new Challenger

mattkimsey said:

Is that just going to be a face lift?

I can't see Ford changing motors after only 4 yrs. considering the last 4.6 kept the same cubes and 2 valves for 9 yrs.

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The Mustang will get a facelift only... small tweaks here and there. The 4.6 is not going to change. There are rummors of a small bump in HP but that is all. A specail edition Mustang 5.0 is planned but that will be limited production (i.e. probably the next True Cobra)

srothfuss said:

The Mustang will get a facelift only... small tweaks here and there. The 4.6 is not going to change. There are rummors of a small bump in HP but that is all. A specail edition Mustang 5.0 is planned but that will be limited production (i.e. probably the next True Cobra)

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cool

Is it just me or does this Dodge look an awful lot like the Camaro design we've all seen?

Challenger

Knowing Chrysler, when the car actually comes out, it will be a 4 door station wagon. I'll stay with my Mustang.

I was thinkin' it looked like a 1st gen except a little fatter. vs.

ugg, that 1st gen makes the challenger look ugly--probably do that to almost any car though.

Not being a Mopar fan at all, I kinda like it. I am a huge fan of all the retro syling that the manufacturers are going for these days. I don't know if I would go so far as to buying one....but they are styled pretty bitchin'!!

CAMARO CAMARO CAMARO!! who has more info besides that 1 pic?

I don't think GM has released any official information yet, but I can't wait.....man, I can't wait.

mattkimsey said:

I don't think GM has released any official information yet, but I can't wait.....man, I can't wait.

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Does anyone here work for GM (I don't either - my work focus's more on the Chrysler stuff) We need to get credible rumors about the new Camaro. Last I heard, the plant that built the old F-bodies closed and the CAW is under contract with GM until 2017 with Camaro nameplate. It's just what I heard so I need to find someone inside GM to get some facts.

Personally I think the camaro renderings are a little ugly...

srothfuss said:

Does anyone here work for GM (I don't either - my work focus's more on the Chrysler stuff) We need to get credible rumors about the new Camaro. Last I heard, the plant that built the old F-bodies closed and the CAW is under contract with GM until 2017 with Camaro nameplate. It's just what I heard so I need to find someone inside GM to get some facts.

Personally I think the camaro renderings are a little ugly...

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Given the way GM has laid off 30,000 plus and will close 9 plants I doubt you'll see anything. Too much of a risk, the SSR, GTO have been dismal sales failures. Even when the F-body was around it didn't sell well. If anything did return you might see a Chevelle, being the Camaro name is slightly tarnished.

I like it but i like that pic of the camaro concept even more.....more info on that anyone? and i'm not even a camaro fanatic

srothfuss said:

Does anyone here work for GM (I don't either - my work focus's more on the Chrysler stuff) We need to get credible rumors about the new Camaro. Last I heard, the plant that built the old F-bodies closed and the CAW is under contract with GM until 2017 with Camaro nameplate. It's just what I heard so I need to find someone inside GM to get some facts.

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That's strange, I thought this was a Mustang chat site.

In any case we've discussed the demist of the old Camaro ad nausium. The old plant in Quebec is not only closedm but it has been demolished (someone posed a link a long time ago to photos of it being torn down). Part of the agreement with the CAW to close the plant prohibits GM from using the Camaro nameplate. I don't remember if it was 10 or 15 years, but that's either 2012 or 2017.

In any case, don't hold yor breath. By 2012 GM may be out of business.

351CJ said:

That's strange, I thought this was a Mustang chat site.

In any case, don't hold yor breath. By 2012 GM may be out of business.

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We were simply discussing any future competition to the mustang that the other 2 OEM's might produce. I for one know that the Camaro is dead, but I wanted to get facts before I started posting it on the boards.

I am planning to buy a S197 but with future competition, maybe a GT version will be easier to get a hold of.

I tend to think there is some confusion still remaining out there about the 1999 Charger concept. The particular car was never built to showcase the 2005 Dodge Charger sedan. The problem was that the show car was still on the car show circuit for years afterwards because of its popularity. The 99 Charger concept was actually built on a LH platform which was originally intended to be a FWD/RWD dual usage platform. The car's engine was a supercharger 4.7 SOHC V8 burning natural gas. It really was brought out at an awkward time when Chrysler was becoming DaimlerChrysler and the LH platform was on its way out in favor of the LX within a few years. Rumor has it that Dodge tried earnestly to make the 99 concept a reality for the 2005 model, but the body was too radical to adapt to the LX platform. As most of us already know, that 99 car was also a 4 door car but reality simply was that it was just too radical to be considered a viable family performance sedan...which Dodge dealerships desperately wanted.

The Challenger concept is likely being shown closely resembling the production model and I think its no accident that we're seeing this car in a 'spy photo'. I personally believe DCX allowed this car to be photographed to gauge early interest in the car. This can put them on track to get an earlier arrival of the car into production. Plus, keep in mind that this new Challenger has been declared to be Dodge's pony car, which means that the production Challenger will compete on each model level with Mustang. There will be a V6 base, a R/T model (likely a 5.7L Hemi) to compete with Mustang GT and the SRT-8 Challenger to compete with the Shelby GT-500...all with price tags probably to be very close to Mustang on each level.

Personally, I think the Challenger is in good position to be a worthy pony car challenger and the R/T and SRT models will sell just as well as Mustang GT and Shelby. The area that Mustang will likely retain sales dominance is the V6 base. However, Dodge will not be quite as dependent on V6 Challenger sales because this car will share with Charger, Magnum and 300 so I suspect its development costs and sales expectations will not need to be as high.

Challenger will be a huge hit. Look at all the message boards across the internet. You've got Ford guys raving...GM guys raving...import guys interested and certainly the MOPAR guys are high on excitement. I think that Dodge had a pony car in mind all along but purposely waited for the Mustang hoopla to taper a bit. Now they have fulfilled the need for a sedan like the Charger and now can take aim at the Mustang's sales with a brand new Hemi Challenger coupe...all the while, Ford will likely have nothing to compete against Charger as the decade closes. DCX has done their homework. I love Ford, but I think they have underestimated their DCX rivals and it will show in the next few years.

now that you mention it, They did the exact same thing when the redesigned their Ram pickup in the 90's waiting until after Ford had committed to their redesign of the F150, and even had a real so/so concept that they had making the circuits, then the next thing you new they had several years of making a truck that looked drastically different from the competition. At least one US automaker still seems to be on the ball. I say bring on the competition because anything that will draw the interest back to US automakers has to be a good thing. Now if only GM can step up with their own offering it could be a new golden age muscle car era.

I like it, and think it will probably be a killer car. All the cars designed since the Daimler merger have been well-designed and marketed, Chrysler just has a few models left from before the merger like the Neon that are complete crap. I think it will be a winner, but still won't sell like the Mustang, but like people above have said, it won't have to since it will share it's platform and engines with the Magnum/Charger/300. Chrysler has really turned itself around the last few years, and I hope Ford and GM follow suit so we can have more great cars to drive, but I think the same old management in those companies is going to lead to the same old business practices. I certainly hope not, but it's hard to change corporate cultures without a drastic outside force.

Maybe in 2009 I'll have the cash to choose between a Shelby and a Challenger srt-8. And maybe pigs will fly.

Traveler said:

I tend to think there is some confusion still remaining out there about the 1999 Charger concept. The particular car was never built to showcase the 2005 Dodge Charger sedan. The problem was that the show car was still on the car show circuit for years afterwards because of its popularity. The 99 Charger concept was actually built on a LH platform which was originally intended to be a FWD/RWD dual usage platform. The car's engine was a supercharger 4.7 SOHC V8 burning natural gas. It really was brought out at an awkward time when Chrysler was becoming DaimlerChrysler and the LH platform was on its way out in favor of the LX within a few years. Rumor has it that Dodge tried earnestly to make the 99 concept a reality for the 2005 model, but the body was too radical to adapt to the LX platform. As most of us already know, that 99 car was also a 4 door car but reality simply was that it was just too radical to be considered a viable family performance sedan...which Dodge dealerships desperately wanted.

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Un f'n believable. On www.chargerforums.com all I read about is whining about "why doesn't it look like the '99 concept" and the only other person I see on the net who actually knows the facts is on a Mustang board. Outstanding post.

I don't know if you guy's / gal's saw this yet:

From Autoweek - GM is planning on showing a concept of the Camaro at the Detroit Autoshow (NAIAS) in January 2006. AW also reports production rumors in 3 years. Yikes!

srothfuss said:

I don't know if you guy's / gal's saw this yet:

From Autoweek - GM is planning on showing a concept of the Camaro at the Detroit Autoshow (NAIAS) in January 2006. AW also reports production rumors in 3 years. Yikes!

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If this is true, AWESOME. But it's got to be BS. GM is so beyond stupid, they can't do anything right. They scraped it last year now it's back on again?