Being a Mustang owner, I have no particular love for Challengers, and given that Dodge did take bail-out money, and is now partially owned by the federal government, I have no particular love for that company as a whole.
That said, this is simply awesome. Ludicrous, but awesome:
“Couple of things America got right” indeed. Y’know, apart from economic freedoms being forcibly abridged, and a couple of other little things like that.
I like the peevish look on George’s face!
Whoever that dude is, I dare say, based off the scant 10 seconds of exposure we received, he did a damned good job portraying Georgie.
Especially George behind the wheel of a monster V8.
Yep, I’m a Ford man too. Also don’t like that Dodge took bailout money. Also I think the Challenger is a bloated pig of a car…tho it DOES look SWEET and has an amazing mill under the hood.
That being said the ad DID rule!
Still as much of a bunch of pussies the English have become, I thought that the old school lobster-backs would be made of sterner stuff that somebody at LEAST would attempt to muss up the charging pony-cars with some musket balls.
They think that showing up in the marketplace is enough for us to buy their crap.
Not this patriot.
Cool ad, but the new Challenger is meh. I’ll take an old Dodge Charger thank you.
As much as I love the old muscle cars, the fact that new ones kick sand in their faces in anything you can measure with a yardstick or a stopwatch is undeniable.
I had a street car that would run deep thirteens in street trim and, with a bit of fiddling and some slicks, could crack into the twelves at the track, and it was an ill-tempered beast. Loud. No A/C. All the sound deadening and the carpeting and the back seat and the radio ripped out. You needed to squirt ether down the Holley double-pumper to start it on really cold mornings, and the race-ready Modine radiator meant it took forever to warm up, and it balked and spat until it did… And there is probably double handful of cars on dealership lots these days that would smoke it at the drag strip with the air running and the iPod blaring.
I can just see the brainstorming session at the ad agency, with the exec saying: “You want to have a squad of Chargers, bearing U.S. flags, rousting a company of redcoats, on the open battlefield?!?”
I watched the ad, and responded with “BWA-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!!!”
Regardless of the car company, it’s a priceless advert.
Awesome. When I first saw the guy, I thought it was Robin Williams.
I just wish the can makers would get over doing remakes. The new Charger is decent enough, though… not awesome, but decent.
Are you sure that wasn’t Robin Williams?
@Weer’d Beard – Unfortunately, like all modern incarnations of past cars, model bloat has well and firmly entrenched itself in its design, and it has gotten stupid-large. Granted, its power plant is more than sufficient to take that fat-ass frame and sling it down the road at stupid speeds, but still.
And, to be fair, I am willing to wager that an honest-to-God line of redcoats would have had the nerve and training necessary to stand and deliver, should they have encountered that kind of thing. ‘Course, that is all conjecture, but history seems to support that belief.
@Don Meaker – Hell, do not misunderstand – that ad is thoroughly insufficient for me to want anything to do with their products any more. But it is still a damned good ad.
@mike w. – Yeah… I wanted a classic when we started shopping too, until we started trying them on, and noticing the differences between moderns and classics. Unfortunately, I will take my airbags and massive mill over the classic styling and smaller design… even though I really want smaller cars these days.
@Tam – Stock to stock, you are absolutely right. But once you get into nuts-and-bolts tinkering, I would venture to guess that it depends on how you go about it, how good you are at bypassing ECUs, and what our goals are
.
But, yeah, functional A/C in TN while launching up onramps… not something I would readily give up.
@Matt G – You really have to wonder who would have come up with this kind of idea, and how much alcohol they were consuming at the time.
The good news is the bonus they rightfully deserve should get them a lot more booze.
@Dixie – Eh, I like my 2008 ‘Stang, and the 2010s sure are not half bad either (especially since they are fuel-efficient muscle cars – craziness). But, yeah, things like the modern Charger – those are just travesties.
@Mike S – Nope. But it would kind of surprise me
.
Are you sure that wasn’t Robin Williams?
No, I’m not. Which makes the video even more awesome. (chuckle)
But, yeah, things like the modern Charger – those are just travesties.
Eh, I’m not gonna complain about the Charger too much. Only ride I ever took in one, I had an Air Force full-bird Colonel for a driver. Kinda upped the experience a bit. (chuckle)
[...] seldom all of it. Tam links to a recent ad for the Dodge Challenger that’s more than a trifle goofy, but has its heart in the right [...]
Good commercial, ZiL or not. Like my father before me, I am (well, was) a bow-tie guy, so I wander heartbroken in the automotive wilderness.
@Dixie – Yeah, ok, that would improve the experience a little. But it is still yet another car that probably should not be wearing the brand of a supposed predecessor.
@Ken – Well, you could still be, so long as you just buy cars produced before 2008-2009ish – I certainly would not complain about that. Now, though? Hell with them, unfortunate though that may be.
I love it.
Although, despite being a former “summer temp” assembly line employee of the Chrysler Corporation (Dodge Main, AKA Hamtramck Assembly), I, like most of the commenters, will not willingly purchase a vehicle from the Peoples Automotive Collective.
Good to hear
. One day, maybe, Dodge et al will break away from their governmental controls… but not if the government has anything to say about it. But, if that does happen, I will have no problems buying their products again. Until then, bugger them.
haven’t care for mustangs since the 60s. the challenger and camaro better looking and better cars… root for the charger, boys. they are the underdog in NASCAR and considering that Roger P. is the only owner who is putting them on the track… go Kurt Bush.
When it comes to aesthetics, you are certainly welcome to whatever opinion you happen to hold.
As for which is the “better” car, that all depends on what you are looking for. Costwise, a similarly-priced Mustang beats out a Challenger on paper, but a Camaro edges them both out. In any case, until such time as Dodge and Chrysler get rid of their governmental overlords, it is something of a moot point for me, and a very large number of Americans – I simply will not purchase their products.
And, believe me, you came to the wrong corner of the cortex when it comes to Nascar…