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Originally Posted by Martinjlm
I’m liking this dialogue. Hopefully we can keep it going. 
You are not at all wrong. Spot on, actually. All of that is true from an enthusiast’s point of view. From a manufacturer’s point of view it’s only interesting as long as it can impact the bottom line. Let’s take the fwd Charger for example. Standing here in 2022 most of us would say that thing should never have existed or at the least definitely shouldn’t have been called Charger. It simply doesn’t meet our definition of what a Charger should be. But from Dodge’s perspective in the early ‘80s, all hell was breaking loose in terms of regulation and they had to react to a lot of things. The Charger name meant something and they weren’t ready to let it go softly into that dark night. So they put it on the best vehicle they could build at the time. Everything was going front wheel drive except trucks and a few large luxo-cruisers. Their crystal ball could not yet see the improvements in engine technology 30 years down the road that would result in 900 horsepower Hemi V8s. So within the context of the times they made the best decision they could with what they knew. GM made a different decision with Camaro. The reason for the 2002-10 gap is more because GM didn’t have the right platform at the right cost to make it work. But since there was a lot of energy behind the scenes to come up with the right platform, it made since to tuck the name away until the right solution presented itself. It would have been easy to build something sporty on Epsilon platform and call it Camaro, but there was already evidence of a better approach becoming available.
As for Mustang…you say that you are glad that at least they didn’t do a 4-door sedan. More than likely it’s coming. Ford has stated that Mustang, F150, and Bronco will all be sub-brands and each will have multiple configurations available. For Mustang it will be coupe, CUV, and sedan. The sedan will be EV. The coupe will be ICE, at least for now, and will include hybrids. We already know what the CUV is. And for what it’s worth, other companies and brands will be doing the same thing. Take a quick drive through the Corvette forums and look at what’s got them all riled up. |
All that I would like to express that whatever Chevy and GM does, that it should have meaning to it. Not necessarily to keep up with the Joneses. The Camaro is and was one of those creations that only comes once perhaps in a hundred years. I'm really not that mad at Charger, to be honest, because I'm not a strict fan of it. In fact if the Charger were a new style, I probably would look at it. Its just the feel of it and how special the car is that makes a difference.
You brought a good point. There should be healthy dialogue between the car buying public, fans, and concerned people in the automotive business that can shape the cars that we would like to see in the future.