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Junkyard Gem: 1981 Dodge Challenger

The first Dodge Challenger was an E-Body sibling to the 1970-1974 Plymouth Barracuda, and it was a pure Chrysler product with either Slant-6 or V8 power. Then stuff happened and the Challenger name went away for a while, returning in 1978 on a rebadged Mitsubishi Galant Lambda. For 1981, the Challenger got an updated body, and that's what we've got here in a Denver-area self-service wrecking yard. Chrysler was selling lots of Mitsubishis by the early 1980s, including the Colt econobox, the Dodge Ram 50 pickup, and the Plymouth Arrow truck. The Challenger's Plymouth-badged sibling was the Sapporo. This one had a bunch of late-1990s receipts from Los Angeles-area shops, and a check of the VIN on the California smog-check database shows that it last passed the Golden State's emissions test in 1997. Did it drive to Colorado 20 years ago and then sit until a few months ago? There is no easy way to know. Early Mitsubishi-built Challengers could be had with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, but in 1981 the only engine choice was the Astron 2.6 four-banger, rated at 105 horsepower. Members of the Astron 2.6 family powered everything from Dodge Aries-Ks to Mitsubishi Starions in North America, and production continued nearly into our current century for Chinese-market trucks. Not many miles on this car, and no rust. The Index of Effluency-winning team at the recent Colorado 24 Hours of Lemons race grabbed a few bits from this car for their somewhat related 1976 Plymouth Arrow, but otherwise it appears that this rare classic may go to the crusher more or less intact. It's a lightweight, rear-wheel-drive coupe with decent power (for its era) and a 5-speed manual transmission, but there's just not much of a following in Colorado for these cars. I see the occasional Sapporo or Challenger during my junkyard travels, but the numbers have declined in recent years. Soon they will all be gone. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1981 Dodge Challenger View 26 Photos Auto News Dodge Automotive History Coupe Performance

All-wheel-drive Dodge Challenger GT confirmed by EPA website

The US Environmental Protection Agency accidentally confirmed the upcoming Dodge Challenger GT by posting fuel economy figures for the all-wheel-drive variant of the muscle car. According to FuelEconomy.gov, the Challenger GT, which will come with the 3.6-liter V6 when it's released, is rated to get 18 miles per gallon in the city and 27 miles per gallon on the highway, giving the vehicle a combined rating of 21 miles per gallon. Those figures are slightly lower than the rear-wheel-drive Challenger with the same engine, which gets 19 miles per gallon in the city and 30 miles per gallon on the highway. While previous reports indicated that Dodge is planning to release the all-wheel-drive Challenger GT sometime in 2017, the automaker hasn't confirmed the vehicle. (Mopar's all-wheel-drive concept from last year's SEMA Show is pictured above.) With the EPA putting out the car's official fuel economy figures, the all-wheel-drive muscle car is definitely coming, and should be here before the entire Challenger lineup gets its expected redesign in 2018. And yes, we're still hopeful that the so-called Challenger ADR we saw in spy photos means we'll see all wheel drive and Hellcat power. Because Hellcat everything. Related Video:

SRT back to Dodge, Dart SRT, new Challenger, Charger and Caravan's death outlined in 5-yr plan

The onslaught of news from Fiat Chrysler's layout of five-year plans continued with Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis this morning, including the unexpected announcement that SRT was coming back into the fold.
After just a few years existing as an independent entity within the Fiat Chrysler universe, an unceremonious press release hit in conjunction with today's lineup of announcements, saying "the SRT family of vehicles will be consolidated under the Dodge brand." Group CEO Sergio Marchionne thanked SRT headman Ralph Gilles for his dedication to the high-performance wing, calling out is efforts in expanding the vehicle lineup and including more customized models. He did not reference disappointing SRT Viper sales today, but we sense there's a bit of subtext.
With the SRT reunion at Dodge, it's appropriate that some of the most exciting product announcements for the next five years have to do with upcoming performance products. First out of the gate will be a refresh for that flagging Viper in 2015, which comes as little surprise.