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" Javier Bardem steals a Dodge in No Country for Old Men. Al Bundy drove a Dodge. The Blues Brothers drove a Dodge. Bo and Luke Duke -- Dodge men, obviously. Dodge is the car for outlaws and outliers, and has been for a long time.  This isn&amp;#039;t an accident; it&amp;#039;s a business decision. Dodge will never be as mainstream as Chevy or Ford, so the company seems to have decided to manifest this marginalization in its cars, which come across about as pissed off as inanimate objects can get. (Note the corporate grille, which looks like the crosshairs of a rifle scope.) The Dodge image first turned a corner with the 1994 Ram, which looked inspired by 18-wheelers and closed fists. It was brash, it was a polemic, but it got people&amp;#039;s attention: Dodge truck sales tripled. There was a market, it seemed, for a truck that looked like it didn&amp;#039;t take any shit from anybody. The 2009 Ram 1500 is another clean-sheet design, and this one backs up the butch attitude with something new: technological innovation. The Hemi under the hood puts out 380 hp, fully competitive with the Toyota Tundra. And the rear suspension is a setup not seen on full-sized trucks since an ill-fated Chevy attempt in the &amp;#039;70s: coil springs.  But a kick-ass truck aside, here&amp;#039;s the thing I like about Dodge: The world needs bad guys. Sure, everyone can sing a cheery chorus about a rosy future, in which cars run on joy and goodwill and mileage is measured in smiles per gallon. But when the apocalypse comes, I want a Dodge.  For more car coverage, including the best trucks, sedans, and coupes, please visit Esquire&amp;#039;s Online Auto Show 2008. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/cars/a4672/dodge-al-bundy-0708/>