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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
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If Dodge wants to reach into the past for a nameplate, and purists howl at the thought of a nameplate associated with sporty coupes being stuck on a 21st century sedan, then how about...Polara? Monaco? Coronet? Don't be too hard on the 1971-74 Dodge Chargers. They may be overshadowed by their fire-breathing forebears, but taken in the context of their time, they weren't bad vehicles. Our neighbor had a 1973 Charger SE (medium blue metallic with a white vinyl top), and it was a handsome car for the time. At least Dodge didn't ruin the Charger for 1973-74. Plymouth, on the other hand, facelifted the Satellite Sebring for 1973, and completely ruined the car by adding an upright front with an awkward grille. Speaking of Plymouth, maybe Dodge can raid the nameplate bin of its deceased sibling. Dodge could use Fury, Satellite or Belvedere. |
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is that for the most part, their past names just don't have that much equity. I could see Charger, Challenger, and Magnum having some name equity, but for the most part, names like "Coronet", "Polara", "Monaco", etc pale in comparison to "Malibu", "Impala", "Monte Carlo", "Thunderbird", etc. And I'm sure it's a safe bet that there will never be another Dodge named "Aspen"! The Dart was probably the most famous Dodge of all, but that's a name I think should be retired forever, out of respect. Unless Mopar had a danged good small car to put it on. And, knowing the domestics, I don't think they can put out a small car that good! Plus, the name "Dart" just sounds too 60's or 70's IMO. I dunno if it would go well on a modern car. Now "Demon" was a cool name. But good luck getting people in the Bible belt to buy one. They're not gonna want to drive it to church on Sundays! |
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Always thought "Fury" was a great Mopar name that deserves to be brought back, esp. "Gran Fury." There was a brief, early '90s Dodge Monaco wasn't there? I recall it was a Euro-looking sedan of intermediate proportions... |
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| was around and had a Renault twin....the car had a 75% first year depreciation hit... | |
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the Monaco was brought back for a few years, as a clone to the Eagle Premier. It was one of those cars that, had the reliability been there, it would've been a great car. Unfortunately, it was kind of an odd combination of Renault and Chrysler, and I have a feeling they took the least reliable bits of each one! I dunno if this is true or not, but I've heard that the Premier/Monaco actually served as the basis for the original Intrepid. I know they had a longitudinal engine layout, just like the Intrepid. "Fury" is probably one of the few time-honored names that never did get dragged through the muck. The original Fury was V-8 and RWD, as was the final 1989 model. Okay, so by 1989 it was down to 140 hp for civvy models and 175 for police interceptors, but still, at least there was never a K-car Fury!
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... the 1958 Plymouth is probably the world's most famous Fury thanks to Stephen King and John Carpenter. In reality, Christine was a Belvedere because real 1958 Furies were cream & gold with gold anodized trim. I always wished Chrysler had built an LH version of the Plymouth Fury. I bet it would've been beautiful. If DCX had any guts, it would bring back Plymouth with a Fury. |
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would have been nice looking, but I don't think it would have been enough to save the division. I imagine it would've looked about like a Dodge Intrepid, but maybe with an eggcrate grille similar to the Plymouth Breeze? IMO, current Chrysler-badged cars like the Sebring, PT Cruiser, and the V-6 versions of the 300 are really about where a Plymouth should be, in terms of price and prestige. Heck, Sebring is even an old Plymouth name! What I think they should do is offer the 300 as a V-8 only model. Just either de-tune it or reduce its displacement for the cheaper models. Then for a Plymouth version, offer a base 2.7 Fury, a mid-range 3.5 Gran Fury or Fury VIP, and then a Hemi-only Fury GT model. The key would be to differentiate the style between a Chrysler and a Plymouth, and that's something that Mopar has had trouble doing ever since the downsizing era of the late 70's. While, say, a 1977 New Yorker actually shares very little sheetmetal with a 1977 Gran Fury, from 1980 onward (when the Gran Fury was re-introduced) it was all but identical to a Chrysler Newport, except the taillights, which were borrowed from a Dodge St. Regis! But then having a Plymouth lineup would cut into Dodge territory as well, since over the years Dodge has moved down into that range. |
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| ...would look like? I imagine it would look like an evolution of your old Gran Fury police interceptor. | |
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itsnotacharger and I are seeing this one near eye to eye. The 1999 Charger concept, that was strangely enough still on the circuit until this year, is the expression (or close to it) of what I had hoped to see. Flowing lines of pure muscle. This is a cheap 300 reskin or Magnum butt-ectomy. I don't mind them doing it, and understand the economics of it perfectly, but don't mess with the Charger (or Challenger) name. Like grbeck, Polara popped into my head when I first saw the pics. Now that I'm thinking about it, Fury seems like a near perfect fit. |
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...would probably have the potential to supplant the Crown Vic as the police car of choice. kcram Host Smart Shopper and Wagons Message Boards |
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