They’ve done it again.
DaimlerChrysler, the company formerly known as Chrysler, unveiled a series of concepts at the Detroit Auto Show this week that has everyone asking not if, but when.
What started as a gamble in 1989, when a last-minute cancellation forced Chrysler to fill a hole in its exhibit with a concept called Viper, has become an annual ritual.
The success of Viper, and the Plymouth Prowler that followed, gave the automaker the confidence to display a host of concepts on the auto-show circuit each year to judge media and public reaction to taking them to production.
This year’s cast includes:
– The Jeep Varsity, a hybrid wagon/sedan/SUV that Tom Gale, DaimlerChrysler executive vice president for development and design, calls “a new vehicle category, an Urban Adventure Concept that can go anywhere, do anything (and) blurs the line between boulevard and boulder performance.”
The Jeep Varsity is a four-door “crossover,” or hybrid, built on a long (109-inch) wheelbase stretch of the Jeep Grand Cherokee platform and but is short (166 inches long) overall, similar in length to a Jeep Wrangler. The longer wheelbase and shorter length contribute to maneuverability and garageability. Less size means less weight and more mileage.
Gale said Varsity is neither a replacement for the Grand Cherokee nor Wrangler as much as it is a potential addition to the Jeep lineup that blends the look of a car with the attributes of a sport-ute, similar to the combination in the Lexus RX300.
Varsity, which is designed for on- or off-road, “could be a very fuel-efficient SUV” in the Jeep stable, Gale said.
Varsity is powered by a 3.5-liter, 300-horsepower V-6, same as in the Chrysler 300M sedan. It offers four-wheel-drive.
“We started working on another concept in the same direction as the Jeep but chose to move ahead with this crossover instead,” Gale said.
– The Chrysler 300 Hemi C, which, Gale says, signals “a return of the all-American V-8, rear-wheel-drive, luxury performance convertible,” and “explores a direction we might take if we were to return to a V-8-powered RWD luxury performance car such as the famed ’57 Chrysler 300C convertible.”
The Hemi (hemispherical combustion chambers) V-8 is an icon that brought Chrysler to performance prominence in the ’50s and especially the ’60s. The Chrysler 300 Hemi C concept is powered by a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8.
“The concept is very close in many respects to what you someday may see. We could do it within two years,” Gale said.
The 300 C, which is similar in size to the current 300M sedan, seats four adults like the Chrysler Sebring convertible but “is more genteel and upscale,” Gale said.
So upscale that the car comes with a thumbprint pad next to the ignition switch. To start the car you place your thumb on the pad and the preprogrammed computer identifies your fingerprint as that of the car owner and lets the key turn. If a thief slips in and somehow hauls, tows or drives the car away, in the absence of the thumbprint the computer activates a hidden camera that takes the thief’s picture and puts it on the Internet. DaimlerChrysler says it may install the thumbprint technology in current cars based on the reaction of auto-showgoers.
Power brake and gas pedals motor up to four inches closer to the driver so he or she doesn’t have to move the seat forward.
DaimlerChrysler has said that when Prowler is dropped after the 2001 model run, another limited-edition vehicle will take its place at DaimlerChrysler’s Connor Avenue plant in Detroit, where Prowler and Viper are assembled.
If built, the 300 C convertible wouldn’t be produced at Connor. Good news, because as Gale said, “the volume would be too high for Connor.” That’s evidence that the bookkeepers have been juggling possible production numbers, and a hint that rumors of a “truck icon” taking Prowler’s place at Connor may prove true.
Another hint that 300 C may be built? An official took pains to point out the first Chrysler Hemi engine was built in 1951 and 2001 would be its 50th anniversary.
– The Dodge Maxx Cab, a concept sedan/truck hybrid that Gale calls “the world’s first passenger-priority truck, a true pickup with cab-forward design and sedan-like ride, handling, space, comfort and luxury.”
Maxx Cab is built on a Dodge Dakota platform and is shorter than a full-size Ram, wider than a compact Dakota. The 4WD four-door concept features conventional swing-open rear doors and is powered by a 4.7-liter V-8.
For families, the parent need only push a button on the dash and the middle seat holding the toddler motors forward up to six inches so Mom or Dad can tend to the child. The front-facing seat will hold up to a 60-pound child. A camera in the roof monitors kids in back at all times. DaimlerChrysler also is looking at this technology for current cars.
And, once the family arrives at its destination, a picnic table and chairs integrated into the cargo bed allows for meals on the road.
Like Ford and Chevy, which have–or soon will have–short-bed, full-size and compact extended cab pickups that fit better in garages, the Maxx cab comes with a 4 1/2-foot box in back (8 feet is the norm). The bed was open on the concept shown the media, but sources said a power-operated cover has been developed in the design studios.
Unlike the Chevrolet Avalanche (Cars, Jan. 6), the Maxx concept has no door or lid at the rear of the passenger cabin that opens to allow you to carry cargo that won’t fit in the short bed alone.
“There’s obviously an appetite among consumers for extended-cab pickups with shorter beds. But this is a concept and if we get serious about building it, we’ll look at ways to open up the cabin with the shorter bed,” said John Herlitz, senior vice president of product design.
– The Dodge Viper GTSR, a street-legal LeMans racing-inspired rendition of the roadster, which, if you haven’t noticed, is due for a design overhaul because it debuted in the 1992 model year.
“We’ve dominated with the Viper GTS-R in racing since 1997 and the Viper GTSR concept shows that we won’t rest on our laurels and the potential that we have,” Gale said.
In unveiling the GTSR concept, Gale called Viper “a truly special car for us, the symbol of change that took place at Chrysler in the ’90s.”
The GTSR is powered by a 500-h.p. version of the 8-liter V-10 now in Viper that develops 450 h.p. Top speed claim is “in excess” of 200 m.p.h.
Other changes include a 3-inch longer wheelbase, to 99.2 inches, for greater stability, lower-body carbon-fiber ground effects and a rear wing spoiler on the deck lid.
Gale said he “can’t commit” that the concept is actually the next Viper, but adds, “Our concepts have always been a fair predictor of what we plan to do.”
And that goes for Varsity, Maxx Cab and the 300 C convertible.
“Any of these concepts is possible and has a chance to be,” Gale said.
While DaimlerChrysler was showing off concepts that could be, Ford Motor Co. was displaying a concept sport-ute that will be: the 2001 Ford Escape, coming out this summer.
Escape is a cousin to the Mazda Tribute unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week. Ford and Mazda developed the new sport-utes. Both are built on a 103.1-inch wheelbase and are 173 inches long overall. That’s an 8-inch-shorter wheelbase and 17 inches shorter overall than the Ford Explorer. Escape is about the size of a Honda CR-V.
Ford President Jac Nasser said Escape will give Ford division six SUVs and the claim to being “the most comprehensive outfitter of SUVs in the industry.”
The six are the Explorer, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Expedition, Excursion and Escape. With the Mercury Mountaineer, Lincoln Navigator, and soon Lincoln Blackwood, add three more SUVs.
A Lincoln version of the Escape is expected in 2002 or 2003 and another SUV will be built off the Ford Focus sedan platform for the European market in 2002 at the earliest and marketed in the U.S. after that as a Ford.
Nasser said Escape has no age, gender or income targets but is aimed at singles and newly marrieds who never owned an SUV.
“Buyers will come from those who own passenger cars but as they get more adventuresome are looking for more versatility and fun,” he said.
“Escape is for those who want all the advantages of an SUV–sitting high so they better can see down the road and four-wheel-drive for all-weather motoring–but in a compact, more nimble, more maneuverable, more affordable vehicle,” Nasser said.
The four-door Escape will offer a choice of 2-liter, 130-h.p. 4- cylinder or 3-liter, 200-h.p. V-6 engines; front- or four-wheel-drive; 15- or 16-inch wheels; 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission.
It also will offer rear liftgate with flipup glass window, depowered front air bags and optional side air bags, XLS or XLT trim packages, mountain bike mounting system for the rear hatchlid, power mirrors, handbag storage bin, optional power moonroof, two power plugs, space-saver spare under the cargo floor, anti-lock brakes (standard on XLT) and five cupholders plus an industry first–a lip-balm holder.
Ford will build 250,000 Escape/Tributes annually at its plant in Kansas City, Mo. About 200,000 will be Fords.
