Chrysler's New Midsize UNIBODY Pickup for 2011????

[comanche09]

Sorry if this has been posted before, but I found it very interesting! Aside from the Viper being discontinued after 2010...

 

 

http://autos.aol.com/article/chrysler-business-plan-2009

 

 

- Dodge Dakota: Wound down in 2011, but a new mid-size truck using a unibody construction will arrive around the same time

 

 

Anyone have any info? Sure hope it doesn't turn out like the Honda Ridgeline :shake:

 

[1990 Pioneer 4x4]

Cool article, thanks! :cheers: I still can’t believe everything I read…

[wallisek]

Not to be the party pooper but I could care less what Chrysler does. The dream was shattered in 2001 when they stopped making the Cherokee. The shattered dream was then flushed down the toilet when they stopped putting the 4.0 in the jeep line. :fs1: I'll be driving my "old" jeeps until I'm buried in them. :yes:

 

*sigh*

 

Damnit I miss my CJ-7.

 

:D

[glundblad]

Diesel Wrangler in 2010? :cheers:

[mvusse]

Not that I could afford it, but a diesel Wrangler would be awesome.

 

And I guess the Comanche was ahead of it's time. Chrysler killed the unibody Comanche in favor of it's body on frame Dakota. Now the Dakota gets killed and replaced by a unibody truck.

 

And what's wrong with the Ridgeline? I happen to like it.

[comanche09]

And what's wrong with the Ridgeline? I happen to like it.

 

I don't consider a Ridgeline a real truck. No offense if you own one. It's a minivan based transverse engined poser IMO. It's also fugly IMO(along with the new Pilot, which at side and back profile looks like a ripoff of my KK, the front end/grille is atrocious). Slap a Honda badge on anything and people will buy it :cheers:

 

With this new truck supposedly 2 years away, there's got to be some prototype pics out there?

[streetjeep2.5]

A Jeep built by Fiat? Hmmmm. Will it be a return to the heyday of the 1990's as they admit, with as solid a vehicle for off roading as then?

[jpdocdave]

i agree about the ridgeline, i hate it. i've only been underneath one, and it is an odyssey from the bottom, it is a chincey minivan based truck. if you blindfold someone and just show them the underneath they'd never say its a truck, i was shocked.

 

and this is great:

Jeep Liberty: Will be replaced by a Fiat product in 2013, but will likely carry on the Liberty name

[jpnjim]

Not to be the party pooper but I could care less what Chrysler does. The dream was shattered in 2001 when they stopped making the Cherokee. The shattered dream was then flushed down the toilet when they stopped putting the 4.0 in the jeep line. :fs1: I'll be driving my "old" jeeps until I'm buried in them. :yes:

 

*sigh*

 

Damnit I miss my CJ-7.

 

:D

 

but but but.. they fixxored everything when they gave us the Commander.

 

Even though it's IFS, over priced, oversized, with tiny wheelwells, and shares nothing with the XJ,

it's boxy, and if you squint a little, it kinda sorta looks like an alternate reality version of one.

 

I thought we were all BFF's again after that. :nuts:

[jpnjim]

And what's wrong with the Ridgeline? I happen to like it.

 

I don't consider a Ridgeline a real truck. No offense if you own one. It's a minivan based transverse engined poser IMO. It's also fugly IMO(along with the new Pilot, which at side and back profile looks like a ripoff of my KK, the front end/grille is atrocious). Slap a Honda badge on anything and people will buy it :cheers:

 

With this new truck supposedly 2 years away, there's got to be some prototype pics out there?

 

I don't like the Ridgeline at all,

but,

 

it was a pretty good design feat to start with a unibody Minivan, and develop something that can be used as a light (light) duty pickup, while staying clean looking.

 

Those rear sail panels tie everything together (design wise & strength wise), while even adding a sorta (I'm gonna regret typing this....) muscular look to the whole thing.

 

I still think they're turd-mobiles, and wonder what they are gonna do to keep the strength of the sail panels, while giving them a fresh look when they re-style it,

but it hit the nail on the head of the market they were trying to reach,

 

if your pickup is your daily driver, only see's roads & highways, and the bed hardly see's more than a bicycle, and a bag of potting soil, this is your 'truck'.

(honestly, no offense to any owners, just my crappy opinion, right, or wrong).

[shelbyluvv]

Maybe they will bring back my beloved Rampage.

 

This was my old 84 I sold a few years ago. It was uni-body and front wheel drive.

 

[reson46]

How does creating a Ram brand help them sell more vehicles? Apparently they don't realize that the reason most people probably associate the Dodge brand with trucks is because that is about the only Dodge worth buying. Maybe if they made a car worth buying they would sell more instead of just trying to change its name. :hmm:

 

Willy

[Eagle]

Not to be the party pooper but I could care less what Chrysler does. The dream was shattered in 2001 when they stopped making the Cherokee. The shattered dream was then flushed down the toilet when they stopped putting the 4.0 in the jeep line. :fs1: I'll be driving my "old" jeeps until I'm buried in them. :yes:

 

*sigh*

10-4

 

Chrysler blew it. What they should have done was add the extended "Super Cherokee" body from Beijing Jeep to the Cherokee lineup, and introduce the XJ with the common rail diesel from Europe. (While keeping the 4.0L engine as the gasoline offering).

 

I'm like you. I currently have four Cherokees that could be driveable (three are), and five MJs in similar condition. That's not counting "parts" heaps. I'm also 65 years old. If Chrysler thinks I'm going to buy one of their new junks because they discontinued the real Jeeps, they are sadly mistaken. Unless I find something that I WANT to buy, I doubt that I'll need to buy a new vehicle before I get too old to drive.

 

My wife will no doubt want something other than her XJ within the next year or three, but I don't think it'll be a Jeep (or any Chrysler product).

[jpnjim]

Maybe they will bring back my beloved Rampage.

 

This was my old 84 I sold a few years ago. It was uni-body and front wheel drive.

 

 

Definitely different,

I remember when they were brand new, and you didn't see many of those then.

 

At one point 'mom's car' was a baby blue 4door Reliant K, with the Mitsu Hemi 4 cylinder in it (complete with little rectangular 'Hemi' badges :rotfl2: ),

was actually a fun little 4 cylinder to drive,

could've been a great little sleeper with the right drivetrain.

[1990 Pioneer 4x4]

:hijack:

...I'm also 65 years old...

I was beginning to believe that I was the oldest one on here (excluding Mr. Hornbird). I guess the obsession doesn’t discriminate on age. :cheers:

[Eagle]

it was a pretty good design feat to start with a unibody Minivan, and develop something that can be used as a light (light) duty pickup, while staying clean looking.

 

Those rear sail panels tie everything together (design wise & strength wise), while even adding a sorta (I'm gonna regret typing this....) muscular look to the whole thing.

"Muscular look"? ROFLMAO

 

What those sail panels DO is make the vestigial bed of the stupid vehicle inaccessible to anyone shorter than 7'-6" tall. Don't automotive designers understand that we don't always open the tailgate when what we really want to do is drop a 5-gallon bucket or an old tire up at the front of the bed area? The Ridgeline is just a station wagon from which they omitted the rear section of the roof. What do you do if you want to bring home a bunch of 10-foot and 12-foot 2x4s from Home Depot -- and it's pouring rain?

[jpnjim]

it was a pretty good design feat to start with a unibody Minivan, and develop something that can be used as a light (light) duty pickup, while staying clean looking.

 

Those rear sail panels tie everything together (design wise & strength wise), while even adding a sorta (I'm gonna regret typing this....) muscular look to the whole thing.

"Muscular look"? ROFLMAO

 

What those sail panels DO is make the vestigial bed of the stupid vehicle inaccessible to anyone shorter than 7'-6" tall. Don't automotive designers understand that we don't always open the tailgate when what we really want to do is drop a 5-gallon bucket or an old tire up at the front of the bed area? The Ridgeline is just a station wagon from which they omitted the rear section of the roof. What do you do if you want to bring home a bunch of 10-foot and 12-foot 2x4s from Home Depot -- and it's pouring rain?

 

Told you I'd regret it :clapping: :rotf:

 

I really should just stop right here......

 

This doesn't really translate in pictures,

but the first time I saw one of these, the sails reminded me of the quarters of a certain 2 seater.

 

 

To keep from spending my eternal afterlife in AMC Hell, I will speak no more of it.

 

I knew I shouldn't have clicked this thread. :wall: :nuts:

[WBKrazy]

i love the rampages! a kid i went to high school with had one that he put a 2.2 turbo in, and that thing flew! and as far as the ridgeline goes, i'm still not sure why chevy hasn't sued them for copying the design of the avalanche....

:dunno:

[reson46]

i'm still not sure why chevy hasn't sued them for copying the design of the avalanche....

 

Would you really want to claim you designed something that ugly? :hmm: I wouldn't.

 

Willy

[comanche09]

http://www.insideline.com/dodge/ram-pickup-1500/ram-brand-will-add-fiat-commercial-vans.html

 

:shake: ... well guess I jinxed it... :wall:

[jpnjim]

http://www.insideline.com/dodge/ram-pickup-1500/ram-brand-will-add-fiat-commercial-vans.html

 

:shake: ... well guess I jinxed it... :wall:

 

 

They're really predicting big things from the Ford Transit,

looks like Chrysler believes the hype if they're already trying to counter it.

 

 

Doesn't bother me, but I'd hate to see them slap a Jeep badge on that. :ack:

[streetjeep2.5]

Don't automotive designers understand that we don't always open the tailgate when what we really want to do is drop a 5-gallon bucket or an old tire up at the front of the bed area?

 

In my younger years I worked the parts counter of a Ford Dealership. An angry mechanic came in to parts one time and said "those idiots who design cars need to work on them for 5 years before the design them!" :fs1: :wall:

[dasbulliwagen]

Don't automotive designers understand that we don't always open the tailgate when what we really want to do is drop a 5-gallon bucket or an old tire up at the front of the bed area?

 

In my younger years I worked the parts counter of a Ford Dealership. An angry mechanic came in to parts one time and said "those idiots who design cars need to work on them for 5 years before the design them!" :fs1: :wall:

 

I AGREE!!!!!! X1000

[comanche09]

http://www.insideline.com/dodge/ram-pickup-1500/ram-brand-will-add-fiat-commercial-vans.html

 

:shake: ... well guess I jinxed it... :wall:

 

 

They're really predicting big things from the Ford Transit,

looks like Chrysler believes the hype if they're already trying to counter it.

 

 

Doesn't bother me, but I'd hate to see them slap a Jeep badge on that. :ack:

 

Not the commercial vans, but in that linked article above it says this (nothing to do with title):

 

As its sales remain in freefall, the midsize Dodge Dakota is now slated for extinction in mid-2011, according to Fred Diaz, president and CEO of Ram. But Chrysler is considering a unitized pickup — something similar in concept and construction to the Honda Ridgeline — as a potential successor to the body-on-frame Dakota for model year 2012.

[ComancheKid45]

Don't automotive designers understand that we don't always open the tailgate when what we really want to do is drop a 5-gallon bucket or an old tire up at the front of the bed area?

 

In my younger years I worked the parts counter of a Ford Dealership. An angry mechanic came in to parts one time and said "those idiots who design cars need to work on them for 5 years before the design them!" :fs1: :wall:

 

I AGREE!!!!!! X1000

 

 

X200000000000000......I experienced 2 years in a Chrysler Dealer and there sure is alot of junk out there.