The Italian Dodge Dart
UPDATED: I hadn’t seen Jim’s post before I wrote this last night. So, for the most part it’s redundant. But it’s a testament to how exciting this whole Dodge/Alfa Romeo thing really is.
It’s expected that Dodge will revive the long-dead “Dart” nameplate. The first thing I think of is Click & Clack from NPR.
But now that Chrysler is part of Fiat S.p.A. of Torino, Italy, the new Dart is going to be a badge-engineered Alfa Romeo, specifically the Alfa Giulietta, a great-looking Golf-sized hatchback that oozes sportiness and sex appeal.
Drivers can select from a new Tigershark 16-valve 2.0-liter engine, a 16-valve 1.4-liter MultiAir Intercooled Turbo engine, and a new Tigershark 16-valve 2.4-liter MultiAir four cylinder engine. These three engines, combined with three transmission choices, combine to redefine performance by providing the most diverse powertrain lineup in its class.
Dodge sent out this teaser:
But more importantly, here’s the Alfa itself.
And compare that to Dodge’s teased rear-end:
The next “cool Italian car from Chrysler, destined to revitalize the marque”.
One hopes it does better than the last “cool Italian &c”, the Fiat 500, which is selling at approximately the pace of the Volt, and caused US Fiat head Laura Soave to join the ranks of the Obama Unemployed.
Reviving the Dart nameplate puts one in mind of a pretty mediocre compact muscle car wannabe, which was laughed off by purchasers of Mustangs, Camaros and GTOs in the 1960s, and which breathed its last during the Bicentennial. Wonder what would have become of it if they’d stuck with the original project name: Zipp.