Um. What?

If this were a radio show, all you’d hear right now is silence as I struggle to figure out where my jaw went.

Dodge? You look… good. This is… unusual.

I don’t know what happened to the water they put in their tame industrial designer’s cages but goodness, it’s working. Dodge has had the potential for a few years now but never really took the bold step forward that would have produced this sort of thing then – because, really, they could have. I’m not sure if it was inspired by the recent Ford Fiesta design / Americanization but the front does share some of that chin up gaping grille geometry. I don’t mind it – very Mazda – but I’m glad they have that bumper in the middle breaking up the two actual intakes. It’s painted black to hide, but I think having it entirely grille pattern would look goofy. I also really like how the lights come together, creating that uninterrupted hood bottom edge. On the back the lights are also continuous à la Charger (which was inspired be the flagship Challenger) so it’s good to see they’re taking a design language and running with it. The traditional Dodge cross is still there but more subtle which is fine, I think it’s iconic enough that the truck lines can still use it brazenly without needing the cars to be showy about it as well.

So, if this is the future, I’m excited. They’ll probably still break down every 5 meters, but at least they’ll look really good on the side of the road, and the big rear lights are handy for flagging down help. (I kid. They’re getting better, slowly, at least)

Thanks for the tip, and photos via

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