Should FCA Resurrect The Barracuda Nameplate?

All they are doing is holding onto the name.

Having the Challenger die in 2018 is a dumb move. They should leverage the Giorgio platform for a new Challenger.

I'd do a Dodge Barracuda by throwing a 2.0T and the Pentastar V6 under the hood of a Miata, then throw on a coupe body and get into the GT86 market with an FCA product.

I think they should focus on making much better cars rather than attempting to exploit the nostalgic by skinning yesteryear's platforms with something that reminds us of cars from decades gone by.

I disagree. If it sells and makes a profit, do it.

MDarringer: I believe that while your suggestion would yield some positive short-term results in the way of sales and some profit, it would also contribute to the perception that FCA is an "also ran" who's running out of steam and ideas.

Well - if they bring back the Barracuda - they would need to bring back Plymouth - so they could use the Plymouth name in the USA for rebadged Fiats. Oh - and while they are at it - why not Bring back DeSoto - and rebadge the Alfa cars DeSoto in the USA - and rebadge Maserati cars as Imperials too.

As long as they are going to give us ancient platforms - they may as well use ancient names too - how about Maxwells or Fargo Trucks - and we still have American motors to bring back too - how could they possibly continue without a Rambler? Or a Nash or we could bring back Hudson to Nascar.

Of course - one has to watch for a gremlin to gum up the works though!!!

MORE ON.....that later.

They would NOT need to bring back Plymouth. Chrysler has a history of moving nameplates around.

Virtually ALL manufacturers have a history of moving nameplates around - retiring some - then bringing them back - etc (Except maybe that alphanumeric nonsense which never seems to go away - Mercedes seems to reinvent their every few years.) I believe the point I was making was as a joke.

What is the difference WHAT they call a car - unless the car is worthwhile. And if the car is that good - who cares what it is called. People are not going to buy a rebadged Yugo(which was Fiat based) -because it has the name Barracuda - and if the car is good - the name Barracuda is not of importance.

What FCA needs is good cars! Not good names!

Hell yes...make mine a convertible with the Hell Cat engine!

FCA is not going to bring back Plymouth. However the Barracuda name is historic. Since Dodge seems to have the performance brand of cars in it's stable that's the only place the Barracuda name should fall. The problem is that they already have a Challenger established name that is also historical. Having both a Barracuda and Challenger would be stupid as they would cannibalize sales of both. So FCA either needs to have one or the other. Of the 2 I think the Challenger name is the more established one. So I think you could have a Dodge Challenger Barracuda. This could be mid performance model above the SRT but below the Hellcat in performance(a Z28 type competitor). If I were Dodge I would poll enough people to see which name has the most recognition. Branding is extremely important. What ever Dodge does it does appear that the Challenger on this existing chassis is due for an overhaul and I had heard that a Barracuda type vehicle shares a platform with an upcoming RWD large Alfa sedan or coupe. That might be an improvement over the very heavy Mercedes based platform that all 300 and Challengers/Charges come from.

The Challenger Barracuda could have a 'Cuda face and s shooting brake tail. I really think--as non-traditional is it would be--a shooting brake muscle car makes sense. The added cargo space would make the car more useful in day-to-day living and the body style could be more aerodynamic.

I'd love to see a Mustang shooting brake.