Fiat helps Dodge, Chrysler get new life for 2011
Chrysler revised the Sebring so totally it chose a new name -- the Chrysler 200.
By John Gilbert
What seems like identity-crisis time for Chrysler and Dodge may be the dawn of a promising upside. Getting through the transition of being purchased by Italy’s Fiat conglomerate, Dodge and Chrysler could see immediate benefits, based on the introduction of their revised fleet of vehicles for 2011.
The words style and refinement haven’t often been used favorably to describe Chrysler or Dodge vehicles recently, and, except for minivans, it’s been years since anyone pointed to anything from the corporation as a standard of interior finish and style. But everything in the Chrysler line, and almost everything behind a Dodge nameplate is revised and improved for 2011. Some of the products, such as the Dodge Grand Caravan or the Chrysler Town & Country, don’t look all that different, but whether the sheet metal is changed or not, the engines, drivetrains, structure, and suspension have been changed and vastly improved in every model.
When you consider it, the union of Fiat with ChryslerDodge/Jeep is a natural. Fiat wanted to return to the U.S. market, but lacked a nationwide network. Chrysler needed a truly competitive small car, and Fiat has the 500, a tiny but strong global commuter car. Chrysler, LLC, needed financial backing, and Fiat has money. But nobody anticipated the instant changeover that appears to have taken place. Read more
Chief designer of new Camaro brings one back home
Tom Peters visited his hometown, and brought his prized Camaro with him.
Tom Peters came home last week, and he brought a couple of his latest works of art with him. He also brought his son, so he could show him the places he used to live in the Minneapolis suburb of Deephaven, with the family moving to nearby Chaska when he was 13.
“We used to play hockey on Lake Minnetonka, and I’ve been telling my son about it,” said Peters. “He’s playing now in the Detroit area, but he’s never played outdoors.”
When Peters was in school, and maybe his mind would wander into daydreams, he would draw things. He saved one of them and reproduced it, and I was flattered that he gave me a print. It is a drawing of a hot-rod, one of those high-up vehicles that used to be the favorite style of hot-rod magazine cartoonists, and it was of a modified 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.
The significance of that is that the pieces of art Peters brought home to put on display in Minneapolis were a pair of 2010 Camaros, one dark red and the other dark blue — vehicles whose design was the responsibility of Peters. There is no doubt about the connection Peters enforced with the concept car, and, more important, to the classic vintage 1996 model.
Both of the new cars had 3.6-liter V6 engines and were RS models that drove smoothly in a brief whirl up the freeway and back to the Guthrie Theater. The big Corvette 6-liter V8 has been popular with first buyers, but after the muscle-car surge, Chevrolet anticipates the potent and high-tech V6 will become the dominant choice in the car. Read more
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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