
Chrysler to revive Charger
Reborn car is planned for 2006 model year as a mass market rear-wheel-drive sedan
By Brett Clanton / The Detroit News
DaimlerChrysler AG is planning to come out with a new Dodge sedan by early next year under a name that brand loyalists will quickly recognize: the Charger.
Rumored for months, the rear-wheel-drive Charger is expected to debut as early as next January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and could hit showrooms by next spring, according to DaimlerChrysler officials familiar with the plans.
The company first hinted it may bring back the Charger brand when it introduced the Charger R/T concept in 1999. The rear-wheel drive Dodge Charger was born in 1966 as a high speed street racer. The 1969 Charger gained fame as the tire-squealing getaway car driven by Bo and Luke Duke for seven seasons on the TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
The rear-drive Charger was phased out in the late 1970s and revived briefly in the 1980s as a front-wheel drive coupe. The reborn Charger will be a mass market sedan built on the same underpinnings as the new Chrysler 300 Series sedan and Dodge Magnum wagon.
Chrysler officials said the Charger will look very different from those vehicles. The new Charger is being planned for the 2006 model year.
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