It's a good thing that I'm a med student and not a programmer then, huh?

I took a CS class way back in High School and can barely remember any C.

 

The 90s LH cars looked GREAT. Sorta like 4-door 4th Gen Camaros. But they were fwd, so I was officially NOT INTERESTED. So now we have the LX cars. Rear-wheel drive, yes. But OVERWEIGHT and HIDEOUSLY UGLY. Well, the Magnum looks OK I guess, oddly much sleeker than the sedans. Which look more like Checker cabs than anything.

The 4-door coupe Charger concept of a few years back was BRILLIANT, Looked like a 4-door Ferrari! What the hell happened to that?!

Likewise, I loved the styling of the 90s fwd STS, but it was fwd. I'm not at ALL interested in the new rwd one (or the CTS), thanks to styling gone horribly wrong. Just AWFUL.

Guess I'll just keep me money in me pocket

 

The LX cars are Chrysler's move to do what Ford and GM won't-- make American cars. Yep, it's sad that it takes a part-German company to make American cars, when even the real American companies like Ford and GM can only make cars with the same old overdone bubble styling (not including the traditional American performance icons like Mustang and Corvette, which will always be recognizably American...).

But look at a 300C...or any LX car..there's no confusing it for anything but an American luxury sedan (except maybe a Bentley, which ain't so bad ). While the Ford 500 is a very handsome sedan and the Impala is a big improvement over the old one, they don't scream "American". When they pass you by on the road, you might confuse them, at a glance, with a Honda or a Toyota or a Nissan. They've got the same kind of bubble styling that has been forced down our throats for years. And yes, while these "bubble cars" do sell in big numbers (the Camry is the #1 selling car in America), the problem is that people, being swayed by myths in the mass media that all Japanese cars are wonderful and all American cars are horrible (even when recent quality reports prove otherwise), are simply going to buy an actual Honda or Toyota or Nissan, rather than an American car that looks like a Honda or a Toyota or Nissan. UNLESS... the car possesses its own uniquely American styling and design philosophy.

The 300C dares to step outside of these boundaries, and make a car that is IMO strikingly good looking, and it's turning in times (very low 14s or high 13s) that seem more like those you'd find in an LT1 Camaro or a Mustang GT, rather than its competitors like Avalon, Maxima, Impala, 500, and Passat. Hence keeping it in step with American design philosophy (or what it used to be anyway). Go-fast cars with awesome styling.

Another great thing about the LX is how versatile it is! Families want it since it's practical AND high performance...young people want it since it's sporty and/or "pimp"...older people want it since it reminds them of the American luxury fullsizes of old (but very much so improved)... it can satisfy people up north who need FWD or AWD (it has available AWD) to get through the snow, and people who need RWD or AWD for dry performance. Virtually no other car on the market can cater to such a wide variety of tastes.

So, you might not like the styling, but the very high sales numbers don't lie, and for people who want what it has to offer, there's simply zero competition.

 

 

Remind me how much the B-bodys of the mid 90s weighted.....that right almost 4500lbs! That is a nice 400-500lbs MORE then the LX sedans.

I don't understand why people think they are overweight. It is a RWD, V8 sedan, not a Corvette. I think everyone will be calling the RWD sedans from GM overweight when they come out bcuz they won't weight 3500lbs. They will come in closer to 4000lbs, hell even the last M5 was hard pressed to keep it under 2 tons and it rides on a aluminum chassis.

 

I don't deny that they are selling in droves. And as an American buyer first, foremost and exclusively when I have a choice, I am glad that they are successful andprofitable. I do however, think that they are boxy and ugly. I personally far preferred the LH cars. If they had made the LX series body work reminiscent of the LH, I would most likely have replaced the Intrepid with one. Instead I bought the Grand Prix, a car with swoopy styling, that despite some peoples opionion, I find very attractive. Biggest knock on the GP is the rear seats. The Intrepid had more rear leg room, and I am pretty sure the LX cars do as well.

So to sum it up, I am not opposed to what the LX cars stand for (well other than the Charger),which is uniquely American styling; I am, however, opposed to the armored car styling that they used to achieve that status.

 

It's cool that a lot of people like these cars, a lot of people like Britney Spears, Kenny G, Barbara Streisand, etc. do I need to go on? Just because something sells well does not garner it any special attention. Does the fact the Mclaren F1 sold very few units mean it sucked?

It's good news for the manufacturer, and the people who like them that they are selling so well. It does nothing to change the problem that everyone else has with them, the styling.

The car's are just hideous to me, and I will give you that they are incredibly easy to recognize but for me, that is not a good thing. I haven't seen many people on here say they are underpowered, or excessively heavy(the few that have obviously have never looked at the weight of a charger, or any other car in the muscle era), but instead it is the fact that they are ugly as sin to a lot of people. They stick out like a sore thumb to me, and I am so tired of seeing them everywhere already.

Looks are an objective quality, and this style on the LX is controversial so it is either love it or hate it. This is both good and bad because that means when you refresh it, you better hope that you score another hit or else the car will fail.

That is a bit jumbled, but I am so tired of seeing people respond to this with "jealousy" or other retarded comments like that. People don't have to be jealous or feel inferior to not like something. I don't like the new mustangs, are they faster than my car? You bet, I just don't like how they look. Is the SRT-8 faster than my car? Most likely, but I would rather drive a lot of different cars than something that I find butt ugly.

 

I like them. IMO a balck 300c with tinted windows (a al 'The Car') is just awesome looking.

They did not go the same route as everyone else with plain Jane appliance design that is neither offensive nor interesting. AND - they succeeded. The cars are interesting, they do offend some, and they sell well. Good on 'em

 

I can see where the styling is a bit controversial. I'm lukewarm to it, but hat's off to Mopar for taking a gamble. Besides HEMI power and RWD overcome the slightly odd styling. (By the way, this latest generation of the "HEMI" was 100% designed in Auburn Hills, not from Stuttgart)

I think there's a lot of jealousy as well. GM just doesn't have anything to compare. I was a Mopar guy for years and I hated Camaros and Firebirds -- Probably because GM had a V8 RWD muscle car and Mopar didn't. I finally broke down and bought a Trans Am and I love it!

That is all.

Finn

 

Styling is always subjective.

When you ask a company to take a chance with styling, you're always going to have at least a small vocal group of people who hate it, even if they are almost a marginalized minority. You're seeing some reaction of that here in response to the 300's styling. It's a hit out of the ballpark, but read some of the comments here on it's styling. Little out of step?

The flip side of that is creating a design that everyone thinks looks good, but has no real passion. Perfect example is the Buick Lecrosse and to a lesser extent, the G6 & 2006 Impala. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone to say these cars are ugly. But almost everyone will also call them a little bland.


That's how styling is. You want to create passion, it inevitably goes both ways. I happen to love the 300C, I think the Magnum is pretty fantastic, and after seeing the Charger on the streets with other cars, my hate of it's front end has changed my view of the car to the new definition of "bada**" design.



As for why the hate of Chrysler's LX cars, the answer has been posted on this thread a dozen times it seems. Jealousy. Same reason for the hate of the new Mustang by some.

If we had a "heritage" styled Camaro and a 350 horse rear drive Buick sedan that looked and sold like the 300, a rear drive Chevy station wagon from hell that looked like the Magnum with a Chevy bar, and a agressively styled Pontiac Grand Prix of the theme of the Dodge Charger, these very same people would think GM was the greatest car company of all time.

Come on.... admit it...... you know it's true!

 

I know that I think GM should have axed buick a long time ago. I think most people on this site would probably try and kill me, but GM probably would be doing a lot better if pontiac was gone too. I think chrysler is doing well for itself right now, but they could be GM cars and they would still be butt ugly.

I would be talking about how ugly the buick that looks like a 300 is, the station wagon like the magnum, and the grand prix that looked like the charger is, because the designs are just ugly to me. I would be commending GM for the sales(just like I did chrysler in my post) but still be saying how unquestionably hideous the cars look to me.

People don't have to like the looks of a car that is popular. Get over it.

 

Everyone might call the LX cars ugly, but would love the concept Belair if it made it to production with a 6.0 LS2 and a 6spd auto/manual with IRS.

 

I've always loved the 300 and liked the magnum. I used to hate the charger but have warmed upto it and actually like it now.

I like what they're doing thus far. Now regarding that challenger coupe, i just pray to god that it isn't a pig, and that it comes with a real tranny (manual). If they get that done right, than the challenger will make for a very nice addition to the LX family.

 

If the BelAir had made it to production, it probably would have weighed 6000lb and cost $50k.

Doesn't anyone remember how the SSR turned out?

 

In one of the recent magazines, I think it was Motor Trend, the SRT-8 Magnum ran a 13.1 quarter. Yes, you read that right, 13.1.

DC hit a home run. All the domestic companies spent the lat 25 years trying to make their cars into import clones. Trying to beat the Japanese at their own game. Sh!tty strategy. DC finally said hey, this crap isn't working, let's build cars our way, instead of theirs. I love it. Now if GM and Ford would follow suit, I think the domestics could gain back some of the car market share they have lost, and stop being so reliant on big trucks/SUV's. Plus with the rumored return of the Camaro AND the Challenger by '09, times will be good again. Just imagine, Camaro, GTO, Mustang, Charger, Challenger. Wow.