Recent Comments:
Diesel tunage: Abt AS6 Avant {Autoblog}
Sep 25th 2007 9:59AM Looks eerily Pacifica-esque aft of the front clip...kinda bloated..."geez, I hope no one notices my Audi's retaining water..."
Enthusiast starts petition to save the PT Cruiser {Autoblog}
Aug 22nd 2007 3:04PM I work at a Dodge dealership, and although we do not sell new PTs, I have seen hundreds of used ones come and go through the years. I have seen a few p.o.s. rattle traps, but I've seen plenty of Hondas and Toyotas that fell into that category too, due to neglected maintainance and/or abuse. The vast majority of Cruisers we get in on trade are drum tight and drive extremely well even with well over 100k on them. We even retail most of the high mileage ones because there is a strong market for them. I personally would not be a player for a PT, but I certainly would not laugh at anyone for buying one. Basically the PT was a niche vehicle that swept the mainstream because of its useability - somewhat fuel efficient, very versatile, and distictive looks. (whoever commented that the PT is almost Aztec ugly, get a life) It's looks, though not for everyone, have aged well, and it has certainly held up in sales numbers. When Daimler was still at the helm, I was for Chrysler pulling the plug on the PT, giving their penchant for f**king re-designs up. Now, however, I think the right people at Cerberus could make a worthy successor - the market timing is certainly spot on - they just need to keep it small and efficient and use it to spin off some nice niche within a niche vehicles.
BREAKING: Chrysler announces lifetime powertrain warranty! {Autoblog}
Jul 26th 2007 12:34PM @ speil - Geez, who took a dump in your Wheaties this morning?
BREAKING: Chrysler announces lifetime powertrain warranty! {Autoblog}
Jul 26th 2007 12:22PM @john - Sorry, buddy, but SRT models are excluded from this, as is vehicles put into police, taxi, limosine, postal delivery, or ambulance use.
BREAKING: Chrysler announces lifetime powertrain warranty! {Autoblog}
Jul 26th 2007 11:48AM This puts Chrysler back into the warranty ballgame, for sure! Great piece of mind to have, especially if one decides they may want to keep his/her vehicle longer than normal. Score one for Cerberus!
Not easy being green: First 2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10 off the line {Autoblog}
Jul 11th 2007 9:34AM Sissy? I don't recall hearing anyone calling a Lamborghini Gallardo in a color very similar to that "sissy". Anyway, as stupid as this color would look on a Kia Rio or Toyota Camry, it definitely has purpose here...
News from The Herald: "Motorsport should be banned" {Autoblog}
Jun 6th 2007 5:05PM Thank you Mr. Porteous, you may shut up now.
Future Classic: Eagle Premier {Autoblog}
Apr 16th 2007 7:05PM THANK YOU!! Nobody seems to remember that these cars were without a doubt the pre-cursor to the '93 thru '97 LH cars. I've been selling Chrysler products since 1994, and I've had countless arguements with co-workers and the like about the significance these underdog cars were in Chryler's early nineties resurgence. These cars seemed to come in two distinct ways: Tight, reliable conveyances that customers just loved, or total pieces of s*#t that people couldn't wait to unload ('88 to '90 models).
I had a '91, a Dodge Monaco, that I put 126,000 relatively painless miles on - even with over a 100k, it loved cruising 85 to 90, still returning 27 miles to the gallon. The packaging of the LH, from the said longitudal engine mounting to the vast interior space is directly descendant from the Premier - Chrysler was so wise not to attempt birthing the LH from the K platform. You might still remember that in 1988 the Premier also made its debut alongside the glorified K-car based Dodge Dynasty and Chrysler New Yorker. While these cars ultimately did O.K. for Chrysler, from a dynamic and engineering standpoint they were vastly inferior to the Premier (can you imagine what a K-based Intrepid/Concorde/Vision would have been like?). In reality, the Premier never had a chance - Iacocca hated them, for starters, but ultimately the Eagle brand in general was never taken seriously - because of the Dynasty/New Yorker, they would not be badged as a Dodge or Chrysler, so they created a brand that was more like a sewer run-off from the brands that mattered. Giv'em the Medallions, Premiers, Summits, and any other bastardized product that needed quiet disposal.
The Jeep/Eagle brand could have morphed into a great combo for Chrysler - Trailrated SUVs badged Jeep, AWD Subaru fighters badged Eagle. The problem seemed to be that the Eagle brand's primary purpose for Chrysler was to quietly dispose of the much unloved Premier. It's puzzling that Chrysler took the Premier/Monaco, vastly superior to anything in their stables at the time, and cut the umbilical cord to watch them whither and die. Sewer run-off...
Iacocca holds back nothing in new book, Slams Bush, Daimler-Chrysler merger {Autoblog}
Apr 12th 2007 12:39PM Ah, Lido...While he did wonders for Chrysler in the early 80s, by the late 80s that saviour of a K-car platform and his staunch refusal to ditch it started the inevitable decline of Chrysler. Once again. If it was up to Lido, we would still have variants of the K running around, glistening with chrome waterfall grilles, bejeweled with opera lamps, and slathered in fake wood and "rich Corinthian Leather". While the K was perfect in 1981 and revolutionized the minivan, it simply was too long in the tooth to keep up with the times. Enter Bob Lutz and posse who pushed for the LH car - If memory serves correct, Iacocca was NOT a fan of these products, probably sealing Lutz's fate with the company. Let's not forget his deviant plot with Kerkorian to buy out Chrysler also - that soured Iacocca's name in Auburn Hills for years. By the end of his Chrysler run, he became reminiscent of an old dog that lost his ability to learn new tricks. But Wait!! He did tinker around with some type of crappy electric bicycles (peddle this, be-atch!) after his Chrysler tenure, and briefly won his way back into DCX hearts by starring in shockingly crappy commercials with Costanza.
I was a huge fan of Lee Iacocca back in the 80s - when I was 9 years old I wrote him and got a personal letter back from him (while living in Venezuela, no less), read his great autobiography, and he has definitly made a permanent mark on the landscape of automotive history, but somewhere along
the way he seemed to stop checking his motives and
became very disoriented with the automotive industry. I remember General Swartzkoph, after the Gulf War, upon announcing his retirement, was asked why, when he was at his career high. His answer was something to the nature of it's better step down while at your peak - you ensure your dignity and respect. I sorely wish Mr. Iacocca would have followed suit.
The dam has broken: more DCX minivan pics appear on web {Autoblog}
Jan 4th 2007 1:04PM What's with all the bitching about the styling? It's smooth, cladding-free and strake-free. The "suv like" front end might possibly be in place for pedestrian reasons, as I didn't once confuse it for anything other than a minivan. The overall effect is way more cohesive than the Uplander/Terrazza, without the bulbous front end that afflicts the Sienna, the droop-snoot of the Sedona or Entourage, or the completely inexcusible sliding door track "gashes" in the Odyssey and the aforementioned vans. All these other vans have bland styling, period. It works for them. The funk-boxes Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi sold in the 80s were dismal sellers, and the "radical" Ford Aerostar didn't make much of a dent in the market (did OK in fleet, though). Calling the Nissan Quest stylish is like being called the prettiest girl with downs syndrome, as its sales reflect, and I don't want to hear critism of the shifter location, just look at where the competion's is located... That being said, I have been disappointed with some of DCX's recent offerings (Sebring, Compass), but I think they got this right. The 1996-2000 NS platform will probably go down as one of the best looking minivans in history, and as shown by the 01-07 models, it's awful hard to improve on a home-run. Once again, Chrysler takes the not-so-coveted minivan crown and should remain the sales champ.
