Charles Angelich wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

TW>> And as far as the styling it in NO way could be mistaken fro the 
TW>> classic 2 seater from 1955, 56, 57. 

CA>> I am always saddened when Detroit tries to 'bring back' some older 
CA>> styling and fails miserably. Proof that the 'style' left with the 
CA>> retirees and wasn't a 'product' of FoMoCo management. Some of 
CA>> these are an embarassment (to me). 

RJT> Worse yet is when the keep on using a name, or resurrect one that 
RJT> used to be in use, and stick it on something... 

CA> I was extremely annoyed at that one. They don't pay enough to 
CA> inspire their engineers to think of new names?

It's not an engineering function,  it's a marketing/design function.  And
those guys have their heads so far up their butts they oughta be equipped
with glass bellybuttons so that they could see where they're going...

RJT> To me, the Charger/Challenger from Mopar was a significant car in 
RJT> the late 60s to maybe mid 70s, the stuff that bore that name in 
RJT> the 80s had absolutely no relation to it whatsoever. 

CA> The faster Dodge was a 'Charger' and Plymouth was the 'Road 
CA> Runner'. Challenger came later as an enormously heavy Mustang sized
CA> automobile totally overpowered by most engines available for that
CA> model (one was supercharged if I recall correctly).

I had one,  picked it up as a "project car",  it had a problem
with the engine overheating,  and I had another head to put on it,  but I
then had the master cylinder go bad on me,  then somebody busted a side
window out of it,  then the body started to go,  bigtime,  at the back end,
 and I got to the point where I decided that it was really more than I
wanted to deal with,  so I got rid of it.

CA> The Barracuda with the 340ci engine turned out to be the
CA> sleeper of the bunch with an easy 600 horsepower if you tweak it
CA> just right. :-)



CA> Oddly enough the "All American" by Rambler was tested to be the 
CA> fastest street machine you could buy (390ci engine) at the time
CA> these other cars were being sold. Faster than the Chrysler 440s, 
CA> faster than the GTOs, faster than the Corvette. It was the small 
CA> Chevy II sized Rambler but I forget the name of the standard model 
CA> (Rebel?). The AMX were also quite fast and very nice looking as was 
CA> the Javelin.

Too bad they went away.

CA> Only other 'tweaked' automobiles could run against my Pontiac but I
CA> used to tease the guys with the stock 'muscle cars' on Woodward
CA> here. :-) 

RJT> And then there's the "new" Impala... :-( 

CA> Well, seriously, the Chevy Impala is one of the few Detroit
CA> cars that passes _both_ crash barrier tests each year. The
CA> 'Euro' had all wheel disc brakes and is/was quite fast too.  

Yeah,  but every stinkin' Impala from the day they were introduced had
_three_ taillights on each side,  round ones up until '65,  then square
portions of the wraparound introduced in '66.  The "new" one only
has two...  That's a Bel Air or a Biscayne,  not an Impala!  :-)

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