Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

1) Honest question: why hasn't the Dodge Viper received more love? 

2) And while speaking of Dodge, what about the Stealth/Mitsubishi 3000. I remember when that thing was first released, it seemed like it offered an awful lot at a reasonable price point--and for the time, it was pretty cool looking.

3) Re that Mercedes 300 concept car, it kind of reminds me of the Plymouth Prowler, Chevy SSR, and the Ford Thunderbird of the early aughts, in the sense of trying to evoke a particular throwback that could find enough people who like the idea in the design room to get it to production, only to find out that the market for it is pretty limited. (Also, I love the 1955 version, but this one doesn't do much for me.) 

Having said that, the throwback styling of the Mustang, Camaro, and the Challenger have done very well (and deservedly so). Oh, and I'm pretty sure the Germans would be a little offended to have anything of theirs compared to Plymouth, Chevy, and Ford.

Badger RED

1) Honest question: why hasn't the Dodge Viper received more love?

2) And while speaking of Dodge, what about the Stealth/Mitsubishi 3000. I remember when that thing was first released, it seemed like it offered an awful lot at a reasonable price point--and for the time, it was pretty cool looking.

3) Re that Mercedes 300 concept car, it kind of reminds me of the Plymouth Prowler, Chevy SSR, and the Ford Thunderbird of the early aughts, in the sense of trying to evoke a particular throwback that could find enough people who like the idea in the design room to get it to production, only to find out that the market for it is pretty limited. (Also, I love the 1955 version, but this one doesn't do much for me.)

Having said that, the throwback styling of the Mustang, Camaro, and the Challenger have done very well (and deservedly so). Oh, and I'm pretty sure the Germans would be a little offended to have anything of theirs compared to Plymouth, Chevy, and Ford.

1) I think the Viper was unrefined. Without history, it never really captured a niche. People in the same price point bought Corvettes because of their history, people in higher price points bought Ferraris. I think the Viper basically captured the "Jersey shore" type of buyer, and then because of that, it ended up working against them. 

2) I don't know why they didn't do better. I think they sported some amazing technology for the price. One downside is that the lesser trims were FWD, and slow. So I don't know if maybe the low-end trims damaged the "brand" of the car? But I thought they were really cool at the time.

Re: the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger, I like the first two. The Challenger just seems big and bulky for no apparent reason. I suppose I just was always more into the "pony car" era than the "muscle car" era, but the Challenger is just too big. 

1) I think the Viper was unrefined. Without history, it never really captured a niche. People in the same price point bought Corvettes because of their history, people in higher price points bought Ferraris. I think the Viper basically captured the "Jersey shore" type of buyer, and then because of that, it ended up working against them.

2) I don't know why they didn't do better. I think they sported some amazing technology for the price. One downside is that the lesser trims were FWD, and slow. So I don't know if maybe the low-end trims damaged the "brand" of the car? But I thought they were really cool at the time.

Re: the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger, I like the first two. The Challenger just seems big and bulky for no apparent reason. I suppose I just was always more into the "pony car" era than the "muscle car" era, but the Challenger is just too big.

Re #1, I wonder how much the Viper had competition from manufactured Cobra replicas.

On the Challenger, yes, it is bigger, bulkier, and heavier than you would think it ought to be.

It has always been a larger car than the Mustang and Camaro.  It came out in 1970 with a 110" wheelbase, compared to the 108" wheelbases of the Mustang and Camaro.  Mustang went to a 109" wheelbase for 1971-73, and that car looks much larger than previous versions.

The current Challenger has an incredibly long 116" wheelbase (same as a 1977 4-door Chevy Caprice), while the current Mustang is at 107.1 inches and the current Camaro is at 110.7 inches.

Why this is I do not know.  But it is worth noting that the old Trans-Am racing series was dominated by Mustangs and Camaros.  Neither the Challenger nor its Plymouth-equivalent Barracuda ever did much, despite Dan Gurney campaigning Barracudas as part of his All American Racing (AAR) team.

Husker RED

The brand may have hurt the image as well.  Mitsu just doesn't do much for the hormones.