What did you want the Charger To Be?..

[hemihead]

Most people wanted the 99 Concept not the box it came in.

[dkn1997]

I wanted it to function like the orgasmatron in the woody allen movie "sleeper" it also should have:

cured cancer
solved world hunger
brought world peace

Even it still would not be good enough for a lot of people in the mopar world...even if it had 2 doors.

I base that on the bashing that goes on over at moparts about the new challenger...and that car has 2 doors and is about as perfect as you could make it look. 

[Ghoste]

Well there are a lot of things they don't like over at Moparts.  Me, as much as I don't like the styling of the 06 charger, I love the new Challenger!

[Lord Warlock]

The new body doesn't suck, just didn't deserve the name of charger.  That being said, and another stroke to the horse:  the wife likes the looks of the new charger, and is considering one to replace her aging grand prix GTP.  She likes the go mango color, as well as the canary yellow.  If she did get one, I wouldn't have to say it was my decision and could still own a new and an old one.  The hard part will be coming up with a downpayment for a new car, since we have to keep the grand prix to give to our daughter to drive (who is now 15 and will need a car in a couple years).  The hard part will be justifying a hemi to the wife, who prefers gas mileage over performance, but has been spoiled with decent performance. 

[MorePwr]

I wanted the new Charger to look like a Charger. the 99 concept was cool and worthy of the namesake. we waited a long time for the Charger to get here and it was just a 300 with the charger styling so faint, it had to be pointed out

The srt8 300 is a cool car, it's just not a charger. I'll feel the same way if the Chally ends up being a sebring

[bull]

Ok, I had an epiphany about a half hour ago regarding DCX's reason for doing what they did with the '06. I now have them figured out. What their diabolical plan was from the beginning was to create hype, right? Bad hype you say? To some degree, yes, but it was definitely planned and engineered. I believe this is a tool now used by more businesses than we realize, please hear me out. The car was purposely misnamed.

Think about the recent announcement by Apple and its iPhone which was quickly given the smackdown by another company that had the rights to that name. Do you think Apple's executives didn't know someone had the name tied up? I bet they did, but in today's business world, hype is hype, good or bad, so they purposely chose a name that would create a buzz beyond that of normal advertising and possibly are hoping for a big court battle over the rights to the name which will create even more free press.

Now, apply that logic to the '06 Charger. DCX knew there was a sizeable Charger following, not as big as the Mustang or Camaro but they knew. They also knew that 4-door cars sell better than two-door cars. Therein lies an apparent dichotomy for the DCX execs, right? But what better way to sell cars than to create a huge buzz, negative or not? They knew the classic Chargers had this following but more people knew little to nothing about the classic Charger and its heritage. So, they announce that the Charger will return, which creates a huge buzz among Mopar loyalists who start talking, drawing pictures, dusting off the '67 in the garage, etc. This small minority starts talking to all the non-Mopar dudes about the new Charger and those guys start talking to their buddies and so on. Before the first drawing ever comes out there's probably a million or so people who have talked about the car for at least 30 seconds or more. There's your initial buzz.

Then the first concept drawing comes out from DCX. What the!!! Four doors? And it looks nothing like a Charger! More buzz. All those first guys go out and talk to the same guys they initially talked to about it but this time they're either pissed, disappointed or confused. They start saying they hope DCX changes its mind and some even take time to write letters to DCX. There's more hype, more buzz, more free press. Word spreads, magazines chime in, Mopar loyalists start arguing about the idea of a four-door Charger but DCX remains quiet. Why talk when everyone is talking for you?

The four door Charger is finally photographed in spy shots and then produced and by this time the Ford and Chevy guys are really ribbing the Mopar guys about the new Charger but hey, it doesn't look that bad to most people, wrong name ore not. So the people who know nothing about the car are ok with it, the Ford and Chevy guys like it (partly because it annoys their Mopar buddies) and a good 33% of Mopar loyalists are ok with it because it's got a 6.1 Hemi and it can carry the munchkins in the back seat.

So what the DCX executives did was combine pre-production buzz with a well-known name and packaged it in a four door car which statistics show sells better than a two-door. The negative press was planned from the get-go by misnaming the car and no matter how we feel about the '06, good, bad or indifferent, we've been playing right into their hand all along.

[Dodge Don]

Oh for the love of god when will this end 

Just paint the thing like DOH, jump it and get it over with already. Kill two dead horses at once.

[defiance]

LOL

I disagree with whoever said that nobody would be satisfied if it were well done.  I'm VERY satisfied with the Challenger.  might buy one, even, and if I don't, it sure as hell won't be because I don't like it.  It's art.  Pure and simple.
Those statements most certainly cannot be applied to the Charger.

Sure, there will always be some people unhappy.  But with the Challenger, it's FAR from the majority of people who care about the Challenger name.  With the Charger, I think the opposite has proven true.


Oh, and oblicatory

[6670charger]

I just love the statement, "the new Charger should have looked like a Charger." 

Other than having two doors, what does a Charger look like?

None of the first three generations looked anything like the other.  The First gens were Fastbacks.  The Second gens were a cool looking hardtop.  The third gen cars bore some resemblance to the second gen cars, but, they really had a style all their own. 

Was the new Charger supposed to look like the fourth gen car?  Or the fifth?  And don't anyone dare tell me that these cars weren't Chargers!  I'm fully aware that they were badge engineered versions of other Mopar models of the day, but, they wore the name too.  They just weren't as popular.

So I'll ask again, what does a Charger look like?

I don't like the fact that the new model is a four door either.  That being said, I will probably buy one within the year.  Why?  Because other than a couple of Japanese models, and one Swedish one, I can't find one Domestic model on the road right now that I'd care to own.  It's a damn shame!!! 

I'd look at the new Challenger.  Problem is, I'll be buying at the same time these cars come out, and I'm not paying $20K over sticker for one.  I need a sedan anyway, as I have to small children. 

So what are my options?

The Chevy Impala?  BORING!

The Chevy Malibu?  Freaking UGLY!!!   

I know, how about the Buick Lucerne?  BORING!

The Pontiac G.P.    NOPE!

Maybe a FordMercury Crown Vic/Grand Marquis, or that hot new Five Hundred!                Uh............NO.

One of the new butt ugly Toyota Camry's.                 Not in a million years; I don't care how perfect it's supposed to be.

How about a Honda Accord?                  (Where did I leave my car?  I can't find it among the other 200 Accords in the parking lot)

I may look at the Chrysler 300.  Only problem is that if I want the V-8, I have to pay nearly $4K more for the Chrysler than the Dodge.  So, why not buy the Dodge?



So, what does a Charger look like?   

[bull]

I'd say the Charger looks like what most people attribute it to looking like. The most popular body style in the media such as movies and photos I would say is any variation of the second gen Charger while the most popular in sales between '66 and '74 was the '73 I believe with the '68 at second. The second gen and third gen Chargers are closely related style-wise so I'd say that Coke bottle design is the most popular and therefore that's what a Charger looks like. To add to that, until '06 no Charger had ever had four doors so that design further distanced the car from the name.

Some of you guys really get a kick out of posting pictures of fourth and fifth gen Chargers as if no one was disappointed at what they had become. I don't have sales figures at my finger tips on those years but ask yourself how many fourth and fifth gen Chargers are being dragged out of wrecking yards, barns and back lots to be restored? How many 1975 Chargers are selling for $10k that need complete restorations? In the end the Charger is whatever the company decides it will be but that doesn't change the Mopar loyalists' opinions of what it should be. To answer your question directly, I don't think anyone is upset because DCX didn't make the '06 look like a '75 or '85 Charger. In fact I think most Charger fans feel the same disappointment now that they felt in 1975. I know I was disappointed when the fifth gen Charger came out looking like an Omni. I wasn't old enough in '75 to care but I remember looking back and asking, "what were they thinking?"

[Blakcharger440]

I just love the statement, "the new Charger should have looked like a Charger." 

Other than having two doors, what does a Charger look like?

None of the first three generations looked anything like the other.  The First gens were Fastbacks.  The Second gens were a cool looking hardtop.  The third gen cars bore some resemblance to the second gen cars, but, they really had a style all their own. 

Was the new Charger supposed to look like the fourth gen car?  Or the fifth?  And don't anyone dare tell me that these cars weren't Chargers!  I'm fully aware that they were badge engineered versions of other Mopar models of the day, but, they wore the name too.  They just weren't as popular.

So I'll ask again, what does a Charger look like?

I don't like the fact that the new model is a four door either.  That being said, I will probably buy one within the year.  Why?  Because other than a couple of Japanese models, and one Swedish one, I can't find one Domestic model on the road right now that I'd care to own.  It's a damn shame!!! 

I'd look at the new Challenger.  Problem is, I'll be buying at the same time these cars come out, and I'm not paying $20K over sticker for one.  I need a sedan anyway, as I have to small children. 

So what are my options?

The Chevy Impala?  BORING!

The Chevy Malibu?  Freaking UGLY!!!   

I know, how about the Buick Lucerne?  BORING!

The Pontiac G.P.    NOPE!

Maybe a FordMercury Crown Vic/Grand Marquis, or that hot new Five Hundred!                Uh............NO.

One of the new butt ugly Toyota Camry's.                 Not in a million years; I don't care how perfect it's supposed to be.

How about a Honda Accord?                  (Where did I leave my car?  I can't find it among the other 200 Accords in the parking lot)

I may look at the Chrysler 300.  Only problem is that if I want the V-8, I have to pay nearly $4K more for the Chrysler than the Dodge.  So, why not buy the Dodge?



So, what does a Charger look like?   

If you are talking 4 door boring mobiles (oh,I mean family mobiles)  currently on the market then you have a point. But as for two doors
currently on the market there are models I would buy before the "Chagnum".

To name a few

Pontiac GTO
Mustang
Corvette
Viper

And soon to come the Challenger and new Camaro....I would by the new Challenger over all of them if it actually does make it to production.

[dkn1997]

LOL

I disagree with whoever said that nobody would be satisfied if it were well done.  I'm VERY satisfied with the Challenger.  might buy one, even, and if I don't, it sure as hell won't be because I don't like it.  It's art.  Pure and simple.
Those statements most certainly cannot be applied to the Charger.

Sure, there will always be some people unhappy.  But with the Challenger, it's FAR from the majority of people who care about the Challenger name.  With the Charger, I think the opposite has proven true.


Oh, and oblicatory

what I really meant was that no matter how they made the charger or will make the new challenger, there will always be the whiners who say it's not good enough.  In different threads on different forums, I have already heard the complaining about the challenger.

It will cost too much.......how dare they not offer a "body in white" ..........they suck because you cannot buy a stripped one with a hemi for 20grand.....not fast enough......I want one with a 4 cylinder for mileage........if they offer it with a v6 they are idiots.....

you could give some of these guys an unlimited beer pass and a night with Pam anderson and they would still complain, I can hear it now:
Her boobs are too big......all of the beer gave me gas.....how come I was not provided with a meal too......well, she does not look like she did on baywatch.....she did not moan loud enough.....she's too hot......

I don't like the new charger either, and that's my right, as well as anyone elses, but it is retarded to call DCX stupid for making it.  They are in business to make money and they sell pretty well.  they sold almost 125,000 of them in 06.  The mustang sold 165,000 in 2006.
bear in mind that the charger only sold about 50,000 units in 05.     

I doubt that if the charger was a 2 door, it would have sold 40,000 more units having to share the mustang's market, and losing all of those "family" sales that the 4 door generated.  the only reason I bring it up is that the naysayers always say "the mustang sold great, so the charger would have with 2 doors" 

again, I do wish the new charger was a 2 door, but dcx is not a bunch of fools for making it a 4 door, they are business to make money and you do that by selling the most possible.  guys like us love 2 door chargers, but face it, we are the minority in the car buying market.  out of all of the people on this site and others, the amount who would actually go out and buy a 2 door charger or challenger for that matter is probably less than 1% of the total market.  what that means is that we don't matter to the car companies since we don't represent the market.    and before anyone says that they need 2 doors for image even if the lose some money, a la corvette, think again....the "win on sunday, sell on monday" type of selling can't work today like it did in the 60's, different market. 

  maybe all of the whiners would like dcx to make the cars how we like them, go out of business and then we would not even be discussing the challenger right now.