As others have said, “These are the good old days” of the muscle car world once again. That you can buy nearly new raw, big-engined monster for the price of a new grocery-getter is remarkable. But that’s what you’ll get if you grab up this 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8, up for auction at a price of around $24,000 with the reserve not met and a day to go. It sits in Waterville, Ohio, in case you’re calculating shipping costs.
Relative to the price of a new Challenger (still on dealer lots despite being recently discontinued), this “barn find” is likely to end up quite the bargain. And you can’t do much better than Hemi Orange with matte black accents for a sinister look. Of all the silhouette cars (machines patterned after an earlier counterpart, as this is of the earlier Challengers) produced, starting with the VW New Beetle, MINI Cooper, or Ford Thunderbird, the Challenger might be the closest to replicating its earlier inspiration. The difference is the proportions. I remember reading somewhere that the old Challenger is like a 7/8ths version of the modern, full-sized machine. When you put them side by side, you realize that the newer car, while similar proportionally, is larger by a factor of 1/8th. I once had a press car to evaluate, and I liked the car a lot but felt like it was rather awkwardly large to maneuver.
What will your driving experience be? With a 6.1-liter V8 and 425hp, fast, at least in a straight line. Adding to the fun is that this one sports a manual transmission. You can rip through the gears with impunity, until your tire budget catches up with you, at least. Or are you going to be shy to abuse this 15-year-old car due to its low 3807 mileage reading?
Do you care about the ad’s boast that this car came out of the Steve Todhunter collection? (No, I’ve never heard of him either, though he’s on youtube with his collection, which over the past couple of years or so looks to have been sold off, or at least thinned.) The question with this car is where is the reserve? Often ads like the one here on ebay have a buy-it-now price that kind of gives you a guide, but this one’s a mystery. You can buy lesser models from this vintage all day long for under $20 grand, but when you’re talking SRT8, that thins the herd and ups the price, because this puts you in the room with the SRT range that goes up to things like the Hellcat. For comparison, an SRT8 car with similar mileage to this one is currently online for $30K, another for nearly $40 thousand. You’re in somewhat rarified air, in other words, and that costs money, but you need to keep your head as the bidding hits the $30s. Only you know how high you’ll go or how crazy you’ll get once this beast is resident in your driveway. I say you only live once–might as well pound this car into submission and have fun doing it.
Store bought cookie cutter, seen about 15 or 20 on the way home from work yesterday,also look up the Louisville KY impound lot it’s full of them also,they have auctions.
Also, don’t forget this one weighs in at 4145 lbs according to specs. That’s 14% more than a 1970 Challenger equipped with the heavy 440. Not that much difference in HP either. And it is fairly easy to modify the topside of the 440 with heads, intake and cam to get close to 500 HP.
Why is this on BF? It’s nothing more than a used car at this point.
3800 miles is why. So many of these have been rode hard and put up wet.
Cool car. This is pretty new compared to cars typically featured on this site, but so what. When the Challenger was first reintroduced they stood out, the retro styling really resembled the first generation challenger. When this one was built they were still years away from developing a negative reputation by some of its later owners. Plus it’s a stick shift, which is highly desirable and uncommon.
If anyone doesn’t like it, why’d they bother clicking on it?
Steve R
I love it when the comments give you a reality check and you realize there is a lot more to this than you thought. Thanks B/F
I have a 2012 392 Hemi SRT8 Challenger 6 speed. About 50 more HP then this 6.1 which has one of the coolest intake manifolds ever put on a car. This was back when the SRT division still existed and they managed the impossible bringing this to market. Real car guys not the Stellantis French morons currently destroying all things Mopar. Anyone disparaging these cars has never driven one and is just a couch complainer. Fastest car I’ve ever owned by far and will blow the doors off of my LS1 6 speed Camaro SS. My face hurts from smiling every time I drive it. With that mileage I can’t imagine letting it go for under 30k. GLWTA
There will always be haters which being a veteran I fought for their freedom too. Myself I own a Ram so yeah I’m liking this car but I’m from Northwest Ohio originally & this car is too. I hope it’s rust proofed!
BA so far you are the only commentor to use the word hate,I simply said they’re everywhere.
I have always really wanted to like these, but the slab sides where they should roll under like the original fuselage bodies make these cars, already large, even larger and stubbier. I keep looking for how someone painted/wrapped the lower quarter to give the car more curve than it has or in some other way made them look a little more agile. They do run, though. I rented an R/T for a week a while back while in LA and had a lot of fun with it, particularly on Mulholland Drive.
I don’t know why old car lovers don’t love cars like this that pay homage to the cars we were infatuated with when we were growing up. The slab sides and weight are due to federal safety standards. The designers of this car were working with the hand they were dealt, not some clean slate where they could start from scratch using vintage regulations. I really get frustrated reading these comments. I don’t love every recreation (not crazy about the Ford Thunderbird or Chevy SSR), but I am thrilled by (and wholeheartedly encourage) every attempt at breathing life into iconic cars from the past. Can we not agree that these attempts deserve our gratitude, even if they sometimes fall short of perfection?
Exactly. I almost went nuts when Ford came out with the retro Mustang.
A small V6 was standard and no, it was no nearly as fast. The manual transmission wasn’t available until several years after it was released. Buyers knew what they were getting, if the wanted something with better mileage or lower insurance rates they would have bought something else, like a Honda Civic.
The manual transmission was available in year 2, only in 2008 was it not.
The OP is talking about a V6 in a much lighter car. Yes the V6 was available, now imagine the car was 800 -1000 lbs and it be becomes a performance 6 banger.
Certainly the best looking “new” American car on the road, tho the dash looks like it belongs in Grandpa’s car. The dumb huge wheels & tires force not only a high beltline, but too small side windows. I actually turned down road testing 1 of these because i thought it was too claustrophobic inside – & as for the modern Camaro, forget it.
As for all modern current pony cars, the 6 CV joints underneath would have me worried.