2009 Dodge Challenger

There is no such thing as a factory hotrod. Hotrods are homemade subversions of an existing order; a type of mechanical folk art, which is why tinkering with cars has always appealed to me. Before anyone conjurs up visions of a Scion commercial in which I talk about how I express myself by putting tacky vinyl decals and underglow lights all over my Ohio-made, Japanese-styled econobox, let me assure you that this isn't what I mean in the least. (Oh, we'll get to Scion later on.)

Despite the current downturn in sales Chrysler is facing (not to mention their complete unwillingness to make cars that are compatible with the 21st century), Dodge has churned out this thing:

This car alone, despite what I'm about to say, is probably around 40% of the reason that Chrysler should, and ultimately will, fail.

I haven't driven it; nor do I want to after hearing about what you have to go through at the dealership just to sit in one, much less drive it off of the lot... But I applaud Chrysler/Dodge for this car. It's just about the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on, it goes real fast in a straight line, and they put the transmission from a Dodge Viper in it this time around, instead of an automatic slushbox.

It does what it's supposed to do, despite a $40,000 price tag, the mileage per gallon you get from a HEMI, the super-sized curb weight, and most importantly... it's appeal to the geriatric weekend warrior crowd. It's simple! It's a sports car; which means that it has a giant engine, a bulletproof 6-speed transmission, it's real-wheeldrive, and it makes a cool sound. Like I said earlier, it does what it's supposed to and that's all I can ask out of it.

I'd probably ditch the huge wheels for some 17" steelies, some fat summer tires and remove all of the emissions equipment from it, but hey, that's just me.

Let the haters hate.