Call it a sneak peek.
Chrysler Corp. has put the Dodge Intrepid ESX, Chrysler LHX and Dodge Caravan ESS on the auto-show circuit to give consumers a glimpse at the design changes coming on the LH sedans in the 1998-’99 time frame as well as a chance to vote on whether a performance-oriented Caravan might sway some folks into a mini-van rather than a sport-utility vehicle.
Chrysler also said the Cherokee sport-utility will be redesigned for the 1997 model year, the first major restyling since the vehicle was introduced in 1983 and created the modern SUV market, but no concept will be on the show circuit.
The Intrepid ESX, billed as the sporting family sedan for the next century, features an aluminum body to cut 600 pounds of weight and make the sedan more fuel efficient. It also features a hybrid diesel/electric power source, though it’s far more likely the styling will show up than the hybird engine will.
Built on the same wheelbase as the current Intrepid–113 inches– the concept is 6 inches shorter overall while boasting about 2 inches more width in a cabin larger than the current car.
The LHX borrows heavily from the design of a previous show car, the Chrysler Atlantic.
The LHX is powered by a 3.5-liter, 250-horsepower-plus, 24-valve version of the 3.5-liter, 214-h.p., V-6 under the hood of the Chrysler LHS. It’s the engine that will power the Plymouth Prowler roadster bowing in the spring of 1997 as a 1998 model.
The LHX wheelbase has been stretched to 124 inches from 113 inches on the LHS sedan to accommodate rear-passenger air bags in the backs of the front seats, as well as an entertainment center for rear-seat occupants. Another item worth noting, sideview mirrors are replaced by a
closed-circuit television system in the windshield pillars.
The ESS Caravan has a high-output 215-h.p. version of Chrysler’s 3.8-liter, 172-h.p., V-6 with Autostick, the 4-speed automatic transmission that shifts like a manual when the lever is slipped into a special slot.
The ESS is significant in that Chrysler is the industry’s mini-van sales leader but a growing number of people are opting for an SUV because they consider mini-vans too sedate and conservative and not just a replacement for station wagons, but station wagons themselves that folks run around in with a bunch of kids.
In 1990 Chrysler threw all the luxury goodies on a mini-van and called it the Chrysler Town & Country. First-year sales of 2,000 units swelled to 70,000 by 1995. Chrysler hopes to do the same with Caravan, by adding a powerful engine, sports suspension and performance styling cues such as a spoiler, prominent round fog lamps, body-colored grille and a torch red interior to come up with a mini-van for the sports- and performance-minded.
“We’re really eager to measure the public and press reaction to the ESS on the auto-show circuit,” said Dodge general manager Marty Levine.
“It hasn’t been approved for production yet so it would really be stretching it to get it out in the 1997 model year, but we’d only do it with the high-output 3.8,” he said.
“It’s not about how many grocery bags you can haul, but how much fun you can have hauling them,” Levine said.
“The mini-van market continues to bring new kinds of buyers into the segment, many of whom are younger people coming out of smaller, sportier cars. We believe we are meeting their needs with the current Caravan ES and Sport, but maybe there’s an opportunity for something more,” Levine said of the ESS.
Pace truck?: While the Viper GTS coupe will serve as the pace car for this year’s Indy 500, a Dodge Ram Indy 500 special edition version of the RAM SLT Sport 1500 regular cab 4×2 will be the official truck for the race.
Powered by a 5.9-liter, 234-h.p., Magnum V-8 that can be boosted to 300 h.p. with performance parts from Chrysler’s Mopar division, Dodge will build 5,000 copies of the truck for retail buyers. The limited-edition model will be decked out in the same colors as the GTS coupe–blue with white “skunk” stripes–and offer 17-inch wheels and a sport-tuned exhaust. The truck will start at $21,050, including freight.
Dodge, by the way, said the GTS coupe with its 8-liter, 450-h.p., V-10 engine, will arrive in the spring and start at $66,700, including freight, but not about $6,300 in gas-guzzler and federal luxury taxes.
Cost conscious: Audi said it will bring out a lower-cost companion of its A4 sedan powered by a 4-cylinder engine this year that might sell for less than $25,000 versus $26,500 for the current A4 powered only by a V-6.
Audi also will bring out a full-size, aluminum-body A8 sedan in the fall that will feature an industry first: six air bags–two for front-seat occupants for frontal-impact protection, two for front-seat side impacts and two for rear-seat side impacts.
Graham Morris, Audi AG, board member, said the automaker has made no decision to build cars in the U.S.
Maybe in the U.S.A.: Jim Press, Lexus division general manager, declined to talk about rumors of U.S. production of a Lexus to avoid the high costs of importing vehicles here thanks to yen/dollar exchange rates.
“Toyotas produced at our Georgetown (Ky.) plant have the same quality as Toyotas produced in Japan, but we’ve only found the quality we want for Lexus in cars built in Japan,” he said. “Lexus goes through different build processes than Toyota. We hope to produce a Lexus in North America. We are giving serious thought to our plant in Cambridge, Ontario, in Canada (which builds the Corolla and is expanding to be able to produce 210,000 cars a year, up from 80,000 now).”
Officials said Toyota would have little room for a Lexus in Georgetown, which builds Camry, Avalon and, in mid-1997, the new mini-van to replace the Previa.
