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You may not believe it, but when I was in front of the all-new Dodge Charger Daytona EV last night, one thing struck me instantly. It was the spitting image of my first car. A ‘69 Plymouth Fury Coupe. I decided to do some digging, and here is what I found:
As you can see, the two cars, old and new, have the same width, nearly identical lengths, and heights, and the wheelbases are within an inch of one another. That is remarkable. Want to have another laugh? My car had an aftermarket Alpine head unit (I would swear to this under oath), and the new Charger also has an Alpine audio system.
Some differences include my car having had a full-size matching (sort of) spare. It matched in approximate size, but none of the five tires were the same model or brand. My car also had six ashtrays, all of which were lit by a tiny lightbulb. You won’t find these features in the new Charger Daytona.
Back in the 1980s, I was a high school kid and a car nut. My parents worked very hard, and so did I. In fact, I worked with my mom at the same supermarket. Her full time, me part time. She got me the job, and I learned a lot about work ethic and life from that place. Commuting to the job was a hassle. I took buses, begged rides, and walked. It was two cities over, so that was no small issue. I needed a car, and Mom and Dad came through. They bought me the biggest coupe I think the world had ever seen. For $200. A 1969 Plymouth Fury III hardtop. I loved it! In fact, I had a car before I even had a license.
The defining feature of the '69 Fury III Coupe was its size. It was super long, very wide, and had a long wheelbase - even for the times. It was ginormous. It was also huge inside. I can remember once having six guys in it, all of us dressed up in hockey equipment. No problem. Today, one defining design feature of the Charger Daytona is that it is considered huge by any measure.
During the time I owned the Fury, I had two girlfriends (not at once). The first had her own car, and it was almost as big as mine. A mid-1970s Monte Carlo Coupe. The second had no car, and her Dad almost passed out when I drove the '69 Fury over to pick her up. I can’t imagine why…
What to make of these coincidences?
Do the folks at MOPAR-Plymouth-Dodge-Stellantis know what customers want in a car? Tell us in the comments below.
Images by John and Jane Goreham.
John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools.
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