As you’ve seen recently, I’ve been lucky enough to make friends at some of the local dealerships. This allows me to get behind the wheel of some vehicles that ordinarily I’d never be allowed near. Seriously, who would trust some random with a camera with a Hellcat Charger on a rainy October day? The folks at Martin Dodge in Bowling Green have been especially kind to me recently, and I appreciate every one of them. But Scott might have finally found my limit. I know he didn’t intend to, but he did. His end of the deal was innocent enough: “Stick shift SRT8 is here”. I knew I shouldn’t have gone. But I did anyways.

I have only once ever tried to buy a brand new car, a 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T Classic with the Track Pack, a 5.7L, six-speed, triple-black machine. Without rehashing the whole story, the basics are as follows: I did the mountain of paperwork and took the car home. A week later, I took the car back because due to an inability for me to cough up a few thousand dollars more than I had already put down and an inability on the dealership to be even the tiniest bit flexible. The whole experience left the most bitter taste in my mouth and to this day, I don’t see myself trying that again without every last dollar in hand before I hit the dealership lot. I babied the R/T…I behaved the entirety of my week of ownership. I drove it with kid gloves, rowing the Tremec gently, just enjoying the car. I would test the torque reserve on straight roads, but I wasn’t bangshifting it or anything like that. And I was fine with it. 

I almost walked away from doing this test drive. I seriously considered it. Purchasing another vehicle isn’t in the cards. But as soon as I settled in behind the wheel, the pistol grip shifter fell right into hand and oddly enough, all of the sensations of a car that I last drove eight years ago came right back to me like nothing had happened in between. There were differences, for sure…this car being a 392 example instead of a 5.7L R/T and the visual updates from the 2010 cars stood out, but those are minor bits…the Challenger hasn’t really changed all that much since it’s 2008 introduction. This example has lead a charmed life, with just over twelve thousand miles on the clock. It’s a brand-new car from where I’m sitting. 

With everything adjusted, I eased out of the dealership and headed towards Interstate 65, cruising up busy Scottsville Road. I’m not romping on it…I’m just letting the 392’s torque work for me. I’m into fourth quickly, a perfect around-town gear. I could have the radio on, but I don’t. I could have the air conditioning on too, but I don’t. The windows are down and the warmer air of the day flow in. As I merge onto the highway, the shifting pattern comes back to me: shift, let gear engage, dig into the throttle for the torque, shift, repeat. The noise from the 392 barks properly, the car moves out properly with just a scratch in third to remind me that there is potential here. At speed, I go to sixth and the Challenger is happy to lope along, a respectable member of society once more. I swing into NCM Motorsports park and take care of the photos, and track manager Matt Busby asks if I’ve made a trade. I can only wish. 

The appeal of the Challenger is more to me than just the echoes of the financially unapproachable E-bodies. On it’s own, it’s much more of a useable car than it’s competition. The interior is useable, with the backseats more than just a sick punchline. The trunk is cavernous, the noises are right, and to hell with everyone who crows on and on about the car being too big…sit in a Mustang or a Camaro and remind yourself just how tiny those cars have gotten over the years. If they want to be sports cars, so be it. The Challenger is simply a large gran turismo-style coupe, a car that you can eat the miles in as fast or as comfortable as you want.

Just as I hated taking the car out, I hated giving the keyfob back. I wouldn’t have been so bothered if it wasn’t for one thing: I kept trying to manually shift Angry Grandpa as I left and even as worked as AG’s AutoStick is, it just was a disappointment compared. The retro looks are one thing, but I miss the shifter the most. It makes the driving sensation that much better, that much more enjoyable. That must be the part I missed the most.