This has been baffling me ever since I started seeing continued mentions of it here in the FV forum.

Here is a kind image of the Calibur I found on the web. Most don't have the hood-scoop:



Now we all know foreigners are a bit weird. Men wear kilts with nothing underneath, the Germans have poop-shelves on their toilets, the French don't bathe.

But seriously, what is making them fall in love with this car so much? I've seen several Caliburs in person down here in Texas and don't see the appeal. Even their top trim level (170 horsepower and AWD, if I remember correctly?) is nothing to write home about drivetrain-wise. And while styling is relative to a degree, they're pretty dang ugly in the flesh.

The only thing I really like about Calibur is their ad campaign.

 

I'm guessing you've never been out of the country (and rarely out of Texas), have you?

The Calibers are pretty popular here because they don't look like a Yaris and they're a perfect utility car (can't beat a car with a glove box that's a mini fridge and a hatch literally designed for tailgate parties! ).

Caliber stands poised to be the most successful American made car sold in Europe in decades because it's different, it's well made, it gets good fuel economy, and compared to the competition there, it's reasonably priced. Having a parent company based in Europe and being developed under a CEO that understood the various Euro markets instead of a parent company based here and a US CEO probally didn't hurt either.

I think Calibers are ugly. But they're ugly in a sinister, but non offensive sort of way (as opposed to the almost obscene and goofy Aztek). They have alot of innovation as far as usefulness. And finally, the 300 horse SRT (that's insane for a 4 banger ) looks downright evil.

 

I've been in England, briefly in Germany, Canada, Mexico, and India thank you very much.

The 300 HP SRT-4 might just make that car beautiful to me, especially if it keeps the AWD transmission.

 

I personally love the Caliber. I like it's bold look over most of the vehicles in it's segment.

 

Screwed again...

 

While the Caliber is hard to come by in Europe right now, keep in mind it is still selling in small numbers (~1000/month). If I'm not mistaken, the Dodge brand is still relatively new for the continent and it appears their sales projections were on the conservative side (they sold only 311 cars last year in western Europe which was reporting these shortages).

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...73257938065322

 

I've grown to like the Caliber. It is a good/different looking hatch and since you can get AWD I see a lot of them here in upstate NY

This is one of the best auto commercials to come out since the GM "soap" and Corvette "kids dream" commercials = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS7wbKBERF8

 

American cars don't sell very well outside our hemisphere, and haven't since the 60s. The fact that one brand.....let alone one model is selling 1K per month and still can't be kept in stock is something of a miracle, especially for a name that has no history there.... let alone that the Euro market for that type of car is beyond saturated by different makers.

England's not Europe, they just think they are. Save driving on the wrong side of the street and having odd accents, they're nothing but more civilized New Yorkers. Canada's just the 51st state and Mexico is more ingrained with the US than actual US territories like Guam, Puerto Rico, or American Samoa.

So... you were briefly in Europe.