Isn't it about time we move on?
I guess this guy has not seen the popularity of the Challenger at the car shows.
Brawn Without Brains: Once Again, Detroit Tries to Move Forward by Looking Backward
By Matthew Phenix December 04, 2007 | 12:06:28
Chrysler LLC recently announced pricing for its forthcoming Dodge Challenger SRT8 coupe (the concept is pictured at left, although the production car will be a dead-ringer for it). It's $37,995, plus a $2100 gas-guzzler tax, for a grand total of $40,095. Whether or not you consider that figure a bargain is your business. The Challenger SRT8's 6.1-liter Hemi V-8, equipped either with a five-speed automatic transmission or, a bit later, a six-speed manual, produces a healthy 425 horsepower. Fun. Unfortunately, the car arrives not in free-wheeling 1968, when gasoline cost thirty-four cents a gallon and looked like it might never dry up, but nowadays, when premium fuel (oh yes, you bet the SRT8 sucks premium, pal) routinely smacks three-fifty a gallon and gloom-and-doom forecasts about the END OF OIL scroll across our RSS readers daily. Oh, but Chrysler's not alone in this silly fetish with thirsty V-8 engines glory days gone by. GM's trying to stir up emotions with the similarly retro-themed Chevrolet Camaro (pictured, top right), and Ford has already wheeled out old-timer Carroll Shelby for yet another Mustang extreme makeover, the GT500 (pictured, above right). And, perhaps the most gratuitous example of history-mining, Ford recently unveiled its second-generation Mustang Bullitt (pictured after the break), inspired by the car that Steve McQueen hustled around San Francisco in the '68 cop flick of the same name. What's going on here? Haven't we tried this retro thing before? Isn't it about time we move on?
Weren't the Plymouth Prowler and the Chrysler PT Cruiser enough to satisfy our nostalgic cravings? Or the Chevrolet SSR and HHR? Or perhaps the 2002 Ford Thunderbird and the GT? Can't American automakers just let bygones be bygones once and for all, and have a seat in the 21st Century? Do these companies really envision such vehicles cast a warm glow on their other models?
What makes American automakers' American-market ass-backwardness even more frustrating is knowing that they're doing some pretty remarkable things for other markets. Why are foreign-market cars from American manufacturers more compelling, forward-thinking, and fun than the cars they hawk in their home market? GM, Ford, and Chrysler each have very competent and successful diesel engines running in Europe, and sharp cars like GM's Opel/Vauxhall Agila and Ford's Verve concept suggest the lights are still on somewhere.
Chrysler, GM, and Ford consider the Challenger, Camaro, and Mustang to be "image leaders" for their respective brands. But I have to wonder: Is this the sort of image these companies want to project? Now I temper all of this with the admission that I enjoy a powerful automobile and I believe there's really nothing quite like the noise of a really good, performance-tuned V-8 engine. But is a dose of nostalgia really worth the pain of a sixty-five-dollar fill-up? Not a chance. I'll rent the movie. Steve McQueen was brilliant in his day, but his time passed and now he's dead. Maybe cars like this should take the hint.