Dodge to resurrect Scat Pack?

Before social media ever existed, if automotive enthusiasts wanted to be noticed or recognize other fans, they joined a car club. For Dodge muscle car lovers from 1968 through 1971, that group was known as the Scat Pack. Just like the Charger, Challenger and Dart nameplates, it looks like the Scat Pack could be getting a resurrection by Chrysler.

Automotive News is reporting that Chrysler recently renewed its trademark on the Scat Pack name, and while this is in no way a guarantee that the name will return, AN talked to Tim Kuniskis, Dodge President and CEO, who stoked the fire a little more. In the article, Kuniskis said that the name is "a very important part of our history" and added that "we like the whole idea of having a Scat Pack of cars." Scat Pack models were identified by their bumblebee stripes and helmet-wearing bumblebee logo, and the idea of a modern Scat Pack doesn't seem all that outlandish in light of recent vehicles like the Charger SRT Super Bee and the Ram 1500 Rumble Bee Concept.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/09/27/d...ect-scat-pack/

 

LOL!
Could Dodge be that out of touch with modern society!?!?!?
"Introducing the new Dodge Bear Poop Edition!"
Once again, when a manufacturer has to rely on the past for the future, it's a clear sign there's missing talent and forward vision.

 

Not at all. I'll explain just below.

I have to disagree. The Baby-Boomers, back then, who wanted new 60s-vintage muscle-cars and couldn't afford them, have now been working for decades (or retired), and that means they have money. Just look at the way they have been scooping up the newer Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, and Charger RTs. In fact, if Chrysler would simply bring back the Road-Runner nameplate with its bird-graphics and Beep-beep horn (one of the best-selling musclecars of all back then), it would sell like hotcakes. I myself would probably buy one.

Now, true, the 2004-2007 Pontiac GTO didn't sell very well.................but that was due mostly to the car's Australian heritage and styling that (while I found it perfectly acceptable) was too plain-looking for a lot of potential buyers.

 

Agreed! With the resurgence of "heritage" performance products from both Ford (Mustang) and Chevy (Camaro), MoPar hasn't responded strongly with its SRT offerings. OK, for the most part the performance is there, but Chrysler has neglected to connect their performance lines to the muscle car heritage that put everyone else on the trailer back in the day. Timidity? Dunno.

The products aside, Chrysler Corporation has done some truly miserable marketing in the past 20 years, and until the introduction of the Fiat 500, produced no memorable ad campaigns since the '70s. To us car nuts who recognize value, there is more to an automobile than a slick ad campaign, but to the vast majority of the car-buying public, it's all about image.

Setting the Fiat and the Viper aside, the rest of the current line has about zero brand recognition. If they were going for stealth, they got it. Fiat got the bulk of the ad placements - and the ads were cute, quirky, and not without a good shot of glamor - just what the company needed to overcome the past sins of the marque. Of course Viper gets practically no ad coverage at all - being a somewhat limited edition vehicle. What Chrysler has failed to recognize is that Viper is their halo car - OK, you won't sell a lot of them by placing ads in NFL football games, but you can create that halo effect by tying it into the Dodge - especially the SRT line - that can reap the benefits of its halo.

Right now, reduced to only Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and RAM lines, there isn't much "pack" in the "Scat Pack". The RAM 1500, the Dodge and Chrysler SRT offerings could benefit, but bumblebee stripes on a Jeep I can't quite imagine. Dodge and RAM could do quite well with raw performance halo vehicles, but if Chrysler intends to compete in the near-lux market, they need to keep that performance image restrained a bit. Think Aston Martin here - the "gentleman's express", capable of devouring great gouts of highway with hardly a bead of sweat. Quiet, serene, and blazingly fast; comfortable on a winding 2-lane or in the limo line on opening night at the opera.

Well, it gives MoPar something to aspire to . . . .

 

I agree with the 2 posts above me. In summation, the only unfortunate part about this is the word "scat" in the name.

 

For some reason Scat Pack just doesn't resonate with me especially for performance/muscle cars. I well remember them, but to me, GTO, 442, Grand National, The Judge, Road Runner etc. just sound more fitting for these types of cars.

 

While 1967-70 represents a rather blank spot in my experience with American Culture, thanks to being deployed overseas most of that time, I seem to remember the ScatPack as being a rather short-lived phenomenon. The "bee" motif wasn't exactly an attention-getter alongside muscle cars of the era. OK the bumblebee stripes were an unusual take on the longitudinal "racing stripes" so popular then, but they didn't last.

I agree that there should be some homage given the muscle car era, (ex: the modern Pontiac GTO, the Mustang Boss 302, and the return of the Camaro and the Challenger) but the Scat Pack was a largely-failed one or two year effort from MoPar - and that might not be the best direction for their nostalgia efforts.

 

You guys are missing the main point. In the cyberworld, the word "scat" means excrement. It's a horrible name for any car or truck. And you can't say that today's Dodge shoppers aren't internet savvy. Oh? Keep reading...

As far as the baby boomers and there being demand for retro muscle cars... some. But the demographic has greatly changed. Today's most successful retro cars are the iconic Mustang and Camaro. For many years now, these cars have been idolized in Hollywood, rap/hip-hop music videos, the nightlife afterhour crowd, and in the sports world. They are selling more and more of them with outlandish and suspension-destroying 21" dubs and flat black paint jobs (Look up GAS, "Galpin Auto Sports")- all of which have nothing to do with baby boomers or those who are looking to relive their young days. Today's retro heavy-hitters are for today's young nightlife and basketball crowd. This is where the core retro market has shifted.
Dodge is off in the wrong direction, chasing after a small or passing group of people. Higher sales and profits are elsewhere in 2013.

 

I know what you are saying, but scat is not just a new cyber world word for excrement, it's been used for ages to describe animal droppings.

In a recent article posted here the median age of Corvette buyers has gone from 56 to 61 over the past 10 years and Chevy's. This would also be an age group that would relate to the various retro muscle car versions.

The more I think about it I doubt that Scat Pack will have legs and we probably will never see it on new models.

 

Bob, in response to demand, a couple of years ago, Dodge actually did a limited run Charger/Challenger RTs/SRTs in the classic Plum Crazy purple color from back in 1970-71. (in fact, I saw one today). I strongly considered ordering one at the time (I actually opened a CAR CHAT thread here on CL to discuss it), but, in the end, I just didn't trust Chrysler build quality. That build-quality seems to be rapidly improving now, though.

Chrysler has, indeed, though, IMO, lagged seriously on one thing....introducing a modern retro Road Runner. That, IMO, was truly the bargain mid-sized performance car of the late 60s....when it debuted in 1968, it simply gave the top-selling Pontiac GTO fits.....though its fit/finish, like all Chrysler products of the era, was crude, and couldn't match that of the GM cars.

 

With the Scat Pack, though, people aren't buying cyberworld....they are buying a CAR. The original Scat Pack meant EXACTLY what it said.....press the gas pedal and those cars MOVED.

The Baby Boomer generation is (arguably) the largest one in American history. And, today, they have not only numbers but money as well....lots of it. That's the difference between now and 40-50 years ago, when they were in high school.....now they (usually) can easily afford the cars they want.

There are others as well. Look, for instance, at the VW New Beetle. That is also a huge success....though I agree it appeals primarily to a different, more feminine group than large-engined Mustangs and Camaros. And the hugely successful Mazda Miata can be considered a retro-version of the 1950s/60s British roadsters.

 

I'm all for the "Scat Pack" provided a Henry Fordism is applied: you can have any color as long as it is brown!

 

If the "Scat Pack" means more power and performance then I am fully ammendable to it!

 

If?

The original ones (which I grew up with in high school) sure were. I don't see any reason why the new ones today wouldn't be.

 

If is completely plausible considering and granted it's not American, but say the orginal F-Sport trims the "sporty" ones gave no extra power, simply for aesthetics on the 2IS.

I hate those hal*********** packages. Give me performance, give it bite to back up that bark