2011 Charger: Civilian Edition
Published: October 5th, 2010
Share
For all intents, the 2011 Dodge Charger debuted to the internet two weeks ago… as a police car. Possibly recalling that some civilians might wish to purchase the thing, Chrysler has finally released images of it in R/T guise… but where’s the surprise? The overall design is more delicate and graceful than that of its atavistic predecessor, but it also seems to lack the classical menace of the outgoing model. At least when shown without police livery.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
Comments
Join the conversation
I liked what I saw in the police version (another set of headlights to memorize, I know), and this does not disappoint. I liked the design of the 06's but it was crude overall. The SRT8 version made that design cohesive. This redesign brings sophistication to it--love the rear 3/4 view (taillights especially). And now there is a decent V6 to go along with it in base trim (finally, no 2.7 or any of the other 2 billion V6's Chrysler's offered recently). And the exhaust is integrated into the rear bumper as opposed to just cutouts that, while fine, looked bad on the previous V6 (one pipe, two openings...really?). And they gave in and gave the R/T 19's or 20's--looks proper. Waiting for the 300C sometime soon...
Finally a right wheel drive with choice of V6 or V8, non boring bland looks and a decent interior with some actual room and a trunk. GM really screwed the pooch with a golden opportunity to fix Pontiac with exciting models like this new Charger. Imagine a full sized Bonneville with Pontiac styling on a Zeta RWD/AWD chassis with V6 or V8 power joined by a mid size Grand Prix coupe and sedan. If only! Chrysler has some promising improvements coming down the pipeline and many will use the smooth, quiet and powerful 3.6 V6.