Who got their order in before the deadline on Drag-Pak Challenger?

[Jeff Lee]

Deadline is 10/31/08 for initial acceptance. (They may consider you after that).
As of today NHRA and Chrysler have not worked towards establishing the HP/weight factors so classes have not been assigned.

[dartman]

nice you can buy one on Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/09-DO...81210006r26281

[Julie Jordan]

I put our application in, but if we get accepted, I'm not convinced we're going to buy. A lot of unknowns and I'm not one to risk finances for racing. So, we're doing more homework and will make the final decision if we get notice that we were approved.

[Nitro Joe Jackson]

ones that come with Pontiac 346's in them will be same HP as the 346 ram air's.

Did i say that, lol hey wonder if they will have the 5 star GM logo on them, lol

[Jeff Teuton]

We got our orders and about eight or ten more for people on our dealer #. I did however email NHRA about the status of the acceptance of the car and I called Mopar Performance about just what was in the car that was going to be about $35K each to my parts account. But since I have only been racing NHRA since 1959 and only been a Dodge Dealer since l968, I didn't get a response from either. Ain't life grand?

[thomas sheehan]

Jeff

Orders for 10?
How many racers..... and how many collectors?

Do the collectors have a chance?

I think the dealers are really out on a limb........ if the applicant backs out on the deal.

Tom

[BLAZER]

HEMI gets rated at 375 --any bets?

[Eric Merryfield]

Originally Posted by Jeff Teuton

We got our orders and about eight or ten more for people on our dealer #. I did however email NHRA about the status of the acceptance of the car and I called Mopar Performance about just what was in the car that was going to be about $35K each to my parts account. But since I have only been racing NHRA since 1959 and only been a Dodge Dealer since l968, I didn't get a response from either. Ain't life grand?

My experience so far:

I called the NHRA tech line back when the car was premiered at Denver.........they said it will be in the classification guide in 09.........I didn't follow up when the email came from Donato in September.....I waited like everyone else for the guidlines that didn't get released till 10/17 or so.....I did follow up after I printed the application out...Kind of tough to guess which motor..still nothing from Chrysler to get the process started.....I picked one and rolled the dice....I would only be able to build one car, and at that, it would be a crapload of money for me......I might have to part ways with my # matching 70 challenger rt/se, or my 78 lil red.....But you only live once....The 68 cars adjusted for inflation, were about the same as this, but they were much more complete!

If you look at it from the turnaround guys viewpoint(cerebus), and make the assumption that the Challenger line is flat out, this program could be a loss leader, but you could make it up on the free marketing/advertising side....but only if you can cover the costs. Along the way, after July, the economy continued to tank, then tanked some more, then crashed and burned with the credit saga, then the bailout debacle and the turnaround guys laid of a bunch of people, some of the architects of the program(Donato) included, and finally released the ordering info! With Cerebus all the time in the background trying to parachute out, making sure to look out for sky colored patches, it an interesting time.

If anyone knows who at Chysler is putting together the tech forms so that the NHRA can get a rating on the 3 new motors, I would like to see if they could submit the forms for the not only the Package car, but the street versions, and they would win me as a friend for life if they would submit for the 78 lil red express truck. I will do the legwork for free!

As I am sure I am not alone, I don't want to spend 35 or so grand for a project that needs pretty much everything, and be forced to run .90 classes.....nothing against the .90 classes...

Eric Merryfield

[Doug Blackley]

How could they not approve the West Coast Hemi team for their new factory car?

I also have a few of these on order and have talked with many of the people that were involved with this project from the first. I was able to get more detailed (unofficial) information on these special cars, but it looks like it is in limbo for now. They do not have the 100 cars or the engines, they do however have one car but I do not know if work is getting done on it or if it will just get lumped into the asset pile when Cerberus LLC files for Chapter 7. NHRA has blessed the deal and is just waiting for Mopar to send in the approved paperwork in order to put it in the guide.
Its not an issue with NHRA, it’s a issue with the owners of a company that wants out of the car biz and I am sure cares less about building a 40 year anniversary Hemi drag car. Each day that goes by I think the chance of this car getting build goes down. I was very excited about doing this deal and was committed 100% to it financially and emotionally, and I still am, if they call today, great I’m in. 40 plus years ago I was in no position to buy a new Hemi or even a new anything. I felt this was my chance to get a taste of what it must have been back in the day to buy a new factory race car. I really hope somehow Mopar can pull this off, as I am sure this will be my last chance at something really special. Good luck to all of us on “ THE LIST ”.