Before I go into my review of the all new Alfa Giuletta-based 2013 Dodge Dart, I need to share a little of 001's family history.
My Sicilian grandfather, Iggy, and my father had a butcher shop/deli on the west side of Buffalo, N.Y.
It was next to the Connecticut Lanes bowling alley and pool hall frequented by ALL the big gangsters of the surrounding areas.
2013 Dodge Dart Full Photo Gallery
Before Gotti in NY, the heads of the mafia were in Buffalo and Niagara Falls -- 20 miles from Buffalo.
And they all were regular customers that I took care of when they came to my dad's store.
If you've seen the movie 'A Bronx Tale' then you already know the story of my life.
I WAS that kid.
And the neighborhood had the same cast of characters except these dudes were REAL and they were bigger than life.
They all drove Caddies, Buicks and Lincolns.
Badass Mark IV's, Fleetwoods and Riviera's.
But my dad and the rest of my family was different.
My dad was one of the ONLY honest people who lived there (like DeNiro in 'A Bronx Tale')
And they ALL drove Chrysler products.
Mostly from Dodge.
Polara's, Monaco's and Coronet's, to be specific.
Always equipped with the magical 383's and 440's.
And while I grew up, my dream cars were Chargers and Challengers.
I used to just LOVE seeing the Dodge Charger in the end zone of Balboa Stadium -- San Diego Chargers -- as I rooted for my favorite team.
Yes, you heard it. A former Buffalonian now living in San Diego who was NEVER a Bills fan and ALWAYS a Chargers fan for as long as I can remember, which pissed off EVERYONE there in the Queen City I grew up with.
So I'm biased and I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Chrysler.
But there was one model that never did it for me, my dad or anyone in the family except for the 70 year + aunts who drove. YES, DARTS!
I would pray to God PLEASE don't EVER make me drive that lame ass car.
And PLEASE LORD, don't ever let me be seen or die in a 'SWINGER' or 'DEMON'
Now I was seen from time to time IN a Swinger but praise him that I never died in one.
So yes, as I've penned in my previous writings you know I HATE the name DART for this Dodge because I feel with my history I have a right to object. I'm telling you now, NO ONE and I mean NO ONE cool, EVER drove a DART.
So, there you have it.
The Dart sucked and named sucked.
But that was then and this is now.
Now Chrysler has taken the mystique of Alfa Romeo and it's Giulietta and repackaged and improved it under the Dodge brand.
YES, they have gone to the archives and decided to bring the Dart name back and attach it to this really well done, new car.
And I will have to get over the name because they ain't changing it to something COOL like the Dodge Alfa, Dodge Nuova or Dodge Monza and piggybacking off the magic that is Alfa.
Will the name Dart bother anyone else or any potential customers?
Probably not.
But I have a marketing background and I would have brought in some Alfa harkening to the name if it were my choice.
Because this new Dart is a really nice car in a lot of ways.
Number one is that if you thought the new Hyundai Elantra, which this Dart competes with, gave you a great bang for the buck, well, the Dart blows that away with things like an 8.5-inch navigation system in a car UNDER $20k!
When you do a price comparison of the competition, there is no doubt, the Dodge rises to the top.
Nothing in this space gives you what they do for the money.
And gives you a really nice car to go with the standard and optional features.
The new Dart is a pleasure to drive and the way it handles and looks makes us think what a Charger would be like if it was designed by Italians.
Stylish, not bloated or garish but truly fuel efficient.
And the new Dart was fuel efficient, although just like all the others in the space, it gets nowhere near the claims of the EPA numbers.
I got good fuel economy on both engines (25-27) but in my opinion it should have done mid 30's without breaking a sweat to really make it Car Of The Year material.
Not to say it won't be but if we were betting men, the all-new Fusion will be a lock for that award.
Now remember, NONE of the competition outside of the Elantra will give you high 30's mileage easily in the real world, but the Hyundai claims 40 but that just isn't happening either.
With the engine turned on at least.
Another area the Dart impressed us was in power and handling compared to its rivals.
This Dart is the BMW of that crowd, although none are gonna impress you with power.
Unless of course a torquey, clean diesel Dart is around the corner or an Abarth/SRT4 version.
One can only hope and pray.
Inside the Dart you will really enjoy the laptop-like display in the dash and huge nav screen -- yes, you need to get an upgraded model and we suggest for the $20k street price that is the only way to go -- and the cool color combos in the seats and trims -- see yellow/gray and red/gray combo.
No one else really has something that trick looking and we suspect LOTS of people will choose Dart alone on bang for the buck and looks.
Go try to get all they give on say...a Focus Titanium and watch the sticker get near $30k!
You get A LOT for the money on Dart.
And speaking of looks, NOTHING in the competitive set has as good of a looking ass as the Dart.
The LED strip ripped off right from the Charger is both the highlight design feature and key differentiator of this little pisspot.
We think the Charger rear end with LED's is the best looking rear on a car under 50k.
So great move to migrate it to others in the product line.
Now they need to have a complimentary dramatic look for the face similar to 300.
Both the Charger and Dart disappoint in the face.
They look too common and with such a great derriere, both cars look incomplete without cool LED's on the face or lower bumpers.
But that said, we say the Dart is the best looking of it's group with the Focus Titanium and Elantra close behind. I didn't include the Mazda design because I don't like my car smiling at me.
Another welcome feature they are touting is that they SAY it has more interior space than an Elantra, but as an Elantra owner -- 001JR's ride -- and someone who is 6'5" I didn't feel the Dart had as much room.
Definitely larger feeling inside than all the others but we still say Hyundai has them beat in this area.
That said, if I was in the market for one of these cars right now I would choose the Dart because you get way more for the money and the look speaks to me and I think it will to a lot of potential customers.
We're predicting that this will be a sales hit for Dodge and we think it will hurt Cruze, Civic and Corolla MOST.
In fact, we think this will be a direct hit on all their sales within six months.
If you're in the market for something fresh and a great value for the money, look no further than the all-new Dart.
Just ask for the de-badge option if you agree with 001 about the lame name.
2013 Dodge Dart
The GOOD: Best bang for the buck, killer LED Charger-like rear, Best color choices/configuration options, Italian Alfa DNA.
The BAD: Dodge didn't take the real world gas mileage a step above the others.
The UGLY: If you didn't get it from the review, the name DART! My 70 year old aunt's drove DARTS!
Here's how I rank the Dart against its competition in order of preference:
1. Dodge Dart
2. Hyundai Elantra
3. Ford Focus
4. Mazda 3
5. VW Jetta
6. Chevy Cruze
7. Honda Civic
8. Toyota Corolla
How do YOU rank the Dart vs. the competition?
Spies, discuss...
*FULL DISCLOSURE-Chrysler paid for AutoSpies.com to attend the press launch of their new car and provided airfare, food and lodging.
2013 Dodge Dart Full Photo Gallery