Last night I picked up my brand new 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T after a grueling 3-month wait. It was well worth the wait. The Deep Water Blue paint looks great and really pops in the sunlight. I wish it looked better in photos, but in person it is an awesome color.

The car drives like a dream. Nice and tight with just the right feedback through the wheel and stick. The exhaust note is all muscle car, nice and throaty, but not too loud inside the car. The six-speed transmission has nice, short throws and the hydralic clutch is very forgiving (which is good as I'm not used to driving a stick on a daily basis). Although I'm being over-nice to it through the break-in period, it easily chirps the tires in the first 3 gears.

The interior is spacious and the seats are ultra-comfortable. I lamented during the waiting game about not getting the leather seats, but the cloth seats look great and are of much higher quality than I would have given credit for. It is very quiet inside with the windows up and even the base-model stereo is much nicer than I would have expected. (My wife called me in the car at 11:30 last night to tell me it was too loud - from in our house). :)

More pics to come soon as it's raining here and will do so for the next few days.

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I had a gift in my in-box this morning. My new Challenger R/T was born at 6:32 Eastern time this morning (10/8). Better yet, it was released from the plant (KZ) status, which means that the shipping process has just begun. The ETA for delivery to the dealer is 10/23!!!!

I might actually get some good driving in before winter sets in!

Past
Scheduled for Build (D1) 09/29/2008 07:45 AM EDT Brampton Assembly, ON
Built - Pending Inspection (I) 10/08/2008 06:32 AM EDT Brampton Assembly, ON

Current
Plant Release (KZ) 10/08/2008 07:26 AM EDT Brampton Assembly, ON

Future
At Facility 10/09/2008 08:00 AM EDT Sterling Heights Assy, MI
Loaded On Railcar 10/10/2008 08:00 AM EDT Sterling Heights Assy, MI
Railcar - Interchanged 10/12/2008 08:00 PM EDT Chicago, IL
Railcar - Interchanged 10/13/2008 08:00 PM EDT Chicago, IL
Railcar Placed at Destination Facility 10/18/2008 08:00 PM EDT Council Bluffs, IA
Unloaded From Railcar 10/19/2008 08:00 AM EDT Council Bluffs, IA
Vehicle Delivered to Dealer 10/23/2008 08:00 AM EDT Baxter Chrysler Jeep Dodge
Omaha, NE

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Well, according to Chrysler's original scheduling system I would be driving my new Challenger R/T now. Unfortunately, this is not so. The car has yet to be built. The last 2-3 weeks have been really tough watching other cars (in the Unofficial Challenger Registry) get built and shipped to their owners.

Now that September is over, my order has rolled into the October production schedule and the folks in Customer Service are telling me my new ship date is 10/7. I'm not going to hold my breath, but I did see a significant number of R/T manuals with the 27F package go D1 in the last couple of days. I noticed the most of the R/T manuals built in Sept were the 27J package.

If all goes well (God willing) my car should roll down the line sometime next week. Since Chrysler gave me a ship date of 10/7, I' m hoping that I beat the dates from the VinVision system.

Scheduled for Build (D1) 09/29/2008 06:45 AM CDT Brampton Assembly, ON
At Facility 10/15/2008 07:00 AM CDT Sterling Heights Assy, MI
Loaded On Railcar 10/16/2008 07:00 AM CDT Sterling Heights Assy, MI
Railcar - Interchanged 10/18/2008 07:00 PM CDT Chicago, IL
Railcar - Interchanged 10/19/2008 07:00 PM CDT Chicago, IL
Railcar Placed at Destination Facility 10/24/2008 07:00 PM CDT Council Bluffs, IA
Unloaded From Railcar 10/25/2008 07:00 AM CDT Council Bluffs, IA
Vehicle Delivered to Dealer 10/29/2008 07:00 AM CDT Baxter Chrysler Jeep Dodge
Omaha, NE

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My new Challenger started down the assembly line today! Whoo hoo! I'm finally in "D1" status - the start of the assembly proccess.

VIN: 2B3LJ54T69H541642
VON: 22209955
Sold Order: Yes
Location: N/A
Build Code: Scheduled for Build (D1), 09-05-08
Dealer Delivery ETA: No ETA Available
Make: Dodge
Model: Challenger R/T
Color: Deep Water Blue Pearl Coat
Dealer: Baxter Chrysler Jeep Dodge


Current
Scheduled for Build (D1) 09/05/2008 06:34 AM CDT Brampton Assembly, ON

Future
At Facility 09/18/2008 07:00 AM CDT Sterling Heights Assy, MI
Loaded On Railcar 09/19/2008 07:00 AM CDT Sterling Heights Assy, MI
Railcar - Interchanged 09/21/2008 07:00 PM CDT Chicago, IL
Railcar - Interchanged 09/22/2008 07:00 PM CDT Chicago, IL
Railcar Placed at Destination Facility 09/27/2008 07:00 PM CDT Council Bluffs, IA
Unloaded From Railcar 09/28/2008 07:00 AM CDT Council Bluffs, IA
Vehicle Delivered to Dealer 10/02/2008 07:00 AM CDT Baxter Chrysler Jeep Dodge
Omaha, NE

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Just got good news from the Chrysler customer service hotline. My order has moved up to "C" status which means that it's in the process of being scheduled and assigned a VIN. Rumor has it that the R/T sticks are going to start rolling down the line this week so homefully I'll be in D or D1 status within a week or so. Once the order gets to D1 and I get the VIN there's another online system I can check that will tell me everything from the projected build, shipping and delivery dates!

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I just got off the phone with Chrysler Customer Service. My R/T has just moved up to BX status (Available to Schedule) from the BG status I received last Thursday. Hey, every little step forward is another step closer.

The Red Letter Dodge blog had a post that about 500 or so '09 Challengers have already rolled off the assembly line. Read it here.

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It's been a long 4 weeks since placing my order. I've been checking the Challenger forums and Dodge's Blog almost daily for any bit of information about the '09 production. I feel like a kid watching the calendar at Christmas. I don't know if I can keep this up until late Sept-Oct.

My dealer at Baxer has been awesome about calling every week or so to give me an update (which really hasn't changed) but to also have me come down to the lot and look at some '08 SRTs that came in as customer orders. He also called me to have me come look at an '09 Ram in Deep Water Blue Metallic that came in so I could see what the paint would look like in person.

Today, though I felt like I got some better insight into the whole dealer order process. I came across the Unofficial Dodge Challenger Registry which lets you report on your '09 Challenger order status to all the other overgrown kids that can't wait for their new toys. What was helpful was finding out that there is a Vehicle Order Number (VON) that is assigned to the order. This is how Chrysler can track the order through their systems. Also, there is a letter code status that is assigned to the order that tells you anything from the order is placed, to the parts are pulled and ready to assemble, to "hey your car is on a truck to your dealer".

So I'm looking at this list of 170+ "orders" with VONs and statuses that show they are queued up or ready to be built. Feeling wholly inadequate, I send a note to my dealer asking if they have a VON for my order and if so, what status is it in. A short hour later and my dealer calls to give me the VON (22209955) and to let me know that the order is in BG status (Passed edit n/a for schedule) which is in line with what other orders on the registry show for the same time period. I also find out that with the VON in hand I can call Chrysler Customer Service (800-992-1997) periodically to check on the status without bothering my dealer. :)

So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that all goes well on the Brampton assembly line and that the rumors that R/T orders are going to start being processed next week. Maybe then I can get some driving in before the cold weather and snow starts to fly!

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Last night my parents call to tell me they were looking at about 25-30 new Challengers sitting on a lot here in Omaha. They know I've been bitten by the Challenger bug and I thought they were just calling to harass me. Turns out, they were right (as parents generally are) and I trekked out Saturday morning to see the site for myself.

You see, none of the dealerships here has one on their showroom floor and I've yet to see one in person. So seeing one, let alone a whole bunch of Challengers was really a site to behold. They were all sitting on a large storage lot that is owned by a local auto auction company. Most still had the protective shipping guards in place.

I later found out from the folks at Baxter that these were a bunch of customer-ordered 2008 SRT8s (about $45K each) that had just been unloaded at the rail yards when the horrible hail-storm (100mhp winds) came through on June 27th, 2008. Luckily Baxter's portion of the order were still in the rail cars and were not damaged. These cars are all going back to the manufacturer and will not be resold. It's a good bet they will be parted out and probably crushed and recycled. Knowing that they only made about 6,500 of the 2008's, as well as knowing that on the other side of that fence sits a load of 425HP tire-smoking monsters, just makes me wish someone was having one heck of a scratch and dent sale.

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Yesterday I placed my order for the car I've been waiting 4 years to own—a 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T. Suprisingly it was pretty anti-climatic as the whole affair took only about 15-20 minutes. Dave Nelson from Baxter Dodge was great to work with and is supposed to keep me up-to-date with the status of my order. There are no guarentees on an ETA, but the consensus is that it will be in the Sept-Oct timeframe. I'll post more about this experience as I get more information from the dealership and up to and through the first drive home.

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Once again the Road Gem's put on a wonderful show in West Point, NE. It was a crisp, clear, beautiful fall day that brought tons of hot rods, customs and muscle cars from Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. Our friends here at Motortopia were out and about taking lots of pics and it was great to talk to them. Special thanks to Corsa for stopping by and taking some shots of Mighty Mouse. Anyway, it wasa great day for a great show that is always a reminder that another season of shows is coming to a close.

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Today was a beautiful day for a car show. While this was the smallest turnout I've seen in the past 3 years, it was still a great show. All proceeds from the show go to the American Cancer Society - so it's all for a great cause.

The Chevrolet Classics Car Club and KGOR did a great job of hosting the show, even if the parking lot owner was a little stingy on spaces for show vehicles. Some poor guys had to move their cars 2 or 3 times as they kept collapsing the show area.

Anyway I met some great people at the show and saw some awesome cars. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

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I just spent most of the weekend in Lincoln, NE at the 12th Rod & Custom Americruise. There was a great turnout of about 1,500 pre-war to 1972 cars and trucks. Except for the oppressive heat that sent everyone in search of a shady spot, you couldn't have asked for a better event. Hope you like the pics.

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