Well kiss my ass and kick me in the balls! The new Dodge Challenger is in all the new car mags and man... does it look fine! Much nicer than the new Ford Mustang. Lets get a few things straight. The Plymouth Barracuda was the first "pony car." Yea, the Mustang was prettier than the first 'Cuda, but first is first. The idea was to make a n inexpensive "European" sporty car out of your average boring small car of the day. The Barracuda was based on the Plymouth Valiant and the Mustang on the Ford Falcon. Now I see all these neo-Mustang guys on web pages saying how the new Mustang "started the retro craze." What?!? The Dodge Viper started the current automotive "retro-craze" back in 1989. I think some car guys wear blinders when it comes to their brand of choice and reality. Let's not forget the horrible Ford neo T-Bird of a few years back. That thing was butt ugly. Chrysler has been exciting the automotive world for the last two decades with unbelievable concept cars and truly unique and visionary designs. This excitement has spilled over into the other brands. I personally think Ford was really pissed at Dodge, as the Viper brought back Shelby's Cobra concept onto a modern platform. Kinda stole their thunder why they were sittin' around countin' beans. Shelby had jumped Ford's ship and done some really cool things with Chrysler in the '80's, ultimately leading to the Viper. So how "cutting edge" was it for Ford, when the Mustang was scheduled for a restyle, to dip into the "retro design well?" Not very. I'm glad the new Mustang is selling in spades. It's not a bad looking car (except the back end is too rounded) and may help drive a few more designs like the new Challenger. The automotive industry is reactive and Fords reaction to the Viper has come back to Dodge (and hopefuly GM and no I don't count the SSR and HHR). These are exciting times for American car enthusiasts!
