Now, people are saying the New York Auto Show in April, will be pushed by Chrysler Group's introduction of the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Patroit?). Word, is Chrysler Group doesn't want anything to take away from the image of Chrysler Group's second best selling vehicle (best selling is the Dodge Ram), and a Charger intro will make debut at Detroit, which means it would have to be introduced for production shortly after for NASCAR regulations!
The Intrepid is a 2004 model this year. Under Nascar rules, a discontinued model can be raced up to one year after it is discontinued. So this may be what happens, or they may release the car that year. I do know that Chrysler has notified Nascar that they will be fielding a new model. They have to get those plans to Nascar by July.
This article it the first I have seen that confirms the production of the Charger in 2006.
shelbyduster, you are right... but Dodge would not want to be campaign a car that isn't in production... remember NASCAR is all about race Sunday... sale Monday!
I agree with you. However, it would not be unprecidented for a manufacturer to do this. As I recall, Ford ended production of the Thunderbird in 1996. However, they continued to race the T-bird in 1997.
I guess the main indicator will be in July. That is the deadline for submitting plans for a new car for the next season.
Dodge could make the car available to customers in June or July of 2005 and still race the car in Nascar, given they meet the production limits. It would be an excellent marketing ploy.
Actually 1997 was the first year the Taurus was introduced to NASCAR... Ford teams had a choice between Thunderbirds and Taurus bodys... Dale Jarrett and a few others only 1/3 of the Ford cars ran Taurus bodies the rest of ran Thunderbirds... it was quite funny to see that at the Daytona 500... altough as the year went on, all most all the teams switched to the better Taurus body! lol.
Yes, you're right. I forgot about that. Ford was late in developing the Taurus stocker and only the teams that had had the resources could make it race ready. I suspect that Dodge will have the Charger ready for 2005.
Latest 2006 Charger News...
