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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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Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 14, 2005 6:45 am) It also occurs to me that most of the photos we've seen are of orange or orangish red cars, I think that's an attempt to link to the Dukes of Hazzard but not neccessarily the best color for the car. I'd like to see some other colors. Kudos to D-Chrysler for at least giving it a different roofline etc than the 300. |
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Replying to: andys120 (Jan 14, 2005 6:17 am) PF Flyer Host Pickups & News & Views Message Boards |
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is how low-slung the Charger, Magnum, and 300C look on the road. Now just going by the specs, if you told me you were going to offer me a car that's only 197" long, but is 58" tall, on a 120 inch wheelbase, the first thing out of my mouth would be yuck. That's about the specs of a pre-gov't bumper Checker cab (although the 1977 Checker owner's manual I found online says they were 62 3/4" tall). But to put it in perspective, that's still shorter and taller than my '89 Gran Fury, and you can't get much more upright and boxy than that! Yet somehow, these new 300's and Magnums come off appearing much sleeker and more low-slung and well-proportioned than those dimensions suggest. And usually, when you put bigger wheels on a car, it ends up making the car look smaller than it is, and you run the risk of making it look more like a Matchbox or Hotwheels toy than a real car, but again, somehow here, they managed to pull it off. |
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Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 14, 2005 6:45 am) The automotive press all agree with you about the MB cruise control, but I have to say, as a former Benz owner, that I loved that stalk. <start of rant> I always found it easier to use than the buttons, and I dislike the "on/off" button everyone else uses. Is there really a problem with people accidently hitting the set button on their cruise control, and then accelerating wildy into other cars? It just seems like an additional, unecessary step, and one that doesn't prevent the problem that it's designed to prevent.</end of rant> |
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that it did take me awhile to get used to the cruise control buttons on my Intrepid. And to make things worse, they're not lit up at night. I used to prefer the older style on the turn signal stalk, but for the most part those older styles could only set a speed, resume, and if you were lucky, accelerate. The one on my Intrepid could also coast and decelerate, so that would probably be too much to put on a stalk that also controls the turn signals, high beams, and windshield wipers/washer! I guess my complaint about the stalk is that it just LOOKS like it's in an awkward place. But maybe, once you get used to it, it's not so bad. After all, I used to hate the rotary knobs on the HVAC systems of modern cars because I was used to the sliders on the older GM cars. But once I got used to it, no big deal. |
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| 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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