Cupholders that heat or cool your beverage and a set of hidden doors that allow you to enter or exit a coupe without having to high jump over the front seat.
Just two of the items featured at the media preview last week of the Detroit Auto Show, which runs this week in the Motor City, before moving to Chicago Feb. 8 through 16 for its annual run in McCormick Place.
Several new models were unveiled here in Detroit and yes, that was Dennis Pawley, executive vice president and head of manufacturing for Chrysler Corp., at the Toyota press conference for the debut of the 1998 Sienna mini-van, the front-wheel-drive replacement for the rear-drive Previa that will be dropped at the end of the ’97 run.
Pawley was eavesdropping on yet another rival in the mini-van market dominated by Chrysler.
Of Sienna, to be built off the Camry platform at Toyota’s Georgetown, Ky., plant, Pawley said: “They’re talking 50,000 units, and 50,000 units don’t worry me.”
Pawley admitted, however, that “they’ve done a good job on bringing out a new van, but they haven’t leapfrogged the competition. It looks a lot like a (Ford) Windstar.”
While Pawley passed judgment from a few feet away from Sienna, a number of Chrysler folks were spotted in the vehicle, tape measures in hand.
Like the Chrysler mini-vans, the Sienna it has slide-open doors on driver and passenger side. Like General Motors, and not Chrysler, it offers a power door as an option on the passenger side.
It will arrive in the fall with a guesstimated price of $25,000.
Olds eye-popper: Perhaps the biggest surprise of the show was the Oldsmobile Alero Alpha, a concept car that is thisclose to being the production model that bows in the spring of ’98 as the replacement for the Achieva.
Alero, which will be the name of the car, is built on a 113-inch wheelbase (almost 10 inches longer than Achieva) and is 182 inches long (about 5 inches shorter). And, though shown in coupe form, there also will be a sedan. A 4-cylinder engine will be standard, a V-6 optional. It will share the same platform as the new Pontiac Grand Am that bows in the fall as a ’98.
Stunningly sculpted, Alero is a styling outgrowth of the Aurora.
A few features worth noting include the absence of a metal key for opening the door/deck lid and starting the car. There’s a key fob you push to open the doors. A plastic key-like device slips from the fob to start the car or open the deck lid to access the trunk.
Bob Clark, Alero brand manager, said the system is a bit far into the future, but another Alero item is much closer–a cupholder that can keep a beverage warm or cool. Olds was one of two automakers showing such a system, the other being Ford on the MC4 concept, a vehicle with gull-wing doors for trunk access. Hmm.
Olds also unveiled the ’98 Intrigue, its new midsize flagship that goes on sale in February. The car was first shown in concept form here two years ago. It looks a tad old and lacks Alero’s allure.
The real thing: As for MC4, the media ogled the concept machine, but remembered that though Ford often shows far-out concepts, it seldom manufacturers them.
Ford officials, however, hinted that some design cues from the concept might show up in the Lincoln Mark XI if not the Jaguar/Lincoln entry-level luxury car slated for the 1999 model year.
The MC4 coupe has so called “suicide” doors, which Jack Telnack, vice president of corporate design, quickly pointed out should be called “Quad,” or access, doors.
The two front doors are shorter than on traditional sport coupes for easy opening in tight spaces. Behind those are half doors that open toward the rear of the car.
Once the front doors are open, the doors behind can be swung open to allow easy entry/exit to or from the back seat.
The doors are the same as those on the full-size Ford F-Series pickup trucks as well as Chevrolet C/K and S-10 pickup. But more noteworthy is that Pontiac used the feature on its Rageous concept coupe shown here.
In-Rageous Pontiac: Rageous, as in outrageous, is a concept that Pontiac says serves as a test bed of ideas for Firebird as well as other Pontiac sports models.
While most attention was focused on Rageous’ design, the car lets you get in or out without first tying yourself in knots.
Rather than bulging out, the rocker panel below the door has been flattened to remove one barrier to entry. And rather than being deeply recessed, the floor is flat, removing another obstacle.
Most Firebirds are purchased by women, but as Lynn Myers, Pontiac category director, noted, the bulging rocker and recessed floor pan made it easy to catch heels and stumble into the car. And any women getting into a Firebird in a tight skirt sacrificed decorum. Not with this new design, Myers said.
Firebird gets a modest styling remake in 1998, and the new entry/exit design is slated to arrive shortly thereafter.
Ahh-some Chryslers: Chrysler excited the media with a host of concept vehicles, namely the Copperhead and Phaeton, while providing a pair, Dakar and Pronto, on which the jury is still out.
Copperhead is a tease for a more affordable (less than $30,000) two-seat roadster companion to Viper that’s built off the same platform as the Plymouth Prowler. In keeping with the name, the seat coverings and even tire treads feature a snakeskin look and finish.
The car looks somewhat like a mini Viper with a hint of the Chrysler Atlantic, a high-performance concept sport coupe Chrysler put on the auto-show circuit a few years ago that left the public begging for a production version, like Viper and Prowler.
Copperhead is powered by Chrysler’s new 2.7-liter, V-6 earmarked for its LH sedans, but in 220-horsepower version.
Tom Gale, executive vice president of product development, said he envisions Copperhead as a higher volume car than Viper, if and when the automaker opts to build it.
When asked whether Copperhead is being previewed as a possible Dodge entry in the BMW Z3, Porsche Boxster, Mercedes-Benz SLK market, Gale beamed and replied, “Gosh, never thought about that.”
The auto-show circuit is being used to gauge public reaction.
Phaeton is another Chrysler retrospective, a four-door retractable hardtop update of the 1940 dual cowl Newport parade car with a 5.4-liter, V-12 engine.
The full-size, rear-wheel-drive luxury sedan features front and rear compartments with a wall and glass shield separating the two. Other than its appealing design, the car is noteworthy in that it is the only car in the industry designed with dual Grey Poupon holders in the rear console. Sources said if built, it would be a $100,000 machine, which means admire it but don’t hold your breath waiting for it.
Dakar is a four-door concept of the four-door Jeep Wrangler for 1998 aimed to compete against the Chevy Tracker, Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V in the less-than-$20,000 market. Roof lights and a roof rack are burdensome accessories that spoil the appearance.
Pronto is an exercise in building a Neon using color molded plastic for body panels rather than spray painting metal panels. Why? It costs $400 million to put a paint shop in an assembly plant; color molding equipment runs $100 million. Based on the fact Chrysler spent $75 million to bring out the Viper, the $300 million savings could allow it to introduce four new niche vehicles. A dream? Take another look around 2001-2002.
