Chrysler Debuts 200S Special Edition

March 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment

2013.5 Chrysler 200 S Special Edition

Alright. I confess. I am a closet Mopar guy. Sure, when it comes to my wallet I favor European metal, but my Grandfather’s unrelenting loyalty to Dodge and Chrysler, even in the worst of times left an impression on me. My Grandmother’s last car was a Chrysler LeBaron four door-a car the 200 can trace it’s family heritage to. For those of you not in the know, the Chrysler 200 is a revised Chrysler Sebring, which had ‘rental car’ written all over it. One Super Bowl commercial with Eminem at the wheel, the improved Chrysler 200 proved to be a very successful car.

Continuing on marketing the company’s motto of being ‘Imported from Detroit’, Chrysler has paired up with Carhartt, a world-wide known manufacturer of clothing for the working man, based in Detroit, established in 1889.  The 200 S Special Edition sports unique 18″ alloys, special front and rear fascias, and Carhartt’s special touch on the interior with their signature grey stitching.  Now in its last year of production, the Carhartt/Chrysler collaboration signifies a dignified ending to a car which had a humble start. Pricing starts at $28,870USD. The Chrysler 200 S Special Edition will make its debut at the 2013 New York International Auto Show.

2013.5 Chrysler 200 S Special Edition

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New Details on Chysler/Jeep/Dodge’s Future

May 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

What a ride it’s been at Chrysler these past few years. Neglected by parent Daimler and subsequent owner Cerberus, Chrysler was on the brink of collapse and on their knees in front of the US Congress begging for a bailout. Ironically, Fiat, a company who fled the US in the early 1980′s turned out to be Chrysler’s savior. And so far, the results have been encouraging. The bottom-feeder Dodge Avenger has been enormously improved. SRT is reviving the almighty Viper. The highly anticipated Dodge Dart with full Alfa Romeo DNA intact will be hitting showrooms soon.

There is no question that Chrysler had a myriad of problems, and it appears that Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is still at work at revamping the beleaguered company. According to a post from Autoblog, Marchionne confirmed the Jeep Compass will be killed off in 2014.  In spite of its 2011 redesign which modeled itself after the Grand Cherokee, Jeep’s attempt at targeting young urban types-especially females appears to have fizzled. The more successful Patriot, which shares the same mechanicals to the Compass has sold far better, with more traditional Jeep styling, but it is unclear what the future of the Patriot is. Still, these cars are dinosaurs, based on the now extinct Dodge Caliber which was mercifully let go in favor of the upcoming Dart.

The next casualty is the Chrysler Town & Country minivan. The Dodge Grand Caravan remains, which makes sense since the Caravan was the first minivan. Ever. Kudos to Sergio Marchionne for telling Chrysler it makes no sense selling the exact same car under two brands. Brand engineering is what nearly ruined the American auto industry, so killing off the Town & Country makes perfect sense to me.

In other related news, it appears there will be an SRT high performance version of the Dodge Dart that will sit above the Dart R/T. No word yet on what will sit under the hood. In sum, I find the news from Chrysler encouraging as failing and redundant cars are cut off, and under the control of Fiat they definitely appear to be a more focused company. The future looks bright.

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The Power of Advertising

February 7, 2011 by 1 Comment

The Super Bowl is in the history books, and by now reporters at ESPN and NFL Network have discussed every minute detail of the game. For those who spend money-and I mean a LOT of money to advertise during the Super Bowl, the stakes are enormous. Expectations are sky high, the challenge is great. You need to grab the viewer, hold his attention, and, most important-make him remember what the product is, while competing for this urge to a) Go to the bathroom, b) Grab a drink, c) Grab some food, or d) All of the above.

Come Monday morning, a clear victor emerged (to me at least). Chrysler ran a full two-minute commercial titled “Born of Fire” featuring movie-quality scenes of Detroit, and a narrator telling the viewer, essentially, what hasn’t killed Detroit, or Chrysler, only makes them stronger. Night falls, cue Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”, with said Eminem driving the streets of Detroit in the new Chrysler 200. “That’s nice” you might think, but how does that make Chrysler the victor, when Audi and VW ran interesting ads as well? Simple. According to CNN, ‘Chrysler 200 ‘was the top search on Google Monday morning.

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Filed Under: Commentary, Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Chrysler Debuts All-New 300

January 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Chrysler’s flagship sedan, the 300, is finally getting a long over-due makeover. The last 300 debuted as a 2005 model, and wowed buyers and critics alike.  For over two decades, American auto manufacturers had been trying to emulate their Asian and European competition-with typically less than stellar results. But Chrysler all of a sudden remembered what American car companies were renowned for building-a big, rear wheel drive sedan with presence and swagger. And they gave us the 2005 Chrysler 300. It was all that and more. Gangster looks, a Bentley-esque grill, and available Hemi power. It was old school American iron in modern packaging.  And it was a hit.

Sadly, as is often the case with Chrysler, it was a brilliant idea, but with little money to develop and improve the 300, the car fell off the radar of buyers. Finally, Chrysler is introducing an all-new 300. Is it enough to keep the flame that burned so bright back in ’05? Hit continue to see what the new 300 offers. [Read more...]

Filed Under: In The Garage Tagged With: , ,

In Retrospect: Chrysler PT Cruiser

April 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The car in my garage last week, a 2010 Chrysler PT Cruiser Classic, technically shouldn’t have been there at all. You see, last year, with Chrysler bleeding bad, racing towards bankruptcy and on their knees in front of the US Congress looking for bailout money, promised the slow selling PT Cruiser would be killed. Not so fast. Enter savior Fiat, and the PT Cruiser gets a stay of execution, and lives on for another year.

Before we talk about the initial success of the PT Cruiser, it’s worth noting this car had a rough start from the get-go. In the late 1990′s Chrysler realized they had allowed their Plymouth brand to languish and get stale. The retro hot-rod Plymouth Prowler was the first salvo to revitalize the tired brand, and the follow-up was to be another retro-inspired car, the PT Cruiser. Then came the merger with Daimler. The Germans took one look at the state of Plymouth, and killed it. The PT Cruiser was spared, and debuted as a Chrysler.

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Editorial: To All the Mopar Haters…

January 17, 2010 by 6 Comments

I spent a good amount of time reading about the Detroit auto show, especially about Chrysler. With nothing new to show, Chrysler arrived in Detroit tooting about revised model lines, new standard equipment, etc. Hardly exciting stuff. Checking out the responses from readers at various auto-related blogs, a good deal of the general public seems certain that Chrysler is still going down. A strong opinion indeed, especially since no one has seen how the merger with Fiat will work out.

Personally, given the awful year they suffered through, and a long-neglected product portfolio, I thought it took guts and courage for Chrysler to set up a booth in the first place. The easy thing to do would have been to bury their head in the sand, and claim  for cost-cutting reasons, they couldn’t show. But they did, and Chrysler did the best they could with what limited resources they had. Facing the media could not have been a simple task, but I applaud Chrysler.

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Name that Mopar

January 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment

If the curves behind the lovely lady don’t look familiar, you would not be unlike many of the journalists at the Detroit auto show over the past couple of days. The car is clearly not a traditional Chrysler, yet it is wearing Chrysler badging. There are no signs anywhere near it and no nameplate.Curiously, there are also no Chrysler people anywhere near it to answer the “What is it” question that seems to be asked constantly.
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Dodge Refreshes Nitro Line

January 10, 2010 by 1 Comment

When former Chrysler parent Cerberus was asked to show what new cars were in the pipeline to the US Government, the news was worse than expected-there was virtually nothing, especially for Dodge. With new cars from Fiat still a couple years away, Chrysler must make do with its current stock. In hopes of sparking interest in Dodge’s entry-SUV, the company has revised the model line up and added equipment with Heat, Detonator and Shock models.

Introduced as a 2007 model, the Nitro is essentially Dodge’s version of the much more recognized Jeep Liberty. The base 3.7L V-6 has been dropped, so all Nitros share a 4.0L V-6 rated at 260hp, coupled to a 5-speed automatic. Buyers have a choice of rear wheel or all-wheel drive. At this time it is unclear if Dodge will eventually replace or discontinue the Nitro, but for now, click the link for the new model details.

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Forgotten Sporty Cars: Chrysler Laser

December 15, 2009 by 13 Comments

Welcome back to Forgotten Sporty Cars at The Garage! In this space we recall an era where small, economy car-based based vehicles were sold with zippy styling. Whether there was any substance to the sizzle we’ll leave for you to judge.

1984-1986 Chrysler Laser

1984_Chry_Laser_color

Imagine for a moment you are Chrysler in the early 1980′s. The automotive industry has been in a performance car coma for years, but there are flickering signs of life at rivals Ford and Chevy with their Mustang GTs and Camaro Z-28s. Money is tight-the US Government just bailed you out in 1979. So, you work with what you have, which in this case the front wheel drive K-car platform.

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Filed Under: Forgotten Sporty Cars, Vintage Tagged With: , ,

2010 Chrysler products to forgoe traditional owner’s manual in favor of dvd

September 21, 2009 by 1 Comment

DVDmanual22

From this morning’s press release:
New Chrysler, Jeep® and Dodge vehicle owners will soon have room to put gloves in their glove boxes instead of 4-pound owners’ manuals.

That’s right folks, finally a manufacturer is ditching that giant lump of paper and replacing it with a more efficient techno based solution. No, I’m not saying that a DVD is high tech by any stretch in today’s world but it makes much more sense than a book. Lately I’ve had a few media vehicles that have a glovebox that is completely taken up by owners manuals so comprehensive and bulky that one might think the Encyclopedia Brittanica had been slipped in as a joke on the production line.

There are those out there who will whinge about the lack of a quick reference resource. Its not like you can pull the dvd out of the glovebox while stopped at a light to see what that warning is that just came on. I’d be willing to bet that those same whingers never pull out the book until said light appears.

The positives to this move far outweigh the negatives. The most obvious may be that the glove box actually becomes a useful storage space again, while the reduced resources needed should make the greenies happy. Perhaps the most important feature is the substantial reduction in production costs which is likely the prime motivator for Chrysler’s decision.

Future collectors may bemoan the fact that dvds do deteriorate more quickly than books do, though I doubt any of those future collectors will actually want to use the manual. They just want it intact to ensure a complete package. Again, there is that reduced ability to make a quick reference check, but most things can probably wait till drivers get home anyway.

For those consumers who just have to have a book in hand, one can be had free of charge on request.

2010 Jeep Liberty video sample after the break
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