They are going to ruin it just like the ruined the Charger. The only car they got right was the Challenger.

 

My exact thoughts!

 

The avenger is getting the ax soon so dodge will need a car in its segmant

 

Finally, a decent compact.

 

They should have left the Charger name dormant until they built the right car. The four door car that they call the Charger should have been named either the Coronet, the Diplomat, or the Intrepid. Any one of those would have been a winner. The Charger is a very nice car, it just has the wrong name.

 

I too was disappointed with the return of the Charger as a 4 door family car, when the original was a powerful two door sport coupe. But I have to admit, they made up for it with performance though. I do like the tweaks they made for the 2012 Charger.

As far as calling the resurected Charger either the Coronet, Diplomat, or Intrepid...

The "Intrepid" name had run it's course in my opinion. The Intrepids never really were overly spectacular. And definitely wouldn't have sold as well as the new Charger did. A name's reputation means everything in marketting.

To me, the name "Diplomat" brings to mind the stripped down version of the 5th Avenue from the 80's. Not very good quality. Around here, Diplomats were used as taxi cabs. And had a horrible ride. Again, reputation kills that idea in my opinion.

And the Coronet name? Well, I'd say it's best known for it's role as Sherriff Roscoe's police car in the original Dukes of Hazard tv series. When it comes to coolness factor in a name, I think Charger was the best choice of the four mentioned here.

I think the only REAL problem people had with the new Charger was that it didn't look like the General Lee. The car judged on it's own, is a decent car. With a very powerful engine option.

Personally, I think the retro look only works for a couple years. Chrysler is now stuck in a position of what to do with the Challenger once the current retro design needs to be updated or changed. What do they change it to?

 

Prob is everyone loved the 99 concept charger & it too had 4 doors

 

I'm sorry. But that one I don't like. Looks too much like an Intrepid with a goofy front end, and the rear end that eventually went on the new Challenger.

 

Im not a big fan of it either but back then everyone wanted it to be made & it has 4 doors but wen the new chargers came out everyone hated the 4 doors it just makes no sense

 

Hello Lou; I value your opinion but I have to respectfully disagree with you. With the exception of the Coronet, I've owned or still own the others. I owned a 96 Dodge Intrepid with the 3.5 V-6 and the autostick overdrive transmission. It was a roomy sedan that took off when you hit the gas. I will agree that the 2.7 engine is a piece of crap but if you got the right engine you had a very nice car. The LH body cars were a huge success for Chrysler. They came at the same time as the RAM truck, the Prowler,Viper, and PT Cruiser were all designed at this time and were each successful. The car I had also got good fuel economy. When I drove it I averaged 26 MPG. My wife got that car in the divorce and then blew it up. I never could get her to look at the guages on the dash or pull to the side of the road if something doesn't feel right. She blew a hose and kept driving it until it wouldn't drive any more. She had done the same thing to my 87 Diplomat. Oh well she is someone elses problem now. She won't be blowing up another one of my cars because of stupidity. I have not heard of the Intrepids having a bad reputation.
The Dodge Diplomat name is a name that Dodge has used off and on dating back to the fifties and possibly before that. I've owned a few Diplomats. My 87 is the one I referred to earlier and I still own it. Not sure what to do with her at this point. My head says scrap it my heart says fix her again. My wife blew it up one and I changed the head gaskets because she blew a hose and lived another day. My daughter abused it her last two years of high school. She refused to do
any maintenance except for an oil change and even those were far and few between. My Diplomat was parked with 250,000 miles on here. The U-Joint on the driveshaft went out and it sheared the bolts off the rear pinion yoke. I have to replace the pinion yoke and it takes tools I don't own and is a process. In addition to that the roof rusted under the vinyl top. It was the car I bought when I came to Florida and it served the family well for ten years. It rode nicely and had the power to move. I averaged 20 MPG with her. My Diplomats also gave a very good ride.
The Diplomat was the car of choice for a majority of the police departments across the country thru the 80's. After police duty many off them were pressed into service as taxi cabs. By the time they were taxis many had suspensions that were worn out and then did ride horribl
y. They usually drove like they were on rails. The police cars had extra sway bars that the civilian models didn't have. It was powerful and big enough to get the job done but was smaller than the Ford Crown Victoria and Chevy Caprice so it saved fuel over the other two. The Diplomat was built on the same platform as the Aspen and Volare. Those two cars had issues but they were fixed before the Diplomat was introduced as an M-body in 77.
The Coronet is another name plate that dates back to the fifties or before. The Rosco car was the last version of it and at that time most were four door sedans but a two door coupe was also available. The Coronet was available through out its entire existence in every body style two door, four door and wagon. It was also available with every engine from the lowly but reliable slant six to the ground pounding 426 Hemi. The Coronet had the reputation of being a fine family hauler or a boulevard bruiser. Remember the Superbee? It was a Coronet. Putting the Coronet name on the Charger LX platform would have made the most sense. Incidentally Chrysler has put the Superbee name on the LX Charger, prior to that the Superbee was only on one Charger. It was the 71 Charger. Prior to that it was always on a Coronet.