whats in a name...

[bataxee]

I was cruising a dealers lot this past sunday and saw a base model Charger sitting on the lot near the showroom. Basic black, gray wheel covers and such...It struck me right then just how much this car doesnt look like a "Charger"...being a former Intrepid owner, it occured to me how many times I'd read posts over at DInet that fantasized about RWD/V8 powered LH cars...I honestly began to think that if DC had marketed this car as the "New Intrepid" and saved the Charger nameplate for a coupe, how much better this car would have been recieved...this could have been the baddest Intrepid ever to hit the pavement...I dont know who handles the marketing strategy at Dodge division but they swung a big wuffer on this one...the bases were loaded and they swung for the fence on a weak change up...why offer both an R/T AND a Daytona right away?...a four door Daytona...those words dont belong in the same sentence...by itself, this is a great car...but it is suffering mightily under the pressure of a misplaced name.

[madjeff22]

If it such a great car then why does it matter what it is called?

[67alecto]

As a past owner/driver of classic mopars, I think the new Charger looks great.

[Diesel]

i'm missing his argument completely...

[shnitzelman2001]

i think i get the argument... somewhat... although i also understand the "if it's such a great car why does the name matter"... i love my magnum, i like the way the charger looks, if i had to buy the magnum again, i would heavily consider the charger daytona, the 4-door thing doesn't bother me that much, although i didn't live in the charger era... but correct me if i'm wrong, was the charger not a really large car back in the day... it wasn't like mustang sized was it, or corvette sized... my friend here had a 71 charger and unless my perception is off... it was quite a large car, so why do the extra two doors matter that much

[CoolVanilla]

I tend to think the name is an asset. You've got to remember who this car is marketed toward; the late 20's - late 30's dads who refuse to be the minivan or import type, but still need the four doors. I'd be willing to bet the majority of folks in that age group (my age group) probably have never seen an original Charger. The name, however, brings back some recollection from somewhere in their memory archive of American power and performance.

Course, with the Duke's coming out soon that could all change...

[madjeff22]

I tend to think the name is an asset. ....

Right on... I don't think I would have bought my Charger if it was called the "New Intrepid". Isn't the Intrepid a slow boat in the Navy, thats no name for a Hemi powered sports sedan.

[Displaced Hokie]

Sorry but all "Intrepid" does for me is remind me of my aunts car. Not really soul stirring.

Maybe if they had made the back door "hidden" like the original concept and like the Mazda RX-8 we all would have been happy. I don't know.

My biggest thing is that "IF" they make a two-door, I don't like the Challenger name! I'd much prefer to dig into the Plymouth stable and call it a Cuda!

Pat

[JustinHEMI04]

I was *THIS* close to buying a charger instead of the Magnum. I was dead set on getting one. but the more drove one and the more I looked at it, I decided on the magnum. In my opinion, the charger is a great little car. However, I think DC could have resurrected the Charger name in a better way. Quite honestly, it was disappointing. There is no heritage in the new car. Nothing special about it. This is my opinion of course. Not trying to stir trouble.


Justin

[Fred]

The intrepid also brings memories of igniting brakes when testing as a police car. No cop would want to drive anything with the name intrepid on it.

[madjeff22]

There is no "heritage" in the Magnum either. It doesn't look anything like the original Magnum. http://www.magnumxe.com/

[your_tech]

If you haven't noticed, recently there is a trend among car makers to 'go back to their roots' and produce cars with old designs in mind...the mustang really hit the nail on the head, infusing not only a popular, well-known name, but body lines reminiscent of the 50's-60's...it's been a huge hit so far. Other car makers...well, they're trying. I don't exactly agree with the new GTO being named as it is, either, because it doesn't look much like the old one...I believe car companies are just trying to illicit that strong feelings people had for muscle cars back in the day...

I love the new Charger, think it's beautiful and it drives great...I personally would have called it something else - but that's not a decision for me to make. I believe Dodge was going for two things here...a) replace the intrepid and b) bring back the popular name.... they rolled it all up into a great looking car and only sales will tell how the public feels about it

[desquirrel]

How much "better received" could it be than it is?

[RTracer]

I somewhat agree with the original poster. Great looking car, but my buddy (Ford guy) said "4 door Charger? whats up with that" I said aww come on, its a great looking car! I believe that the name Charger has probably helped sell the car though. I agree with "Yourtech" that the '05 Mustang design really hit a home run with the retro Mustang look. All in all, these LX platform cars are bad ass!!

[bataxee]

I do love a good discussion...and i agree with many of the posts that have stated "if its great what does it matter" sentiment...but it does matter, or Dc would not be recieving tons of hate mail over the naming of this car...how much better could it be recieved?...much better. When I attended the New York Auto Show this past March, you could not take a decent photograph of the Mustang or the GTO (I also have mixed feelings over that car, but thats a discussion for another board)...the Charger on the other hand had people milling around it but not the "Lemme get a look" kind of bunch. I also agree that family men would rather own a Charger than a minivan...I've been there...when the Intrepid hit the showroom back in 93 it was the sleekest looking sedan out there bar none, and with the 3.5 it had performance to boot...I loved both the Intrepids I owned, they were great cars, reliable, comfortable and fun to drive. Auto tech has advanced rapidly since that time, giving us the performance of V8s at the kind of economy we got from sixes then...but I also remember my parents looking at a Charger when they bought a new car...I remember driving a Charger when I was much younger, and yes it was a big car, but not the size of my Dads New Yorker land yacht. So by comparison it was smaller for its time, but it was never a sedan. I guess to me it seems like if Ford had introduced a new sedan to replace the Taurus and called it the new Mustang...they made that blunder years ago when they turned the T-Bird into a luxo barge. The Magnum nameplate was never specific to a car in the musclecar heyday...and the car they did hang the name on wasnt even a paper tiger...I was glad they chose this name for the wagon because it fit its "bad boy chopped hot rod" looks...they could have called the sedan Magnum as well in my opinion and saved the Charger plate for a coupe...then you could have ressurected the Daytona name with a real splash...the Charger Daytona is a racing legend, it belongs on a car the caliber of the SRT8...not a sedan or a pickup truck.