Dodge Charger: Chrysler Group Release:
#21
10-11-2004, 11:12 AM
RE: Dodge Charger: Chrysler Group Release:
ORIGINAL: TeeWJay426
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.
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.
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.
#22
10-11-2004, 12:41 PM
#24
10-12-2004, 07:36 AM
#25
10-12-2004, 07:42 AM
RE: Dodge Charger: Chrysler Group Release:
OK, my spelling sucks! Yeahhh...the stickers do add 10 hp each! BTW, where is that video of the K car smoking the Supra...I want to post that on another site. I think most folks will get a kick out of that. I think I linked onto it before on an Omni Turbo page.
#26
10-12-2004, 11:25 AM
#29
12-15-2004, 04:13 AM
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RE: Dodge Charger: Chrysler Group Release:
This isn’t the Charger. I refuse to believe it is. It just doesn’t add up if you think about it. The 1999 Charger was a sweet car in Every way. I didn’t even mind the fourth door, in fact I had to re-examine it just to see the fourth door. But also, did you ever notice that none of the Charger pics have Charger written on them? I mean it could be just me, but even the 99' Concept had Charger on it. www.allpar.com reported that the next Stratus will be based on the Mitsubishi Galant, and if you really examine the rear end of the Charger, you can clearly see the Galant in it. Plus, that is what they use in NASCAR at the moment, so it only makes sense to have the redesigned version for the 2005 year. www.allpar.com also reported that the Charger would Not share any sheet metal what so ever with the Magnum and 300 and that Charger clearly has the Magnum front end. We shall see in January though. I tell ya, I'll be there for sure! LOL, I really hope this isn’t it, it makes me sad to think it is.
#30
12-15-2004, 01:13 PM
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RE: Dodge Charger: Chrysler Group Release:
Well guess what, it is... sorry for disapointing you! Besides the 1999 Dodge Charger R/T Concept car was based on the Intrepid, Concorde, and 300M's LH platform! So giving the styling of the LX platform cars (300 Series and Magnum), we knew that styling would be similar to them. It's not a bad looking car, just I feel it should have been named Coronet or something besides Charger.
redriderbob
redriderbob
