Chrysler’s recent past created a lot of interesting vehicles but arguably, none were as unique as the Dodge Magnum. This now defunct retro-mobile was fairly controversial in that it was a not a crossover but an actual station wagon. All the ingredients were there to make a success story, but for some strange reason, the Magnum was axed while its brothers, the 300 and Charger, continued to live on and into a second generation. But now with hot-rod purist Ralph Gilles at the reigns of Chrysler’s Street and Racing Technology team, the Magnum could possibly make a return.
“With the Magnum, we owned the station wagon segment,” said Gilles. When the Magnum made its debut in 2004, Gilles was there as he was the Chrysler design chief who help create the vehicle. In an interview with the New York Times, Gilles made mention that the Magnum is missed by the people inside Chrysler and that there are talks about bringing it back. If it was to make a return, the underpinnings that support the second generation Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger would more than likely be used and a 392 Hemi powered SRT version would soon follow.
The now head of Chrysler’s SRT team also offered up some insight as to why the Magnum was killed in the first place. According to Gilles, the Magnum “was single-handedly killed by one executive who is no longer with the company. He’s retired. A lot of people in the company still like that vehicle — a lot.” If and when a new Magnum will actually happen is still up but Chrysler’s recent success might just give them the guts to try it out one more time. Gilles told the Times that the automotive industry should, “Stay tuned. Good things are coming. That’s all I can say.”
