Retro-revival. Old is new. The past is back. The most recent Thunderbird was perhaps the one that started it all, a design harkening back to Ford's glorious 50's, the trailblazer followed by a slew of retro-styled Ford vehicles. The Mustang has flourished where the T-bird hardly flew. The GTO came back. The GT40 came back, in 4-inches taller and small-block forced induction form. Now the Chrysler group is nimble and sharp, and they will not be left out when there's a game to be played. They have nailed this retro-style-lovin market with the 300, followed closely but not too closely by the Charger, both powered into commercialdom with mythical HEMI power...and now the Challenger concept is here. Can we believe that Chrysler is really thinking just concept here?

They have the engine to blow the Mustang GT out of the water. They have stronger V6's available to the Chrysler 300/Dodge Charger. They have a stronger base V8 in the same sedans, with 390 pound feet of torque that will leave the Mustang in a cloud of smoke if the Challenger's weight is comparable - and whoa buddy if it's lighter. They have a Shelby GT500 fighter with the 6.1-liter HEMI, though that motor falls 50 horsepower short. And the Mustang chassis is going to be tough to beat.

The prospect is exciting. But, right now, supposedly, it is just a concept...the design rocks either way, so we took the time to get to know the team who drew those hot lines. Alex Barrington, who has been working at Chrysler's Pacifica, California design studio for 4 years, penned the Challenger concept's interior. The Art Center grad created an instrument panel with "a high waterline feel, and everything flows down from there." What's different from the original is the trapezoidal shaped in-line gauges. The original Rally Sport model featured 5-in-a-row gauges, and another model featured 3-in-a-row; this concept sort of combines the two themes with four major gauges. Other influence from the original Challenger is found in the shift knob; a pistol-grip shifter finds its home in the center of this concept's interior. This, though, is made more modern; where the old Challenger featured an old Western pistol-style grip, this new concept features a grip more like a Glock with its knurled form.

To make the instrument cluster more modern, Alex looked to the aftermarket industry for current trends, and he thought racing should be a key influence. Thus, telemetry was part of the display behind the wheel, including recorded quarter mile drag times - we project mid 12's soon to be displayed. This telemetry takes up the fourth "gauge" spot on the instrument cluster.

There is a contemporary version of the old on the doors; the Challenger was the first vehicle to featured injection molded plastic material on the doors, and the new Challenger concept features modern injection molded plastics in retro shapes. "The trapezoidal shape of the rear fascia appears on the door" continues Barrington. "The old Challenger was all black inside; the concept is mostly black inside, with key focus points done in Aluminum." These key points include the spokes of the steering wheel, the shifter and the whole transmission tunnel cover, and the window switch cover plate on the driver's door armrest. The seats boast the same pretty shape with pleated lines as the original seats, but now with adequate (as opposed to the original, non-existent) side support. Now, projecting that if this were to be built, there would likely be three levels of this car to compete with the Mustang, there should be an SRT version up top. When asked which of these three levels he thought this interior would fit, Alex replied "I hope this would be in the top end model." So do we, it would be a good fit.

The exterior of this vehicle was handled by a man of greater experience and expertise, a gentleman by the name of Michael Castiglione. Michael was born just as the muscle car era was taking off, and he grew up by Pomona, a long time home to NHRA and other drag events (not that kind of drag, we're talking about cars, here). "I was into the pony cars more than the funny cars" recalls Castiglione. So he got one when he was 16 years old.

Today, he drives a 1967 Camaro - an excellent choice for a muscle car enthusiast, but "I get some flack because I work in 'advanced design'" notes Michael. The '67 Camaro is indeed a dated design, and the body does represent the level of technology used in that vehicle. But his Camaro still has great appeal. Michael recognizes this. And that is why he is an excellent candidate for the Challenger's body lines. Of the different sketches considered for this project, his was chosen because it was the most literal proposal. His was more Cuda like, and featured some input from the Charger, rather than being a design that took off in a direction all its own.

Specifically, the 1970 Challenger was chosen as the most iconic design of Chrysler's pony car series. "The 1970 model is the most sought after by collectors" notes Tom Tremont, Chrysler's V.P. of Advanced Vehicle Design. "But instead of merely recreating that car, the designers endeavored to build a Challenger most people see in their mind's eye - a vehicle without the imperfections like the old car's tucked-under wheels, long front overhang and imperfect fits. As with all pleasurable memories, you remember the good and screen out the bad. We wanted the concept car to evoke all those sweet memories...everything you thought the Challenger was, and more."

Castiglione was happy with the basic proportion of the original Challenger, so his first challenge (pun) was to apply this shape to the longer wheelbase of the modern LX platform. "The B-pillar is very far forward on the LX platform," as Castiglione commented, which makes it very difficult to fit a front-mounted V8 with a 2+2 seating configuration on this chassis. And then there's the removal of excess body on the front and back (more on the back than the front), making this more of a sports car. Castiglione did actually have to pull the front end of the LX platform out to get the right proportion, emphasizing with a long hood where the power came from. A stepping up of the thrust line where it is abreast of the rear quarter window adds tension and muscle to the rear quarters, signifying the area where HEMI power is put to the ground.

As for the construction, the entire body was built of carbon fiber. The hood was designed after the R/T model, and the blackening of the hood, which recalls the paint scheme of the original hood, was accomplished by leaving the carbon fiber exposed. "The carbon fiber is honest," noted Castiglione, and the honesty is key to the very pure purpose of a muscle car. Additionally, the carbon fiber hood was given a satin finish instead of a gloss finish, so as to reduce glare. This also means the hood looks very non-flashy, more functional, more pure, and more like something which belongs on a true muscle car.

The small scoops in the hood are functional, and incorporate the throttle bodies for the potent V8 underneath. From there, air is funneled to the front to be filtered before entering the intake manifold.

Front and rear, the trapezoidal shapes from the original Challenger remain, and are repeated in the exhaust tips' shape. The wheels on the original rally model were too small to really fill up the wheel well, so Castiglione made sure the modern, aggressive stance of this car was completed with 20 inch front and 21-inch rear wheels. Performance intent is furthered by the large cross-drilled rotors with solid one-piece calipers filling much of the space inside those large wheels.

Kevin Verduyn, Design Chief at Chrysler's Pacifica Studio, keyed this design with the words "competent" and "clean." The Challenger is dimensionally very different from the original, although it is still instantly recognizable as a descendant of its namesake. He reemphasized the difficulty the team faced with using such a different platform, particularly with that seemingly misplaced, for this project, B-pillar. The final Challenger concept features no B-pillar - it is all glass between the A and C-pillars. The Challenger is indeed clean from the side view. "Capturing the signature side view was the most difficult task in the design project" Verduyn highlighted. A challenge, yes, but mission accomplished. This car has an outline it doesn't take a mother to love. Just a car guy/gal, particularly those of the muscle breed.

The result of these inputs is a Challenger that looks like a young person's modern interpretation of a classic muscle car, especially of someone who did not grow up owning one and perhaps is not intimately familiar with each fault of the original design. Chrysler says it's the idealized version, but perhaps more poignantly it is the redraw of someone who grew up in a different culture than the era from which the muscle cars sprang, someone more familiar with balanced modern materials and modern manufacturing methods. What we can't tell is that this also has been reshaped by platform sharing. This is the polished sketch of a man who came of age as the muscle car era waned, who dreamt of owning one as a child, has been driving one much of his life, and finally got to create and see built what he knew a clean, strong muscle car could be.

And to sweeten this deal, this design looks realistic. Chrysler reps themselves said they picked the most realistic design of the three early directions considered. There is nothing about this design that is overly complicated - that means a short lead time for engineers to get the fabrication of those body panels done. They have an existing platform, and they have the motors to blow the competition away. This looks like an easy to realize car.

Mustang sales are still hot. The car is still very fresh to the market. People are paying huge dollar amounts for original muscle cars, and many more want that original styling on modern running gear. The market is ripe. Chrysler, get pickin'.