Then and Now: Welly 1:24 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A and 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT 392

Here's a nice pair of then and now castings that premiered in the Welly line a few years ago at the same time.  Both are Dodge Challenger's and both are the top-dog performance models of their time period.  Despite the late addition to the Challenger hype evergoing since the concept revived the name back in 2006 Welly adds their own excellent touches to these Challengers, then I come in and add some more creative touches.

1970 Dodge Challenger T/A

It all started with the Mustang that created the Pony Car wars in the 1960's, and while Chrysler already beat the Mustang to market with the Barracuda it had nothing on style and fanfare as the Mustang.  GM went out and created the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, while Plymouth restructured the Barracuda.  Still wasn't enough for Chrysler so off to the E-body cars of the Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda (or 'Cuda on some models).  These cars were wider, more aggressive, and had the right amount of power even if they didn't handle as well as the Mustang or Camaro.  For a street version of the Trans Am race car the Challenger offered the T/A package (AAR on the Cuda).  This included a blacked-out hood with an aggressive intake scoop, side T/A stripes, rally wheels, rear spoiler, and side exhaust pipes.  The engine is the 340 CID V8 with the six-pack two-barrel carbs (three of them) that produce 320 horsepower through a 4-speed manual with Hurst pistol grip shifter.  The T/A and AAR Cuda was a one year model, but influences were adopted to some special versions of the modern Challenger as well.

Blue or Orange is the color offerings for this 1:24 Challenger so I went for the blue and it looks quite nice on this car.  The car does sit a bit high at first, but after a while the stance starts to appear normal.  The chrome rally wheels look great on this car next to the side-exiting exhaust just ahead of the rear wheels.  The black side stripe with T/A and 340 six-pack badges let you know what's so special about this car.  That flat black hood looks killer with that aggressive hood scoop that is functional (you can see a bit of orange from the engine through the scoop).  The front has quad headlights and a deep grille with the Challenger logo; however the all-chrome look is deceiving so I tried my best to add some black Sharpie to darken up the area's.  Wasn't easy to do with some rather deep, tight spots that I could not get to with a Sharpie.  The lower bumper has round signal lights and two scoops for lower grilles.  Out back there's a side chrome gas cap, louvered rear window, black rear spoiler, and a taillight bar with the center reverse lamp, but again just like the front there's too much chrome so I added black to the section just above the taillights.

The base underneath show a lot with the front showing the frame, engine (which I colored in red), transmission, and then leading to the side-exiting exhaust system and silver fuel tank just behind the rear axle.  Crack open the hood and get ready to be amazed by the big red 340 motor with detailed valve covers, coolant pump up front, round air cleaner housing, detailed battery, brake resovoir, drive belt with alternator, and  the radiator.  Very nicely done for a car in this scale range.  The interior is not as sharp as the engine bay, but it has a basic layout with a 3-spoke steering wheel, quad round gagues, chrome pistol-grip shifter, three pedals, and front bucket seats with a rear bench seat.  It may be a simple car to look at but it gets high props for the detailed engine and the coolness of the Challenger T/A package.

2011 Dodge Challenger SRT 392

Today the Challenger is revived in a more refined packaged based on the LX cars that include the Dodge Charger sedan and Chrysler 300.  The car is a bit big compared to newer and leaner competitors and it'll be a while before an all-new model on a lighter platform will appear.  The look is inspired by the 2006 concept car, which in turn inspired by the 1970 Challenger.  The SRT is the top-dog model of the line until 2015 when the Hellcat took that honor.  For 2011 the Challenger got a light upgrade that included a new Pentastar V6 motor, upside-down lower grille intake, new steering wheel, and a new motor for the SRT: the 392 CID, or 6.4L HEMI V8 that produces 470 horsepower through a six-speed manual transmission.  In 2015 the interior got a much-needed makeover along with exterior revisions that include LED lighting.

For this Welly model you can have purple with silver stripes or orange with silver stripes; I hoped for a blue with silver stripes version but that never came to fruitition.  Still it looks rad in orange and the stripes add character to the car.  This is a well-needed makeover to the Maisto 1:24 2008 model that I used to have and this one packs lot more details.  The front has detailed round quad headlights with a silver-trim grille that has Challenger and SRT names on each end.  The lower bumper has round foglights, a lower grille, and a lower lip spoiler.  The twin-scoop hood still remains, as is the side gas cap cover in chrome.  The 392 badges on the front fenders lets you know what's under the hood.  The side profile is clean and simple and looks great on this car.  The 5-spoke wheels have the SRT logo on one spoke with detailed Brembo red brake calipers and rotors just behind them, but again the wheels look rather flat without contrast so I added black to the areas between the spokes to get the depth found on the actual wheels.  The rear has the detailed taillight bar with blacked out area's (yaay!), clear reverse lamps in center with DODGE letters, rear spoiler, and dual exhaust tips.

Thanks to modern undercarriage covering the front area looks rather blank underneath, leaving the exhaust and rear suspension to show off at the other end of the car.  Once you figure out a way to get the hood open with a slim jim or sorts the engine bay shows off accurate details of the intake, air box, valve covers with SRT 392 badging, and coolant resovoir even if it is not as highly detailed as the 1970 T/A (it's the same issue with the real car).  The interior is basic, low-rent with supportive front bucket seats, detailed door panels, and even the map lights are detailed on the ceiling next to the sunroof.   Still, it looks rather plain so what I did on the Jada Toys Challenger Hellcat I did here: gave it the two-tone red/black seats and door panels with additional chrome trim bits.  Now that looks better!  The 3-spoke steering wheel is smaller and better suited for the car, the four gauges are detailed, the center stack now has a navigation system and round controls for the HVAC system, and check out that reimagined pistol grip shifter for the six-speed manual.  All this and the color enhancements and now the interior matches the flash of the exterior.

Now out of the two which one is best, the classic 1970 T/A or the new 2011 SRT 392.  Many would go for the T/A and I would too, but after adding the needed interior enhancements the 2011 version looks far more superior in details and flash, if only it had the engine compartment look of the 1970 T/A.