Crude machines. Dials don’t work, neither do levers, buttons, lights or wipers.
Power steering sometimes goes on hiatus, engines occasionally shut down, and step on the brake pedal and . . . step on it again . . . and again . . .
But rather than tow truck with battery cables, a pickup with glue and duct tape is parked nearby, and rather than grumble, you accept each annoyance as the price paid for a fun day at Chrysler’s Proving Grounds where the concept veterans of this year’s auto-show circuit have been brought for a media play day.
The five were the Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible, Jeep Compass, Jeep Willys2, Dodge M80 and Dodge Razor.
The media were free to drive the machines and speculate which may become reality, though Chrysler ended some suspense by saying the Cruiser Cabrio will be produced in the first quarter of 2004.
Here’s how they measure up:
Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible. One word says it all–fun. Top-down cruising in one of the industry’s most novel-looking vehicles. The built-in body-colored rollbar made some media wince for its styling appeal, but it would bother us more if it wasn’t body colored–and if it wasn’t there for added protection. Be prepared, however, the convertible hardware doesn’t leave much cargo capacity in the abbreviated trunk.
Dodge Razor. A hint of the look of the 1970s Datsun 240Z. Of the five, the least likely to be built. Cute, but based on a shortened version of the same platform for the Chrysler Crossfire coming out next spring. Offering a “poor man’s” $15,000 version of the $35,000 Crossfire, would do little to promote Crossfire.
Two-seater is 7 inches shorter than a Jeep Wrangler or Mazda Miata. Doors don’t open very wide, and the door sill is so huge getting in is a chore. Once in, the seats are soooo narrow.
Inspired by British sports cars of the ’50s and ’60s, Razor is powered by a 2.4-liter, 250-horsepower, turbocharged 4-cylinder with 6-speed manual.
With a target base price of less than $15,000, you won’t find many amenities, such as power windows, power mirrors, power seats or radio.
Dodge M80. Can only hope this isn’t an “if” but a “when.”
A natural now that Chevrolet is bringing out the SSR pickup roadster for 2003, though, Rick Aneiros, vice president-design for Chrysler, insists, “It’s not that M80 is Dodge’s SSR as it is SSR is Chevy’s Prowler. The SSR is their limited-edition $40,000 vehicle while M80 is meant as a mainstream volume vehicle.”
Two-seat work (snow) or play (beach) truck with an abbreviated 5-foot cargo bed. The macho-looking four-wheel-drive pickup is powered by Chrysler’s 3.7-liter, 210-h.p. V-6 with 5-speed manual and meant to haul two and their surfboards or mountain bikes or one and his or her snowmobile.
Neat features include side storage lockers on the outsides of the cargo bed; a bin that runs below the rear window to hold such items as shoes, umbrellas, water bottles or tools; and a center console that doubles as a removable beverage/snack cooler with handles and comes with an electrical cord to be plugged into an accessory outlet to cool contents while driving.
Seats also remove to take to the beach, while neoprene (same material as wet suit) dash is washable and eliminates glare through windshield.
M80 has huge injection-molded plastic fenders and bumpers for off-road protection. M80 is about 2 feet shorter than a Dakota.
Jeep Compass. Personal favorite, though the name lacks pizzazz. A two-door, four-seater with ample cargo hold thanks to putting the spare in a holder built into the swing-open tailgate.
Neat features: plastic ribbed roof to carry lumber or canoe without scratching the roof and first-aid kit built into tailgate. Not so neat: green plastic sunvisors that show fingerprints.
The two-door Compass is about a foot shorter than the four-door Liberty but is powered by the same 3.7-liter, 210-h.p. V-6 with automatic as Liberty and features all-wheel-drive. Maybe $15,000 in base version, but closer to $20,000 with V-6, automatic and 4WD.
Engine, suspension, brakes all seem thisclose to production tuned. Slap on plates and go. A vehicle Dad and Mom will get for the teens because it looks more substantial than a Wrangler, but once in the driveway, Dad or Mom are going to steal it.
Jeep Willys2. More shades of green inside and out than needed, including thin green sidewall tires. Two doors, four seats and fair cargo capacity. The 21-inch radials look nice size-wise but will not be offered on a production model because they cost too much to produce. Only concept without cupholders.
Removable hardtop comes with a roof rack with full-size spare-tire holder. Neoprene covered washable seats would give way to cloth in a production model, insiders say.
The full-time 4WD Willys2 is powered by a 1.6-liter, 160-h.p., supercharged 4 with 4-speed automatic. Willys2 is about a foot shorter but almost 3 inches wider than Wrangler.
As with Compass and M80, you sit high enough to allow for 4WD and off-roading but don’t feel off balance or top heavy. And despite the “squashed” roof look on Willys2 (and to a lesser extent on the Compass), you can easily see out.
As for the “squashed roof,” Jeep and Hummer were locked in a legal battle because Jeep said Hummer lifted its seven-slot grille design. The court ruled against Jeep, but it appears Jeep got even because the Willys2 has adopted a roof line that appears to come from Hummer, the very low, flat, almost squashed cartoon-like look.
Aneiros begs to differ.
“For years vehicles in profile have been about 50 percent glass and 50 percent sheetmetal. What we’ve done is move the sheetmetal higher and lowered the glass. We did it because people say they feel the design has a cocoon or bunker quality that makes them feel safer and more protected,” he said.
In addition to the PT Cabrio, showroom space also should be reserved for the Jeep Compass and Dodge M80. Willys2 could use a “3” with a little more refinement before a verdict is made, and the Razor is cute but shouldn’t see the light of day.
Our opinion, however, differs slightly from auto-show goers’.
“Compass and Willys2 were the two winners. Everyone said we should consider building them,” said Aneiros.
“At the end of July we’ll decide which concepts will be approved for a feasibility study to determine if there is a business case and we’ll start consumer clinics to research the target audience,” he said.
The target for all but the PT Cabrio is the millennials, 12- to 24-year-olds, some younger than 16 who don’t have driver’s licenses, but a group that outnumbers Baby Boomers.
“The top three aspirational and most recognized car brands by millennials are VW, Honda and Jeep,” Aneiros said, the reason the concepts included two Jeeps.
“Compass and Willys are designed to broaden the Jeep lineup,” Aneiros said, but in different directions.
“Our current Jeeps will travel the Rubicon Trail [with a Rubicon Wrangler coming this fall]. But do we have to go on the Rubicon Trail with every Jeep? Willys is a rock climber, a go-anywhere four-wheel-drive Jeep, but Compass is an urban vehicle, more of an on-road sports model with heroic off-road capability–if needed.
“When you make vehicles Rubicon-capable, you bake more cost into them, about $2,000. But do all Jeeps need 4WD, a statement that would have been heresy five years ago?” he asked.
The reason for the concern with cost, he said, is that with millennials, “less is more and the key to an aspirational vehicle is one they can afford. With these concepts, it’s not so much design as it is affordability.”
The goal with the millennial concepts is a starting price of about $15,000 with 4-cylinder engines, manual transmissions and two-wheel-drive, “alternatives to bare-bones econoboxes, but vehicles that still give them excitement,” Aneiros said.
To cut costs, Compass is derived from the Jeep Liberty sport-utility, M80 from the Dakota pickup and Razor from the Crossfire coupe.
