Originally Posted by rodkil1
Quote autoextremist.com,
It was a good run, but Chrysler's role as industry design leader officially comes to an end in Detroit. It seems like we have been talking about Chrysler design excellence for a long time now - and we have. From the glory days of the product renaissance led by Bob Lutz and Tom Gale to as recently as two years ago, Chrysler could always be counted on to deliver great stuff for the major auto shows - no matter how mediocre and uninspiring their street vehicles were. But as in all great runs, nothing lasts forever - and the wheels came off Chrysler's golden design era with a thud at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show.
First of all, the Challenger, though obviously calculated to be an improvement on the original in every respect, was far too literal in the flesh. Yes, it was cool and everything, but Chip Foose could have easily created something just like it in his shop. And the fact that Chrysler designers went around "fixing" all of the things that were wrong on the original and stopped there, left them no room to take the car further or "reach" with it in the future. The Challenger garnered lots of attention for Chrysler in the weeks leading up to the show, but by the time the actual media days arrived, it came off as a one-off custom hot rod designed to add a little eye candy to the Dodge display - and nothing more.
I agree with everythinge he said but I like how DCX did it. Later in the artical he went on to praise the Camaro Concept so he may be a little bias.
I'm sorry to hear alot of these comments because these comments I've been reading are soo untrue just like this one. There is no comparison between old and new. First off this car was created (like the new mustang gt and shelby) to make a real"RETRO" looking 2 dr. muscle car with new improvements on all aspects of the car from inside and out and underneath. And NO, Chip Foose could not created and sell for "the same price" this beauty in a mass production or limited edition for the price....ask Carrol Shelby....as that is what he said about the new Shelby Mustang if he tried to do it himself. Just because the outside looks like the 70 challenger that we have all come to love I say.....THANK YOU!!...For that is "real retro designing" with new improvements on every aspect of the car,while maintaining that classic beautiful design. Sounds to me that this may be his strong opinion he's making or he might be a hater,and was pulling for the camaro concept as well. But everyone has their opinion and I think personally that Dcx has hit a Grand Slam with this beauty!! Voted best concept by many at the show,as I was there....along with all the polls coming in everywhere by many, as the challenger being the best concept. Now just drop in the 6.4L (392) 500++ hp motor in the srt-8 version and everyone will be salivating!!
