Dodge cars will lose their 'cross-hairs' grille

[Magnumcharger]

It's about time!
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/02/dodge-cars-will-lose-their-crosshair-grille/1

"One of the most distinctive design elements about a Dodge vehicle is about to go away: the cross-hairs grille.

It's the vertical and horizontal strips on the grille of Dodges. It's going to stay on Ram trucks but go away on Dodges, Ralph Gilles, CEO of the Dodge brand and the head of Chrysler design, tells Automotive News.

That's Gilles in the picture looking at a new Dodge Charger SRT8 -- although it's a little hard to see the cross hairs when it's black-over-black.

The Dodge brand is "going a different way," he tells the News. Interestingly, he won't talk about where the Dodge brand is going from a styling direction.

But Gilles is one of the few designers to head a major brand, and the guy who designed the Chrysler 300, so the Dodge brand's styling direction couldn't be in better hands".

[BrianShaughnessy]

R E P O S T

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,78021.0.html

[terrible one]

R E P O S T

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,78021.0.html

I think it will be interesting to see some of the new models without that fugly grill. Too bad it wasn't in time for the 2012 Charger.

[Brock Samson]

i was gonna post it but knew it would get reposted before my fingers left the keyboard... ALLPAR has a huge thread on it BTW...  Hey, Is Ralph licking that car's hood?.. 

[stripedelete]

Correct move.  FIATS don't have "cross hairs".

[UFO]

R E P O S T

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,78021.0.html

Re post? That link goes to a 1/32 Bullit chase scene recreation.

[Brock Samson]

that tooooo is a repost!   

[UFO]

That's what the shruggy thing was for ,now it makes sense.

[bull]

Despite the condemnation of the Repost Nazis I'd like to say, thank God almighty they're dropping that friggin' grill finally! Now we'll have to wait and see how they screw it up next time. This is one thing I love about classic Mopars from just about any era before the 80s; the executives were not obsessed with product identification so the designers' hands were not tied and hence most models had distinctive features. Many of them didn't even have the brand name or symbol on them other than the little pentastar on the fender. If the car looks good enough people will figure out what it is. You don't need to brow beat them with an ugly grill.

[1969chargerrtse]

 

OMG!  Thank You.  There is hope.

[FastbackJon]

Nice they're finally going to let themselves out of that styling box. I was glad when the Challenger didn't have it. That was a good start.

[bull]

Look at this fool. Is he trying to turn that toad into a handsome prince?

[G-man]

So whats the difference? It still looks like a Mitsubishi to me.

[DAY CLONA]

More like an Audi

[TUFCAT]

Look at this fool. Is he trying to turn that toad into a handsome prince?

Since he loves it so much......maybe he should get a private room with it.

[UH60L]

So whats the difference? It still looks like a Mitsubishi to me.

Umm,....they haven't changed it yet.  Proabably won't hit until the 12 or 13 model year, at least.

[Mike DC]

The crosshair thing wasn't a terrible idea.  But it wasn't cool enough to justify how long & often they used it. 

[Ghoste]

It wasn't a terrible idea, just an incredibly ugly one.

[chargerjy9]

as much as I hated the crosshair grille on Dodge cars, the RAM badge stuck on the hood was worse, I never understood lumping truck and car together, glad to see that nonsense has gone away. I been telling you guys for 2 years that the crosshair was going down, and that the Design office had no say as to how the LX Dodge would be badged. I firmly believe that Ma Mopar is headed in the right direction,especially since Design is headed by the same guy in charge of the brand, namely Ralph Gilles. ( no there still will not be a 2 door Charger)

[Chargerrtforme]

It wasn't a terrible idea, just an incredibly ugly one.

And building Cars with ugly grilles is dumb. The grille is mostly the main focal point.

[Magnumcharger]

I still can't stand the thought of a Charger four door.
But.....
This Charger is a much better looking product then the one previous, IMHO.

And I'd actually consider the purchase of one - down the road, after it's depreciated a bit.
And it would have to be red, and an SRT8, and have a red interior.

[ACUDANUT]

R E P O S T

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,78021.0.html

I agree. That is something other than what we are talking about here.  NOT A REPOST.


Re post? That link goes to a 1/32 Bullit chase scene recreation.

[DustinSimmonds]

Horray! I'm excited for this! If we can get a vintage grill on the Charger then we have a solid modern Charger on our hands and i'll just have to buy one!  Granted it'll be a four door still, but hey, I can live with it.

[TK73]

I don't "get" that front design.

Why copy Audi on this?

[TK73]

As far as the cross-hair grill goes:  glad it's not Chrysler heritage or something...

[Ghoste]

I don't think I could even begin to compare that crosshair with the one they pulled off the minivans to put on everything but even putting that aside, imagine if they would have placed that grille in everything they made in the 60's. 

[DustinSimmonds]

LA LA LA LA LA!!! Don't even want to thing about it!  I think the crosshairs had more to do with RAM.  Since RAM is seperate from Dodge now they are ditching it. Or maybe its just the new Dodge guys have a good head. 

[chargerjy9]

the crosshair grille was all about Dodge truck. the daimler guys decided to lump truck and car together, to save money. they didn't give a damn about Dodge cars, were looking for an excuse to dump them anyway. IMO they thought that Dodge cars diminished their precious Mercedes image and by slapping Ram tough identity on the car, it would further seperate us from them. By the way, the 1st prototype of the Challenger had a crosshair grille. Someone from Chrysler had the cojones to remove it.

[Richard Cranium]

I think it will be interesting to see some of the new models without that fugly grill. 

The fugly grille is a start. All they have left to do is change the fugly body. 

[PocketThunder]

But Gilles is one of the few designers to head a major brand, and the guy who designed the Chrysler 300, so the Dodge brand's styling direction couldn't be in better hands".

Guys with the last name Gilles sure are great thinkers, i'll have to agree...        

[Kern Dog]

It looks like I am against the tide on this one. I liked the grille in the concept Challenger better than the one that they hung on the production cars. I agree that the crosshair design feels a little overdone, but automakers have the burden of ingraining a sense of brand identification to their cars. Its not easy with so many cars looking similar. In the 60s and 70s you could remove the emblems and still tell the Fords from the Dodges. Try that today.