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03-09-05, 01:03 AM
http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/charger5e_20050305.htm
CLASSIC COLLISION: Charger tough sell to hard-core fans
March 5, 2005
BY SARAH A. WEBSTER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Act three is shaping up to be a challenging one for the Chrysler Group's star designer Ralph Gilles.
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# FROM SLACKER TO SUPERSTAR: Gilles is new darling of automotive design world
# Quick facts on fast car favorites
His first two vehicles as a design director -- the 300 sedan and the Dodge Magnum wagon -- have been cool, easy hits.
But Gilles' revival of the Dodge Charger, which is built off the same large-car architecture as the 300 and Magnum, is provoking a caustic backlash among old Charger enthusiasts -- mostly men -- who embrace a rebel-at-heart attitude.
To them, the Charger is supposed to be a mean-looking muscle car that burns rubber while outrunning the good guys, and it should have two doors.
Their Charger is the one made famous by good ole' boys Bo and Luke Duke, two fun-loving rednecks who raced their General Lee through the countryside in the 1980s "Dukes of Hazzard" TV series, giving the corrupt town leader Boss Hogg and his cronies headaches. (The General Lee is so beloved that it is featured at the Detroit Autorama this weekend.)
But Gilles' new Charger, which arrives in showrooms this summer, is a four-door sedan that looks almost nothing like the original, and its target audience is "trendsetting, young affluent males with incomes from $65,000- $90,000."
Bo and Luke Duke wouldn't qualify for this one, and the styling changes have the purists steaming mad. They are flooding automotive chat rooms and magazines with criticism.
The 35-year-old Gilles said he's glad the new Charger is provoking a passionate reaction and notes that it will be more practical for consumers than a two-door car would have been.
With all due respect to his fellow Charger enthusiasts, Gilles said he has personally concluded that the four-door debate is "irrelevant."
However, grumblers aren't just upset about the addition of two back doors. There are also plenty of complaints about the car's curvaceous grille, a sharp departure from the mean rectangular face of the past.
There were plenty of critics of that ostentatious grille on the 300, too -- which Gilles insisted on, and a year after it hit showrooms, the assembly line is just keeping up with demand.
"What's the essence of a Charger?" Gilles asked. "A Charger, to me, is supposed to get you excited about automobiles. ... It's the idea of performance embodied in style. It's not just about horsepower. It's also about: Does the car look fast? Does it look intimidating? Does it have a personality?"
But it's clear that Gilles and Chrysler have a lot of convincing to do.
Dave McCain, 40, of Rochester Hills has worked at a Dodge dealership for 21 years and loved the Dodge Charger concept car that Chrysler revealed in 1999, despite its four doors.
"The Charger has always been one of my favorite cars," he said.
He was so appalled when he saw the production version, however, that he actually boycotted the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this year.
"There are single guys like me who want a hot car," he said. "The world is already full of four-door sedans."
McCain's is among the tamer responses to the Charger among enthusiasts.
"I hate it -- all the real die-hard Charger people hate it," said Jon Gibbs, 21, of Spokane, Wash., who is about as faithful a Charger man as there ever was. He owns just three Chargers today, down from the five he had when he was 18, and he also runs a registration Web site for owners of 1966 and 1967 fastback Chargers.
Gibbs is so upset about the new Charger vehicle that he started a short list of what a vehicle must have to be worthy of the Charger name, such as two doors and a performance V8 with rear-wheel drive.
Despite the backlash, Gilles still believes the new Charger will "be very popular."
It probably won't hurt that the old nameplate will be revived about the same time as a new "Dukes of Hazzard" movie hits the big screen this summer, featuring Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg, Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse and Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke.
CLASSIC COLLISION: Charger tough sell to hard-core fans
March 5, 2005
BY SARAH A. WEBSTER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Act three is shaping up to be a challenging one for the Chrysler Group's star designer Ralph Gilles.
RELATED CONTENT
# FROM SLACKER TO SUPERSTAR: Gilles is new darling of automotive design world
# Quick facts on fast car favorites
His first two vehicles as a design director -- the 300 sedan and the Dodge Magnum wagon -- have been cool, easy hits.
But Gilles' revival of the Dodge Charger, which is built off the same large-car architecture as the 300 and Magnum, is provoking a caustic backlash among old Charger enthusiasts -- mostly men -- who embrace a rebel-at-heart attitude.
To them, the Charger is supposed to be a mean-looking muscle car that burns rubber while outrunning the good guys, and it should have two doors.
Their Charger is the one made famous by good ole' boys Bo and Luke Duke, two fun-loving rednecks who raced their General Lee through the countryside in the 1980s "Dukes of Hazzard" TV series, giving the corrupt town leader Boss Hogg and his cronies headaches. (The General Lee is so beloved that it is featured at the Detroit Autorama this weekend.)
But Gilles' new Charger, which arrives in showrooms this summer, is a four-door sedan that looks almost nothing like the original, and its target audience is "trendsetting, young affluent males with incomes from $65,000- $90,000."
Bo and Luke Duke wouldn't qualify for this one, and the styling changes have the purists steaming mad. They are flooding automotive chat rooms and magazines with criticism.
The 35-year-old Gilles said he's glad the new Charger is provoking a passionate reaction and notes that it will be more practical for consumers than a two-door car would have been.
With all due respect to his fellow Charger enthusiasts, Gilles said he has personally concluded that the four-door debate is "irrelevant."
However, grumblers aren't just upset about the addition of two back doors. There are also plenty of complaints about the car's curvaceous grille, a sharp departure from the mean rectangular face of the past.
There were plenty of critics of that ostentatious grille on the 300, too -- which Gilles insisted on, and a year after it hit showrooms, the assembly line is just keeping up with demand.
"What's the essence of a Charger?" Gilles asked. "A Charger, to me, is supposed to get you excited about automobiles. ... It's the idea of performance embodied in style. It's not just about horsepower. It's also about: Does the car look fast? Does it look intimidating? Does it have a personality?"
But it's clear that Gilles and Chrysler have a lot of convincing to do.
Dave McCain, 40, of Rochester Hills has worked at a Dodge dealership for 21 years and loved the Dodge Charger concept car that Chrysler revealed in 1999, despite its four doors.
"The Charger has always been one of my favorite cars," he said.
He was so appalled when he saw the production version, however, that he actually boycotted the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this year.
"There are single guys like me who want a hot car," he said. "The world is already full of four-door sedans."
McCain's is among the tamer responses to the Charger among enthusiasts.
"I hate it -- all the real die-hard Charger people hate it," said Jon Gibbs, 21, of Spokane, Wash., who is about as faithful a Charger man as there ever was. He owns just three Chargers today, down from the five he had when he was 18, and he also runs a registration Web site for owners of 1966 and 1967 fastback Chargers.
Gibbs is so upset about the new Charger vehicle that he started a short list of what a vehicle must have to be worthy of the Charger name, such as two doors and a performance V8 with rear-wheel drive.
Despite the backlash, Gilles still believes the new Charger will "be very popular."
It probably won't hurt that the old nameplate will be revived about the same time as a new "Dukes of Hazzard" movie hits the big screen this summer, featuring Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg, Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse and Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke.