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Lexus IS Bluetooth and Navigation
•Investors also hear that Fiat will build some new compact models for Jeep.
•A new Maserati-based Viper is due in 2012, but the sexy Alfa Romeo 4C sports car could be delayed until 2013.
Fiat Rejiggers Its Future Products - Again (Inside Line)
WHAT DEALERS? How about getting some dealers before putting on the ad blitz??!!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I doubt Fiat is worried about the 6 people there that might be interested in one.
Just like any new automotive brand rollout, they start in highly populated areas and then cover the lower areas. Also, they have to find a dealer willing to support the brand there. No dealer is going to invest seven figures if the potential doesn't support it.
Unfortunately San Diego is over 3,000,000 people last census. Rechecking it seems that Bob Baker now has a Fiat dealership in Carlsbad. About 53 miles from where I live. However my dealings with Bob Baker Lexus would make me cringe to consider buying a Fiat from him. We do have several decent Chrysler dealers that could add the Fiat 500 without impacting the showroom of lot. It looks like Fiat is trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. The 500 ain't a Mini Cooper and I would not drive 50 miles for a Mini dealer either.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Thought SD was South Dakota...
Gotta help out us East Coast centric folks - For us Bostonians, anything west of 95 is New York and beyond that really doesn't matter!!
:P
Gary's got places in multiple locations but last I looked South Dakota isn't one of them....
I was sure of that. But part of the fun of life is getting digs on those East of the Mississippi. South Dakota was never on my short list. Though I do like the Black Hills and the big heads.
Neither have I, but there is one just over the border in Langhorne, PA.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
I drove through South Dakota in 1982 in an 80 Accord. It was probably the only Japanese car in the great plains at the time.
We can all be imported from Detroit now, by judicial fiat.
Chrysler Can't Stop Use of Imported From Detroit Slogan, Judge Rules(Inside Line)
Fiat's plants in Italy have all lost money."
Fiat to scrap labor contracts in Italy in 2012 (Automotive News)
The Chrysler purchase is going to save their pancetta. :shades:
So... not sure how Fiat is going to unilaterally dump their contracts... :surprise:
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The new Dart is a critically important offering from Dodge, since it targets the Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra and marks the brand's most serious offensive into the compact sedan segment since the Dodge Neon — which has been off the market for seven years."
2013 Dodge Dart Set for World Debut at 2012 Detroit Auto Show
Really?? Unless you're a Mopar fanatic, most of the target market won't have a clue of the Dart's history. In fact, the only thing I can remember of it was the sad little compact it was during it's final years. Trust me, the Dart name does nothing for me.
I remember one review from some Consumer magazine (not Reports or Guide, but something else) that tested a '75 Dart and gave it pretty high ratings. One of their comments was that it felt more like a well-preserved 1965 car than a brand-new model, but with the way the newer cars were turning out, that was actually a good thing!
Personally, I started disliking the styling of them after 1972, but I still think they were good cars. Quality did go down in later years, but hey, it was the 70's, when EVERYTHING went downhill!
You DO remember who you are talking to, right?
Andre - you are the first one I thought of when I hear this.
I use "you're" in the euphamistic manner as in "the collective world".
I think it's a smart move to revive the old name for Dodge's '13 compact. Of course, how the car leverages the name will depend on the product, as comparisons will surely be made between the new and old Darts.
I think it's a smart move but not for the reason you list. The target market will have zero recollection of the old Dart that went away close to 40 years ago. That's why it's smart to re-use it. The last boring Dart won't act as baggage for this modern vehicle. The Dart name today will be marketed as an agile, swift vehicle as the name implies.
I wonder if mischievous youngsters will try to pry the "D" off, and fit it with the "F" off of a Ford product, like they would occasionally do back in the day? :P
I saw a Passat wagon the other day (not mine) that the owner removed the "A" and replaced it with the "T" with it's arms removed. "PISSA" to us Bostonians means something that is too cool ie Tom Brady is a wicked pissa quarterback.
Probably true. But those that do will be a positive because the Dart always had a reputation as a good, reliable decent looking vehicle back then.
But will those 70-90 year olds be out there buying Darts?
I'm under 50 and remember the last Darts. Good looking is not an attribute I'd use to describe them. IMHO they were neutered refreshes of the late 60's Dart.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
You really have to consider the whole Dart history though, and not just focus on those few sad final years. Using the final Dart to sum up the whole lineup is like picking 1974 to represent the Mustang or GTO!
I'd imagine most people under 50, when they think of a Dart, are going to think of the hot '67-69 models, which sported engines on up to the 440 Wedge and 426 Hemi, or the 340 and 360 powered Swingers, Demons, and Dart sports of the 70's. They're not going to be thinking about Grandpa's baby-poop brown '76 Dart Custom sedan with the slant six and the AM-only radio!
Also, the Dart seemed to hang around for a long, long time after 1976. Used examples were plying the streets and a common sight long after most equivalent cars had been disposed of. So, it might still be fairly fresh in the memory of lot more younger people than something like an old Nova, Falcon, or Granada might be.
I guess my memories of muscle car Darts have been replaced by my uncle's poop brown 76 sedan. To think he replaced a GTO with that.
Well, the Volare had its good points and bad. The '76-77 models were horrible rusters, but in '78-80 they were no worse than anything else out there.
My grandmother's cousin had a '79 Volare wagon, two-tone black over silver with a red interior, that was actually pretty sharp looking. She wanted to sell it in 1996, and I would've bought it, but another family member beat me to it. It was still shiny and rust-free by that time, but IIRC, the passenger door wouldn't open, the a/c didn't work, and the headliner was sagging. But she only wanted $300 for it.
So instead, I bought a 1979 Newport I found in the junkyard for $250. Still ran good, but the transmission was shot.
I guess my memories of muscle car Darts have been replaced by my uncle's poop brown 76 sedan. To think he replaced a GTO with that.
My grandparents on my Dad's side of the family had a '75 Dart Swinger, in a light creme/beige color. It used to stall out on them all the time, and the dealer never could fix it, so they traded it on a new Granada in '77, which promptly ate its transmission. But instead of dwelling on that '75 Dart, I try to block it from my memory! :P
And, to be fair, it was 1975. I have a feeling just about anything you bought in '75 would've been crap. Although, my Mom bought a new LeMans that year, and other than needing a new distributor within a year or two, it wasn't bad. Until Dad hit a tree with it in '77. It got fixed, but never ran right after that. :sick:
See I told you that you could defend the Volare. Now justify the Chrysler TC by Maserati!!
No. I have to draw the line somewhere! :shades:
Oh, and back on the Volare tangent. In 1994 I looked at a '78 or '79 that someone was selling locally. It was a coupe, had the 360-4bbl, and was rust-free, although it had a big dent in one of the rear quarters, and the ignition was busted, so you could start it by sticking anything that would fit in there. Seller only wanted $500 for it.
I drove it, and thought it was inferior in just about every way to the '68 Dart I was driving at the time.
It made #15 on IL's 100 Worst Cars of All Time.
Well Robr, like many other models that hang around the later ones get long in the tooth. But during the 60's and early 70's I'd see a lot of these cars on college campuses and military basis. Not high income people, but a lot of younger people in those demographics. You've got to compare it to comparables of the time like Nova (another decent looker for its price back then), Falcon, Maverick, etc. It wasn't in the same price and market as say a Cutlass or Camaro. I think one advantage Dart had in its segment was the availability of a 2 dr HT model and it had a relatively decent interior for its class as well.
But will those 70-90 year olds be out there buying Darts?
Well, seriously they won't be buying a lot of cars, period. I agree its market demographics will likely be younger buyers, but some older buyers, particularly in urban markets, still buy a small car.
Now I believe you are in the Boston area, so I don't see you as a perspective buyer. Driving in that town you need some metal around you because the lack of following the road laws means its like driving bumper cars there, right? But heck, you're airport can be a challenge too!