In reality, what we have to ponder in the here and now is nothing more than a prototype, and a mighty fine one at that. Whether
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| The Challenger became the status symbol of a slightly more rebellious crowd than its Ford and Chevy counterparts, thanks to movies like 1971's Vanishing Point, starring Barry Newman as antiestablishment tough-guy Kowalski. (Photo: MGM Studios) |
or not Dodge will build it exactly as shown is neither here nor there at the moment, but what matters is that this concept came to Detroit's Cobo Hall at all. It's not like the folks at Chrysler Group needed a pick-me-up like GM's employees have been craving something exciting such as the new Camaro concept that was just unveiled today as well. After all, Chrysler is expanding plant production while GM seems to be imploding. But, of course, it wasn't like Auburn Hills could just stand idly by while Ford took all the credit for an revered era when its muscle car trio, made up of the Challenger, 'Cuda and Charger, dominated stock car racing and became status symbols of a slightly more rebellious crowd than its Ford and Chevy counterparts, thanks to movies like 1971's Vanishing Point, starring Barry Newman as antiestablishment tough-guy Kowalski, an image that still sticks today.
Today's image, however, has little to do with cool car flicks of the muscle car era, but rather because of Chrysler Group's purposefully planned decision to give
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| There's a side of Americana (and Canadiana) that craves Rebel Without a Cause vehicles. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler Canada) |
the middle-finger salute to all that currently seems politically correct. Hollywood in mind, you won't be seeing environmental-good-boy Tim Robbins showing up at the Grammies in a 425-horsepower HEMI-powered 300C SRT8 later this year. No, it's more likely that he'll be "challenging" the establishment by driving up in a new Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, or maybe even a new Lexus GS 450h, if one is road-ready in time. Nothing against these cars, of course, but let's face it, they're not exactly Rebel Without a Cause material. There's a side of Americana (and Canadiana) that craves such vehicles, no matter how frowned upon they'll be when pulling up in their own driveways. In fact, the more frowns such rebels get, the cooler the car must be.
