Charger popular during public New York Auto Show days; get Real ID while you’re there

One interesting aspect of the New York Auto Show is the state’s decision to let people get Real ID driver’s licenses while they’re at the show, saving a trip to a state office. Bring along an original Social Security card, 1099 or 1098 tax from, or a pay stub with your full SSN, two proofs of residency from the last year (e.g. a utility bill, postmarked mail, or a bank statement), and proof of citizienship (valid passport, birth certificate, or certificate of naturalization), and you can get a modern driver’s license.

More to the point for Mopar fans, there is a vintage Dodge Brothers car right at the entrance to the show, between a Ford and a Pierce-Arrow; and at the Chrysler area in the northwest corner, among the Pacificas, is the 1924 Chrysler car shown at the Museum and allegedly at this very show, 101 years ago. It has just 1,562 miles on the clock, and may have been the first car with a coolant thermometer on the dashboard.

The Stellantis area represented all the brands but Maserati, which was split off; the Fiats and Alfa Romeos were stuffed into the corner, behind Jeeps, Rams, Dodges, and Chryslers. Two versions of the two-door electric Charger were on display in the main floor and downstairs in the electric car rides section.

Longtime Allpar reporter Gene Yetter, who visited the show on public days, wrote that lines for the Dodge Charger were far longer than for any other electric car—the same as on media days.

That was not because they had a single Charger—on media days, there were two, compared with one Nissan Ariya and one Volkswagen Buzz and so forth; there were also two Wagoneer S samples driving around. The result on media days at least was that it seemed the track was mostly Stellantis cars, but with the massive audience on public days, Gene reported having around 80 people on the line with him.

The most fun part of the course was the all-too-short acceleration run, which probably could have been made a few yards longer to provide more thrills—and even that depended on the nerve of the driver. As it was, the Charger felt far more thrilling than the Wagoneer, but it’s hard to tell if that was the car or the driver (or the driver’s instructions, as the Wagoneer’s filling Chrysler’s “semi-luxury” place in the lineup).

Outside, as previously reported, was a more severe version of Camp Jeep.

For more, see our full reporting at brother site Motales.com, or watch the videos above and below…

David Zatz

David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.

David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.