HEMI Highway Tour Visits So-Cal Challengers

When the neo-Dodge Challenger came out for the 2008 model year, it was a breath of fresh air in a market saddled with a Mustang that was resting on its laurels and a Camaro that was MIA. A few years later, we have a Mustang that has upped the ante and a Camaro that’s about to debut as a convertible. So what’s up with the Challenger?

An 8,000-mile cross country road show known as the HEMI Highway Tour stopped by the So-Cal Challengers club meet at Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank recently to show the Challenger faithful that Dodge is on the ball for 2011. The tour has been cruising the countryside with a 2011 Challenger SRT 392 and a Charger R/T, stopping at select Mopar events, club meets, and other events along the way.

In the case of the So-Cal Challengers, they are the largest Dodge Challenger club in the world, having started with 11 members in 2008 and now grown to around 60 strong. Braving an unusually rainy week (I thought that it never rains in Southern California?), clubbers were anxious to catch up with Dodge Charger/Challenger Brand Manager Marc Seguin and get him to spill the beans on all things Challenger.

This event was co-sponsored by Hurst Performance. Hurst has a deep connection to Mopars starting with the HEMI Under Glass Barracuda and continuing with the 1968 Super Stock HEMI Darts and Barracudas and the 1970 300-H hardtop (and an errant ragtop or two). These days, Hurst produces the Hurst Performance Series Challenger, the Hurst Competition/Plus Challenger, and – returning for 2012 – the Hurst Viper.