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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
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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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| the only reason the Crown Vic is even the police car of choice is because Mopar and Chevy pretty much dropped out of that market. Impalas are pretty popular though, at the local and county level. I think state troopers still prefer something beefy like a Crown Vic, though. | |
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I see alot more Impala police cars these days (esp. as police "service" vehicles, like ticket writers and motorist assist cars). Though, big city police depts. still prefer the iron rwd toughness of the Crown Vics for the same reason cabbies do... Be cool to see a Mopar patrol car again...of course, I also hope highway patrols adopt the new Mustang as a pursuit car, just like in the '80s.
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Replying to: john_324 (Oct 19, 2004 11:03 am) |
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| Some of these names kinda clunk in the year 2004 don't you think? | |
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Polara does have a 1960s "space age" ring to it, but Fury would still work, although we would have to get used to a Dodge Fury. The general public, however, probably wouldn't mind. As for the Eagle Premier/Dodge Monaco - it was originally designed when Renault still owned AMC. Chrysler escapes the blame for that one. To me, it was the epitome of bland, especially when parked beside a Ford Taurus or Mercury Sable of that time. |
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There is no arguing the fact that cars of the 68-70 vintage were poor handlers compared to almost any car of today -- even lowly Civics and Corollas. However, that is not a valid argument in my opinion, any more than speculating about who would have won WWI if they'd had F15s. It's simply not germane. As for Charger's handling relative to other cars of the time, I speak from experience in assuring you that they were every bit the equal of my Road Runner, Grand Prix and Firebird, the limiting factor in all three being those gawdawful bias plies (not the fault of the car companies, by the way, and one that is easily remedied today). And, as I've mentioned previously, it is a simple matter to upgrade any of these cars with modern suspension components, brakes and tires. I'd take any one of them in a heartbeat -- they are really cool cars, and a lot of fun to drive.
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Automotive News & Views Daimler's abuse of the Dodge Charger legacy.
