Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Detroit News

Scott Burgess

Muscle Car Is What's Right About Detroit

When I drove the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 in Pasadena, Calif., a Ford Mustang stopped in its tracks.

In Detroit, it stopped a fire truck. And cops. And minivans and nearly everyone else.

While making a video of the Challenger for The Detroit News Web site, we parked a black SRT8 and an orange SRT8 in front of Nemo's on Michigan Avenue in Corktown.

People craned their necks, their mouths agape as they wistfully looked out the window at the pair. Grown men shook their heads and cursed after gazing upon the Challengers. A crowd of 20-somethings gathered around, cell phones in hand, snapping pictures. One young woman draped herself across the hood, in a clothed re-enactment of a rumored pose at the 2006 Detroit auto show.

There's a long list of reasons not to like the new Challenger but none of them have anything to do with the car's beauty. They have to do with high gas prices, homeless polar bears, and a stunted car market, which will sell 1 million fewer cars in 2008 than it did in 2007.

Critics will point at the Dodge Challenger and shout in a voice louder than a V-8: "See, that's what's wrong with Detroit."

But after driving the new Challenger around the Motor City, collecting a thumbs-up from a police officer, compliments from a Culligan water delivery man, and listening to the fond memories of a Chrysler worker about making a 440-cubic-inch engine, I have to disagree.

The Dodge Challenger is what's right about Detroit.

Challenger inspires

I haven't drunk too much Kool-Aid, and I haven't put on a pair of rosy sunglasses. And yes, I am guilty of wanting Detroit's carmakers to do more than just survive.

This Challenger is right because it inspires. It connects to the young and old alike. How many cars can raise the pulse of a grandfather and his grandson at the same time? This Challenger does that.

This car builds buzz. It can pull people into dealerships. And Dodge needs people talking about its brand with admiration, not disdain. Many will come to realize the Challenger is not the practical machine of their dreams -- or just not available -- so they may take a look at something else in the Dodge showroom. The 2008 Challenger SRT8, which went on sale last month, is sold out.

There will be Challengers this summer that cost half the sticker price of the SRT8 and achieve 18 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway (of course, that's with the V-6).

Dodge has no ambitions to make a million Challengers -- it might like that, but the company is smart enough to know the Challenger will fit nicely in a niche. It's a different niche, then say, hybrids, but still a small segment that appeals to people who like cars that haven't been emasculated by the government, environmentalists or high fuel prices.

It has emotional connection

There is no other Dodge on the road today that connects emotionally to so many onlookers. Cars can meet a consumer's need or emotion. The Challenger brings out the best design cues for an American car built by an American company.

Now, I realize a lot of Michiganians might reminisce a little too long, thinking about the good ol' days instead of the present ones. And it's easy to finger point at the past mistakes of the domestic automakers. Chrysler LLC has no subcompact. Neither does Ford Motor Co. None of the compacts by the Big Three top the list of best vehicle in that segment.

But the Challenger does exactly what it was designed to do: make you ogle.

I don't know if even one person out of the dozens I met and talked to about the new Challenger SRT8 will buy one. But I know they're thinking a lot differently about Dodge.

And in the auto industry, where perception becomes reality, building a car people admire is a good start.

Scott Burgess is the auto critic for The Detroit News. He can be reached at (313) 223-3217 or sburgess@detnews.com.