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Geoff Robins / AFP - Getty Images
The 2013 Dodge Dart is unveiled during the first press preview day at the 2012 Detroit auto show.
By msnbc.com news services
Chrysler introduced the new Dodge Dart at the Detroit auto show Monday.
The reinvented compact is nothing like its predecessor from the 1960s and '70s. But Chrysler is counting on the Dart, and its zippy name, to help it sell more small cars and continue its recent revival.
Instead of the somewhat boxy lines of the original, the new Dart has the sleek stance of a modern muscle-car, with a short hood, long roof and slightly flared fenders. And it's based on the frame and suspension of a crisp-handling Alfa Romeo hatchback brought over by Chrysler's Italian owner, Fiat SpA.
Geoff Robins / AFP - Getty Images
Upscale sedans, fuel-efficient electric cars – and old-school muscle cars – make their debuts at the 2012 North American International Auto show.
The Dart also is a crucial test of the Chrysler-Fiat alliance, one aimed at saving millions of dollars by reusing Fiat frames, engines and technology, yet giving them an American style with more space for people and gear. The Dart is the first Chrysler designed jointly by the companies.
Chrysler, which ran out of cash and had to be bailed out by the government in 2009, saw sales jump 26 percent last year, and it's poised to turn its first annual profit since 1997.
Now the automaker needs a breakthrough in the growing small-car market, where it hasn't had success since the bug-eyed Dodge Neon in the mid-1990s. After nearly failing, Chrysler also realizes it must end its dependence on inefficient SUVs and pickups.
Since the Neon, few have considered Chrysler compacts, keeping the company out of a market that has grown to about 15 percent of U.S. auto sales.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Not a BAD LOOKING CAR I must say. Does it still have that MOPAR FEEL ???
I had a 1971 Dodge Dart in High School, loved that car...
Now I drive used Dodge Neons 3-4 years old, I buy them for $3-4k with 60k+ miles on the clock and drive them to 140k miles, sell them for $1.5-2k... IMO one of the best "cheap" cars ever made...
Economy: 30-35 MPG, oil change every 5k mi, minor repairs like brakes, sparkplugs, which I do myself.
I'm not sure about Fiats, I had one in the 80's and it was a real piece, I hope their quality has improved a lot since then...
Of course it has that Mopar feel. if you google other images and not this one you will see it looks like the old Dodge Neon with a different grill and tail lights
go to www.allpar.com for more info and pictures
Definitely not the '68 Dodge Dart I had as a teenager.
I believe that Dodge has a good chance using the Fiat products and know how.
Fiat produces great compact to midsize cars and dominates everywhere it goes. The majority of the cabbies love their cars for their long last products with low maintenance and strong performance. I hope it gets to be a good alliance.
Looks like a Dodge Neon with a make over. Still gay.
If you take the badges off the car no one would be able to identify it from the rest of herd. Quit listening to "research groups" on "what we want" because I don't want that. Make a plain jane grocery getter (and price to match) and alot of people would be happy. People remember the old Darts as a plain car that handled the basics.
Gag . looks bad, just another rip off of the old school name without the looks.
At least Mustang and camero did a good job.
Let's face it, the original Dart was a great car, but it wasn't much to look at.
The current Mustang looks terrible, Ford had it right with the 2005-2009 run, but then ruined it with it's "aero" update design. Why you make a retro design more "aero" is beyond me. If you wanted an aero design you could buy almost any other new car.
As for the new Camaro, it is terrible looking - almost like a cartoon. Why the Chief Designer at GM told his designers that he did not want the new Camaro to look like '69 Camaro clone is also beyond me, and then have one designer do the front of the car and another the rear - what was he thinking. The new Camaro, if it had been done right, could had looked as nice as the nice as the fantastic new Challenger.
It seems Chrysler beat Ford at it's own game. Listen Ford & GM, buyers of retro cars want a new car that looks like an old car, not an old car made to look like a new car.
I'm a chevy guy but I think credit is due for how well they did on the Cuda remake! And thats from a chevy guy........
Ah - memories of my 1970 Dart with the slant-six engine and TorquFlite transmission. That thing just kept going and going like an old tractor - with very similar handling characteristics to an old tractor.
I learned how to drive on my mom's '70 Dart. Manual brakes, manual steering...if you wanted to make a turn you had to plan it a couple of blocks in advance. ;)
I've known people who had Darts or their Plymouth counterpart, most of them are basically an Al Bundy car (Married With Children): Ugly colours (worse when they are on the same car), accelarates like a bicycle up a hill, had to be started several times just to get it running and can be heard being started a block away. There is a yellow 1980 Dodge Van 300 sitting on our driveway with a manual transmission, but at least it serves a purpose- dumping junk to take to the yard. They all said they kept it as long as they did even if they have another car or could afford better -- memories. They say the engine is easy to maintain, which is a good thing considering they have to fix it all the time. Despite their age and faults, they're distinctive. Thirty or fourty years from now, the new Dodge Darts will look like every other car in the neighborhood made in the late 90s and early 21st century- round, unorigional features and requires professional maintence when they need it. The only good thing is that they may still be in good condition by then and doesn't burn through gas as much as the old ones.
Seen this time and time again from Chrysler. All they do is make over something else and call it a Dodge. They should develop the caravan and charger into the best a working class car a family can afford. They need to work on those models because they are potential winners. The 200 might be a great start. Noy sure yet.
They are way behind the times.
Yeah, at least the new Charger looks cool.
Seriously good looking car. Better than most anything in the segment right now. Can't wait to see the SRT version.
The very first car I owned was a 1964 Dodge Dart, which I purchased in 1974 for $250 with only 50,000 miles on it. It had the famous Slant 6 engine, with a one barrel Holley Carburetor, and a push button' transmission. I owned that car for over 4 years, and sold it with for $350 with 196,000 miles on it. Car was held together with "bondo" and chicken wire, and I had a piece of plywood on the floor to cover the hole. Very easy car to work on, and the engine was indestructible. My only gripe was that the oil filter was down next to the distributor cap, up against the right wheel well. I was able to adjust the carb and timing in such a way that I eventually got 21 mpg.
No offense Chrysler, but this ain't no dart!!!!
stuff a 5.7L hemi in there, with a 6-speed, and they may have something (GTS?), otherwise it's just another compact
Now yer talkin! ;)
Actually, if they wanted to be faithful to the Dart legacy, they'd use a 5.9L engine (not a 5.7).
Looks mitsubishi Lancer-ish to me with that silly grill. Whats with everybodys grills competing for the "mean face"?
Fix It Again Tony
Put a hemi in it then get back too me..
Dodge Dart, eh? The name alone is enough to keep me away from it--that, and the ubiquitous Dodge "plus-sign" fascia, sitting atop the gaping bottom-feeder grille. ...Anyway, maybe they should have picked a different name. On the other hand, this car is probably marketed to buyers who are young enough to not have any memory of the 1973 Dodge Darts, so they won't be looking for the "Swinger" and "Demon" trim levels.
They should dump odumbo, pelosi & reid and go back to mean marry jane and the dodge boys, if anyone here is old enough to remember when america made real cars.....The original DART was great.
You're insane on several different levels.
I have owned a real 1969 Dodge Dart GTS with a 383 and a 4 speed, a 1968 Dodge Dart GTS with a 340 and a 4 speed, and even a 1969 Dart GT with a slant six and an automatic. That piece of crap in the picture is NOT worthy of the Dart name in ANY sense of the name. It is just another travesty of slander to a classic car name that sadly the petastar people have seen fit to continually malign. It started with the early "Challenger" (a mitusbishi) and the "Duster" in the 80's and hasn't stopped since. I am simply disgusted!
Chrysler will never learn.
You know you're in trouble when you need Fiat to teach you how to make a quality vehicle!
Chrysler needs to stop delaying the inevitable (and wasting my tax dollars) and just disappear.
I'll just keep buying Fords, thank you very much...
FORD- @!$%#ed Over Rebuilt Dodge.
I recently bought a new 2012 Charger with the 300 horse power 3.6 with the 8 speed yes EIGHT speed transmission and it rides AND looks (with the full width LED tail lights) better then anything Ford or Chevy has out. And the Jap cars are veryyyyyyyyyyyyy boring. Keep up the good work Chrysler, people with a bain and some knowledge of cars and how it feels to drive a rear wheel car will buy them. God Bless America
mopile
I had a green 1968 Dart a long time ago, fine car! Got rear-ended at a fairly high speed and got a scuff on my steel bumper, guy in the Maxima needed a new front...old beats new every time!
Any chance of getting one with a 340 6-pack and maybe a 6 speed? Perhaps with a longer body, a 383, and call it a Road Runner?
Gosh, those old boxy clunky Darts. Gas guzzling 340 V8's. 3.91 Sure Grips. Banging gears at 6000RPM. An engine just about anyone could work on. 4 barrel carbs and young girls in the back seat. What crappy cars they were. Thank God we can buy a rebadged Fiat now from an investment firm. We've come a long way, baby.
Please tell me it's not another 4 door!!! just like the Charger, funny I don't ever recall the origional Charger having 4 doors. What is Chrysler fasanation with 4 doors? Pleeeeeeese help me to understand this 4 door diliema!!!