MoparHead Trauma

[Arnold Layne]

So how much O/T crap will you guys endure? I was lucky enough in the good old days to own many big block MoPars, and the Charger was always a favorite, had two each '68 and '69's that I can recall. The new Charger with four doors seemed to me like a senseless, heinous act. I would be fine with it if they would have called it a Coronet or Polara, but not a Charger. When I was at the Dodge stealership last week I received yet another rude awakening, the Charger is now available with four wheel drive! Is nothing sacred?

[Tacoclaw]

They don't care about their brand's history anymore, they'll throw a label on anything in an attempt to get it to sell. My favorite all time favorite old Mopar car has slowly shifted over the last few years from the Challenger to the Roadrunner. I blame the new Challenger for this, but don't know why. When they put the Roadrunner badge on some FWD car I will block all Dodge things from my life.

[dazedandconfused]

I still have a sweet spot for the Challenger's old and new. At least the Challenger's look similar and are still a 2door coupe.

[Arnold Layne]

I think they are dropping the ball by not having the Challenger out in a convertible, but I did see that Richard Petty has one. The RoadRunner/GTX was ALWAYS my favorite, only the wildest kids in town had them. I'm going to tear off a couple stories from the old days if you guys don't mind, let me know if pre-CTD MoPar talk is out of line! Move over-Plymouth approaching rapidly! Spring of '77, I was 13 years old, and was helping a neighbor repair a pasture fence that he shared with us. His son had been bounced off of a tractor and killed about a year earlier. When we got done with the fence I asked him if he has going to sell Kenny's cars. He said he wanted to get rid of them and asked if I wanted them. I replied in the positive but had to add that I really didn't have any money. He said that wasn't a problem, just come up with what I could and they were mine. I handed over $115 and drove them home, the first was a '66 Galaxie 500 4-dr with a 390 and huge miles, the second a '70 Challenger R/T coupe with a 440 A/T and 60,000 miles! It had been punished some, but was still a wicked cool car for a young dirt road Ronnie Sox-wannabe country punk. Torched the roof off of the Galaxie and may have had more fun in that car than any other!

[Tacoclaw]

I think they're too damn big. I realize that it isn't physically possible to put out a car that's the same size/weight as the old ones, but I don't think they even tried. That Challenger is a fat, heavy pig and I hate them for it.

They do look good, but that's it.

I never got to be around any old Mopar cars, I got into trucks before I could dream about driving one and they got out of my price range rapidly when I started to get interested in them. My old man had a bunch of old Darts he always told me stories about. He always gets to talking about some old Dart GTs with 340's he wrecked. I find it hard to take him seriously about how I treat my Dodge after hearing some of them, but that's probably why he never told them when I was younger.

[Arnold Layne]

I think they're too damn big. I realize that it isn't physically possible to put out a car that's the same size/weight as the old ones, but I don't think they even tried. That Challenger is a fat, heavy pig and I hate them for it.

They do look good, but that's it.

I could not agree more! I did see one trimmed out as a '71 Cuda and it really looked good. Since the "boat hull" body line of the Challenger had been softened up a lot for the new body, I thought it lends itself well to the Cuda body that didn't have that line at all, I think it looks more like a Barracuda than a Challenger.

[dazedandconfused]

I like the fact i fit in them. Yes they are bigger cars but i cant fit in a camaro or mustang.

[Arnold Layne]

I cant fit in a camaro or mustang.

I couldn't either, and I'm not a very big guy!

[oldestof11]

Just wait! There will be no more Challenger after 2014 I believe. It will be the SRT Barracuda. The SRT division will handle the "fast" cars, Ram for commercial and trucks, Dodge for cheap cars, and Chrysler for luxury.

[Mark Nixon]

Say what you will about the current Challenger, for something that had to be reinvented, the designers did a fabulous job of emulating the old in the new.
I think it's sacrilegious that Chrysler Corp wants to revive the "Barracuda/Cuda" name after taking the Plymouth name out of the corporate line-up.
Nothing like trying to cash in on heritage, when the name that made the heritage is no longer there.

It's like buying an Indian Motorcycle after, what 50 years?
All it is now is an old name badged to an unfamilar, extinct, heritage.

It's like saying "Waterloo Engine Company" in reference to the old hit and miss engine, without knowing the company also subbed out other engine designs to other company names.

Arnie, stop laughing!

Mark.