i agree
the 500 is a little bland but it's overall not too bad

 

It'll be interesting to see if the Wimpala ever makes the cover of Hot Rod, much less 50 years from now. I think I know where my money's at.

With respect to the Five Hundred's styling (a topic a few here have brought up), I gotta be honest and say that I like it - a little bit. At least it doesn't offend me and lacks any lines that make me go "WTF?!?" (the Wimpala has a few details that really make me question the sobriety of the design team). It's downright disappointing when compared to the '86 Taurus, however, and that manitude of a hit is what Ford needs right now.

 

Probably: utility, and value...for the "mainstream" buyer...ie:fleet-people-mover...or uninspiring practical transportation.(Rear looks better, front looks cheap.)
DCX is inspiring people, face it, the HEMI is a hit...in anything!
Ford 500, looks pretty good to me, sportier too.

 

Ford 500 aside, the strong possibility exists that the Impala will never make the cover of Hot Rod... to which I would reply, "who cares?"

That being said, that really isn't the car's mission. The Impala is an appliance, and a damned good one for the money - according to buyers, the people who matter.

 

Oh yes, the RWD cars are bad in Winter and the HEMI is a gas guzzler wanna be 10yr old LS1 technology. In the "North" these things are still a "Dodge".

Now the Impala may not be "Shock and Awe" styling (which in the case of the 300 will wear off soon - I used to think they were cool, but now I'm leaning towards ugly ). But the Impala is nicly styled (especially the refresh) and it is FWD (+ for a Family Car). Also, the High Performance version does have a V8, but the DOD definitely improves the fuel efficiency. To me and a family (=99.5% Impala owners) these are good things...

 

Again, let's face reality:

Impala will outsell Charger and/or Five Hundred by a two-to-one margin, and probably even more than that....

 

Sure, it's an appliance.

But is it so wrong, so anathema to the world order, to simply have some slight semblance of style, or pleasing aesthetics....even in an appliance?

It doesn't need to be voluptuous like an Italian exotic, just maybe not so painful to look at every single day.

 

What the hell is painful about the new Impala? Or the current one, for that matter? (FWIW, I like the current one, but find the new one to be prettier and much more refined looking).

If anything is painful to look at, it would be the LX cars (imho). The FiveHundred is certainly conservative, but it is MUCH more handsome than those bloated, horribly proportioned pigs from DCX.

Without the 'hemi' marketing trick, the LX cars would not be the darlings they are today. Remember, in their time, the LH cars were considered to have bold and daring styling, but they didn't have the Hemi (or rwd), so they were not ridiculously hyped like the LX cars.

 

Gotta disagree. Even if DCX has stuck the cars with the 4.7 OHC V8, I'd be willing to bet the'd still make a ruckus on the automotive scene. The ridiculously powered "Hemi C" just cemented the excitement.

 

Sure, they'd still make a splash (as did the LH cars at the time), based on the styling boldness alone. Plus, the switch back to cab-backward and rwd made them noteworthy, much like the over-hyped "cabforward" line of the LH cars. So they'd still get plenty of attention.

But I don't think the public would be frothing at the mouth without the word "Hemi" on the car. The 4.7L in that car would have been eaten by the S/C 3800 in the Impy and Grand Prix.

Some ruckus, sure. But not to the stupid, almost mythical level they have achieved. JMHO.

 

The '06 Impala SS's wheels, cause me great pain to look at.

 

Oh, ok. I agree that they could be better, but they don't go so far as to cause me pain.

Of course, wheels are a relatively cheap fix. It would be a little harder to fix the ugly that is built into the DNA of the LX cars. New dash with lower mounting points, shorter firewall, lower beltline/taller greenhouse, new front ends, etc. etc.

 

As a hardcore 300C fan, maybe I'll buy that analysis.

 

Well then, lets see them fix the wheels before it's intro.

 

the way i see it, the people on this site usually don't like the things that sell so well (like the current impy)
so i predict it will sell pretty damn well