New Dodge Dart?

Quote: Face

No. NO!! Say it ain't so...I don't think I could handle it. I got that cold chill up my spine that brought tears to my eyes when I read this.

Sorry to wreck a perfectly dreary monday morning. They trademarked it a few years back.

Quote:

This rebranding thing kills me. Charger, Challenger, HEMI,...now Dart. I mean, I get it. Dart was yester-decade's compact car, smaller than a full sized Dodge and cheaper than a Plymouth. This new Dart is today's compact car. It makes sense...on the surface.

Here is the thing. While I more remember Darts as compacts that ran forever, most people over 40 remember something about them. They were a compact that some guy at the factory snuck in a 440 and was a showroom drag racer to you. To others they were a broad line. But the name still draws attention. So when you hear, "they are bringing back the Dart!" you take a look. Deep down you know it is merely a name and the only connection to the old one is that it still uses gasoline. But you look. An unknown number of lookers will be buyers. Car mags will write about the "new" Dart. Marketing.

Had they called it the "100" would any of us care or even notice?

Cars used to have names and the names gave a deeper bond. Today this alpanumeric naming makes it as if you are just ordering a SKU, not buying a car. The emotional connection is no longer there.

Quote: Face

It's a passion thing. Some have countered saying new cars are safer, more reliable, less fussy, more economical,

The first thing you notice about the 50's and 60's
cars is the room in the interior. You had a huge
amount of roominess in these cars. A bench seat,
the other person was way over there. Your girl
had to slide across the seat so you could have your
arm around her as you drove.

The back seats were big enought to have comfortable
sex in. Some were big enough for two people to sleep.
How do kids have sex in these new cars. Bench seats
are long gone, all shifters are on the floor, back seats
are a joke, even in the full size models. When I was
junior in HS, I had a 1960 Dodge Phoenix. 318, push
button tranny, huge back seat, huge trunk. Man, I
loved that car..

It looked just like this one. You can see that the interior
would have been huge.

Quote: AZDuffman

Worst rebrand had to be a 1980s or early 1990s 4-4-2. One mag changed the meaning t0 4-cylinder, 4-sale, 2-expensive.

Don't even get *me* started on the Mitsubishi Challenger.....

I'm not a car guy. I like following the mass market, but I don't have any particular attachment to one type of car or another.

I like the new Dodge Charger. I think it is one of the coolest cars out there. Actually, it looks way too much like a Chevy Camaro.

Ford has really improved their product, but all of their cars look the same now. I want to see more outlandish designs like the Chevy HHR and Nissan Cube.

Remember this piece-of-work from Ford?:
2003 Ford Thunderbird
1957 Ford Thunderbird.

What the hell were they thinking? I mean, it is cool-looking, but what...?!

Quote: AZDuffman

Sorry to wreck a perfectly dreary monday morning. They trademarked it a few years back.

This was probably the worst thing I woke up to since I got sober. Looks like a new Challenger and new Camaro had unusual sex, then aborted 9 months in. This is nothing short of sacrilegious.

I remember Darts as a nasty hot rod. You remember them as a good American car that never broke down. Do you think the 2014 Dart will be either? That, of course, was a rhetorical question. Of course it will be neither.

I completely understand the marketing reasons. To be honest, I spent much of last night thinking about this. I remember when the Charger first reappeared, and I was stoked. "A Charger man! They're coming back!" And when I seen it, I wasn't even disappointed. It wasn't "a Charger", but I liked the styling. Still do. Same thing when the Challenger returned. "A Challenger! ZOMG!!" There definitely is a reason the marketers have chosen to do this.

I tried recalling Dodge models in my lifetime. It took me a full minute to even remember the Intrepid, and that was their primary car when I was in my teens and 20s. After a half hour, I still had only come up with the Diplomat and the Dynasty, and I have no idea why I remembered them. These were very much garbage, very unremarkable, and completely forgetable. Rebranding Darts and Challengers and Chargers sure solves that problem.

But again, why? Why soil the sanctity of car legend? Toyota Tundra is a great brand name. It sounds good off the tongue and gives an air of ruggedness, of toughness, exactly what you want in a full sized pick'em up. Nissan Leaf is also genious. I hear "leaf" and I think small, light, green and full of life. What a great image for a new electric vehicle. But Dodge, by trying to attach themselves to an image they can't possibly stack up to (and they can't) are basically cashing in on name recognition, while simultaniously harming the image they've attached themselves to, and ensuring their "new" car will never attain icon status.

I surely don't want to copy the French and just call cars by numbers, nor do I want to get all Teutonic and have alphanumeric "Classes" and "Series". Cars should have a name, a name with character, and a name to remember them by. But it should be their name, their identity, and they should live or die by their own merit. It's like the WoV board. I'm Face, and what you think of Face is based on what Face puts out. If I want to be taken seriously, to be liked, to establish connections, then that's on me. Or I could just call myself pacomartin. Of course I'm not pacomartin, but...I am. My badge says so. See?

It's just not a cool thing to do, and some level of shame should result.

All this talk about the new Dodge Dart makes me regret just getting a little Ford Fiesta. I wanted to down size and save on gas and I really wanted to go back to my favorite way to drive - a manual transmission. Anyway it looks like a cool car and maybe more fun to drive.