Up Front

Surprise Package

The significance of the moment was not lost on the large crowd in the stands of the drag strip.

“Big Daddy” Don Garlits and “Miss Mighty Mopar®” Judy Lilly slipped behind the wheels of two Dodge Challengers. They each crept into the water boxes and lit up the rears until the cars were barely visible through the white smoke. Garlits and Lilly then took the greens and roared down the track to the delight of thousands of cheering fans.

The scene could easily have been 40 years ago or more, before man walked on the moon; before Watergate; and just a few short years after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. When Mopar first rocked the drag racing world with its package cars. But this scene took place in 2008; in the heart of the NHRA drag racing season; at the famed Bandimere Raceway in Colorado.

Mopar used the stage at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in July to officially unveil what hadn’t been seen in 40 years—A new package car program, this time around using the 2009 Dodge Challenger for the foundation. And who better to help Mopar launch a new performance era than Big Daddy and Miss Mighty Mopar? The idea for a new Mopar package car has been simmering for 40 long years since the last one was unleashed on the drag strips of America in 1968. That year, 100 Dodge Darts and Plymouth Barracudas were built with 426 HEMI® engines crammed into their engine compartments so tight that large sledge hammers had to be used on the passenger-side shock tower to make room. Today, the Dodge Challenger package cars are inspired by sophisticated 5.7L and 6.1L HEMIs, and the 5.9L Magnum® Wedge engine.

Mopar, perhaps more than any other brand, has uniquely positioned itself to attract a new generation of enthusiasts using its proud heritage. And this new package car program fittingly exemplifies Mopar’s place in automotive history—past, present and future.

—Editor