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Dodge Challenger Concept



Introduction

It is no secret that the exterior of the new Dodge Challenger was designed around its muscle car ancestor, but the interior also shows clear similarities to the early 70s version, but with a twist of technology and modernization. As you open the door and climb into the car, you do not have the stale look that can often come with copying an older model, but instead, it is a sharp angular take on a retro muscle car feel. The leather, high back seats have a sunken in, ribbed look, just like the seats which came in the 1970 Challenger. These seats wrap around the driver and passenger to provide more comfort and support than do the old model, and provide more grip under spirited driving. The shift console takes cues from the muscle car era as well, but again, with some minor enhancements to improve functionality, without losing its retro aesthetics. As you pull the door shut once you are settled into the drivers seat, the doors also carry a retro look, with the molded arm rests set in the inner door panels, and the door handles are mounted in the underside of that molded armrest. The door panels are trimmed in brushed silver to match the rest of the interior, as opposed to the muscle car era Challenger, which was mostly trimmed in wood grain.
Like the seats and the center console, the dashboard carries strong resemblances of the muscle car era. One of the most popular steering wheel options of the Dodge Muscle car era was the Tuff Wheel. It was a leather wrapped steering wheel with a matching leather horn button. Connecting these leather wrapped portions were three brushed aluminum spokes, at a slightly more than 90 degree angle from the bottom spoke, to each of the side spokes. The modern Tuff Wheel has actually been used before, on both the Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger, which is fitting seeing as how they are also both reborn Dodge legends. The new Tuff Wheel still carries the thick black grip, with the matching center section, but the center section of the new wheel has been enlarged, and affixed with a chrome Dodge badge. the three brushed aluminum spokes are still present, but the side spokes have been moved down the wheel slightly, forming a 90 degree angle with the bottom spoke, and the three spokes are shorter due to the enlarged center section. Like the vintage Tuff Wheel, the new wheel is connected to the dashboard by means of a ribbed plastic cuff, which also matches the steering wheel color.
One of the popular items of the 70s Challenger was the "slap stick" shift console, and it is that look that the Dodge designers used when designing the center section of this new model. The 70s console had a raised section around the shifter itself, providing a sort of guard around the shifter area, and gradually dropping as it went back, and finally flattening out at the console mounted storage compartment. The new Challenger concept has the same raised section on the passenger side of the console, but whereas the shifter was sunken into the old console, the flat shifter surface is elevated, at a sharp angle to meet the high side of the console. Also, the wood grain finish of the muscle car era has been foregone for a brushed silver finish. this new console protects the allure of the old console, but with the elevated shifter surface, it allows for a more comfortable feel for the driver.
A look through the retro styled steering wheel brings forth another modernized look of the classic Muscle car. Like the 1970 Challenger T/A, the new Challenger concept has a four gauge cluster, with one large gauge on the left side, then three matching, slightly smaller gauges to the right. While the old cluster had the four gauges set in black plastic, sitting down under the over hanging hood of the dash pad, the new Challenger has a silver gauge face area contrasting to the black dash pad, and it is also flush to the bottom of the dash pad, as opposed to being set back a bit. The "dummy lights" which were located in the gaps between the under side of the gauges on the 1970 Challenger, are now located above the gauges. Where the "dummy lights" were placed on the old dash area, there is now black trim, giving the bottom of the gauge cluster a defined seperation from the lower dash area with is also finished in silver. The top of the dash, and the lines of the dash itself strongly resemble the original Challenger. The top dash pad has a downward slope to it except for the area over the gauges, which flares up to allow room for the gauge cluster. The top of the dash slopes downward, as mentioned, and the underside of the dash slopes up and in, and the two sloping portions meet at a flat face, which still holds the Challenger moniker in silver on the black background on the far right side. just above the glove compartment. Where the archaic AM stereo was set in the predominantly black along with the crude heater controls, the center stack of the new Challenger concept is set in brilliant silver, and the antiquated radio and heater controls have been ditched, and in their place, a state of the art audio system and climate control system.
>> Continue to the Projected Specs

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