10 Things We Just Learned About The Upcoming Dodge Barracuda

Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

10 Things We Just Learned About The Upcoming Dodge Barracuda

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

Nice looking Dodge Barracuda!

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

1 thing I just learned about whomever wrote this article:

1) They don't know that the 'new' Challenger has had independent rear suspension since day 1.

Quote from article:

"Dodge will likely ditch the solid axle rear suspension design used in previous Dodge models in favor of the independent rear suspension. Competitors like the Mustang and Camaro already operate this suspension."

Challenger rear suspension:

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

My first though is it'll at least keep Bramalea alive for a little while longer.

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Have to say I don't get the rationale for this one. Challenger is already very successful for Chrysler, as point 2 in the article notes. Why mess with success?

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

gparis7 wrote:
Have to say I don't get the rationale for this one. Challenger is already very successful for Chrysler, as point 2 in the article notes. Why mess with success?

I can think of a couple of reasons:

1) One complaint about Challenger is that it is too large and too heavy in comparison with Mustang and Camaro.

2) In modern car terms, the Challenger chassis is ancient, dating back to the 2005 LX cars (Magnum/300). The article mentions that the new car will be based on Alfa Romeo Guilia platform. I'm not familiar with Alfa stuff, so I can't comment on its attributes.

I tend to agree with your point, though, as Challenger surely has carved out a good niche market for itself. I think their customer base prefers a car larger than Mustang/Camaro, and probably isn't all that concerned with having the latest/greatest chassis refinements. Perhaps, under new Stellantis ownership, they are wanting to expand their customer base, hoping to take some market share from other sports car makers, or just from Mustang, which is still selling remarkably well for a 2 door coupe. It's hard to say for sure.

We'll see what happens, though, as even the article is somewhat murky.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Funny none of the other big auto websites are talking about this. You'd think it'd be easier to just build the next gen Challenger on this platform and keep the nameplate.

ABC123 · Uber Guru

The Challenger is Built in Ontario on the Charger/300 platform.

From my Chrysler Manager Friend,

"The Barracuda will be a European built car designed to go after such cars like the KIA Stinger"

I think The good Challenger/Charger sales have the bosses not wanting to upset the cart.

Don't be surprised if it is not a retro styled car but just a car with a retro nameplate.

The Prototype for the 1987 mustang is still a lesson remembered the history books.

Front drive cat that got so much bad reaction that they had to launch it as the Probe.

Died a few years later and the Mustang lived on.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

So the Challenger will continue on alongside the Barracuda? Interesting.

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

If they are looking to develop a different class of sports car on an European platform then this makes a little more sense. Not sure I'd go with the name Barracuda for such car, but I get the concept.

However, it doesn't make sense to me to have it compete with or displace an already successful platform that people want to buy.

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

Here`s Challenger sales data I sourced from the web:

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

2020 sales are definitely down. I wonder if that is owing to Covid, or if it's the start of a trend.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I think yes, Covid has had an effect on all car sales. Plus, 2020 isn't finished yet, so 2020 car sales figures are not yet complete.

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

MC wrote:
I think yes, Covid has had an effect on all car sales. Plus, 2020 isn't finished yet, so 2020 car sales figures are not yet complete.

Still one quarter to go, that's true but the best quarter in the last 12 years was 2018 when 15,700 were sold. That would make about 38,000 for 2020 the least since 2010.

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

So a Fiat-Alpha-Barracuda? Another new electronics filled high price car? Being a old car guy, Id rather have a 68-69 Barracuda, Camaro, Mustang, Firebird, etc. And the new stuff is so heavy, weight is more than my 63 Parisienne.

Automobiles have become very expensive and very complicated, it takes nothing damage wise to write them off because of cost to repair. And mechanical repair is completely attached to proprietary software from the manufacturer so go to a dealer for everything.

The new cars are very powerful and fuel efficient for sure and way safer than the old stuff, but there is no price competition. Lets hope someone decides to build an electric peoples car, like the model T. Keep dropping the price, make them all on the same platform with the same mechanical bits and dont make changes every year for the sake of change. Like say (pick a year) 1963 Parisienne, Impala, Acadian, Nova, Buick, Olds, Cadillac, pickups from Chev and GMC, even Corvair and Corvette had some common components, Im forgetting lots of models.

Engineers for some reason started making vehicles where you have to jack up an engine to change the plugs or remove a cab on a pickup to do any serious engine service. Stupidity.

I have yet to hear of a well made Fiat around here, take a look at the quality of FCA vehicles, always at the bottom. I like the looks of many of them but to me the quality is lacking.

Question on the Barracuda is will they sell to the younger crowd I guess? I assume that is the target market, not us old guys who have likely been the buyers of the Challenger.

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

DonSSDD wrote:
So a Fiat-Alpha-Barracuda? Another new electronics filled high price car? Being a old car guy, Id rather have a 68-69 Barracuda, Camaro, Mustang, Firebird, etc. And the new stuff is so heavy, weight is more than my 63 Parisienne.

Automobiles have become very expensive and very complicated, it takes nothing damage wise to write them off because of cost to repair. And mechanical repair is completely attached to proprietary software from the manufacturer so go to a dealer for everything.

The new cars are very powerful and fuel efficient for sure and way safer than the old stuff, but there is no price competition. Lets hope someone decides to build an electric peoples car, like the model T. Keep dropping the price, make them all on the same platform with the same mechanical bits and dont make changes every year for the sake of change. Like say (pick a year) 1963 Parisienne, Impala, Acadian, Nova, Buick, Olds, Cadillac, pickups from Chev and GMC, even Corvair and Corvette had some common components, Im forgetting lots of models.

Engineers for some reason started making vehicles where you have to jack up an engine to change the plugs or remove a cab on a pickup to do any serious engine service. Stupidity.

I have yet to hear of a well made Fiat around here, take a look at the quality of FCA vehicles, always at the bottom. I like the looks of many of them but to me the quality is lacking.

Question on the Barracuda is will they sell to the younger crowd I guess? I assume that is the target market, not us old guys who have likely been the buyers of the Challenger.

For all their benefits, late model vehicles have some complexities that make no sense to me. Case in point: my 2014 Ram 1500 pickup. 1. When I got it I was encouraged to buy extra warranty because of the risk of electronics issues. Well, based on the number of electronics issues I've had in the lighting and the in the instrument panel alone to date, I suspect I will be glad I bought it once base warranty expires. 2. It's going in the shop tomorrow to replace the rear pads and rotors, not surprising as these are normal wear items. But this is not a simple brake replacement. No. The emergency brake shoes are also worn out. But that repair requires the removal of the drive axles in the differential. This in my mind is equivalent to having to lift the engine to change an oil filter. Surely there must be a simpler design. This kind of thing is one of the reasons I can't be bothered to maintain my own driver vehicles the way I did years ago when the vehicles were simpler.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

73SC wrote:
MC wrote:
I think yes, Covid has had an effect on all car sales. Plus, 2020 isn't finished yet, so 2020 car sales figures are not yet complete.
Still one quarter to go, that's true but the best quarter in the last 12 years was 2018 when 15,700 were sold. That would make about 38,000 for 2020 the least since 2010.

My point was that this has been a strange year for everything due to the pandemic. Everybody's sales are down, and it's not clear whether there will be some pent-up demand that will resolve in the last quarter or not. I suspect that overall sales will be lower for everybody, as production was shut down or reduced in the spring months, and 2020 model year production is now finished for everybody, as the factory switchover to '21s would typically have happened in the July/August time frame.

Whatever unsold '20s are sitting on the lots will have to be sold off - and that will be your fourth quarter for 20 models (unless vast numbers of '20s are still on the lots in January).

Regardless, I don't think we can make any conclusions on the viability of Challenger by 2020 sales figures. You'd also have to figure that the economic uncertainty due to the pandemic would have affected enthusiast (i.e. 'toy') sales mostly anyhow, of which most of the V8 Challenger production would be classified.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

gparis7 wrote:
DonSSDD wrote:
So a Fiat-Alpha-Barracuda? Another new electronics filled high price car? Being a old car guy, Id rather have a 68-69 Barracuda, Camaro, Mustang, Firebird, etc. And the new stuff is so heavy, weight is more than my 63 Parisienne.

Automobiles have become very expensive and very complicated, it takes nothing damage wise to write them off because of cost to repair. And mechanical repair is completely attached to proprietary software from the manufacturer so go to a dealer for everything.

The new cars are very powerful and fuel efficient for sure and way safer than the old stuff, but there is no price competition. Lets hope someone decides to build an electric peoples car, like the model T. Keep dropping the price, make them all on the same platform with the same mechanical bits and dont make changes every year for the sake of change. Like say (pick a year) 1963 Parisienne, Impala, Acadian, Nova, Buick, Olds, Cadillac, pickups from Chev and GMC, even Corvair and Corvette had some common components, Im forgetting lots of models.

Engineers for some reason started making vehicles where you have to jack up an engine to change the plugs or remove a cab on a pickup to do any serious engine service. Stupidity.

I have yet to hear of a well made Fiat around here, take a look at the quality of FCA vehicles, always at the bottom. I like the looks of many of them but to me the quality is lacking.

Question on the Barracuda is will they sell to the younger crowd I guess? I assume that is the target market, not us old guys who have likely been the buyers of the Challenger.
For all their benefits, late model vehicles have some complexities that make no sense to me. Case in point: my 2014 Ram 1500 pickup. 1. When I got it I was encouraged to buy extra warranty because of the risk of electronics issues. Well, based on the number of electronics issues I've had in the lighting and the in the instrument panel alone to date, I suspect I will be glad I bought it once base warranty expires. 2. It's going in the shop tomorrow to replace the rear pads and rotors, not surprising as these are normal wear items. But this is not a simple brake replacement. No. The emergency brake shoes are also worn out. But that repair requires the removal of the drive axles in the differential. This in my mind is equivalent to having to lift the engine to change an oil filter. Surely there must be a simpler design. This kind of thing is one of the reasons I can't be bothered to maintain my own driver vehicles the way I did years ago when the vehicles were simpler.

Not all cars are designed and built equally. Problem is, it's hard for anybody to know what idiosyncrasies exist unless you know the vehicles intimately - and even then some of these issues take a couple of years to show themselves.

I used to think that I would just drive old cars forever, for their simplicity and ease of repair, but it's not that simple, really. Old cars are old cars - and unless you go through them entirely and replace everything with new parts (if you can even get new parts that are up to OEM quality standards for them now), you will always be fighting parts failures once you step up the vehicle's status to actual year-round daily driver level. I know there are some people who are up to the challenge (Beaumontguru comes to mind), but there aren't many. Plus newer cars offer advantages in performance, fuel economy, handling, braking, comfort, etc., that are superior to cars from the 1960s, whether we want to admit it or not.

Most people don't want to mess with old cars, and in most cases are not capable or interested. Whether we like it or not, new cars are the way to go for most people, for now, until something better comes along. Hopefully, in the long run, we choose good ones that don't make us want to pull our hair out...

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

MC wrote:
gparis7 wrote:
DonSSDD wrote:
So a Fiat-Alpha-Barracuda? Another new electronics filled high price car? Being a old car guy, Id rather have a 68-69 Barracuda, Camaro, Mustang, Firebird, etc. And the new stuff is so heavy, weight is more than my 63 Parisienne.

Automobiles have become very expensive and very complicated, it takes nothing damage wise to write them off because of cost to repair. And mechanical repair is completely attached to proprietary software from the manufacturer so go to a dealer for everything.

The new cars are very powerful and fuel efficient for sure and way safer than the old stuff, but there is no price competition. Lets hope someone decides to build an electric peoples car, like the model T. Keep dropping the price, make them all on the same platform with the same mechanical bits and dont make changes every year for the sake of change. Like say (pick a year) 1963 Parisienne, Impala, Acadian, Nova, Buick, Olds, Cadillac, pickups from Chev and GMC, even Corvair and Corvette had some common components, Im forgetting lots of models.

Engineers for some reason started making vehicles where you have to jack up an engine to change the plugs or remove a cab on a pickup to do any serious engine service. Stupidity.

I have yet to hear of a well made Fiat around here, take a look at the quality of FCA vehicles, always at the bottom. I like the looks of many of them but to me the quality is lacking.

Question on the Barracuda is will they sell to the younger crowd I guess? I assume that is the target market, not us old guys who have likely been the buyers of the Challenger.
For all their benefits, late model vehicles have some complexities that make no sense to me. Case in point: my 2014 Ram 1500 pickup. 1. When I got it I was encouraged to buy extra warranty because of the risk of electronics issues. Well, based on the number of electronics issues I've had in the lighting and the in the instrument panel alone to date, I suspect I will be glad I bought it once base warranty expires. 2. It's going in the shop tomorrow to replace the rear pads and rotors, not surprising as these are normal wear items. But this is not a simple brake replacement. No. The emergency brake shoes are also worn out. But that repair requires the removal of the drive axles in the differential. This in my mind is equivalent to having to lift the engine to change an oil filter. Surely there must be a simpler design. This kind of thing is one of the reasons I can't be bothered to maintain my own driver vehicles the way I did years ago when the vehicles were simpler.
Not all cars are designed and built equally. Problem is, it's hard for anybody to know what idiosyncrasies exist unless you know the vehicles intimately - and even then some of these issues take a couple of years to show themselves.
I used to think that I would just drive old cars forever, for their simplicity and ease of repair, but it's not that simple, really. Old cars are old cars - and unless you go through them entirely and replace everything with new parts (if you can even get new parts that are up to OEM quality standards for them now), you will always be fighting parts failures once you step up the vehicle's status to actual year-round daily driver level. I know there are some people who are up to the challenge (Beaumontguru comes to mind), but there aren't many. Plus newer cars offer advantages in performance, fuel economy, handling, braking, comfort, etc., that are superior to cars from the 1960s, whether we want to admit it or not.
Most people don't want to mess with old cars, and in most cases are not capable or interested. Whether we like it or not, new cars are the way to go for most people, for now, until something better comes along. Hopefully, in the long run, we choose good ones that don't make us want to pull our hair out...

I agree. It's easy to be seduced today by the power, handling, convenience and fuel efficiency of modern vehicles. And unlike the cars of old, I cannot work on them or keep them or on the road because I don't care to spend the time learning about them that I did for my old cars.

Back in the 80s I drove 50s and 60s cars to work everyday, year round in the case of my 58 Ford (with vacuum wipers), and all summer in my subsequent 65 Pontiac Parisienne convt and others. Mostly this was because I did not have a better reliable later model car much of the time because I couldn't afford one. But I also enjoyed driving these cars. It didn't even bother me to have to rebuild the trans in the 58 Ford, or to rebuild its master cylinder after work one evening in October so I could get to work in it the next morning.

Today, I wouldn't want to be dependent on a car like that, even though it is within my skills to maintain it. I'd rather get in my (mostly) reliable late model, technology laden vehicle and not have to worry about it. I simply maintain it at a garage, and just drive it. It's all about convenience in the end (along with less tolerance for crawling around on the ground in the winter to repair your brakes).