GM got a bit of a black eye when both Ford's GT and Pontiac's Solstice showed up at the same auto show, but Solstice not only got beaten to the market, but also came out just when the GT is approaching the end of it's run. To make matters worse, the Solstice has alot of parts from existing GM vehicles while the GT was made from scratch.

Fast forward to the 2006 Detroit show. Both Camaro and Challenger are going to be shown at the same show. Both are going to be show stoppers and get tons of press, therefore are going to be in the general public's mind.

The Challenger is going to likely be in production a year or so later (maybe even less) as a very early 2008. Camaro isn't likely to be out till a year later as a 2009 model.

Anyone think that the public is going to percieve this (rightly or wrongly) as another example of GM not being able to bring a new model out quick enough to keep up with the competition?

BTW...... did anyone notice the Challenger concept has.....ROLL DOWN REAR WINDOWS!??

 

and have you seen the latest challenger pics out today???That car is amazing.Very retro,6.1 hemi,pistol grip shifter.fully functional hood scoops.This car will sell very well.chevy may be too late to the party.



http://forums.autoweek.com/thread.js...24942&tstart=0

 

FWIW, someone over on allpar that use to work for Chrysler, Bob Sheaves, said from the pictures he has seen the car looks S1 ready and COULD be in production 12-18 months. As said, it ain't offical until it is offical.

 

Absolutely! There is no doubt about it.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but if the styling was not retro, they would not be in this predicament.

 

Unfortunately they both got slaughtered by Ford.

 

The Camaro better look good, cause' the Challenger is a real winner. I noticed the roll down qtr windows too, thats my favorite part. I guess the C pillar is strong enough to make the car meet crash standards. I have never owned a Mopar, this looks like my first.

 

What? A True Hardtop???

 

I don't believe we are looking at a concept car. IMHO the Challenger is a pre-production model. FWIW the Challenger is getting alot of very positive feedback, both here and on alot of other non MOPAR boards.

I think GM is behind the 8 ball again.

 

Eh, I find it very unattractive. Looks overweight already. The retroness it just too much. This make the Mustang's design look brand new. It is a shame that many Fbody enthuiasts are falling for this car, but its the same people who wanted the Mustang too.

 

That Challenger is a gorgeous car. As much as I love the Camaro, it has a lot to catch up with.

So.. now we have the Mustang, Charger, GTO.. soon the Challenger, Camaro..

Some good car times coming up ahead of us

 

A Retro design by itself wont sell a car on its own but if it has the right combination of classic 'good looks' along with being fun to drive (or being versatile like the PT or HHR) it will sell great. You don't have to look any further then the enormous sales success of the Mini Cooper (launched in the US in 2002) and it just had it best year ever in 2005 http://motoringfile.com/2005/12/19/m...00000-in-2005/.

 

I think you're wrong on that one. You see alot of F-body drooling over the Challanger because it almost shares the same ***** to the wall performance formula. The Mustang was always the the softer of the two, and seen as more feminine.

If the Challenger can pull off the reception to the retro design as well as the Mustang, I think it's going to cause a huge problem with GM & the Camaro, especially if it winds up coming here a year after the Challenger.

Alot of people are worried about the sales battle with the Mustang, but IMO, I think the Camaro's biggest threat is the Challenger.

 

The new Challenger does look pretty good, but regardless I'm not into it's retroness. Like Big Al said, it looks so overweight...Like the first time I looked at one of my first thoughts was, "Wow, it looks like it weighs like 5,000 lbs."

 

A couple of things that I don't completely agree with, Drew. For Challenger's brief history, it used the exact same formula as Camaro and Mustang, the exception being it was abit larger than the other two. Girls used to buy new Challengers in pretty colors, white vinyl tops and six cylinders just the same as Camaros and Mustangs - so I'm not sure what you mean when you say "more feminine". They were all no more or less feminine than each other, I think.

But I have to say that the F-car community sure seems to have accepted this new Challenger. No doubt, the Camaro concept and Challenger will be directly compared by many at Detroit. And yes,Challenger will compete for Camaro sales when a Camaro is eventually released. But Mustang - if for no other reason than it's high volume - will still be the primary competition for Camaro.

 

You have an excellent point. If the car isn't a good car and decent value underneath the styling it will die as soon as the "gotta be first to own one" crowd gets theirs. The Domestic stylists need some more contemporary hits in addition to the "retro" ones, though, if just to prove to the world that they can design a good looking modern car.

One thing though...the Mini really isn't retro. It was in continuous production until just before the new one was released. There was a 1-2 year gap due to delays of some sort, but the car was all along supposed to be a replacement. In the US, the car did go away, but the original was never (officially, at least) sold in any significant numbers. Either way, the Mini is a seriously fun car.