Does a Dodge Charger matter today in the world of automobiles?

[tcs69rt]

As the owner of a 69 Charger RT, I cannot get by the 4 doors, probably my "issue".  I think they should have called a 4 door V8 sedan the Coronet, yes I know they made a 2 door RT as well, but they never made a 4 door Charger. I was quite happy when I saw the Challenger being brought back and I think alot of us were wanting a 2 door performance car. In 2013 I bought a 2011 Challenger RT 6 speed with 1800 miles on it and I am now content. Thought I would share this with you it was a college project I created and yes I did get an A in the class! 

[UH60L]

Can you imagine a bunch of guys in 1968 talking crap about '68 Mustangs, and saying their 1920s Ford coupes are "the real ones"?


Our 1960s/70s cars are almost 50 years old.  The time for a new Charger has come, twice over.  

And a new one SHOULDN'T  be exactly what we want, for the same reasons the 1968 Mustang was not what the 1920s Ford guys wanted.  Times change.  New generations have different wants & feelings.  (Like, for example, not having our big grudge against 4drs . . .)  

Ya know, I'm starting to think by your posts... that you're the mike from allpar...

That said, your comparison is silly, because (unless I'm really missing something here) 1920's Ford coupes were not called mustangs.

It's not about the cars per se, it's about the badge they wear.  The cars are actually not that bad, and had they called them Coronet, I might have even bought one and parked it next to my '69 Charger and my '11 Challenger.

Times changing has nothing to do with anything.  I've owned several 4 doors over the years.  Some of them were pretty nice cars too.  (actually our last 4 door had a nicer interior than our Challenger does...)  But, not one of those cars was a Dodge Charger, never will be, never pretended to be.

Those cars were family sedans.  That is what we bought them for.  That's what they were used for. 

We didn't buy the '69 Charger or the '11 Challenger with idea of hauling our kids around or buying groceries.  The fact that they have big trunks and usable back seats is just a bonus.  We bought them because they're muscle cars and they're cool.  (and because I had wanted a '69 Charger since I was a kid...)

You don't by muscle cars for gas mileage, or for how easy it is to put a car seat in, or for "convenience".  You buy them because they're muscle cars.

Unfortunately, the sedans they are selling these days are mostly used for what they are, appliances, to be thrown away or traded in every year or two.  (some people just can't go more than a year without a new car, what's up with that?...)  Thus I don't think those cars now hold or ever will hold, the type of importance or significance or personal recognition to the populous that the '66 to '74 Charger continues to have.

Regardless of HP and modern convenience, they just don't have the cool factor.  The looks were getting better with the '11 to '14 model, but then they took away or changed some the "Charger" styling cues on the '15.  The only positive thing on the '15 to me, is the front end, and it's still got a long way to go...  Yeah, most modern cars could blow my Charger off the road, but few, if any, modern cars could look as good as mine while doing it. 

Even the new Challengers, as cool as they are, many people have to have the newest thing.  I wonder how many 2009 Challengers got traded in on Hell Cats?  I don't plan on ever selling our 2011.  Perhaps when it's paid off and the Charger is done, we'll buy another new Challenger.  I just can't see getting rid of a car that I love that still runs and looks good.

My car is 45 years old, and even sitting in my garage waiting for parts, I get compliments on it from strangers (as well as the occasion offer to buy it).  I don't think there will be as many used versions of the current sedan still running after 45 years as there are '60s and '70s Chargers still running today...

[Mike DC]

 
 
No 2000+ muscle car will be as classic as a 1960s model.  Period.  It's half a century later in the evolution of the gasoline automobile. People have different wants from cars today.  People want them more compromised to be good at doing more things than they used to.  The less appealing styling of the modern car is a DIRECT result of those compromises.  


As for the importance of the Charger name?  Here's my response to that:



Hey, it's a 2-door, isn't it?  




In 2006 they put the "Charger" name onto a car filling the roughly the same place in their lineup as the originals did.  

The modern Ram pickup is far heavier & more electronic & luxurious & expensive than the original Ram was.  But it's not a sacrilege to call the new one a "Ram" is it?  Like it or not, the same portion of the buying market wants different things than they used to want 50 years ago.  

Four doors is the same # of doors as the uncool cars 50 years ago, but it's a lot less uncool than it used to be.  At least among mainstream buyers.

[JB400]

In modern terms, the Coronet nameplate isn't really all that cool.  For a name that was meant to bring some excitement to the Dodge lineup, and to represent the brand in Nascar, I think they actually picked the right name.  The car they put it on, is a different story.  They could have kept the Intrepid nameplate, but that doesn't have the appeal, and as a nameplate that was already 11 years old, Dodge needed something new.