the sad Death of the Intrepid

There's a place in Texas that specializes in Jeep Wagoneers, low mileage, supposedly revamped from the ground up. A friend of mine picked up a 79 from them this fall, beige with woodgrain, showroom sharp. Have you heard or are otherwise familiar with this place?

What's that thing you're driving... The one with the Hakapalooka tires? =:-)

It's an '89 D100 pickup.

DS

Does someone force you to drive it? :-) I had a 76 Dodge pickup. Almost the worst vehicle I've ever owned...

Matt

Nope...I bought it voluntarily.

Gee, that's a shame. My '89's been terrific. My only complaints with it are poor city gas mileage and bitchiness in city parking -- these are because it's a truck, not because it's a Dodge truck, and they are why I am in the market for a passenger car.

DS

Hey! I like the road toad! Of course I love the recent Concorde and LHS too...

I want to see the 300 series on the road first; but so far the looks don't grab my like my '97 intrepid did. It was just so different both from the Accord, the Taurus, and the Dynasty I was driving at the time, I knew I wanted one. And the 215hp was (is) a ton of fun. When I fill it up I still kind of think that the way that the trunk runs into the rear window is similar to my buddies old '69 Charger. Maybe I am reaching here, but the thought did occur to me. After the '98 redesign I still liked 'em. And the 300M is awesome.

My worry is that the 300 series without the Hemi is going to be the only really affordable one, so you will have the 3.5 (or worse, the

2.7) trying to tote around that heavy body. And the thing will look like a retro Diplomat. I haven't seen one yet, so I'm not saying it will, but that is my fear from (some of)the pics (some of them are beautiful). That said, the interior is freakin' gorgeous.

Jimbo

That's the tragedy. Had they borrowed styling cues from one of their truly nice-looking past-model 4-door cars (the '70 Dart and the '65 Imperial come to mind) it could've been a drop-dead gorgeous car. As it stands, it looks like a misshapen impression of one of the more ungainly mid-'90s Cadillacs, the '93-'95 Seville. The high beltline and short window glass just doesn't work relative to the overall proportions of the car.

DS

I'll agree a road toad from the rear but great looking front end. The next generation could have fixed up the rear instead of starting from scratch and producing a whale with its mouth open up front that never caught on.

High beltline and short window glass is RAMPANT in automobile design on all 3 continents right now. I hate it too.

Wow, I didn't know they were going to kill the entire front wheel drive line! It just amazes me how ignorant a big corporation can be. Oh well, maybe I will buy a Ram 2500 diesel with a manual tranny and never have to buy another vehicle again :)

Yeah, Amen to that. I never liked it. The TT coupe looked like someone squished the roofline in. And the way the windows squish in on the Magnum? Is Trevor Creed the guy doing the design now? I'd like to have a word with him. STOP. Daring doesn't have to mean wierd. The LH's were daring, but functional. And they were pretty to boot.

Speaking of ugly, I am still trying to figure out why everyone thinks that the Scions are great cars. UUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHGLY!

Premium Pricing?

The 300 series starts a couple thousand less that the Concorde was.

The 300C Hemi retails for $32,999. Upscale yes. Premium pricing no...

And it's the same story for the Magnum.

The guy who was chief designer for the LX is Ralph Gilles.

--Geoff

Ditto!

Unfortunately, I won't consider another Chrysler unless it will be FWD or better.

I will retain my M as long as possible

Ken

For some reason that I'll never understand, Chrysler put a slant six with a 3 speed column shifter in a truck driving a 2.73 (or something like that), rear axle. I was young and naive then and didn't recognize the stupidity of this combination. However, I was trading the worst vehicle I ever owned (an Opel Manta) for this truck and really just wanted to get rid of the Opel! However, the manufacturer should have the common sense not to produce and ship a product that simply isn't useable in the real world. This thing would hardly start out on a level road empty. Add in any weight or any slope at a stop sign, and you had to slip the clutch until it stunk to get going.

Matt

Prior to purchasing my 300M I tried several times to purchase the Intrepid R/T but no dealer was willing to negotiate so needless to say, I got the M but no regrets.

I still think the Intrepid is a nice car.

I thought about the Pacifica but still wanted a full-size UTE and replace my Expedition with another. I was thinking that if I did replace the M I would like the 300C but with no front wheel drive, I don't think this will happen.

I may be go for that beautiful Charger, though :-) and buy a used Jeep or something.

Ken

FWD or better? what is better?

AWD and 4WD

Ken