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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
| Well, I work for Ford now, so I'm pretty much resigned to the buttons, but I miss the stalk. | |
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In the aftermath of this Charger fiasco have you noticed how many Daimler spin doctors that there are working the chat rooms, magazines and other forms of the media. Recently, one suggested that Dodge wants to return to the car business. Why then, did they put a Chevy S-10 truck front end on a Maverick body and then call it a Charger? In addition, a promotional video shows Kasey Kahn, Jeremy Mayfield and an apparent Daimler exec gloating over the new Charger at a race track. Of course, the Daimler exec tries to spin the new Charger as something it is not...an heir to the legendary muscle car of the seventies. They even have King Richard fawn his approving eye at the eyesore as it passes around the track. First of all, the fact that Daimler managed to get Kahn, Mayfield and King Richard within their propaganda ministry only indicates everyone has their price. You know what? It turns out that if you pay people enough money they'll give the trophy for "The Cutest Baby" to the ugliest kid on the stage. Not only that, but they'll smile about it too. Actually though, behind the scenes reports have Nascar crews that were seeing the car for the first time commenting (and I paraphrase), "It looks like the family Truckster from the movie National Lampoon's Vacation" and "Thank goodness for the template." Now you tell me, how many Nascar teams have you ever heard sing the praises of the template? Well, until the 2006 Charger came along my guess would be zero. Because of its ungainly and disproportionate Streisand-like nose they should call the car the Dodge Focker. Only this time the ones getting focked are those of us who actually appreciate the thoroughbred stance and aesthetic appeal of the original Chargers and that doesn't include the arrogant and clueless Fockers who designed this mutation of automotive engineering. What was that line? "I knew John Kennedy and you're no John Kennedy." Well, I knew the Dodge Charger and this is no Dodge Charger, plain and simple. To expedite damage control, there is yet another group of spinners that are defaming the original Chargers to make the 2006 appear to be "not so bad." Instead it turns out that the 2006 Charger has as much in common with the legendary muscle car of the sixties & seventies as a mosquito has with the American Bald Eagle. All of you youngsters who have just received your learners permits may disagree with me, it's a free country, but apparently I'm not alone. You see, Creed, the head of the know-it-all Charger design team admits that an inordinate influx of hate mail is running 30-to-1 against this flounder of a car. A novel idea would have been for the design team to have actually looked at some of the original Chargers before they even set out to design the car, but they put the quick buck and German automotive tastes first. I'm not certain, but I don't even believe Trevor Creed is American. How would the Germans or British like it if an American were the lead designer to bring back a classic Porsch, or Jaguar. In closing, if the car was that great would the Spin Doctors really be necessary? Have a nice day. |
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.... How would the Germans or British like it if an American were the lead designer to bring back a classic Porsch [sic], or Jaguar. It's a global economy and there are Americans in charge of styling  BMW and Ferrari, can Porsche and Jag be far behind?
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Remember the Charger from the Fast and the Furious that got rolled near the end of the movie? It's for sale at volocars for $36,000...in rough shape. Hate to see classics destroyed in movies. |
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I'm sure the head honchos of Daimler-Chrysler smile when they ponder the controversy over the return of the Charger as a four-door. The publicity is priceless... Mopar purists are undoubtedly disappointed, but let's be realistic - a mass-market company cannot design cars for purists and hope to remain in business (let alone a mass-market company). The debate over whether the Charger should return as a coupe is lost on over 90 percent of the car-buying public. The simple fact is that unless the car has a galloping horse on the grille and a "Mustang" nameplate on the side, reasonably priced coupes that share no sheetmetal with a sedan variant are dead in the American market. People, for whatever reason, do not want them anymore. The days of Chevy Monte Carlos scoring 300,000+ sales annually and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supremes sitting on top of the sales chart are over. Daimler-Chrysler knows this. At the same time, "Charger" is Dodge's most recognizable nameplate, the marketplace is becoming increasingly cluttered with new entries, and Dodge is coming from behind in the sedan segment...so, the new car is christened "Charger." Like it or not, this makes perfect sense from a business standpoint. As for the car itself - so far I like it, although I'll reserve final judgment until I actually see one in real life. Judging from the photos, it's distinctive and has a business-like look. Yes, it polarizes people, but I give Daimler-Chrysler credit for making an end run around the Japanese competition and trying something different. Last time I checked, that strategy seemed to be working pretty well with the Chrysler 300...
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...I consider the Charger the best-looking of the 300/Magnum/Charger triplets. All 3 are head-turners, no question. The high beltlines and the gun-slit windows grab your attention, no doubt. But I really like the fastback rear glass of the Charger and the 60s-like kickup of the rear quarter panels, kind of reminiscent of 1965-66 full-size Pontiacs. But personally, I prefer a lower beltline for visibility and airiness, and although I do prefer more upright windshields, the windshields of these 3 cars are too far forward from the driver's seat for optimum visibility. I grew up in the heyday of the original Charger, but I was a GM fan back then. Now I buy Japanese, so what do I know  |
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Replying to: grbeck (Jan 15, 2005 3:45 pm) as a mustang owner i say; no guts, no glory. the 5 year old(pre d-c) concept was much better. i think the whole 300 look is because the 'hemi' is such a tall engine(designed to go in a ram pickup). |
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Replying to: grbeck (Jan 15, 2005 3:45 pm) |
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Automotive News & Views Daimler's abuse of the Dodge Charger legacy.
