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2019 Dodge Challenger Review and Buying Guide | Cause we still review awesome cars, too

The Dodge Challenger has now been kicking around without a complete redesign for a decade, yet it actually seems to be getting more popular in its old age. Credit a substantial overhaul a few years ago, constant tinkering, and a yearly roll out of exciting new variants. For the 2019 Dodge Challenger, we welcome the 797-horsepower Hellcat Redeye and R/T Scat Pack Widebody. However, there's an inherent honesty and unique goodness to the Challenger that allows it to still duke it out with the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro – despite those age-old rivals' transformation into something more akin to a sports car. The Challenger, by contrast, is 100% muscle car more concerned with straight-line performance than handling precision. It's also much bigger and practical, lending itself better to daily driver duty. That, plus its distinctive style and diverse model lineup, make it easy to see why the Challenger continues to enjoy such massive success. You can certainly count us among its fans. What's new for 2019? We say goodbye to the SRT 392 and Demon, but hello to the 797-horsepower Hellcat Redeye and R/T Scat Pack Widebody. The regular Hellcat gets a 10-hp bump as well as a new "dual snorkel" hood. Further down the Challenger pecking order, you can now get all-wheel drive on the base SXT. What's the interior and in-car technology like? The Challenger's interior certainly isn't as characterful and flamboyant as its exterior would suggest. The Mustang and Camaro are more interesting and distinctive inside. Still, there are some interesting design flourishes that spruce things up, from the base trim's standard houndstooth cloth to the two-tone leather choices available as options. Besides, we're not sure how flamboyant you need the interior to be in a car available in electric orange, blue, green and purple paint colors. Furthermore, what the Challenger interior may lack in visual pizzazz, it makes up for with space (see below) and technology. A 7-inch touchscreen is standard, but all trim levels have an 8.4-inch version available as an option or standard. Both are among the easiest to use in the industry, and we prefer the 8.4-inch unit in particular to what's offered by the Camaro and Mustang. Heck, the Ford doesn't even come standard with a touchscreen, let alone the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto that are included on every Challenger. How big is it? For a performance coupe, the Challenger is enormous.

Ram exec: first 30-mpg pickup truck will 'win'

It is totally possible, today, to take the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel pickup truck, load it up with gear and people, and drive it from Texas to Michigan while getting 38 miles per gallon. We know because we did it. Officially, though, the 1500 gets just 20 mpg combined. A more impressive number is the 28 mpg on the highway. Bob Hegbloom, the Ram brand director, thinks that there's a more important fuel economy target to hit: 30 mpg. Whichever truck company can manage that feat, he recently told Automotive News, "wins." It's kind of an obvious thing to say, but in the 1500 with both the EcoDiesel and the V6 Pentastar engine, Hegbloom said, "fuel economy is so important." Hegbloom didn't promise that the next EcoDiesel truck will manage to get on up over the 30 hump, but he did say that Ram is not sitting still when it comes to fuel economy. "I just want to have continuous improvement and to keep gaining every day," he said. "We sat still in the past and it doesn't lead to a great place."

2020 Dodge Challenger celebrates 50th anniversary with a golden special edition

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the original Dodge Challenger. And obviously Dodge wouldn't let that significant date go by without a special version of the 2020 Dodge Challenger. Meet the limited production Dodge Challenger 50th Anniversary Edition. The package is offered on the V6-powered GT with rear-wheel drive, as well as the R/T, R/T Scat Pack and R/T Scat Pack Widebody. The Hellcat and Hellcat Redeye are left out, but every 2020 example will get special 50th Anniversary badges to make up for that. On the outside, the package features a matte black hood, roof and trunk lid. V8 models get a body-color Shaker scoop. This marks the first time the Shaker scoop has been available on a Widebody Challenger. Despite having a Shaker scoop, the special edition cars also get the air intake headlights pioneered by the Hellcat, and they have a "50" printed on them to go with the other 50th Anniversary badging. All models get 20-inch wheels. These are finished in what Dodge calls "Gold School." These Challengers can be painted in one of seven colors: Frostbite, Hellraisin, Sinamon Stick, Go Mango, TorRed, F8 Green or the all-new Gold Rush. Inside the Challenger 50th Anniversary Edition are Nappa leather and Alcantara-covered seats and "Sepia" stitching and embroidery. It's all matched by carbon fiber trim with copper threads woven into it. The instrument cluster and the air vent badge are finished in the car's exterior color. Dodge will build only 70 of each model in each color as a tribute to the original car's 1970 model year. This means that there will be 490 GTs, 490 R/Ts, 490 R/T Scat Packs and 490 R/T Scat Pack Widebody models for a grand total of 1,960 cars. Each model has a different price for the 50th Anniversary package. It costs $4,995 for the GT, $5,495 for the R/T, and $5,995 for the Scat Pack models. The cars go on sale this coming spring.