What Do You Drive?

MacLeod

Well Ive always been a Mopar man myself and would love some revision on the Hemi Cuda!

I think its cool their coming out with the Charger again. It doesnt look half bad.

I like the Magnum a lot too.

shack

Originally posted by audiobliss
I wonder what the new Thunderbird is gonna look like......oh, yeah..that's right......there ain't one....!! LOL (and thank goodness since it was uuuggglllyyy!!!!!)

I could care less about the T-Bird. The day they quit competing with the Corvette for the American Sports car title was the day it became an "old man's" car. Now the Corvette is something GM has done right. Below is the new Z06. I took the picture at the Atlanta Auto show the weekend before last. That show was Great!

shack

Originally posted by MacLeod
I think its cool their coming out with the Charger again. It doesnt look half bad.

They had one of those at the Atlanta show but I didn't even bother to waste a few megapixels on it. I can't even say it looks half-good. I really don't like it at all. Sorry Mopar guys.....

They did have some really nice Mopars there like a couple of Vipers and this Firepower....

hotwheelman

Originally posted by shack
There is a reason they started calling those 71-73 Mustangs "Flattops".



If I could have any Mustang...in order...

1969 Boss 302 - I wanted one SOOOOOOOO bad in 1969!

1971 Boss 351 (one of the rarest and fastest Boss Cars and it is generally overlooked as a car to have)

1965 Shellby GT-350

Followed by a host of others.......

One of my dads buds has a 71 boss 351 still in the basement of his house and is driven rarely.

Dad had a amc hornet ( I think it was about a 71 model ) that would flat out scream straight off the assembly line. sc/360 sound right?

Dennis Gardner

Small up-front with a big **** isn't it?.....................





The car looks pretty good though.:D

hotwheelman

Leave my **** out of this........oh you meeeant......nevermind.:D

Maurice

04 Avalanche, Cali Style!!

MacLeod

Originally posted by shack
They had one of those at the Atlanta show but I didn't even bother to waste a few megapixels on it. I can't even say it looks half-good. I really don't like it at all. Sorry Mopar guys.....

I disagree with ya on this one bro. I think the new Charger looks pretty badass!

MacLeod

.

MacLeod

Dunno why this pic didnt attatch.

MacLeod

Plus ya gotta like a 425 hp/420 torque 6.1 liter Hemi too!

audiobliss

Ok, here we go - let's list the problems:

1) The grill is too tall. If they'd 'shorten' it and the headlights, it'd look a lot better.

2) The rear-end doesn't exactly look bad, but sure isn't Charger material. It looks exactly like a Stratus (at least, I *think* that's the one it looks like).

3) The sides look too much like the new 300C (which I don't like much at all). They're (the sides) much too tall. They need to be lowered a bit.


To sum up, it's too much like the new Mustang. The Mustang looks too much like a bubble. The grill is too high and too rounded; the windshield/roof/back window rake is too practical/family car-like. If they'd flatten the hood of the Mustang, make it edgier (but not nearly as edgy as the new Cadilacs), and put more 'oldies' in it than 'retro', it'd look a lot better.

As with all car-manufacturers, they find good angles from which to take pictures with which to advertise their cars. That last pic looks great; however, in real life, the car does not.

Of course, all in my opinion.

MacLeod

Originally posted by audiobliss
That last pic looks great; however, in real life, the car does not.

Kind of ironic cause the last picture is the only one that IS real! The others are drawings!

shack

I'll take either one of these with a Hemi over the new R/T and/or Daytona...Hands Down.

I disagree with ya on this one bro. I think the new Charger looks pretty badass!

I guess we will have to agree to disagree....

That last pic looks great; however, in real life, the car does not.

That was my impression after seeing the real thing in Atlanta....

Hey...just like audio...to each his own. It's all good!

audiobliss

Originally posted by MacLeod
Kind of ironic cause the last picture is the only one that IS real! The others are drawings!

Don't tell me that second picture (of the back end) isn't real!! It just has to be!!

MacLeod

Ummm. The second picture is a little version of the third pic.

I tried attatching the back end shot but it kept sticking that one up there so I thought it didnt work. But you see the back end of the Charger?

audiobliss

Yep; I see the back end.....unfortunately......

Jstas

Chargers have 2 doors, not 4.




The '05 Mustang is designed as an intepretation of a late 60's Mustang. The original Mustang which the '05 is meant to invoke in it's styling cues was based on a compact family car called the Falcon. Of course it is going to look like a "family car". Hell, it's classified as a 2 door sedan and doesn't really qualify as a sports car. It's not even a coupe. Most muscle/pony cars were based off of two door sedans with big honkin' engines under the hood. Given that, Ford pretty much hit thier mark styling wise with the '05 Mustang. Other companies have tried but have been unsuccessful. GM got the idea right with the GTO but it's way too bland. They might as well give it another set of doors and bring back the LeMans moniker. Dodge fell miserably short with the Charger and missed on styling and layout. A big engine makes up for it but doesn't push it ahead of the pack. I mean, it will go fast but what fun is fast if the only way you can do it is ugly? I'd expect a clapped out late 60's Charger to be fun AND ugly but not a $30K 4 door that just rolled off the lot. Chevy really screwed the pooch with the SSR too. It barely resembles anything from the 40's let alone a Chevy 3100 which was supposed to be the inspiration. Back to Chrysler, thier Prowler looks a hell of alot like a 34 Ford.

So far, I can think of 4 cars with "retro styling" that hit thier mark. The new Mustang is one, love it or hate it, the Thunderbird is another, the New Beetle is another and finally the Ford GT is a grand slam right out of the park! The Mustang is a hot seller already with even V6 models flying off the lots. The Thunderbird is a sharp looking car and pictures really do not do it justice. It was just priced way too high for what it was but when looking at it, one can really see the styling cues inspiried by the 55-57 T-birds but in a throughly modern and streamlined package. The Beetle, well, we know the track record there it basically dug VW out of thier hole before it got too deep. Half of it was marketing but even marketing can't save an ugly car. Use the Edsel as an example. One super ugly car and probably the largest pile of media marketing behind it out of any car from the 50's. Another example is that godawful abortion the Pontiac Aztek. Last I saw, if they haven't axed it yet, it's not going to make it past the 2006 model year. The GT, well, nothing else needs to be said. Even if it is out of reach of the common guy, there is no doubt to its heritage based on its looks alone.

The only other way to go retro is to do like Nissan did with the 350Z. That car evokes memories of the 240Z but stills firmly plants itself in the 21st century. It is an almost perfect execution of an idea meant to pay tribute to the past yet design a car for the present.

But styling is all a matter of opinion. If you like it, great, if you don't, great either way, in the end it's your money and you do what you want with it.

MacLeod

I dont understand why my page is showing a different picture than everybody else is seeing. Very weird!!

Well, I guess Im in the minority as usually.

I think the styling is great! I love the looks of the Magnum and this borrows from that and they both borrow from the Ram.

The Charger isnt really supposed to be a retro design like the T-bird and Mustang tho. Its supposed to be new and different just with the old name.

Either way, it has made the short list of cars that I would consider trading my Beloved Dodge in on.

audiobliss

Indeed it is all opinion....thus I can disagree!!!


I can not understand why the new Mustang is selling so well...it's ugly! And, umm,....it's ugly!

If Dodge is going to make the Charger 2-door, it may look better than the 4-door version; let's hope so.

The Chevy SSR was a complete let down. I'm not yet convinced that it's ugly, but they didn't put nearly enough under the hood, and it's expensive. Thus, that's a failure.

I actually like the Pontiac GTO. I'm not extremely fond of the exterior styling, but it doesn't look bad (especially now that they've got the two exhaust pipes on different sides!!), and it has a decent engine. The real thing with the GTO was the interior quality. Pontiac (shoot, GM in general) was bad with interior fit and finish. The GTO totally broke away from that. The interior is beautiful with stitched leather everywhere, gorgeous colored gauges in the dash, etc. It just looks phenomenal inside.

[RANT]
I really don't want to get started on the Thunderbird. In my mind (remember - this is opinion), hideous none too strong a word for that awful waste of materials. Forget the price; forget the performance; forget the heritage (which it did not live up to!!); what you have is an ugly, ugly, ......ugly expensive car.
[/RANT]

I actually think the new Beetle is pretty cool. It didn't have some mean, muscular past to bring back to today, so it's bubbly, 'cute' (if I may) look fits it just fine. If only the engine were still in the rear.....

The Ford GT? My word...if I ever see one....I'll be ready to die. Besides being drop-dead gorgeous and an amazingly accurate 'copy' of the original with innards with today's technology, it's just an awesome car!! When you consider it's reputation, looks, and performance, and then compare it the price of vehicles with similar qualities, it is truly a bargain! $150,000 ain't a drop in the hat, but it sure doesn't cost as much as a Ferrari Challenge Stradale or a Porsche GT3 (wich were the cars in the shoot-out with the GT in Motor Trend...or Car & Driver).

I don't think the 350Z has any connections with the past. But with the way it looks and the way it performs (and the way it sells! lol), it doesn't need any.

shack

Also at the Atlanta Auto show....well worth the $10 admission...

audiobliss

*drool*

*drool*

*slobber*

*drool*

*slober*

*drinks some water*

*drool*

*slobber*

.....

shack

If Dodge is going to make the Charger 2-door, it may look better than the 4-door version; let's hope so.

Here ya go....

audiobliss

Nah...that ain't better...that's just like an 80's Thunderbird...a family car. That's not a Charger, regardless of what they call it.

shack

Here are some more "real" pictures of the Daytona Charger...

shack

sorry...:mad:

shack

.

Airplay355

I drive a 95 subaru legacy wagon.....

Dennis Gardner

I don't know how Ford allocates the FordGT to it's dealers, but the local dealer in my little town of 10000 people have a red and white GT on the showroom floor. It really is an awesome exectuion of melding old and new together.

Jstas

Originally posted by audiobliss
Nah...that ain't better...that's just like an 80's Thunderbird...a family car. That's not a Charger, regardless of what they call it.

80's Thunderbirds were 2 doors. They were either Fox-chassied cars from about 82-88 and then changed to the MN-12 chassied cars from 89-97.