Dodge Challenger: The Retro-Flop Has Landed
In 1970, gas was cheap, horsepower was king and Dodge introduced a slightly stretched rebodied Barracuda they called Challenger. It offered huge engines that delivered pavement-scorching acceleration. After just four model years of poor sales, The Dodge Boys pulled the plug. Fast forward 38 years. Gas is expensive; the average car buyer is more interested in fuel economy than horsepower. Dodge has introduced a slightly cut-down Chrysler LX they call the Challenger. It offers a huge engine, pavement-scorching acceleration and they've pre-sold the first 6.4K. The Detroit News— and practically every other automedia outlet– have lavished the Challenger redux with praise. But then again, the media loved the big-engined 1970 model when it first hit the market. I predict the same rapid demise for the new Challenger. There are just so many baby-boomers wanting to relive their 20s; a 34-year gap means the model has no relevance to younger buyers. Even with a V6, demand will be extremely low. In fact,should Chrysler avoid C11, I give the Challenger two years. Good for collectors, bad for Chrysler. They failed to learn from Ford's "re-imagined" Thunderbird and direct their time, talent and money into developing a small car– instead of trying to recapture past glory they never really had. Next up: the Camaro!
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Hopefully, by the end of next year, I will be driving my new Scat Pack. I just hope there are decent colors available, but TorRed will be ok if that's all there is.
Really nailed that prediction, didn't you, Nostradamas?
Oh....and virtually every comment posted in 2008 was spectacularly wrong as well. Bang up job guys. You really had your finger on the pulse...
Well, it took me a while longer, but I love my 3 week old '18 Scatpack in, what else, TorRed. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/nCAGtw.jpg I really enjoyed reading this thread again. So many comically wrong comments.