Chrysler styling

[trinacriabob]

I just got a look at the new Sebring while driving around the Bay Area. I saw the ribs on the hood and the chunky (Altima-ish) rear greenhouse and super short trunk, not to mention the all too visible gas tank. Good God! While the previous Sebring / Stratus were not the pinnacle of automotive design, they were at least proportioned and likeable.

Then, let's add a few more "grandiose" designs to their stable:

- the entire truck line with that bulbous grille which says I need to buy my testosterone because I don't have it within, or for some guys (and maybe girls) who do have it but need an exaggerated amount

- the 300 and the Magnum - again, bombastic proportions and a nasty miniscule greenhouse

What's the deal? I don't like any of their products at this juncture.

Edited February 20, 2007 by trinacriabob

[Flybrian]

Viper, Cherokee, Liberty, Caliber, well-equipped Chargers, that's it. MOPARs of the mid-90s looked far, far better, especially the Chrysler lineup which just exuded class in all its vehicles at that time.

[bobo]

I like the Pacifica but not much else in the Chrysler stable. The Crossfire styling cues do not translate well onto the Sebring. It comes across as much too forced. Overall, Chrysler and Dodge have a couple of hits in an entire fleet of clunkers.

[ZL-1]

Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge vehicles I like: the 300, the Magnum, the 300 wagon we get in Europe (essentially a Magnum with the 300's front end and interior - i like it a lot!), the Grand Cherokee , the Viper and the Pacifica (yes, even after all the years it's been on sale).

The rest of them just aren't my cup of tea...

EDIT - I forgot the Crossfire

Edited February 19, 2007 by ZL-1

[CARBIZ]

I'm with Bob on this one. I used to love the Sebring/Stratus design, but what is going on over there now? Everything is boxy and square! I hate the Ram. The Dakota is much better. I like the 300, but it will wear thin unless a nice refresh can be thought up. I like the Grand Cherokee, but not the rest of the Jeep line, alhtough the YJ will always be a classic.

Eight years ago I would have said Chrysler was at the forefront of design. Now, I would say they are making Ford look good.

[Northstar]

Hmm, let's see...

The Viper is about the only thing that looks good at all. The LX cars are so overrated it's not even funny. The 300 is a brick with a fancy front end, the Charger is just ugly unless you get the SRT-8, which actually looks really aggressive, and the Magnum is about the same as the Charger. The Caliber is ok, as are lots of Chrysler's designs, but nothing makes you say "wow" other than the Viper.

[Mule Bakersdozen LS]

Anyone seen the Avenger in person yet? Looks smaller than I thought, but I didn't get to sit in the car-why are bodyside moldings becoming optional? These cars (along with most) do not look good without moldings-they just look cheap, and unfortunately, Chrysler has been good at doing that lately-making things look cheap. The Sebring, 300, Charger and Magnum dashboards look good-anything else introduced since 2005 look cheap and not like the "Dark/Medium Slate Grey" they claim, but of a drab, boring grey. The 2003 Airflite concept car looked so good-I was looking forward to seeing it translate to the new Sebring-but it got botched up so horribly, and I almost banged my head coming out of that atrocity. Oh well, the Auto Show is a week and a half away and I'll check it out then. And what's with the headrests? Do they really think having your head sloped at a downward angle is comfortable? And they're not adjustable in the rear seat, so your rear seat passengers have to suffer in the Compass, Avenger, Sebring, etc. And where is the Wrangler and Patriot? I've seen the Unlimited at dealers since November, but not the other two. Other than Charger, I've never been a fan of the LX cars either-the 300 especially looks boring and bland to me, I really fail to see what is such a revolutionary stylistic masterpiece about it. And the base 300's, especially with Charger in the picture, have no reason whatsoever to exist, especially as cheap-looking and gutless as it is. And why don't the other Dodge cars look more like Viper and the 1999 Charger concept? The Caliber just looks weird in pictures, a bit better in person, but its interior is almost as awful as the Compass on which its based. And it too, suffers from cheapness and too-little-for-the-money (why is A/C optional in 2007??!!) Grand Cherokee-stylish but cramped, and again, a cheap dashboard (particuarly Laredo) and abominable headrests!

[MyerShift]

As a whole, current Chrysler styling is terrible.

Their line-ups from the mid to late 1990's looked infinitely better and not as cheap.

It's sad really.

[sciguy_0504]

I like the 300 and Pacifica from Chrysler. The Sebring sure as hell isn't the best looking midsize car but I wouldn't call it ugly. Actually, I think it's somewhat distinctive. The Dodge lineup has great styling, however, apart from the trucks and new Caravan. The new Jeep Wrangler is very nice looking.

[A Horse With No Name]

As a whole, current Chrysler styling is terrible.

Their line-ups from the mid to late 1990's looked infinitely better and not as cheap.

It's sad really.

They really don't build a singe car that I like the styling of, so, to answer the question in the o.p.,

What do you think of Chrysler Styling?

Not much, actually.

Chris

[Intrepidation]

Anyone seen the Avenger in person yet?

Yes, a dark blue one. It looked pretty good to me.

What I love

• Ram (still has my favorite exterior)
• Charger, especially in SRT form
• Magnum, especially in SRT form
• Viper, especially in coupe form

What I like

• Caliber
• Nitro
• Refreshed Durango
• Refreshed Dakota
• Avenger
• Wrangler
• Grand Cherokee, especially in SRT form
• Liberty
• PT Cruiser
• Pacifica
• Crossfire

What I don't care for

• Aspen
• Commander
• Patriot
• Sebring

What I hate

• Compass

[BrewSwillis]

If the styling is so bad then why:

300 - Copied = Ford Interceptor Concept & chopped greenhouses of new Toyotas

PT Cruiser - Copied = Chevy HHR

Dodge Ram - Copied = New Toyota Tundra

Chrysler Minivans - Copied = Everyone else that has a successful minivan

Jeep - Copied = Hummer

It's no secret that Chrysler is employing "love it or hate it" styling to many of their vehicles. This is done so that people who love the vehicle will want to buy one, and the people that hate it wouldn't want one anyway. They don't have the resources (money) of Toyota who can just buy the top notch of everything to sell a ton of bland vanilla cars. Chrysler has to compete on style. Most of you people that hate the designs wouldn't even consider buying a Chrysler anyway.

[Flybrian]

HUMMER is not a copy of Jeep. I'm not breaking out the family tree again to prove this.

[DetroitNut90]

IMO, Chrysler lost every trait of its styling from the 90s with the exception of its uniqueness. Every vehicle it currently makes is unique-looking compared to other manufacturers' offerings, but with the exception of the LX cars, minivans, Wrangler, and Viper, they're uniquely hideous.

Edited February 20, 2007 by DetroitNut90

[ocnblu]

I really like all the LX cars, especially now that the base 300 has better looking wheels available. I wouldn't mind seeing an Imperial if it looked like the Chronos. I do think the refreshed '08 Magnum improves the looks of that car. The Caliber was a shock, but now I think it's a distinctive, clever small car. The '08 Dakota improves the look of that truck. The Ram has always been too big, too high, for me, a bit of overkill. The Nitro is cool with body-color trim, but I do not care for the base model. The Challenger could have been a contender if they'd priced and contented it with Mustang and Camaro. The Demon should be built as-is. The Viper is in a world of its own.

The Sebring is distinctive, but not pretty. The convertible, especially in hardtop form, has bad proportions with the top up. The ragtop looks better top up, imo. The Aspen is the wrong product at the wrong time. I hope these new crossovers from Dodge and Chrysler look good. The new minivans are fine and retain class leadership with clever interior features. The Avenger, at least in base form that I saw at a dealership, looks very plain, like an old Dart used to look versus the competition. Maybe in the right color and with the right rims it could look better.

The Liberty has always been my favorite in this class, a true SUV in a sea of pretenders. I hope the new skin carries that tradition. I was unhappy to see the diesel go away so quickly. The new Wrangler is very nice. The current Cherokee has always left me sort of cold compared to the last gen. The Commander looks better than the GC, imo, it sort of reminds me of an old Wagoneer with a higher roof. The Patriot at least looks the part, and the magazine articles I've read don't pan it as much as the horrendous Compass.

The Sprinter is all over the place around here. I know it's not a true Mopar product as much as a Freightliner/Benz, but it's a good idea on paper to have a voluminous van with small-displacement, efficient diesel power, especially if you're not towing anything or carrying super-heavy loads.

Edited February 20, 2007 by ocnblu

[regfootball]

HUMMER is not a copy of Jeep. I'm not breaking out the family tree again to prove this.

sick joke opportunity I will leave by the wayside.

re: DCX styling.

I saw a new sebring today on the road and honestly it looked fine in motion. standing still, not so much. i think this car will take awhile to find its legs in the market. i do think it will be a fleet queen.

I honestly think Chrysler's move away from cab forward to these ridiculous butch looking vehicles is to blame. I do like cab forward.

The last Intrepid was a very nice car. The last 300 was very nice. The original cloud cars were the bomb.

The current 300 I am lukewarm on and it goes downhill from there. The Jeeps I am ok with.

One universal thing I see in Chrysler that just flat out downgrades EVERYTHING for me in one fell swoop are the absolutely terrible interiors. Even something as way cool as the PT cruiser gets a big downgrade because of the interior cheapness. Nitro, Caliber, etc.....HORRIBLE interiors. I think folks judge cars stylistically on interiors alone more than any of us think.

[Variance]

"I'd hit it"s:

Charger R/T and up

Magnum R/T and up

Grand Cherokee SRT-8

300C SRT-8

Everything else I'm indifferent to or don't care for.

[Cory Wolfe]

It's no secret that Chrysler is employing "love it or hate it" styling to many of their vehicles. This is done so that people who love the vehicle will want to buy one, and the people that hate it wouldn't want one anyway. They don't have the resources (money) of Toyota who can just buy the top notch of everything to sell a ton of bland vanilla cars. Chrysler has to compete on style. Most of you people that hate the designs wouldn't even consider buying a Chrysler anyway.

Ugly =/= Love it or hate it.

[FAPTurbo]

I could whip out plenty of pictures of current Chrysler products to show people their 'styling' but I don't want to subject people on this site to cruel and unusual torture.

That being said, I love the Pacifica and the LX models, especially the Magnum.

[MyerShift]

The Pacifica is quite lovely and smooth compared with everything else, and its interior is light years ahead of any top of the line 300.

[Sixty8panther]

Awsome:

300C

Charger (the SRT8 is the 1st car since the 96 Impala SS that I would call a TRUE Muscle Car it needs a MANUAL 6-speed)

Viper

Cool:

Magnum

Ram

Dakota

Neon SRT4

Ugly & Lame:

Caliber

Sebring

Compass

[The O.C.]

HUMMER is not a copy of Jeep. I'm not breaking out the family tree again to prove this.

Well....it kindof is.....from the standpoint that the only Hummer that ever existed was the militaristic H1 until GM came along and brought out way more "civilized SUVs that still have great off-road capabilities."

The H2 and H3 are direct assaults on Jeep.......

[AxelTheRed]

For the most part, I think Chrysler's styling is great. I think that Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep have some of the best looking cars on the road.

[aaaantoine]

I'm not a big fan of Chrysler in general, but for the sake of this thread I will point out my likes and dislikes.

Likes:

Dodge Charger. That's one awesome looking sedan.

Jeep Grand Cherokee. It's styling leaves behind its heritage, but it's a slick angular design.

Dodge Caliber. I appreciate it's stand-out style, at least from most angles.

Dodge Viper. Hot.

Dislikes:

Chrysler Sebring. To me, the front says "1998 Malibu".

Dodge Durango. Bloated.

Chrysler Aspen. Bloated, plus 1998 Ford Expedition styling.

Dodge Nitro. Design is overdone. Though I bet it has a lot of cargo space for its size.

Chrysler PT Cruiser. The design doesn't age well. The refresh wasn't enough. The HHR may be a "copy", but at least it's a FRESH DESIGN. One that GM is probably not going to try to run forever.

[Intrepidation]

Awsome:

300C

Charger (the SRT8 is the 1st car since the 96 Impala SS that I would call a TRUE Muscle Car it needs a MANUAL 6-speed)

Viper

Cool:

Magnum

Ram

Dakota

Neon SRT4

Ugly & Lame:

Caliber

Sebring

Compass

ZOMG!

You just admitted a FWD with a transversely mounted motor was cool! Are you feeling ok?

But yeah Neon SRT-4's are badass. Whereas most 4-bangeres sound like lawn mowers when people mod them, this thing sounds deep, I swear it almost sounds like a V8 at idle. I would so own one.

[Sixty8panther]

Dodgefan:

Little known, deep dark secret: I almost bought an SRT4 once.

Hey, it was four years ago. We're all stupid and young once.

[Flybrian]

Well....it kindof is.....from the standpoint that the only Hummer that ever existed was the militaristic H1 until GM came along and brought out way more "civilized SUVs that still have great off-road capabilities."

The H2 and H3 are direct assaults on Jeep.......

True, but then again you could use that to claim the Avalon is a copy of a Buick, etc. I was mainly referring to that whole big flap about HUMMER 'copying' the Jeep grille a few years ago.

[Intrepidation]

Dodgefan:

Little known, deep dark secret: I almost bought an SRT4 once.

Hey, it was four years ago. We're all stupid and young once.

Dude you should have bought it. Those cars are awesome pocket rockets.