Aaarrrggghhhh! The nazi's didn't do it, now the italians too?

For the uninformed, 300C Wagons have been being marketed in Europe and Australia as what's called "the Touring Edition" since they first came out, what 5 'er 6 years ago. Engines ranging from 2.7L diesel, YUP DIESEL, to 6.1L Hemi. What I gotta do? Buy one, stick it in ah box, get it over here, AND THEN "CLIP IT" JUST TO GET THE WHEEL SWAPPED TO THE LEFT SIDE? AAARRRGGGHHHH:confused:

 

Soooo...you want a '300C wagon', but with a diesel?

The '300C' part is easy, as I'm sure you already know - just swap 300C sheet metal onto the Magnum. One of our members already did it. (I think he lives in the SF bay area, forget his name...not a frequent poster.)

As to the diesel, maybe adapt the diesel that they put into the Jeep Patriot or Grand Cherokee. Might be hard to find as a salvage piece, though.......

 

Hi Bigbarneycars,


From what I've heard the build them in an Austrian production plant owned by Mercedes. That is Austria, next to Switzerland, not Australia way down under, so there's no need to change the steering wheel, it is on the left side.


Therefore you would probably be getting a Benz sourced diesel with it, which is why Europeans are using these now as reliable and comfortable taxi cabs, they used to prefer Mercedes but this isn't too different when made in the same factory and with the same engine?


They may be big barney cars on the outside, but they're smallish on the inside. I tried out a Magnum when they first came out (they looked so cool) but found you felt squished by the rakish windows and there really wasn't much of a cargo area. Couldn't figure, it wasn't a real wagon and felt small for a big car. FWIW.


Vic

 

Okay, first, my Magnum is actually slightly smaller than the 2001 Intrepid I owned. The Magnum looks bigger than it is because of the unusually long wheelbase for it's size (120"). But how is it small inside? compared to what? It's as big inside as my brothers 2002 Chevy Impala. Bigger than his 1999 Malibu was for sure.

Granted, yeah, it takes getting used to the way the window sills are so high. But squished? In what way? Not a real wagon? Again, compared to what? Yeah, sure, not the cargo space of the big full size wagons of years past, but then again, I guess you can say that of just about every modern wagon. My Magnum certainly has more cargo space than a small wagon, so don't see how you can say it's not a real wagon.

 

Back in the 90's that Intrepid was of the "cab forward" design. Lee Iaccoca touted them as being advanced. Well, they were. Lots of interior space in a relatively short body. Those cars would be fantastic with todays powerful sixes. No wagons though.

 

I've always considered a Magnum a real wagon.

 

i agree, they will NEVER make another wagon like mine again....so accept the next best thing.

 

I loved my Intrepid. A real pleasure to drive. Mine was the "base" model (SE) with the 2.7L. Yeah that engine got a bad rep for sludge that came mostly from the 1998 & 1999 years. They did some mods which helped alleviate the problem. Very agile for a car it's size. As agile as a smaller car and in some cases more so. Was a little wider and sat a little lower than my girlfriends Malibu and handled MUCH better. I actually got up to 31 mpg at times on the highway with 87 octane. Just after 5 years and 110k, I was looking for something with more cargo space. The Intrepid had a large trunk, but a small opening. So hard to get long items down in the trunk at times. My Magnum handlles like a pig in comparison because it sits up higher and is about 450 lbs heavier. The R/T and SRT versions handle much better than mine (SXT) I'm sure. Yeah, some cargo space was lost in the design to make it look retro-custom-cool with the sloped roof in back. The back also tapers in slightly from the side too which most people don't realize. Still, though, plenty of cargo space. even with the back seats in the up position, I still can put a full size igloo cooler in lengthwise with room to spare and all my luggage. If I fold the rear seats down, I can lay stretched out in back (I'm 5"10"). Try that with a Ford Focus wagon, 1st gen Subaru outback, Volkswagen Jetta, etc. Yeah, again, not as big as some of your guys' big old American wagons (you could probably move a couch in those things, lol) but still bigger than the small ones. A question to the poster that said the Mahnum isn't a wagon... then what is it? Surely not a hatchback.

 

The magnum is a wagon

Okay guys, apologies are in order. I guess I formulated that wrong, and inadvertently quite impolitely.

The Dodge Magnum IS a wagon. The reason I said it wasn't isn't because it isn't, but because it wasn't what I expect of a wagon: maximum cargo utility first and then only after that has been provided it can be anything else it wants to be: cool, rakish, funky, fashionable or even ugly.

I think also when I checked it out that its name MAGNUM meaning THE LARGEST brought me false expectations about its interior size. While I have more of a need for a wagon which can haul plywood (next week I need to make a run for several loads of sheet-rock) it doesn't meet my needs. If you're hauling less bulky stuff, then it's great and it's a wagon.

What I really meant was that the Magnum is first a car, and second a wagon. Just because I prefer it the other way around is irrelevant.

No hard feelings I hope...

Vic

 

Nope, no hard feelings at all. Didn't mean to sound defensive. Every stationwagon as far as I know is or was based off it's sedan (car) equivalent. Dodge avoided calling the Magnum a wagon. Called it a sports tourer or some silly name because of the way Americans avoided buying wagons. But even the automobile magazines such as Car and Driver, motor trend, etc. called it a wagon. As far as hauling plywood, if I need to haul something large like that. I have a Mopar removable roof rack that I bought from the dealer. In fact, I used that last week to haul a matress and box spring set home.

Yeah, probably the last large American wagon, or large wagon period, that was sold was the RWD Chevy Caprice station wagons they sold in the 1990's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chevrolet_Caprice_wagon.jpg

 

Who cares if Magnums are wagons, what's with the Nazi reference??
Germans are Nazis?
Go to Germany and say that.

My last name is Hess BTW.

 

Why do you want a 300C diesel? Europeans don't drive diesels because they like them. They drive them because they have to.
If I was in the US with cheap petrol prices, I'd have a 6.1 Hemi.

 

Politically incorrect statements

Just a short post to get Bluevista off the hook. Although he was probably just saying that because he doesn't like being deprived of engine choices.

Actually, I'm of German descent and have done that, and still do occasionally. In Germany and its satellites (don't tell the Austrians or Swiss I called them that) there are both strong positions still present. The former, which I have met there and persists secretly in political circles (the continuum) and in some parts of popular classes. Yet it is in Germany that you will also find the most staunch opponents to the Nazi mindset and control system. Quite the dichotomy.


As a child, my best friends mother who was a German aristocrat once shook me wildly shrieking those 'dastards' insulting our ideal - Nazism was BEAUTIFUL ! So I guess the occasional quips come with the territory, for they WERE Nazis in their overwhelming majority and even tried to export it more aggressively than their cars.

Vic

 

I'm German-Irish myself and my last name is German. I spent 18 months in (West) Germany back in 1985-86 when I was in the Army. Beautiful country, friendly people. I think it's wrong to hold entire generations responsible for the actions and crimes of what some other individuals did. Yeah, the Naziz were bast**ds, but not every German was a member of the Nazi party. That's like saying because we have a democratic president, that makes all us Americans democrats automatically. I'm not. I voted for McCain actually. I believe high ranking officers of the German Army weren't even allowed to join the Nazi party during WW2. And what about Stalin? He was responsible for more deaths than Hitler during his reign. Difference is he killed mostly his own people. And let's not even get started on what the Japanese did to prisioners and people in the lands they conquered. Then there's what happened in our own country with the Native Americans. The list goes on. Really, people in this day and age need to learn thier history and stop finger pointing. Mankind as a whole in every culture and country has done some bad stuff.

Okay, so what was the original topic of the thread again?