Would Plymouth have been the better choice???

[chargervert]

First off, you need to learn how to 'speeeel' BelvEdere lol

My most favorite car was a 71 340 Cuda and well, owned lots of it's sister cars. The only one that came close was a 70 Challenger 440 RT convertible and the Cuda was actually faster in the 1/4 mile and handled better too. The RT came really close though since it was a 440 car.

I remember the first time to look at a PT since my wife at the time wanted one. When I opened the hood and saw what was there, I dropped the hood. Screw that and walked away. Fast forward several years and the X and the daughter went looking for a car for the daughter. Guess what came home. A freakin PT! Nothing on that dang thing was easy to work on....

Another one that kain't speeel LOL! It's Barracuda man

Okay KD!

 

[Cranky]

Okay KD!

But.....gotta know how to at least speeel our car's names, right!? I mean, someone that speeels Cuda as Duda would be pretty dumb, right? lol

 

[chargervert]

But.....gotta know how to at least speeel our car's names, right!? I mean, someone that speeels Cuda as Duda would be pretty dumb, right? lol

I was typing on a small cell phone keyboard with fat fingers. I own a Cuda,so I know how to spell Barracuda!

 

[Runcharger]

Challenger nicer than Cuda, 2nd gen Bearacudas better than Darts, GTX and Road Runner nicer than R/T or Super Bee other than the dash, Furys nicer than Monacos.

 

[chargervert]

My former A12 Superbee would beg to differ with that statement,with it's Charger dash with the tic toc tach,and factory rear quarter scoops,it had it all over the 69 Road Runner.

 

[Runcharger]

Yes, I agree the A12 Dodge had more appeal than the A12 Plymouth. For some reason though I much prefer the 68-69 Plymouths over the Dodges in non A12 form, not sure why and it's just personal preferences anyway. I've owned pretty much all of them, I love Challengers and like 70 Cudas on the outside but when sitting in a Plymouth E-body you just feel like you should be heading to the welfare office to collect your cheque. I can't stand 71 Cudas, just too gaudy for me, most others disagree though.
I am one of the rare ones that appreciates the 67-69 Bearacudas too and while a Dart is nice enough, the Dart wasn't that appealing until 1970 when they grew a nice dash and hoodscoops.
I'm always torn in 71, sometimes I prefer the Charger other days I prefer the Road Runner.

 

[RemCharger]

Challenger nicer than Cuda,

2nd gen Bearacudas better than Darts,

GTX and Road Runner nicer than R/T or Super Bee other than the dash

starting to go off track..

, Furys nicer than Monacos.

Ok. That's enough. Put the pipe down.

 

[guy gadbois]

Must disagree with a couple of the above; I cannot think of any instance - pre 71 - that the Plymouth didnt look better than its dodge cousin. Must admit that the 71-74 B bodies were probably more aesthetically pleasing in the dodge variation, but other than that, Plymouths always looked better. In A, B , C or E bodies.
Mother Mopar always preferred dodge for some reason, so they got the Charger and that body was withheld from Plymouth. Interesting to think what Plymouth would have done with a 'Special B ' body car.

 

[YY1]

Some are missing the philosophical point.

Imperial
Chrysler
Dodge
Plymouth

Is the price class hierarchy.

Plymouth got a "fast top" A body in tune with their price point marketing.
Dodge got a fast top B body in line with their price points.

 

[guy gadbois]

I think that most understand the hierarchy, but the original question as I understood it was 'would Chrysler have been better off keeping Plymouth?'. The OP also wondered if Chrysler had kept Plymouth and dropped dodge, what would the model lineup have looked like. I opine that things would have been much better with Plymouth, if for no other reason than Plymouths always looked better and the Plymouth division seemed to be more 'fun'. Some people agree with that and others have incorrect opinions...
As someone stated earlier, with Plymouth, you could go from stripper Valiants all the way to the 'Fury VIP ' which was basically a Plymouth badged Chrysler at one point. [sorta like what Chevrolet did with the Caprice] dodge and Plymouth probably overlapped each other too much. Unlike GM - until the late 70s/early 80s - Mopars were the same under the skin. The only differences were some wrinkles in the sheetmetal and some extra chrome stuck on the dodges. [yes, thats a small oversimplification...small] Like Ford and Mercury. And we see how that worked out...
For the consumer, it pretty much came down to personal preferences. Inside the corporation, I feel certain that none here can imagine the politics that went on...

Personally, I cant help but feel that the world would have been a much better place with Plymouth still around.

 

[DeltaV]

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

Chrysler: Named after a man
Dodge: Named after two brothers

The American public probably likes people more than things? I dunno. Maybe Dodge was regarded higher than Plymouth by the public?

Dark days.

 

[QuickBpBp]

I like my Dodge's 64-69 and my Plymouth's 70-up.... so it would be a toss up.

 

[Runcharger]

Year by year:
64 Sport Fury
66 Coronet 500
67 GTX
68 Charger
69 Daytona
70 Challenger R/T
71 Charger R/T
72 Road Runner
73 Challenger
74 Challenger
75 Runner
Only memorable vehicles after that was pickup trucks until the Viper. There were some K-cars that held some interest (Shelby Daytona for example) and the LHS series but nothing legendary that I wanted to buy. No Plymouth Viper either and certainly no Plymouth Hellcat.

 

[Under Pressure]

I miss Plymouth and Pontiac, I loved the 70’s.

 

[DeltaV]

Lots of fond memories of Plymouths, Pontiacs, and Oldsmobiles.

I still miss DeSoto.

 

[33 IMP]

Lots of fond memories of Plymouths, Pontiacs, and Oldsmobiles.

I still miss DeSoto.

Many years ago a neighbor around the corner had a nice 57 DeSoto, that they were willing to sell. It was two-tone greeen (I could live with that, if I had to) and a four door sedan. I passed, I didnt do fourdoors.
Sure wish I had a chance to do that over again!

 

[Photon440]

Back when magazines talked about "the Big 3"...

 

[Budnicks]

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

Chrysler: Named after a man
Dodge: Named after two brothers

The American public probably likes people more than things? I dunno. Maybe Dodge was regarded higher than Plymouth by the public?

Dark days.

Yeah & Plymouth
Was named after a 'big wooden/sailing Ship', a big *** rock on the shore back NE, 1492
& a town back east & also a 1800's rural town here in Calif. too
& also an old' thread/textiles company

I think Dodge Brand later,
was more of an World/Internationally known company, brand
I'd have thought, that Plymouth was more of an American, North or South American Co.
Or Latin market too... I don't know, it's just speculations...

Dodge brothers both died very young...
They were the org. designers of the 4x4 truck IIRC

Dodge Bros. org. built & designed **** for Henery FORD
& what was the precursor to the Cadillac
they bought Henrys 1st endeavor, after him getting sued/going broke,
by the 'automobile' monopoly (French (?) patents) for rights infringements'
he eventually won, didn't have to pay royalties anymore
the 1st Co. was sold to & became Cadillac, later under the GM umbrella/label
Henry started all over again, with FORD Motor Company


Walter Chrysler 1st worked for Buick IIRC (the oldest American car company)
long time before he was the namesake of Chrysler Corporation,
William Durant hired him for GM IIRC (or one of GM in some aspect)
he was a great manager & floor/assembly organizer

 

[DeltaV]

Yeah & Plymouth
Was named after a 'big wooden sail' Ship,

I read somewhere it was named after
Plymouth Cordage Company, one of their suppliers.

 

[Budnicks]

I read somewhere it was named after
Plymouth Cordage Company, one of their suppliers.

Yeah something like that, IIRC had a sailing ship in it's org. Logo/Badging or Brand