A multi-trick pony competing with thoroughbreds  by Thom Blackett

2008 Dodge Avenger – First Drive:
Dale Earnhardt was called the Intimidator, Arnie was called the Terminator. Why? Because Earnhardt’s #3 in a rearview mirror scared the bejeezus out of fellow race drivers, and Governor Schwarzenegger snuffed out bad guys in his own special biomechanical kick-ass way. Now we have the Dodge Avenger (a reintroduced name on the new Stratus replacement), so called because it avenges the carnage the imports have brought upon the midsize domestics. Well, actually, no it doesn’t really, um, avenge, so much as it offers bold American style wrapped around a mediocre sedan, with all-wheel-drive arriving later as an option. The 2008 Avenger represents an admirable effort, but one that ultimately gives Honda and Toyota little to worry about.

Some enthusiasts or former owners may remember the Dodge Avenger when it arrived in coupe form in 1995. That model lived on for about five years, and since then the Avenger name has been absent from the market. Following the release of the redesigned 2007 Chrysler Sebring, Dodge brings back the Avenger for 2008 as a sedan that is based on its Chrysler sibling but with markedly different looks. The two cars share common underpinnings as well as windshields and front window glass, but are visually unique. The front-wheel-drive 2008 Dodge Avenger goes on sale in February, 2007 with an all-wheel-drive version arriving a few months later.

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