Dodge Challenger Concept Car

Across The Desert Floor Rolls The Thunder Of A Big-Bore American V-8 At Full throttle, sun glinting off insolent hood scoops, driver's glazed eyes transfixed on a road that stretches hard and straight into infinity-into the future, into destiny. Behind, police cruisers, sirens wailing, struggle to keep pace. Their pursuit is in vain. The car, a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T "hopped up to over 160," is too fast. its driver-name: Kowalski-won't be stopped. Not by them.

But of course he cannot get away. As the theater lights brighten, the credits roll on 1971's "vanishing point." Kowalski-"the electric centaur, the super driver of the golden west, the last beautiful free soul on this planet"-has met his fate. Three years later, the original Challenger joins him as Dodge pulls the plug. Both are destined to be remembered only in replays and restorations-cult figures, wild-eyed misfits in a culture propelled toward safety-padded conformity, icons of open-road freedom and high-octane sovereignty the likes of which will never be seen again.

Or will they? Now the desert floor rocks anew with thunder, the bellowing echo of 425 Hemi-fed horses charging for the wire. at its epicenter flies a fireball of metallic orange. Its look is modern but its profile is unmistakable. It's...yes! A Challenger. Can it be? Has Kowalski's signature steed returned once more to brand the roads of the open west with pistol-grip-fired streaks of smoking rubber?

With your help, it will. Dodge has built the Challenger R/T concept you see here. the auto-show crowds and the motoring press have gone weak-kneed in its presence. And now we've driven this priceless, one-of-a-kind prototype over the unbridled western roads where Kowalski and his Challenger R/T sparked a legend. To reinforce the timespace continuum, we've even put Kowalski himself-actor Barry Newman-behind the wheel to get his take on this reincarnated ponycar icon (see sidebar). Should Dodge transform concept into reality? we know where we stand. The rest, as we'll explain in a moment, may well be up to you.