he pursues this promise at all costs.
For us, like Kowalski, the journey begins in Denver, Colorado. Without the help of uppers, the driving diatribe of blind DJ and narrator Super Soul or the inevitability of our own mortality for motivation, we're not going to make the trip in 15.5 hours. But we are reliving Richard Sarafian's cult car-chase classic Vanishing Point in all its glory.
Show Me How To Live
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/general/new.dodge.challenger.takes.kowalskis.last.ride/challenger.roadtrip.group.1.500.jpg
It really is a timeless shape.
Our 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T is Kowalski's ride — right down to the OA5599 Colorado license plate, hood scoops and pistol-grip shifter. This 1970 Challenger R/T, which was used to recreate footage for the Audioslave video "Show Me How to Live," breathes Kowalski's soul into its four-barrel carb and out of its dual exhaust. In between, there are 472 cubic inches of Mopar bottom end and Indy cylinder heads — a bit of an upgrade from the 440 cubic inches Kowalski used in the film.
The engine, which started life as a 440, has been bored and uses a stroker crank, Demon 950 carburetor and PTI headers to achieve 607 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque. It channels every cylinder's power through a Keisler five-speed manual transmission conversion. Bias-ply tires keep it real.
And of course, just to see how it measures up to the original car's character, we're driving Dodge's 2008 Challenger SRT8. Its 6.1-liter Hemi is good for 425 hp that goes to the ground through several electronic filters, a torque converter and the automatic tranny's five gears.
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/general/new.dodge.challenger.takes.kowalskis.last.ride/challenger.roadtrip.group.3.500.jpg
What's old is new again.
By Josh Jacquot, Senior Road Test Editor
Date posted: 05-05-2008
"Our sole Challenger has just broken the ring of evil the deep blue meanies have so righteously wrought — get through 'em baby, get through 'em." — Super Soul, Vanishing Point 1971
It happens deep in the Nevada desert, just past Austin. On a long, straight section of road with nothing to lose, our friends in the white 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T finally put the hammer down. At once, the rawness and purity of Kowalski's ride pulverizes the well-insulated interior of our 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8, shredding the peace inside the modern car's cockpit with the same brute force Kowalski used to pierce a hole in the cool desert air 38 years ago. Even with my right foot buried, I see nothing but taillights until they disappear into the desert.
In these few brief seconds, the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 is clearly defined by its soft edges and quiet exhaust. Manufacturers don't let us feel cars raw and unfiltered anymore. Hammering down a desert road with a thin-rimmed steering wheel and pistol-grip shifter — that's raw. Four hundred and forty cubic inches and a four-speed — that's raw. Powerslides unhampered by electronic intervention — that's raw.
In 1970, when Kowalski drove this very road — U.S. Highway 50 through Nevada — he felt it. And it was raw.
Kowalski, Can You Hear Me?
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/general/new.dodge.challenger.takes.kowalskis.last.ride/challenger.roadtrip.group.5.500.jpg
Being Kowalski is easy on a road like this. Having the right car doesn't hurt, either.
If you're unfamiliar with Kowalski and his mission, here are the CliffsNotes: Kowalski — a former racecar driver, motorcycle racer, Vietnam veteran, cop and lover — turns (for whatever reason) to delivering cars for a living. At 11:30 on Friday night, he bets his friend and dealer that he can make the run from Denver, Colorado, to San Francisco, California, by 3pm on Saturday. And he pursues this promise at all costs.
For us, like Kowalski, the journey begins in Denver, Colorado. Without the help of uppers, the driving diatribe of blind DJ and narrator Super Soul or the inevitability of our own mortality for motivation, we're not going to make the trip in 15.5 hours. But we are reliving Richard Sarafian's cult car-chase classic Vanishing Point in all its glory.
Show Me How To Live
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/features/general/new.dodge.challenger.takes.kowalskis.last.ride/challenger.roadtrip.group.1.500.jpg
It really is a timeless shape.
Our 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T is Kowalski's ride — right down to the OA5599 Colorado license plate, hood scoops and pistol-grip shifter. This 1970 Challenger R/T, which was used to recreate footage for the Audioslave video "Show Me How to Live," breathes Kowalski's soul into its four-barrel carb and out of its dual exhaust. In between, there are 472 cubic inches of Mopar bottom end and Indy cylinder heads — a bit of an upgrade from the 440 cubic inches Kowalski used in the film.
The engine, which started life as a 440, has been bored and uses a stroker crank, Demon 950 carburetor and PTI headers to achieve 607 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque. It channels every cylinder's power through a Keisler five-speed manual transmission conversion. Bias-ply tires keep it real.
And of course, just to see how it measures up to the original car's character, we're driving Dodge's 2008 Challenger SRT8. Its 6.1-liter Hemi is good for 425 hp that goes to the ground through several electronic filters, a torque converter and the automatic tranny's five gears.