Only have time to make a really quick tour of the auto show? Lace on your running shoes, slip into your jogging suit, grab a slice of fudge for energy and don’t miss the following because they represent the essence of the show as well as providing a glimpse of what will be in showrooms in the months or years to come.
– Ford Thunderbird: Upset when Ford dropped Thunderbird after 1997? Check out the next generation that probably will arrive in 2000 as a 2001 model. The modernized tribute pays homage to the ’55-’57 ‘Birds by mimicking their design and philosophy as a two-seat personal luxury car with large oval headlamps, chrome wings along the nose and opera windows, or portholes, on each side of the removable aluminum roof that hides the convertible (no retractable metal roof to save trunk space).
The ‘Bird will be built off a shortened version of the same platform as the entry-level Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type sedans due in spring. It will be powered by a 3.9-liter, 240-horsepower V-8, same as the LS, with a 4- or, probably, 5-speed automatic. Expect about 20,000 units annually with a $32,000 to $35,000 price tag.
– Chrysler PT Cruiser: Will vie with T-Bird as show stopper, or at least the most cute and cuddly vehicle since the Volkswagen Beetle appeared last year. A sport-utility/station wagon like hybrid that will be built off the Dodge/Plymouth Neon platform for the 2001 model year. Two versions are expected, a front-wheel-drive Cruiser followed by an all-wheel-drive version in 2002.
– Dodge Charger: Name from the ’60s on a muscle car for the future, perhaps a companion to or replacement for the Dodge Stratus, powered by a 4.7-liter, 325-h.p., supercharged V-8. The concept has a natural gas engine, the production model wouldn’t. Noteworthy, too, Charger is a four-door with two rear access doors similar to those on the Ram extended-cab pickup truck.
– Jeep Commander: A more upscale Grand Wagoneer-like version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee designed to compete against the Lincoln Navigator. The suspension rises 4 inches for off-roading or tip-toeing over heavy snow. Seven inches wider than a Grand Cherokee, luggage rack pops out of the roof, voice command controls for radio and climate, laptop computer docking station. A tiny camera in the instrument panel takes picture of anyone stealing the machine and electronically sends the photo to the police while thief is joyriding.
– Chrysler Citadel: Hybrid four-wheel-drive sport-utility/luxury sedan or as Chrysler calls it, a 300M and Grand Cherokee in one vehicle. Built off a Chrysler Concorde platform. Slide-open side doors like a mini-van, rear cargo door flips down and slides under the rear floor, pillar between front and rear door slides out of the way for wheelchair access.
– Dodge Power Wagon: If the industry can offer luxury sport-utes, why not luxury trucks? Possible niche truck in the Ram line. Rather than seats in back, you have drawers to increase storage capacity. Tailgate is power operated, not manual. Power comes from a 7.2-liter, turbocharged, 6-cylinder, diesel engine.
– Pontiac Aztek: Built off the same platform as the Pontiac Montana mini-van, this may be the concept closest to production at General Motors, perhaps as a 2001. GM calls it a V-6-powered four-door sports sedan hatchback van with four-wheel-drive and a tailgate–“more of a Clint Eastwood than an Arnold Schwarzenegger” off-roader that holds people and mountain bikes and comes with a tailgate with seats.
– Buick Cielo: Midsize convertible off the Regal platform. Hardtop retracts on rails along the sides of the roof for open-air motoring. Roof can be opened/closed by pushing a button or by voice activation. Rain sensor system would close roof when water strikes the windshield. Four doors, with the two in back access doors like those on extended-cab pickups, and 11 air bags, including bags in the roof rails for side impact head protection.
– Oldsmobile Recon: Short for reconfigurable interior seating. A compact sport-ute that insiders say offers the styling of the next generation GM front-wheel-drive mini-vans. A four-door hatchback, dual sunroofs over front/rear seats, voice-activated controls, computer laptop docking station.
– Chevrolet Nomad: 21st Century sport wagon named for a station wagon version of the ’50s Chevy, GM says. Hybrid with the performance and handling of a sports sedan and the function and flexibility of a sport-utility. “It’s what would happen if you put the Corvette and Blazer in a blender,” one official noted. The rear-wheel-drive Nomad looks, at first glance, to be a two-door, but features twin power rear-access doors that pull out and slide back like those on mini-vans. Rear tailgate pulls down, rear seats fold flat and roof slides forward to convert back end into pickup bed. Maybe what Camaro successor could be.
– Cadillac Evoq: Could be added to the lineup in 2002, a second attempt (Allante first) to bring out a luxury roadster to compete with the Mercedes SL. Built on a 108.5-inch wheelbase and about the size of an Eldorado coupe. Powered by a 4.2-liter, 32-valve V-8. Metal retractable hardtop. Laptop computer docking, OnStar emergency communication/navigation system, Night Vision infrared imaging to detect objects in the road regardless of visibility and obstacle detection in which a light/chime warning system alerts the driver when he or she is backing up within striking distance of an object.
– Nissan SUT (Sport-Utility Truck): Combination sport-utility and truck, a multipurpose package that probably will be available for 2000 1/2 or 2001. An extended-cab truck with four swing-out doors. There’s a mini 4-foot cargo bed that looks 2 to 4 feet too short to serve any useful purpose, but Nissan points out that a pickup bed is seldom used and doesn’t need to be as big as it is. Besides, if you need more room, SUT comes with a hatchlid in the passenger cabin. Open the lid, fold the rear seats flat, and you have an outside/inside cargo bed to a 4-by-8 sheet of plywood.
– Nissan Z: Concept of the Z car (Cars, Feb. 11) return, probably for 2001. No doubt an affordable sports coupe as a successor to the one whose sticker got away from Nissan–and consumers.
– Nissan Xterra: Frontier pickup converted into a sport-utility that’s smaller and less expensive than the Pathfinder will bow for 2000 with four-wheel-drive and a choice of 4- or 6-cylinder engines.
– Toyota: ECHO is the new entry-level economy car coming this fall and aimed at Generation X. It will be joined by the XYR concept of the next-generation Celica sports coupe, which also will bow this fall for the 2000 model year. If into trucks with an import flair, check out the Tundra, coming out in May as Toyota’s first 2000 model to rival the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado.
– Mercedes ML55: A vehicle that puts the “sport” in sport-utility. Its 5.5-liter, 349-h.p. V-8 can propel it from zero to 60 m.p.h. in about four seconds. Only 2,000 will be built the next four years. Price for 1999: $69,100.
– Ford Focus: 2000 replacement for the Ford Escort due out this fall in sedan and wagon version and later as a coupe. Focus platform will give birth to a sport-utility vehicle in Europe, dubbed MAV, for multiactivity vehicle, with all-wheel-drive, that will be marketed in the U.S. as well (Cars, Jan. 21). Ford confirms two MAV’s, one off Focus, another off a smaller Fiesta (Ford of Europe mini) platform; both will be sold worldwide. Ford will build one MAV similar in size to the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 at its Kansas City, Mo., plant in 2001. There’s speculation that Ford’s Japanese partner, Mazda, will offer a version, though perhaps not built in Kansas City.
– Mercury my: What Ford MAV will look like.
– Ford Explorer Sport Trac: Concept of an Explorer sport-utility with a pickup bed that Ford will produce for 2001.
– Lincoln Blackwood: Concept of a Lincoln Navigator sport-utility with a pickup bed that Ford will produce, but won’t say when.
Also at McCormick Place are the Honda S2000, a performance sports coupe for fall; the Audi TT coupe, which goes on sale this spring for $30,000 to $35,000 with an all-wheel-drive version this summer and a 225-h.p. roadster late this year or early next; the first remake in 10 years of the Land Rover Discovery; the redesigned Subaru Outback for 2000; Isuzu VehiCross, addition to the Trooper, Rodeo and Amigo team; entry-level Jaguar S-Type and Lincoln LS V-6 and V-8 sedans; Mitsubishi’s SSU (Super Sports Utility) 4WD hybrid (Transportation, Jan. 31) slated for production in Normal, Ill., off the Galant/Eclipse platform; Dodge Dakota Quad Cab; BMW X5 sport-activity vehicle; 2000 Chevy Impala; 2000 Dodge/Plymouth Neon with concept of performance R/T version coming for 2001; 2000 Mercedes S-Class; and Lexus IS sports sedan.
