It’s exhausting to recollect simply how in style the Chrysler PT Cruiser was after its introduction this week 23 years in the past. As is typical of the most recent automotive couture, clients paid above MSRP to purchase one and sellers had been quick stock for a lot of months after its introduction.
This sucker was scorching.
“The PT Cruiser, which gets kind of hammered by a lot of people, really hit a spot. You know, we sold 1.3 million of those things,” mentioned Tom Gale, former vice-president of Design for the Chrysler Corp. “And we were always enjoying success as a company when we were maybe just a little bit different than some of the other guys, like shading a segment.”
But as anybody who’s shopped at Zara or H&M can attest, quick trend rapidly turns into yesterday’s information. And so it was with the PT Cruiser. But to dump on it’s to be shortsighted; it might even grow to be the topic of a track by Beach Boy Al Jardine. Everyone sang it praises — at the least initially.
A mini minivan
The Chrysler PT Cruiser’s delivery had its gestation with the success of the Chrysler minivan within the Eighties. As a observe up, the corporate sought to make an excellent smaller minivan. Dubbed the Z Body, designers began rendering fashionable tall wagon ideas, however nothing fairly labored.
Eventually, the Mitsubishi-developed the 1989 Eagle Summit was provided. Produced by way of 1996, it landed with a convincing thud.
But firm executives thought that there was nonetheless a marketplace for such a car, and Chrysler’s Bob Lutz pushed for a retro-design resolution, with a lot of the options operating vast of the mark, being both too retro or too fashionable. But designer Brian Nesbitt lastly hit on the correct design.
“The PT Cruiser could have been for my taste a little bit more contemporary, but Bob and others obviously they had other thoughts,” Gale mentioned in an unique interview with TheDetroitBureau.com.
“You know, sometimes those things happen whether it’s what you’d like to see or not. But you know, all of those things play into it, and there are thousands of reasons why things turn out the way they do.”
It took some discussions, particularly with chairman Bob Eaton, who wasn’t satisfied. American automakers by no means made cash on small vehicles. But the car’s minimal improvement value — $400 million — would guarantee it made a revenue, whereas its classification as a truck would assist the corporate meet the EPA’s Draconian gasoline economic system guidelines.
It was authorised, and went from sketch to clay mannequin in a file eight weeks.
Chrysler trotted out any variety of ideas that previewed the PT Cruiser, which was slated to enter manufacturing as a Plymouth as a observe as much as the equally retro Plymouth Prowler. But then a humorous factor occurred; Chrysler closed the Plymouth model. The new car would come to market as a Chrysler.
The debut of one thing particular
When it debuted this week in 2000, the PT Cruiser was provided in Base, Touring and Limited trim powered by a 150-horsepower, 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine driving the entrance wheels by way of both a 5-speed guide or a 4-speed automated transmission.
More energy arrived in 2003 with the debut of the PT Cruiser GT, which benefitted from the additional muscle of a 215-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter 4, joined by a 180-hp model of the identical engine the next 12 months. It was non-obligatory in Touring and Limited fashions. Meanwhile, the GT noticed its energy soar to 230 horses.
In 2005, Chrysler launched the PT Cruiser Convertible, which a big basket deal with hoop to bolster the physique construction.
The modifications didn’t cease for 2006, when it obtained its solely design replace. The grille bought shorter and headlights had been restyled. The cabin obtained a makeover as properly. But for some cause, the revisions weren’t as broadly liked, and gross sales began to say no.
To assist stoke curiosity, there have been any variety of particular version fashions provided, such because the 2006 Street Cruiser Route 66 Edition and the 2007 Street Cruiser Pacific Coast Highway Edition.
The automobile would final by way of 2010, and Chrysler wouldn’t exchange it.
But it confronted competitors from an identical car created for 2006 by General Motors. Dubbed the Chevrolet HHR, for Heritage High Roof, its design was based mostly on an outdated Suburban. Unlike the PT Cruiser’s Ford-like knockoff, few may relate to the HHR. It failed after 5 years.
And the person who designed it? Brian Nesbitt — proving that lightning by no means strikes twice in the identical place.
Source: www.thedetroitbureau.com