We tag along with rocker Kenny Wayne Shepherd as he wheels Chrysler’s new ponycar.

Technically, the driving impressions of the new 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 are embargoed until the rest of the media gets a chance at the wheel. That’s cool, because everybody else will be talking about how it drives (as will we), but that won’t stop us now from talking about how it looks, and how roomy it is inside from the passenger’s perspective.

Our brief encounter came the evening before the big Spring Festival of LXs, which is hosted in Irvine, CA by the guys at SoCalLX.com. This forum is perhaps the largest group of LX-platform users in the country, and they live and breathe the LX lifestyle. What’s an LX, you might rightfully ask? The term “LX” is the engineering code for Chrysler’s rear-drive car platform that is the basis of the current Dodge Magnum, Dodge Charger, and Chrysler 300. It’s also the platform Dodge will use to build the 2009 Challenger.

So you can see the tie-in between the Challenger, and the Spring Festival of LXs. It just made sense for Chrysler to conveniently roll the Challenger out at the happening Friday night cruise at the Bob’s Bigboy in Burbank—a popular car hangout going on near fifty years now. We got wind of the Challenger’s March 14 appearance through Chrysler’s west coast PR arm, and mentioned that we had contacts deep within Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s organization. Kenny’s a full-blooded Mopar man, and he’d rather push a Dodge than drive a Chevy. We mentioned it to Chrysler’s PR people, and added that it might work to their benefit to have Kenny drive the Challenger into the Bigboy, and they agreed. And that’s how we got the shotgun seat for this momentous occasion.

The black metallic Challenger SRT-8 in question was a pilot line car, meaning it was built on the Brampton, Ontario assembly line, but it was a hand-built car. We’re told it is about 99 percent correct. The car’s overall design was nothing new to us—having seen it in Hot Rod and Motor Trend, but what we couldn’t have known was how voluptuous it would be in person. This car is downright sexy, and is sure to have many men (and women) dropping their checkbooks on the dealership’s table at first sight.

Having just purchased a new Hemi-equipped Magnum R/T, I was particularly aware of the interior differences. Like the Magnum, the Challenger’s interior is super comfortable, and made with first-rate materials. I even sat in the back seat to check out the leg room. Even though the Challenger’s wheelbase has been shortened four inches, there was plenty of room for my knees, and plenty of headroom. It’s not cramped at all like my ’05 Mustang GT, or my ’03 Mustang GT. Kenny was really (word censored due to embargo restrictions) by the cockpit and sound of the engine. We can say we observed a big smile on his face, but that could’ve just been because he’s, well, Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

At the Bigboy, it was a total mob scene. Car and rocker were greeted with fanfare, and Kenny never missed a beat. He quoted the Challenger’s specs from memory, like he’d been singing that song for years. The local ABC News affiliate also was on hand to capture the cruise action, and they swooped in for the fortuitous interview. I was hanging back, getting all the photos, and offered Kenny my recent pawn shop find, a Danelectro baritone double-neck guitar, as a prop for some photos. We had a great time, ate some great food, and had a blast hanging out with Dodge’s new star player—the car that is.