Scorching halos

Despite the fact that the Challenger will surely be a hit with consumers in its first year or two -- all 6,500 2008 Challenger SRT-8s are already sold, most for amounts well over the $40,000 sticker price -- Chrysler Corp. could have wished for better timing.

The Challenger should have been an image builder for Chrysler's Dodge brand. No doubt, it still is. But, in an era of expensive gasoline and increasing concern about the environment, this may not be the image Chrysler wants for its "mainstream" brand, anymore.

In reality, relatively few Challengers will carry 6.1-liter V8 engines under their hoods. Most will be V6-powered cars wearing bulky muscle-car costumes and a few more will have less powerful V8s that can run on four cylinders part of the time.

But the image of the Challenger will always be one of raw performance, no matter what's under the hood. So the Challenger really does create a challenge for Chrysler. Can it hold onto Dodge's image as a performance brand -- even its economy cars have lethal-sounding names like Caliber and Avenger -- while also being seen as a brand that, in the words of a Chrysler spokesman, "is about fighting for every mile per gallon possible?"

For that, Chrysler needs the plug-in hybrid its engineers are said to be working on. That halo is still a few years away, though.

NEXT: Nissan GT-R