AutoWeek reports that Chrysler is exploring "strategic options" for it's Viper product line. This means that like Ford (Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, and perhaps Volvo) and GM (hummer), the Viper business would be sold lock, stock, and barrel to another company.
Chrysler has already said that it has no Viper product in the pipeline past 2012 and that the Viper would probabaly be allowed to die a slow death as finances allow after that.
This new plan, if executed, would sell the Viper business to a third party and then support it with technology and engineering support. The news comes as an unpleasant surprise to Viper owners and enthusiasts, who always believed that the Viper business was profitable and would continue.
More information: (<right click> and <option in new tab>)
Now available on http://www.Challenger.DrivingEnthusiast.net: 50 super high-res images of the SE, R/T and SRT8 models, along with full detailed specifications and other information. Follow the link to our Challenger site and then go to the "Production!" section from there.
2009 is the year the Challenger reaches it's stride: there is a heavily revised base V-8 Hemi in the R/T, a V-6 in the SE, and the SRT8 gets the 6-speed manual and limited slip diff it needed in 2008.
Well... some folks thought this might be a great summer movie for car enthusiasts... unfortunately, it's not a great movie for anybody.
On the car front, a handful of nice cars and one that appear to have been pulled from the staff parking lot are used throughout the film. From the trailers you might think the red Viper is the automotive star of the film... and you'd be wrong.
After an impossibly silly stunt early in the film the Viper isn't seen again. Indeed - and very oddly - in the very next scene an old C4 Corvette is substituted - totally out of style with the Jolie character. Perhaps the budget ran out and only allowed for one Viper stunt car - and indeed some people believe that the C4 was digitally inserted over the Viper. Worse, when the Jolie character is shown shifting, it's a clearly a Viper shifter being moved. And that's the end of even the slightest interest for car enthusiasts.
And speaking of being moved, several Viper Club members had reserved seating in the theater. There they were, all but one with t-shirts featuring the big grinning worm, and the other with a shirt featuring racetracks the wearer had clearly never seen. After some glee from the appearance of the Viper very early on, they sat in glum silence for the rest of the overly-long nearly 2-hour movie.
Angelina Jolie gives an oddly wooden characterization, and even tosses in one naked butt shot. Does the UN Goodwill Ambassador need to do that?
James McAvoy as the reluctant hero does better, but his writers spend a huge chunk of the film explaining what a sad loser his character is: his best friend is bonking his live-in girlfriend and his boss looks like a refugee from the movie Hairspray (could that be John Travolta underneath?). And then there is Morgan Freeman, for some reason given an acting credit when he can't act at all. He delivers his lines with the same lack of enthusiasm as he has done since before the gadawful Million Dollar Baby. I'm sure he could have tried a bit harder for his multi-million dollar fee. Freeman can do better than this... although he hasn't for a very long time.
If there was a saving grace for this film, it was the theater we choose to see it at. Those of you readers in Austin or Houston TX are very familiar with the terrific Alamo Drafthouse chain - a locally-owned set of theaters that also serve food and drinks. The Alamo makes any stinker of a film (except No Country For Old Men) a good time - as does a nice date.
Since I've already shown the trailer for Wanted in an earlier post, I'll instead show an important safety instructional video from the Alamo Drafthouse itself. That says everything that needs to be said about the Alamo!
AutoWeek, along with other media outlets, broke their agreement with Chrysler Press and published two pictures of the production Challenger. They were supposed to be embargoed until the Chicago auto show next month. This is how print media works... the paradigm obviously needs some latitude for internet media.
Follow the link above to the article in AutoWeek to get both pictures and the details.
Also, AutoWeek accepted my review of their article and it's copied below.
Nice job Chrysler
It's good to see that the Challenger is a serious entry from a technical standpoint. All independent suspension - instead of the stone-age Mustang’s low-brow solid axle. Double a-arms up front, instead of the cheap strut used by the Camaro and Mustang. And nice multi-piston Brembos at all 4 corners, instead of just up front. Not that this will be a serious handling car - that award will probably go to the Camaro (again). But it won't be a poor-handling throwback like the Mustang, especially the porky Shelby with 58% of its 4000 pounds over the front wheels. Ridiculous.
So even if it doesn't pull notable numbers it will still have reasonable dynamics and good overall balance. That's far more than you could say about the original "muscle cars". Although like the original Challenger, it'll be the biggest of the muscle coupes. That's disappointing to me but it's probably the best that can be done on the current iteration of this platform.
It's also nice to see the styling is clean and mature - Chrysler didn't see the need to dress it up with kid-stuff buffoonery. The Challenger shows us that a car can project mature performance without having to load up on flash. I would, however, have liked to have seen it done without the fake hood scoops. Even if they could somehow be connected, they can't be efficient where they’re located and wouldn’t provide any measurable benefit.
Because so few Challengers will be built, I expect the dealers to gouge us on the pricing at first. Given the sales figures of the typical Chrysler dealer, they can certainly use the money. It’s also nice to see that we can have the heritage without the baggage. I'm speaking of Shelby, who of course had almost no involvement with the car bearing his name. Technically, his name adds about as much substance as his charity is reported to have. His name is there solely to add appeal to a certain mindset and drive sales volume across the Mustang line. Snake oil.
I’d place this car in the middle between the Camaro on the high end (technical ability and value) and the Mustang on the low end (weak ability and little interest to a driving enthusiast). Make your choice while you can; given the CAFÉ laws and increasing focus on emissions you won’t see this size car or these engines much longer. The cars themselves will still exist, but on far more appropriately-sized platforms and with far more efficient engines.
AutoWeek reports that Chrysler is exploring "strategic options" for it's Viper product line. This means that like Ford (Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, and perhaps Volvo) and GM (hummer), the Viper business would be sold lock, stock, and barrel to another company. 
After an impossibly silly stunt early in the film the Viper isn't seen again. Indeed - and very oddly - in the very next scene an old C4 Corvette is substituted - totally out of style with the Jolie character. Perhaps the budget ran out and only allowed for one Viper stunt car - and indeed some people believe that the C4 was digitally inserted over the Viper. Worse, when the Jolie character is shown shifting, it's a clearly a Viper shifter being moved. And that's the end of even the slightest interest for car enthusiasts.
