Back to the Future: Dodge Challenger Rallye Redline

By Christopher A. Sawyer

“Yeah baby! It’s Mopar or no car!” That was the spontaneous outburst from a New Jersey native when he first caught sight of the new Dodge Challenger during the spring of 2008. We had been to Englishtown Raceway earlier in the day, driving the various flavors of Challenger on the facility’s 1.35-mile road course, as well as on the highways and byways of New York and New Jersey. But the unalloyed joy of the man on the street was the highpoint of the trip.

Fast forward four years, and little has changed. The Challenger still appeals to diehard Mopar fans, and gets—at best—grudging respect from fans of the Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang. Like those cars, it has a strong family resemblance to an earlier generation, but it bigger and broader; the Challenger being the largest of the new pony car trio.

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First Run: 2013 Ram 1500

By Al Vinikour

Subtle? No. Handsome? Yes.It seems like the entire world is on the edge of a war of some kind but most people ignore it because it’s “over there” and not in our country. Well, truth be told, although no weapons are (probably) involved, Ram just fired a powerful salvo that is going to make 2013 pickup truck sales a war like John Rambo would say, “You wouldn’t believe!” The battlefield’s opponents include such “special forces” as the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Nissan Titan and Toyota Tundra.

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First Run: 2013 Dodge Dart

By Al Vinikour

With all apologies to Mr. Pun, just as Robin Hood had a quiver full of arrows, so, too, does Chrysler’s Dodge Division have an arsenal of Darts. In automobile lore, Dart has a storied past, selling more than 3.6 million between 1960 and 1976. During its run it had something for everybody, power-wise. The legendary 225-cubic-inch Slant Six was available during the entire production while a host of V8s also were offered. The watershed year for raw performance was 1962, when purchasers could equip their Dart with a 413-cubic-inch Ram induction V8 that pumped out 410 horsepower. It quickly became the terror of the drag strips.

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Dodge Hires a Hot Dog for Its Global RallyCross Sandwich

By Christopher A. Sawyer

Despite the fact that his name sounds like a sandwich you might find at a trendy cross-town deli, Travis Pastrana is definitely not white bread, though he can be quite wry. The 17-time X Games Gold Medalist, four-time Rally America champion, and multiple Supercross and motocross title holder has been motorized most of his life, and shows no signs of slowing down, despite having broken just about every bone you can break between his head — topped by a cascade of curls — and feet.

“I had a dirt bike and was riding motocross when I was four,” he says. “Dad had a construction company, and building a track, or changing it nearly everyday so I had to learn and wouldn’t get bored, was pretty simple.” It’s a telling statement from the young, rail-thin man in the Red Bull hat, shades-of-gray brushed cotton lumberjack shirt and blue jeans. And not what you’d expect from someone you’ve pegged as an adrenaline junkie and, to be honest, slightly crazy.

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