What will the 2008 Dodge CHARGER look like?

[Lord Warlock]

Its hard to believe that the automakers feel that 4 doors is where the future of autos is going.  They thought the same thing back in the 70s during the gas crisis, then folks started buying 2 doors again.  Today, every other car isn't really a car but is a truck instead, which with higher gas prices has slumped in sales.  The two door is hardly dead, the designers have just given up on sleek exotic styling and gone for family sized cars and trucks,  there are plenty of buyers looking for two door coupes, but they have to be interesting looking and not like a boxy car that had two of its 4 doors removed. 

The gto pretty much failed only due to its shape, not how it ran or handled.  I think it is a well running car, but I wasn't going to buy a car that looked like a toyota celica.  A gto needed to look muscular, manly ...it wasn't designed for women to drive.  Pontiac instead made a car that the french would love to drive and therefore got rave reviews by french owned magazines, only to see the actual sales go flat or nonexistant.  We americans don't like french cars (yes I know its australian) and as long as car makers cater to euro designs for the US market they are likely to fail.  Part of the failure of the new charger body is that that platform looks like a mercedes, drives like one no matter how much power it has, it doesn't look american and it doesn't feel it either.  Ford has a hit with its mustang, enough so that the other makers are now planning competition for it, too bad ford has their respective thumbs up their wazoos on the rest of the product line and also have no idea on how to market cars anymore.  Making a performance mustang (shelby) cost over 40k was rediculous.  If they had kept their price point to a reasonable range they'd sell 10 times the number, there just aren't that many folks out there that can afford a car with a 800 a month payment.  Our salaries haven't risen fast enough to handle that.  I thought 34k was a little high for a mustang, but 42k is too much, i'd wait till the used market for them starts, at least then I may be able to consider owning a new charger srt8 or shelby mustang. 
The 2008 charger will look just like the 2006, detroit rarely changes platforms every 2-3 years like they did in the 60s.  Count on it remaining similar for at least 6-8 years.  Even if it was a 2 door, i wouldn't have bought it with the current shape, whereas I would have snapped it up if they had kept with the concept design. 

LW

[69chargerboy]

The "Charger" SRT8 looks bad ass, but we all know it is NOT A CHARGER! I would buy one if they took off the "Charger" name.  Just call it an SRT8. I'd prefer a 2 door, but what "muscle car" today will generate this much interest 30+ years from now? Probably nothing. The new GTO is junk, the Mustang is ok, maybe the new Challenger and Camaro will start a new generation of muscle car. Who knows?  Who knew back then you could buy a 70 Hemi Cuda or 69 Daytona for $4500 and keep it; now worth 200k + I'm no expert, but I cannot see the same happening to the present day cars.

Did you know that an "elite" group of 66 through 67 Charger fans think that THEY have the only REAL Chargers?  That's right, there are people out there even in the classic Charger ranks who feel that other generations of Chargers don't count as REAL Chargers.
Where does the purist, egocentrical nonsense end?  And who knows is right-back when classic Chargers roamed the streets NO ONE thought they would be considered valuable in the forseeable future.  WHO KNOWS how the future will choose to covet these newer muscle car reincarnations.  I'm not entirely happy with what the Charger nameplate has been slapped on, but if you take the SRT-8 Charger and put it up against, say a '68 R/T, you'll see that they're both big, bold, beautiful cars with brutal performance capabilities-looks like a family relation to me.

Oh, and as for the GTO being "junk," how do you quantify a statement like that?  That car is a friggin' rocket that could run circles around any classic musclecar; that car rules the streets as of now, and can actually TURN and stop on them, too.  Looking at 1/4 mile statistics is only PART of the success of any performance automobile.  Any idiot can make a car blast down the straight-away, but how does it handle?  There's more to high performance than just going in a straight line really really fast.

New muscle is here and although it may not be better looking, overall it's better than yesterday's...

Hey myk,

I actually met a couple of gentlemen at the Nats a couple years ago, and they told me just that! 66 to 67 Chargers are "real" Chargers. My second and third gens were not. They were serious, there wasn't any joking around with them.... I felt a little awkward talking to them, they pretty much told me that my cars were P.O.S! That was strange.

What I meant by junk for the GTO was that it looks like a cousin of a Grand Am GT, but I do agree, it does perform well as a performance car, I don't know how it can be classified as a GTO? The American GTO is a Holden Monaro. It doesn't have any attributes of the original GTO, (neither does the new Charger). But look at the new Challenger and even the new Camaro and Mustang. They all have something in common. Their lineage has been somewhat unchanged, what I mean is that the Style has been changed for the times, but the original attributes; look, style, design are symbolic to the brand. For example, most auto enhusiests know a what a Corvette is, if you look at a 67 Vette or even the 06 Vette and know it's still a Corvette. What I saw the new GTO pass me on the highway in 04 I think, I didn't know what it was at the time, it did look good. But I couldn't believe it was a GTO.  That's my 2c, Take Care.

[Dale The Bold]

The title of this thread made me think that maybe someone had the inside poop on a re-design.  But, alas, 'tis only more speculation.

Yeah, the '06 Car-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named handles great, has all the modern conveniences and comforts, has plenty of power, and makes a great cappuccino, but it sure would be great if it looked totally different from what it does.  I'm of the opinion that looks are more important than performance.  The Classic Charger is not the most aerodynamic or efficient mode of transportation, but it's more about driving around in a friggin' sweet looking ride.

The Challenger will give us what we want.  A classic name on a car that looks like it was designed to bear that name, PLUS all the performance and comfort goodies that everyone keeps telling us about.  Hopefully this starts a trend that ultimately leads to the Charger name being on a car with good looks and all the fancy bells and whistles like reliability, horsepower, and a variable speed heated butt-massager.  This will only happen if the Challenger is within the financial means of todays muscle-car dreamers.  But only time will tell.

[hydroforce]

this would be nice...

[72chargerSE]

Same as it does now...get over it.

BTW...My Dad just got a speeding ticket in his 06 HEMI 300C by a HEMI Charger.... pounced on the old dude pretty good! (89 in a 70 mph)

[6670charger]

Gentlemen, the first thing we ALL have to do is get over ourselves.  The are just as many people with second gen cars (I've seen the posts on this very site) who honestly, without a doubt in their minds, think that the second gen Charger is the only "REAL" Charger.  I'm sure there are third gen owners who think the same thing.  Some of us are beginning to sound like Shi'ite Charger enthusiasts.

Every Dodge car with the name Charger on it is a real Charger.  Yes, sports fans, that means that even the Cordoba-based cars, and even the Omni-based cars are "REAL," honest-to-goodness Dodge Chargers.  So are the Australian Valiant-Chargers, the South American Dart bodied Chargers, and yes, even the 2006 Charger.

We don't individually have to have any great love for any of the styles other than the ones we happen to own.  However, anyone who really believes that their generaltion or style of the Charger is the only "REAL" Charger, REALLY needs to examine just how much of a real Charger enthusiast they are.

Let's all learn a lesson from some of the Radical religious leaders we all know and love.

[Schuler]

I don't know why enthusiasts have to be so unaccepting. Jeep guys are the same. Everytime there is a new model it isn't a real Jeep. "I would love it if it didn't say charger on it" Why is a name that important to you?

[Lightning]

I like 4-door cars and I still think the new Charger looks like crap...

[TylerCharger69]

I think what the deal is,  is that  the car would probably be better accepted if it was called something else  like  maybe  Coronet, or Monaco....  Even Polara  would be acceptable.....It's the fact that the Dodge Charger should have been designed better   and to have the Charger name  on a 300 platform   just doesn't sit well.   The new Challenger is going to be nice  from what I've seen....Why couldn't they make the Charger that cool?

[Lightning]

The new Challenger is going to be nice  from what I've seen....Why couldn't they make the Charger that cool?

it's because at the time they thought a retro design wouldn't sell well, even though as they were designing it the Mustang was selling like hotcakes....

[69chargerboy]

Gentlemen, the first thing we ALL have to do is get over ourselves.  The are just as many people with second gen cars (I've seen the posts on this very site) who honestly, without a doubt in their minds, think that the second gen Charger is the only "REAL" Charger.  I'm sure there are third gen owners who think the same thing.  Some of us are beginning to sound like Shi'ite Charger enthusiasts.

Every Dodge car with the name Charger on it is a real Charger.  Yes, sports fans, that means that even the Cordoba-based cars, and even the Omni-based cars are "REAL," honest-to-goodness Dodge Chargers.  So are the Australian Valiant-Chargers, the South American Dart bodied Chargers, and yes, even the 2006 Charger.

We don't individually have to have any great love for any of the styles other than the ones we happen to own.  However, anyone who really believes that their generaltion or style of the Charger is the only "REAL" Charger, REALLY needs to examine just how much of a real Charger enthusiast they are.

Let's all learn a lesson from some of the Radical religious leaders we all know and love.

I agree with your statment, but until now, Chrysler never made a 4 Door Charger... Thats the biggest problem with it. You will never see a 4 door Challenger or Cuda; (well I hope not!) Why is there a 4 door Charger?

[Brock Samson]

do a search...
there might be a thread about the subject,.. somewhere....

[6670charger]

You're right, Brock, I believe there is a thread out there somewhere.  We have whipped this dead horse into complete decomposition, and have argued this back and forth adnauseum.

When a new car comes to production, it does so after many months; often years of planning and resourcing.  True, the new Charger came into production at a few months after the Mustang had already proven its success in the market.  Fact is, both cars were undergoing a significant amount of their development at the same time.  The boys at Dodge obviously misinterpreted how well a car like the current Mustang could sell.  They felt that a sedan was their best prospect for overall sales success.  If they ever had any second thoughts, by the time they realized this, they were far past the point-of-no-return in production of the new Charger.  After all the millions of dollars in development, resoucing, advertising and man-hours that went into making this car, they couldn't just can the whole thing at the moment of introduction because they suddenly realized that the Mustang was a hit.  As a result, they're committed to this car for at least one whole model run, and probably beyond if it sells well.

The new Challenger is the recognition and reaction to the  Mustang's success.   Dodge wants a car that will compete with it, and whoever made the comment about there never being a 4-door Challenger/Cuda is probably right.  This car was designed to go head-to-head with the Mustang, as it was in the early 70's.  As long as the Mustang remains a coupe, the Challenger/Cuda will probably do so also.

[Johnny SixPack]

Anybody seen this Charger?

[RD]

Anybody seen this Charger?

[6670charger]

Once or twice.  Nice Intrepid-based Charger.  If Dodge was still building the LH platform cars, we might very well be driving that very Charger design today.  Of course, then we'd still be driving Intrepids today, too.  I've not heard too many good things about Intrepids on this site.

[chrisII]

I have come to accept the charger, I still dont like it. my reasons are no longer about it being called a charger, or being a 4 door, but the fact that when you get a foot behind the front door it just gets butt azz ugly! the front half styling isnt bad but they did a crap job on the rear of the roof. i would own a 300m or a magnum if they had the charger name on them, and i wouldnt want a new charger whatever they called it.

[FastbackJon]

Wow, these debates are still going on. I thought by now that "everyone knows real Chargers don't have 4 doors." I think you can still get licence plate frames with that saying on it at the link below.

I run one on my red '66 440 Charger.

http://www.cafepress.com/spokane_mopars

[Lightning]

Anybody seen this Charger?

to be honest, I really liked that one, I still do.

[TylerCharger69]

Yep...I would've accepted that one too

[dkn1997]

I think the only real chargers are 66-73, followed by the current charger.  reason?  In those years, you could not buy any other car with the exact same body as the charger.  in the late 70's, you could get a cordoba, same car, different badges.  in the 80's you could get a horizon, 024, TC3, Turismo, etc... same body as the charger, different name.

[Brock Samson]

ya' know of all the things posted on this topic,.. (search for "dead horse").
this one sigle illustration is far and away the best thing I've seen..



   






                   

[6670charger]

I feel your pain, Brock.  It just never ends.

[Lord Warlock]

the years that you could order a big block in the charger are the ones that I count as real chargers.  The 1st gen was really a coronet with a fastback, but as the first version of charger i'm willing to accept it.  And when I first got my charger, we counted the 66/67s as real chargers since they had 440s and hemis available.  I never thought the 74/5 or 82-4 chargers were really chargers, but at least they were 2 door coupes.  
At least the concept charger of 99 wasn't an obvious 4dr, and yes I would have bought one of those.  I was so disappointed when they deviated so much from the original design.  I bought a 99 intrepid that year that was remarkably similar in design to the charger concept.  Was the first and only new car I've ever bought, and it turned out to be a shoddily made lemon that we ditched in 3 years.

[Brock Samson]

Actually the FIRST CHARGER was a Dart... 



http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/images/ml-martin65dart1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/ml-martin65dartcharger.html&h=225&w=300&sz=17&hl=en&start=9&tbnid=DgLboDsbbF2BxM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1965%2Bdart%2Bcharger%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG