Car&Driver TV gives 06 Charger a

[NHCharger]

   

They did make fun of Dodges assertion that it contains some of the classic lines from the 2nd gen Chargers. They said it's a 4 door sedan, period. They then went on to heap praise on it for the handling, braking, horsepower, and price. Of course C&D TV loves any car that has lots of HP and no regard for fuel mileage.

[RT DAVE]

    

They did make fun of Dodges assertion that it contains some of the classic lines from the 2nd gen Chargers. They said it's a 4 door sedan, period. They then went on to heap praise on it for the handling, braking, horsepower, and price. Of course C&D TV loves any car that has lots of HP and no regard for fuel mileage.

They said it performed well but they thought it was ugly...

[Steve P.]

I watched the show and laughed all the way through that segment...

[Silver R/T]

yes it might be fast SRT8 but its ugly, agree

[Headrope]

I'm not trying to light any fires, but can't help but wonder why most everyone thinks the new car doesn't "look" like a Charger because it has few second generation styling cues. There are other Chargers than the '68 and '69.
Personally I see quite a few first gen cues in the '06 Charger.

[Johnny SixPack]

I'm not trying to light any fires, but can't help but wonder why most everyone thinks the new car doesn't "look" like a Charger because it has few second generation styling cues. There are other Chargers than the '68 and '69.
Personally I see quite a few first gen cues in the '06 Charger.

Yeah, there's the "70 Chargers.

And "71 - "74s even if you want to include our 3rd gen. friends.

I don't see any 2nd gen. cues personally, but agree with your statement about nods to 1st gen. styling.


Johnny

[miller]

If you look really hard, you can see the rear window dips in before the c pillar does, so boo ya, retro haha

[6pkrunner]

It was just a massive marketing misstep. with the trend to pick car names that are meaningless, and therefore unable to offend or provide basis to sue, Daimler really put their foot into a pile. Call it an Affolia, Boyario, Carriola - I'm sure it would have been better recieved. But such an attempt to link it to something it cannot mimic in any way....

[bull]

It was just a massive marketing misstep. with the trend to pick car names that are meaningless, and therefore unable to offend or provide basis to sue, Daimler really put their foot into a pile. Call it an Affolia, Boyario, Carriola - I'm sure it would have been better recieved. But such an attempt to link it to something it cannot mimic in any way....

But it makes me wonder, where do they go from here? Do they try to save face and rename the car or restyle it in an attempt to appease or do they hold the course and keep telling us we don't know what we're talking about; that they are the ultimate authority on what a Charger is? As you said before, whatever happened to all the marketing research?

[RT DAVE]

I'm not trying to light any fires, but can't help but wonder why most everyone thinks the new car doesn't "look" like a Charger because it has few second generation styling cues. There are other Chargers than the '68 and '69.
Personally I see quite a few first gen cues in the '06 Charger.

I agree, it's ugly just like the first gens...

[TheGhost]

I'm not trying to light any fires, but can't help but wonder why most everyone thinks the new car doesn't "look" like a Charger because it has few second generation styling cues. There are other Chargers than the '68 and '69.
Personally I see quite a few first gen cues in the '06 Charger.

I agree, it's ugly just like the first gens...

Without the first gen Chargers, there would be no precious 2nd gens.

[BigBlackDodge]

I'm not trying to light any fires, but can't help but wonder why most everyone thinks the new car doesn't "look" like a Charger because it has few second generation styling cues. There are other Chargers than the '68 and '69.
Personally I see quite a few first gen cues in the '06 Charger.

I believe they had the car long before a name was slapped on it. It had a project name that I can't recall at the moment........... Then they did the 'what name does the public like' and vilola, Charger was reborn.

If they named it Dart there would be people seeing all kinds of styling ques from the past incorporated inot the design. Cororet.............Monoco............whatever, they would see what they wanted.

I see zero 'Charger' elements in the deisgn..............thats because there wasn't any put into it from it's inception.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Columns/articleId=104128

The assignment to Chrysler designers, he said, was not to revive the Charger per se but to create a four-door sedan version of the Chrysler 300 to replace the Intrepid and complement the menacing Magnum station wagon in Dodge showrooms. On a trip to Chrysler's Pacifica studio in Carlsbad, Calif., Creed and associates spotted a sketch that intrigued them. They brought the image back to Detroit where it was massaged. It had no name, but was referred to as "the Carlsbad theme."

Then came the business of naming the new sedan. A quick glance of the history books landed them on "Charger." The name and the vehicle with the name performed well in consumer clinics, so the decision was made.

"We felt we had a worthy vehicle to hang the Charger name on," Creed concluded. Indeed, a critical starting point to bringing back a legendary name is a vehicle worthy enough to wear it. One of the most grievous errors in this regard was slapping the glorious LeMans name from Pontiac's past onto a German-engineered Opel economy car built in South Korea â€" horribly built, in fact. It was not only a sales flop, but also a warranty headache for years after it was gone due to its horrendous quality.


My '00 Intrepid could carry the 'Charger' name just as well as the '06 does...................it looks just like the Charges of old after all....... 4 wheels! Hood! Trunk! Steering wheel! 4 Doors!.................wait a minute there.............


BBD

[RT DAVE]

I'm not trying to light any fires, but can't help but wonder why most everyone thinks the new car doesn't "look" like a Charger because it has few second generation styling cues. There are other Chargers than the '68 and '69.
Personally I see quite a few first gen cues in the '06 Charger.

I agree, it's ugly just like the first gens...

Without the first gen Chargers, there would be no precious 2nd gens.

How so?   

[TheGhost]

I'm not trying to light any fires, but can't help but wonder why most everyone thinks the new car doesn't "look" like a Charger because it has few second generation styling cues. There are other Chargers than the '68 and '69.
Personally I see quite a few first gen cues in the '06 Charger.

I agree, it's ugly just like the first gens...

Without the first gen Chargers, there would be no precious 2nd gens.

How so?   

Because there would be no Chargers, obviously.  If there is no first gen Charger, there can be no 2nd gen.  Or 3rd, 4th, etc...  See where I'm going with this?

[TeeWJay426]

Personally I see quite a few first gen cues in the '06 Charger.

As a 1st Gen owner, I think I should be offended....

[70charginglizard]

http://www.stormkingproductions.com/data/movies/sounds/chscpoli.wav

[Shakey]

Of course C&D TV loves any car that has lots of HP and no regard for fuel mileage.

Don't we all! 

Who cares what the name on the t-lid says!

[Brock Samson]

 we keep on going over this..

The Consumer clinics they refer to was the dealer marketing meeting held two years ago where the dealers got a preview of the new LX models and picked "Charger" over the "Enforcer" they balked at the original nameplate. I belive the Consumer Marketing was verifying the Charger moniker had more clout then Magnum or Enforcer. So the car was locked in at that point, i don't even think they could add any styling cues at that point, massage the marketing?.. 
...yeah...
I didn't see the M/T episode... but everyone agrees it don't look like a damn Charger!
 

[Shakey]

You can all blame this woman for the pains that keep you up all night.

She is Julie Roehm, Marketing Director for Dodge.   She is the blonde, 2nd from the left, weraing gray pants and the black blouse.

Here is a link to an article from last month's Detroit Free Press telling you a bit about her.

I know what I would do to her if I got her in a room alone!   

http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/mrs-dodge15e_20050815.htm

[70charginglizard]

I know what I would do to her if I got her in a room alone!

charger Charger Charger

As we holler out "what did you decide to call it" over and over again.

[Brock Samson]

In the DCX Media Book entitled  "Charger06 Press Information",.."She's the first thing you get when ya open the book.
  Three pics of her with the quote...


"It's such an emotional vehicle.
  The name it'self is such an icon that it gets people's attention"

Judy Wheeler

Director - Dodge Car Marketing, Chrysler Group


I have literally hundreds of these auto media books, they ALL begin with info about the car,...

I see this as an attempt to direct the Press directly to her for info as to the name "Charger". I feel sorry for her assistant/s who are tasked with the assignment of logging the voice and E-mails...

But, you draw your own conclusions...

[NHCharger]

Personally I see quite a few first gen cues in the '06 Charger.

As a 1st Gen owner, I think I should be offended....

I was waiting for one of you guys to say that.

[Vainglory, Esq.]

Who else thinks that Enforcer is a really cool name? I sure as hell do.

[Brock Samson]

i predictthe police verzionwill be called enforcer

[TheGhost]

i predictthe police verzionwill be called enforcer

WTF is up with your spelling tonight, Strat?