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2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 – Design

You didn't think we'd get away without commenting on the style, did you? The Challenger concept's design marching orders were simple: Preserve the flavor and attitude of the original, but make it modern. The resulting 2006 concept car stunned everyone, and the production hardly differs.

The 2008 Challenger SRT8's shape is clean and modern, yet all the classic Challenger cues are there including the grille treatment, the character line along the side, and the body-width taillights. Even the ducktail spoiler of matte black plastic all harkens back to the original car. Photo:

The result is not a line-for-line reproduction of the original or a retro-styled take on a classic, like the Ford Mustang. Instead, it is retro taken to an extreme, answering the question of what that car would look like if it were designed in the modern day. The result is just right, and it gets better every time you see it.

The interior, however, is not quite as exciting. It's not ugly or poorly laid out. Actually, the layout is clean and simple, the gauges are easy to read, and the dash top and many other surfaces are soft to the touch. But it's bland, especially after feasting on the visual buffet of the exterior. Sure, the black headliner is kind of cool, and it does convey the ominous, sinister look that Dodge was going for...either that, or it's just more black stuff in an already very dark interior. We found ourselves wishing for more styling pizzazz, not just chrome trim, but something that made us as excited to be inside the vehicle as we were to drive it.

Still, we can't complain about the way it works. There is plenty of storage space, including door pockets, two good-sized cupholders on the center console, and large center console bin. If you need to move something big, the trunk is quite spacious, although it suffers from a ludicrously high liftover; you have to haul your junk a good three feet off the ground to get it in there. Once inside there's no problem, and the trunk accommodated all our video gear with plenty of room to spare.