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Automotive News & Views Daimler's abuse of the Dodge Charger legacy.
659 messages, Last post on Jun 21, 2006 at 2:03 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
So... what would you prefer a new Charger to be like?
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160 hp, handles like a tugboat, drums brakes all around, gets 8 miles to the gallon? They made those in 1973....I'll take the new ones, thank you. Bias ply tires and hydraulic shocks, along with underpowered engines, no longer have a place in automotive society.
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considering what the Charger evolved into in the 70's, I don't think the new one is all that bad. Although the pics I've seen in Motortrend make it look like a heavy-handed 300C with styling cues of a South American Dart grafted on. Chrysler really watered down the Charger nameplate after 1970. For 1971, the name was applied to ALL its intermediate coupes, leaving the Coronet as a sedan/wagon only model. Now there were some pretty potent Chargers in the 70's, with 400's and 440's, and the HO 340's and 360's. And if you did the right mods and had a 3:23 rear, you could get a 318 to do the quarter mile in about 15 seconds. Chances are, though, most of 'em just had the 150 hp 318-2bbl. Some years, a slant six was actually standard, putting out all of 105-110 hp! The most popular Charger model by '73-74 was the SE model. SE was "Special Edition", which back then was essentially code for "Personal Luxury", i.e., upscale in a pimpy, landau-roofed, louvered-rear-quarters, shagged-out 70's sort of way. In 1975, the Charger became a clone to the Chrysler Cordoba, called "Charger SE". The "regular" intermediate coupes reclaimed their Coronet title, only to have it yanked away again for '76. That year, they were Chargers again, although the Cordoba-clone SE was still available. Then they switched back for '77, as the regular intermediates were all called Monaco, in a lame attempt to make people thing Dodge had downsized their big cars, and only the Charger SE was still around. Now for '78, it looked like a little excitement came back to Dodge with the Magnum. It was an agressive, good looking car that, for the time, did a great job at balancing the line between muscle car and personal luxury coupe in the looks department. It outsold the Charger SE, 55431 to 2800. Looks aside though, it was still more personal luxury coupe than musclecar, and most of them only had 318's or 360-2bbls. However, I think you could stil get a 400 and a 440 in '78, and in '79 they had a high-output 360 option with 195 hp, that probably made them one of the fastest 4000 lb cars around! But you could get that same 360 in a Volare Roadrunner or Aspen R/T, which were smaller and more manageable (although not necessarily much nimbler, and probably LESS durable!) For '80, the Magnum was replaced by the Mirada, which again had aggressive looks for a personal luxury coupe, and was probably the closest thing you could get to musclecar style that year, but most of them just had 85 hp slant sixes or 120 hp 318-2bbls. A 360-4bbl was optional but rarely ordered. Good for around 180-185 hp, it could get the beast from 0-60 in just under 10 seconds, which for the time was impressive. It would give the 2005 Chrysler 300 with the 2.7 a serious run for its money!  The Mirada bowed out after 1983, and never was really replaced by anything. The Charger name did return, on a sporty looking 2-door version of the Omni/Horizon. It was a true insult to the name, though. Anything that would have followed on in the more "traditional" Charger role would have been K-car based by the 80's, so maybe it's best that they quit when they did! All things considered, I think Chrysler could do a lot worse with the Charger nameplate. At least they're putting it on a platform that's worthy...probably more worthy than anything since the big-block Chargers of the 70's. |
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| Hahaha...I was gonna say...looking at what they did to the Charger in the 80s...DCX literally cannot do worse. I think the new guys are doing a decent job with Chrysler so far. They'll make something that's OK. | |
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This is the automobile business. It's one of the most cut-throat businesses in the world. No prisoners, no mercy. You just have to expect this sort of thing, as the pressure increases to product new products faster and faster. The Japanese upped the stakes on product development and DC and other competitors to the Japanese will pull any rabbit out of any hat they can find. If there's a market for a Corvette SUV, they will build it. Porsche did, and it paid off, too. |
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The collective "we" are apparently fascinated with the retro styling cues. GM continued to evolve the Camaro/Firebird into TR7-like wedges, while Ford reversed field, went back to the 60s Mustangs for styling inspiration, and blew the Camaro/Firebird right off the market. The rear door glass and rear fender kick of the 06 Charger is just enough to show "heritage" that will attract sales. Using it as the NASCAR body will also pump interest. kcram Host Smart Shopper and Wagons Message Boards
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Replying to: kcram (Oct 17, 2004 8:46 am) are already history. |
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they did a subtle restyle to the Mustang. Made it a bit less girly looking, and IMO at least, had a slight retro touch. Not as blatantly retro as the new model, but I saw more original Stang styling cues in the '99-04 than I did in any other Fairmont-based style. I never really saw any similarity between a TR7 and a Camaro/Firebird, either. If anything, I thought they were pretty modern looking, at least until they started overdoing the ribs & wings (mainly on the Pontiacs) in the final few years. About the closest similarity I saw to another car was that the '93-97 or so Camaros looked slightly like a Geo Storm, and the later models had a front-end that looked a bit like a Chrysler Concorde. |
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Andy, my point was that Ford's 1994 redesign of the Mustang was their first venture into using the old styling points. Mustang sales climbed while C/F sales fell, even though the C/F was the better statistical performer. It was the 94 Mustang that put the C/F down for good - obviously the pony car buyers wanted style over speed. Andre, didn't say the C/F looked like a TR7, just that they continued to evolve to that wedge form. The first and second gen C/Fs were actual coupes with trunks - after that, they were hatchbacks with low, angled hoods and high tails. Back to the 06 Charger, the rear flanks were clearly styled to reflect the design of the old late 60s-early 70s coupes. After the successes of the Ram (old Power Wagon crossed with modern Kenworth), Prowler, PT Cruiser, and now the Charger, the Chrysler design team has a pretty good handle on the retro look. kcram Host Smart Shopper and Wagons Message Boards |
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| that Chrysler tried to put just a hint of '68-70 Charger in the 2nd-gen Intrepid. It's noticeable mainly in the rear window, which is massive, and has just the hint of flying buttress. And the taillights have just a hint of '69-70 (the '68's had a 2-light treatment that the current Acura RSX recalls a bit) | |
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