It's no surprise that Dodge has an apparent hit on its hands with the 2008 Challenger, an update on the classic muscle car from the early 1970s.
What may be surprising is that some buyers are lining up to pay as much as $20,000 over the $40,000 sticker price for the earliest top-of-the-line production cars.
The Challenger has only been shown as a concept car. The actual production car won't be revealed until the Chicago Auto Show on Feb. 6. The cars are slated to go on sale next spring.
But Chrysler, which makes Dodge cars, announced pricing last month for the high-performance SRT8 version of the car and allowed dealers to begin taking orders on Dec. 3.
The manufacturer's suggested retail price for the 2008 Challenger SRT8 is $37,995, not including an expected gas guzzler tax that could add more than $2,000.
Muscle car wars 2009 [/align]The coupes will be powered by a 6.1-liter V8 engine capable of producing about 425 horsepower. The 2008 SRT8 version will be produced as a "limited edition" series with each car getting a numbered dashboard plaque.
Other lower-priced models with smaller engines will be produced later.
The company originally said that about 4,500 Challenger SRT8s would be produced for the 2008 model year, but more than 6,000 already have been ordered. The company may increase production to meet additional demand, Chrysler spokeswoman Kathy Graham said.
The initial run of 2008 Challenger SRT8s will be offered in only three colors: Hemi Orange, Brilliant Black and Bright Silver, said Graham. So far, more than half of the orders have requested Hemi Orange.
A few individuals and dealers have listed pre-ordered Challengers on eBayMotors.com, with bids taken in terms of how much over the suggested retail price buyers are willing to pay. Winning bidders are being asked to put down deposits of as much as $10,000.
One auction has already ended with a bidder agreeing to pay $20,000 over the sticker price. Another auction is now at that price and could go higher before it ends Friday.
Chrysler will only accept Challenger orders from dealers with a customer name and address. Ordinarily, car companies will allocate cars to dealers without requiring an actual customer order.
Last year, Ford Motor Co (Charts, Fortune 500). experienced a similar reception when it introduced Shelby GT500, a version of the popular Ford Mustang with a supercharged 500-horsepower engine under its bulging hood.
As with the Challenger, bidders on eBayMotors.com agreed to pay $20,000 over the car's sticker price of about $44,000.
Even now, buyers still typically pay about $16,000 over the sticker price for that car, and slightly more than that for the convertible, according to Kelley Blue Book. Ford produces about 8,000 Shelby GT500s a year.
Ford charges dealers about $40,000 for each Shelby GT500. Any additional profit from customers goes to the dealership, not to Ford. Since dealers are independently owned and operated companies, they can't be forced to honor a manufacturer's suggested price.
Ford has not raised the sticker price of the car, in part because its low retail price is part of the car's mystique, said Ford spokeswoman Whitney Drake.
Also, increasing the sticker price might only raise the ultimate cost to customers even more, she said.
"There's nothing to say that if we did raise the MSRP, the dealers wouldn't still charge more," Drake said.
A more powerful Shelby Mustang, the 540-horsepower GT500KR, will roll into dealerships about the same time the Challenger SRT8 goes on the market.

 

Those cars look BADD AZZ !!

If I had the cash, I'd definately get me one of those. One of those, a Charger, a Viper, a 300 M, and a Crossfire. The Prowler never did it for me.

MOPARS have alwaysbeen the baddest cars out there !!

 

Why would you spend $20,000.00 more when you could wait 6 months and then spend the 20k on mods or something else......

 

+1000000000000000000000000000000000

Sorry, but this car isnt a classic, and its definitely no Viper.....not worth the extra cash...

 

those cars do look sooo sick and i would love to take one out!! however i would definitely wait until they are more afoardable....

 

+1 more

 

Classic or not it's still a muscle car, and IMO it's a sweet ride.. Not as sweet as a CTD but still cool.

 

I wasa little dissapointed with the new Charger. A friend bought an SRT8 and it was the one of the first Chargers around where I live. Got the big Hemi and all. I figured with that kind of muscle it should be pretty fast.
Well, Chryslergeared for freeway use. It is a dog off the line and WILL NOT do a burn out. I guess the computer just won't let it.
I was also surprised at how heavy it is. It is a big, heavy car. I sounds good, and moves pretty good from about 40-80 MPH, but from a standing start, forget it.

He says he is going to supercharge it. I told him I want to race him at the track when he gets iton there

 

I got my order in at my local dealer, I told the manager if he got me one of the thoseearly 08'sthat I would give him personally 5k cash and shook on it . I think he will be doing his best to get my car.

We order brilliant black, I was glad to see that most wanted the orange, maybe that will increaseour chances as well.

When it was all over with $45,825 plus TTL and $5,000 (for the manager). Ain't much bargaining when it comes to a low production, highly desired, first year car [:@].

 

His must be broke. My charger is just an R/T with the regular hemi and if would out run my truck fairly easily, and it will definitely smoke the tires off from a stand still, it will even get a little squirlly in the rear if you punch it at about 20 or so (this is assuming you turn off the esp).

You are right about them being heavy. you are also right about the geared for the highway, mine got up to 120 in a hurry, and the wife didn't want to gomuch faster. It felt like the 60-90 time was slower than the 90-120 time, they are pretty crazy at those speeds.