The venerable Dodge Dart name, applied to two completely different cars from the 1960s to the 1970s (and used in Mexico for K-cars for years afterwards), has now been applied to a new state of the art car -- a car as advanced as the original Plymouth Valiant clone was back in the early 1960s.
With Charger-like styling inside and in back, the new Dodge Dart Dodge also borrows from a corporate brand-mate, in this case Alfa Romeo. The 2013 Dodge Dart is, however, unique to Chrysler, with a lengthened and widened platform -- the first car using the new Compact U.S. Wide platform.
68% of the body uses high-strength steel, for rigidity; it has a four wheel independent suspension and wheels that go up to 18 inches. Aerodynamics are "class leading" while projector head lamps and LED "race track" tail lamps and a class-exclusive integrated dual exhaust set off the styling.
As predicted for months by oh2o, PhantomSpazz, and others at allpar, the car will include two Tiger Shark modified engines -- the 2.0 liter and 2.4 liter -- and the 1.4 liter charge air cooled Fiat turbocharged engine.
The 2013 Dodge Dart will, like the Neon and Patriot, be made at the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois. A $600 million investment includes the construction of a 638,000-square-foot body shop, as well as new machinery, tooling, and material handling equipment. Work on the expansion began in the summer of 2010 and will be completed this year. The car is expected in April 2012, delayed from January.
Also see: 1963-66 Dodge Dart and 1967-1976 Dodge Dart . Further details and rumors are at Allpar's new Dart-Mouth.com site .
