Dodge challenge: Sell muscle car to young and old

Eric Morath / The Detroit news

The Dodge Challenger SRT8, a baby-boomer dream machine, is intended to fill a dual role for Chrysler LLC: bring those who drove the original back to showrooms and serve as a lighting rod to attract younger drivers to the brand.

A hit muscle car that appeals to both ends of the age spectrum could help reshape the Dodge brand from a truck builder with some basic sedans, to the performance-oriented mass market brand that Chrysler desires.

"For those of us who are baby boomers it rouses old feelings and harkens back to those days in the 1960s and 1970s," said Chrysler Chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli. "I also think there is a whole new generation that probably heard about this (car) and Woodstock, but now they can experience it."

He said the Challenger is emblematic of the company’s wider strategy of appealing to multiple audiences with the same vehicle. For example, he said the new Dodge Journey crossover appeals to appeals to younger drivers who like the styling and functionality and to families that need the space and fuel-efficiency.

To hammer home the company’s "old is new again" message, Chrysler brought motorcycle builders and TLC cable channel stars Paul Teutul Sr., 58, and Paul Teutul, Jr., 33, from Orange County Choppers, on stage during the Challenger premier. The father-and-son combo argued about who the car appealed to more.

The same debate could happen with a number of families, said Karl Brauer, editor-in-chief of Edmunds.com.

While the baby boomers continue their love affair with the muscle car, younger buyers want the vehicle too.

The Challenger’s exploding popularity online suggests that a younger audience is interested in the car — not surprisingly because high school students consistently pick muscle cars as what they would want to drive, Brauer said.

"More than 1950s cars or street rods, muscle cars are the vehicles that bridge generation to generation," he said.

Chrysler will truly tap into that interest for the first time since the late 1970s when the Challenger hits show room floors this spring, Brauer said.

"This is long over due," he said. "This is their heritage. It basically looks like the original expect with 19-inch wheels and few smoothed lines."