92 percent of new Dodge Challenger owners said they’d buy another Mopar pony car if given the same opportunity again, putting the big Dodge at the top of the Consumer Reports owner satisfaction heap. Don’t believe me? Check out the full article at Consumer Reports

All thanks to the interwebs! Full story at The Sun News

…Yeah, they’ve also got a Challenger widebody kit that extends the front fenders 3″  on either side, and parts that’ll dress up your plain-jane C6 Corvette as either a Z06 or a ZR1. And can you name any other booth at SEMA that has a new Camaro, Mustang, Challenger, and Corvette? Talk about covering all your bases. More pics below the jump!

Chrysler CEO Ralph Gilles told me to look out for the 1320 concept over in the Mopar corral, and I have to agree that it’s the coolest thing in the booth this year. The 1320 is an SRT8 optimized for the dragstrip–the package includes a 550 hp aluminum 426 Hemi run through long-tube headers and a Corsa exhaust, a Dana 60 locking rear end with Dynashaft axles, and a stripped-out interior with Viper seats. Carbon fiber accents on the exterior include the hood, spoilers, and headlight buckets, but they’re not in-your-face carbon fiber–it’s all integrated into the 1320’s awesomely nasty acid-yellow-and-satin-black paint scheme. Clever details abound, including Mopar cop car wheels, and the two inboard headlights deleted to make room for air induction ducts. See walkaround video and gallery below the jump!

Really not a whole lot to report about the Mopar booth at SEMA this year. Yeah, the Jeep Lower Forty is cool, but you already knew that. I was nonplussed by the 1320 Challenger. More pics and video after the jump!

Hmmm. Part of me really feels that this much intricate chrome bling overwhelms the otherwise scaled-down, satin-black-accented R/T. At the same time, I kind of dig the whole mis-matchedness of it. What do you guys think?

I still think the Challenger looks great as a convertible (though maybe not with the top up). Come on Ma Mopar! More pics and video after the jump!

This week at Talladega, the competing automakers are each officially debuting their Nationwide Series version of the Car of Tomorrow–and at least two out of the four are opting for  ponycar-based racers. Dodge’s Nationwide Challenger is the hottest ride to take to the NASCAR circuit since the 70’s, and the NASCAR-ed out Mustang, while awkward, is nonetheless going to be a huge shot in the arm for both Ford and the troubled Nationwide Series. The odd man out? (Well, Toyota is sticking with the Camry, because of course they don’t have anything less boring to base a stock car on). But Chevrolet, probably the biggest underwriter of NASCAR in the world, inexplicably opted not to build a Nationwide car based on the new Camaro. What? Yeah, they’re going to stick with the now-played-out Impala, the same nameplate they use in Sprint Cup. Chevy officials made vague PR-sounding excuses about not wanting to compromise the new Camaro’s iconic lines, citing the partially templatized body they’d have to conform to (okay, for one thing, what iconic lines? The Camaro looks like a cartoon, but in a good way–perfectly suited to the Lightning McQueen era of NASCAR). That warmed-over Impala looks nice and everything, but seriously, wtf? They think running a Camaro in NASCAR would be bad for the brand? Unbelievable.

In any case, the new cars are in final testing at Talladega Superspeedway today, and will be run in four races during the 2010 Nationwide Series, beginning at Daytona in July. NASCAR hopes to have the hot new Nationwide rides fully integrated into the series by the 2011 season. Check out a whole gallery of new Nationwide rides below the jump, and read the press release at egmcartech.

I was really looking forward to seeing this car at SEMA, and so I was pretty excited to stumble across it on the way to the media center this morning. The BASF Petty Blue paint looks fantastic and I really dig the center exhaust. Sorry, no pics of the 426 Hemi under the hood, but I do have a ton more exterior pics after the jump!

Hot Rod Magazine just annouced the dates and route for the 2010 Hot Rod Power Tour:

Saturday June 5, Iowa Speedway, Newton, IA 

Sunday June 6, Springfield, IL 

Monday June 7, Du Quoin, IL 

Tuesday June 8, Bowling Green, KY 

Wednesday June 9, Chattanooga, TN 

Thursday June 10, Birmingham, AL 

Friday June 11, Mobile, AL

I’ve already got my hotel rooms reserved and I signed up online for the Power Tour at familyevents.com. See you all out there!