![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180309_0003-436x327.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The famous California mountains were swathed in snow clouds, and mist pooled around the foothills, drifting down and around the grandstands at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California. It was an unpromising scene for a car show, yet a parade of headlights waited at the entrance, engines idling in a song of superchargers and aftermarket exhaust. When the gates opened on Spring Fest 13; Challenger, Charger, Magnum, Chrysler and Jeep\u00ae<\/sub> owners poured into the fairgrounds, proving that nothing keeps a Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> owner from showing off their car, certainly not a little rain.<\/p>\n Spring Fest started as a small car show for a few local California Chrysler fans. Now in its 13th<\/sup> year, the event boasted its biggest attendance yet. Organizer John Fortuna announced to the crowd that 1,875 cars were on-site. Thousands of people wandered the fairgrounds admiring the show vehicles, talking with the FCA designers, and lining up for thrill rides in Dodge SRT\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcats. We did a bit of wandering ourselves and found an interesting story around every corner.<\/p>\n The first thing that strikes you when you attend any modern Mopar show is the variety of customization amongst the participants. Considering Spring Fest started as a celebration of a single platform (LX, now expanded to include variants), you\u2019d imagine that nearly 2,000 cars would be rows of clones, but we couldn\u2019t find a single car that looked like the one next to it \u2014 except maybe in the case of the two black-and-purple customized \u201chis and hers\u201d Dodge Chargers. Some folks went for wild external mods, like halo headlight LEDs that dance along with the music on the stereo, or racey aero bolt-ons. Others stayed stock, but chose bright factory colors and clever personalized license plates. There were lots of themes and wraps, including multiple nods to movies like Star Wars<\/em> and Mad Max<\/em>. Retro looks were popular too, with visual shoutouts to famous Chrysler racers of the past like Richard Petty or Sox and Martin. Speaking of racers, there were some seriously quick machines on display. Originally, the schedule called for drag racing on the legendary Pomona quarter-mile, but the rain kept the would-be racers parked. Despite that, the Dodge Challenger SRT Demons, stripped Magnums, and hopped-up SRT Jeeps drew a crowd with their caged interiors, skinny fronts and fat rear meats.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If the biggest crowds were found waiting to do ride-along drift rides in Hellcats, the second busiest spot in the Fairplex was under the design tent in the midway, where Head of Dodge and SRT Design for FCA Mark Trostle and his team had set up a rainbow of little model Challengers painted in a bright palette of potential new colors. Trostle called them \u201cSkittles\u201d and, indeed, it looked like someone had spilled out a bag of chromatic candy on the tables. Trostle\u2019s team was made up of eight designers, some senior, like LaShirl Turner, Chief Color and Material Designer for FCA, and some brand new who were at the event for the very first time. For Trostle, the goal of the color samples was to shake things up. \u201cWe\u2019d had success bringing back heritage colors, but I want to create the next generation of those colors,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted to do a color that would be controversial, that people would talk about. Is there room for it to grow, to develop?\u201d<\/p>\n For Turner, the chance to speak directly with the intended audience was too good to pass up. \u201cWe\u2019re constantly working on new color palettes,\u201d she told us. \u201cUsually, we do a lot of trend research, but who is better to ask than our own customers?\u201d<\/p>\n To accomplish this, the design team not only had a full-size T\/A Challenger painted in a greeny-yellow metallic called Fortuna\u2019s Gold, but also painted the display models and labeled each with a groan-worthy name tag like \u201cMichigan Salt\u201d (a grimy, yet attractive off-white) or \u201cShake N Bake\u201d (a warm metallic bronze the color of fried chicken). FCA Interior Design Manager Dan Zimmermann gave us the scoop on the names. \u201cWe wanted to make people laugh, to get attention. We were cracking ourselves up in the brainstorm session.\u201d Some of the names were obvious, like a bright green named \u201cWicked Witch,\u201d while others were more subtle, like a soft non-metallic gray named \u201cGarbage Can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have trash cans that exact color back at the design studio,\u201d Zimmermann told us with a laugh.<\/p>\n Certainly, the names and the variety of colors were a hit with the audience. They voted in droves, so much so that the design team is still counting up the ballots. \u201cIf I had to guess, I think the metallic purple, \u2018Black Eye,\u2019 is going to be the winner,\u201d said FCA Color and Trim Designer, Shady Elias.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always impressed with how much historical knowledge the customers have about the colors,\u201d Trostle told us. \u201cThey\u2019ll know the paint codes for B7, or the old Lemon Twist. They\u2019ll know where we got the inspiration from for the new colors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t![\"Two](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180310_0095-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t![\"Dodge](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180309_0048-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t![\"Dodge](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180310_0097-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t![\"Dodge](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180309_0070-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t![\"4](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180310_0018-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t![\"4](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180309_0042-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t![\"4](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180309_0041-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t![\"4](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180309_0040-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180310_0016-491x327.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180310_0033-245x327.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t![\"all](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180309_0083-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t![\"Man](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180310_0089-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>
![\"under](\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180310_0086-220x220.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Springfest-LX-2018-20180310_0059-436x327.jpg\")
<\/p>\n