Comments for Allpar Weblogs http://www.allpar.com/weblogs Chrysler, car, and other discussions by Allpar contributors Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:20:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 Comment on New renderings: Alfa 159, Chrysler 300C by John Hagen http://www.allpar.com/weblogs/2010/03/08/new-renderings-alfa-159-chrysler-300c/comment-page-1/#comment-78554 John Hagen Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:20:50 +0000 http://www.allpar.com/weblogs/?p=1030#comment-78554 Geez no. To me it is almost (remember I said almost) like Fiat is preparing Dodge to go the way of Plymouth. And putting the name in same class as the Scion and their ilk will certainly help. Notice that Toyota had the sense to start a whole new brand for their boxes. I think the Ram brand can stand on its own but can the Dodge brand stand without the Ram. Dodge has always (for the last 80 or so years) been a big name in trucks. The old "Dodge Builds Tough Trucks" slogan has held up even through some real lean (sales-wise) years. They were and are always the premier name in 4X4's. And how many years were they the far and away leader in full size vans? The 70's and early 80's did much to destroy their reputation regards quality but the trucks, although hit, suffered less than the cars. Now what does Dodge have. The Caravan, which will have competition from Chrysler for the forseeable future, the Charger and over-weight Challenger and.... What? I would have a very tough time buying any Chryser Group car right now. The Charger makes a truly great looking police car but I'm not a cop. The overly beefy Challenger? Neat looking but the only pony cars I ever wanted to own were the original Mustangs and the 67 - 69 Barracuda's (read quick and light). Non of the rest. Although seveal built through the years look racy, they all got too big, fat and lost the very nature of the breed. And the new Camaro has got to get the prize for having about the ugliest front end of them all! I would buy a Caravan if I buy a mini van. And if I want a pick-up, definitely a Ram as long as they still have them with usable (ie. 8 foot) boxes. For a nice mid-size right now I would be torn between a Subaru (for the AWD) or, most likely a Sonata. Wow, did you see the 2011 Sonata? Talk about lookin' good. Hyundai is really getting it right at the present time. When there was a short lived rumor that Hyundai and Chrysler were in talks I was all for it. That would have truly been a great mesh. Geez no. To me it is almost (remember I said almost) like Fiat is preparing Dodge to go the way of Plymouth. And putting the name in same class as the Scion and their ilk will certainly help. Notice that Toyota had the sense to start a whole new brand for their boxes.

I think the Ram brand can stand on its own but can the Dodge brand stand without the Ram. Dodge has always (for the last 80 or so years) been a big name in trucks. The old “Dodge Builds Tough Trucks” slogan has held up even through some real lean (sales-wise) years. They were and are always the premier name in 4X4’s. And how many years were they the far and away leader in full size vans? The 70’s and early 80’s did much to destroy their reputation regards quality but the trucks, although hit, suffered less than the cars.

Now what does Dodge have. The Caravan, which will have competition from Chrysler for the forseeable future, the Charger and over-weight Challenger and…. What?

I would have a very tough time buying any Chryser Group car right now. The Charger makes a truly great looking police car but I’m not a cop. The overly beefy Challenger? Neat looking but the only pony cars I ever wanted to own were the original Mustangs and the 67 – 69 Barracuda’s (read quick and light). Non of the rest. Although seveal built through the years look racy, they all got too big, fat and lost the very nature of the breed. And the new Camaro has got to get the prize for having about the ugliest front end of them all!

I would buy a Caravan if I buy a mini van. And if I want a pick-up, definitely a Ram as long as they still have them with usable (ie. 8 foot) boxes.

For a nice mid-size right now I would be torn between a Subaru (for the AWD) or, most likely a Sonata. Wow, did you see the 2011 Sonata? Talk about lookin’ good. Hyundai is really getting it right at the present time. When there was a short lived rumor that Hyundai and Chrysler were in talks I was all for it. That would have truly been a great mesh.

]]> Comment on New renderings: Alfa 159, Chrysler 300C by Chryco fan http://www.allpar.com/weblogs/2010/03/08/new-renderings-alfa-159-chrysler-300c/comment-page-1/#comment-78546 Chryco fan Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:30:25 +0000 http://www.allpar.com/weblogs/?p=1030#comment-78546 With the disappearance of the Solstice and Sky, Alfa could step in with a production version of the 2uetto. MiTo would be an alternative to MINI or GTI. Guillietta is a nice premium compact. I think they would do allright, maybe appeal to some of the same demograhic as VW; they'd probably sell as well as the Scion brand does. Of course you could argue that Dodge should get versions of all those products and perhaps that would make more sense than launching another brand. With the disappearance of the Solstice and Sky, Alfa could step in with a production version of the 2uetto. MiTo would be an alternative to MINI or GTI. Guillietta is a nice premium compact. I think they would do allright, maybe appeal to some of the same demograhic as VW; they’d probably sell as well as the Scion brand does. Of course you could argue that Dodge should get versions of all those products and perhaps that would make more sense than launching another brand.

]]> Comment on New renderings: Alfa 159, Chrysler 300C by Bob Taylor http://www.allpar.com/weblogs/2010/03/08/new-renderings-alfa-159-chrysler-300c/comment-page-1/#comment-78544 Bob Taylor Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:47:03 +0000 http://www.allpar.com/weblogs/?p=1030#comment-78544 Dave: If there was a market wouldn't they be here before "real soon now"? The Alfas of the '80s were nice but the company left before that decade was over. The styling was great but the cars were unable to pass emissions at the time and didn't have a partner or the money to have the cars made ready for emission requirements changes they knew were coming. They have a captive partner now and a way to sell cars here but I sort of doubt the number of sales will be all that impressive after all this time. Dave:
If there was a market wouldn’t they be here before “real soon now”?

The Alfas of the ’80s were nice but the company left before that decade was over. The styling was great but the cars were unable to pass emissions at the time and didn’t have a partner or the money to have the cars made ready for emission requirements changes they knew were coming. They have a captive partner now and a way to sell cars here but I sort of doubt the number of sales will be all that impressive after all this time.

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