Thanks Bob.

I'm not real impressed with the car. It shares way too much with the 300C to be anything special. Now if they put the 6.1L in it and have a manual tranny behind it , plus have some worth-while options to personalize the thing, maybe.

As far as the NASCAR thing, I agree with BadStratRT on this one. Dodge has to have something to run and it's as rediculous as the current Monte Carlo, neither of which look like the road version. Well at least the Charger is RWD.

The concept is the Charger that should have been produced not the 300C spin-off. What a disappointment.[sm=sigh.gif]

 

"D-C apparently learned absolutely nothing from Pontiac and their experience with the reincarnated GTO. Performance obviously ISN'T everything- the new GTO by all accounts is an excellent driving and performing car, but because of 'lackluster' styling, it's a sales flop. Furthermore, Pontiac even got the number of doors right, which D-C hasn't managed to do yet. I'm underwhelmed to say the least, and have no intentions of buying one. If a high performance sedan was what I was after, I'd already have a 300C in my garage."



As a huge fan of the new Pontiac GTO, I feel that you are correct about the car, except for one detail. The styling in my opinion is top notch, especially for the 2005 model year. I myself am very disapointed in the new Charger. The Intrepid based 1999 concept car was my favorite car ever created. But this new car is not a Charger. Now it would make a great Coronet!

However, my money is still on the Magnum. I love that car, but we will have to see the Charger on lots first to judge it. I am sure many people will love it. But I think it will be more like the 1994 Dodge Ram introduction. Some people will love it, while most will hate it. Most of theose who hate it will be loyal fallowers of the original Charger models.

But for the time being, all I know is my next vehicle (which I am planning on getting in two and half years, after my Durango gets paid off) will be either a used 2005 Dodge Magnum RT or 2005 Pontiac GTO. No new Charger for me!

redriderbob

 

people stop whinning. the dodge charger looks great. and i personally really like the gto alot. i would take a gto or a charger over a crappy *** ford. but i do the the gto but since am a chrysler boy charger all the way

 

First off folks these are renderings and i havent seen the WHOLE car yet even those camoflauged pics u can't see the rear oor the grille! wait until they show it to be honest the first time i saw pics of the current Dodge Ram and Magnum i cursed them both saying Pahh! but now i think they Both look badass and would own either now DC didnt just sink Millions of dollars into this car for it to become a stinker! you all think it should have 2 doors only hmmm has anyone contemplated that maybe that's why the GTO sales are down! in the real world if you are a die-hard Mopar nut you go down to the dealership and say i want a high-performance 2 door they show you a Viper brochure, Yes it is neither economical or practical but it is a High-performance 2-door! and for the people that say "well Dodge can build a 2 door Charger with retro styling and for a cheap price!" well those people are flat wrong because i sure as hell don't see Camaro's or Firebird's being sold anymore and those cars only attracted a small percentage of buyers so i see Dodge's move as a smart one which is no 1969 Hemi Charger R/T but i see this new "Charger" to be a stepping stone in a good direction For god sake's people it's a RWD with a 5.7 Hemi and will probabaly have the optional 6.1 so don't make Dodge Rethink!
and give us the FWD's back! lol Anyway this car will have a large percentage of buyer's availabe compared to the small percentage of people looking for a 2-door! (i.e. GTO) the 35 year old guy that has always wanted a "HEMI Charger" but the wife say's only a 4-door well see for that guy it's a WIN WIN! can have the HEMI RWD and still not get a Divorce to get his car! so let's not bash it and give it a Chance!

 

Thats the problem, we already have a hemi powered sedan and wagon. We don't want another one. The two door market is there, just ask ford. They are not going to be able to build enough of them to keep up with demand. The GTO is a flop because ....
1. It does not have any signs of being a GTO, dual exhust with quad tips, and hood scoops would have been nice.

2. GM wanted to go after import buyers such as bmw or benz performance customers. Please, like a guy is going to trade in his bimmer for a pontiac.

So now they pissed off the purist and got nobody else lined up to buy the stupid thing. I mean come on you can lease one for 212 a month for crying out loud. They are just trying to dump them now. Hopefully the 05 will be better.

But a charger sedan....
First the durango, then dakota, and now the charger come on guys I want to keep my job with the company! Quit building UGLY products!

Joe

 

Those aren't my words, or necessarily my opinion- check any one of several automotive magazine articles on the new GTO. That's the universal sentiment among all of them. The sales numbers speak for themselves.

My biggest bitch about the new Charger is the name. Yes, I am one of the 'original' Charger faithful (see avatar). The Charger began as a high-end modification of a Coronet 2-door, and evolved into the flagship for Dodge in both performance and style. This new one does neither.

The retro theme can work, or it can fail. I'm willing to bet a month's wages that Ford will not be able to build the new Mustang fast enough to keep up with demand. Why? Because they got it RIGHT!!!! It has the styling cues of the original, the performance to match the looks, and looks like nothing else on the road. The GTO is failing because it looks like any other Pontiac in the line up- Grand Am, Grand Prix, take your pick. The new Charger is nothing more than a 300C with a Dodge nameplate. Using the name Charger was a mistake- period. Call it Monaco or Polara, if you need to resurrect a name from the past. Do you think 'Bullitt' or 'Dukes of Hazard' when you see this sedan? I doubt it, but those the kind of images that are conjured up in the minds of a lot of car nuts with the Charger name. I can't picture this sedan exciting anyone to that extent.

I hope I'm wrong about the sales of the car, for the sake of D-C's future. If they had come out with a car similar in style to the '99 concept version, I would have been interested in buying one. As I said in my previous post, if a hipo sedan was what I wanted, I would already have a 300C. I didn't need to wait for the same car with a Charger nameplate to satisfy that! The Magnum is more of a success, simply because it's original. I'd buy one of those before the Charger.

 

Needless to say, Ford is the only company to get their retro car redesigned correctly! Their Mustang! It just looks wicked when you compare the old classic and the new modern design! What a way to bring the old look and modern technology together! If only the rest of the brothers in Detroit can follow this example! I would consider buying their 05 Mustang over this charger for classic car's sake! I am not a ford fan, but my dad used to own one of the first 65 1/2 mustang convertible. Wished he kept it for me to take over.

I can see alot of other heated debates come out in the future if they bring back other classic muscle cars and smear their name reputation? As Chrysler has created a hate vacuum when they added 4 doors to a Charger name and GM screwd up their GTO, I wonder if GM will follow Chrysler's footsteps if they bring back the Camaro/Trans AM and add 4 doors? What a concept!

I kinda see Chrysler going to do their copycat cars again as they did in the past. First the 300 Series, then the Magnum series, now the charger series. All of them look very very similar in every respect. Just like the past in the 80's when they had the charger, the onmi, the turismo, the duster. All of them are basically the same car with only minor cosmetic changes. Even if the charger is based on a totally different sheetmetal platform, it still looks the same as their two sisters; the 300 series and magnum series.

 

Not to get off of subject, but for those who don't like the new 2006 Charger and wish they could drive the 1999 Dodge Charger R/T Concept car, there is hope. A photo released today of the new Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition video game, allows you do so. So at least you can do that. Better than nothing I guess!

redriderbob

 

Awesome [sm=icon_cheers.gif][sm=icon_rock.gif]

 

Very nice detail but they still havent gotten down their colors yet.







-Matt-