Comments on: Chrysler at NAIAS: Stunning? A blunder? – two perspectives

By: robert watson

robert watson — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 04:08:33 +0000

chrysler keep on doing your thing all the cars,and trucks you have built since the late 90′s are on the money the 04′s and up are making all the other auto makers stand up and pay attention and with the imperail well let’s just say schools out and the other auto makers need to go to summer school because they are not ready for what comes next. robb showtime customs

By: steve bertram

steve bertram — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 06:07:48 +0000

i like it, but it just dosent seam chrysler like. i could see this car a maybach, or maybe even a mercedes, but i think chrysler just got a lil bit excited in the drawing room for this one. my advice to dcx: keep the name and redisign it to be a little less radical. disign it to be simlar to the dts and the town car, only better. make it a large sedan. and dont put it on the 300 chassis. the 300 is not the same size as a dts or town car. the 300 is a “full size sedan”, not a large sedan. its like the chrysler equivalent to the caddy sts. now make a chrysler equivalent to the dts. and i’ll bet that if chrysler does take this advise and does build a dts killer, that particular car (imperial) would not only sell better than the dts, but put caddalc out of buissness!

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:11:38 +0000

Wow. Talk about selective amnesia. From a PR/publicity perspective, Wernle forgot/ignored…
… Poor Eva Longoria–slumming with DCX, since she drives a DB9 on Desperate Housewives–unable to remember her three lines. She probably couldn’t get the god-awful image of the Imperial out of her head.
… Angie Who? Chrysler dragging out a C-list ‘celebrity’ for the mall-rated Jeep Compass.
… GM’s kickass Camaro rollout
… Chrysler’s single big viewing screen, unwatchable to anyone standing stage right (which was about one third of the crowd), vs GM’s multiple screens and speakers, which actually (surprise, surprise) allowed everyone to see what was going on.

Props to Chrysler for David Spade and the snowstorm, but it was by no means a slamdunk. DeLorenzo’s analysis was more on-target, and from the viewpoint of someone who was actually at the entire show.

By: BAC

BAC — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 11:35:43 +0000

DCX is just trying to give itself products to sell. Its the second generation of these cars that matters.

By: Whitless

Whitless — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 06:30:29 +0000

If they would have made the imperial the four door sedan and made the 300 the two door and the luxo-convertible they would have been better off.

Same thing goes really with the Charger 4dr. They should have just had a Magnum sedan and the Charger convertible, with a style change for the Challenger coupe.

And I hate the compass, even though I am a mopar guy…

By: Jules Mounteer

Jules Mounteer — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 04:48:40 +0000

The Imperail is unadulterated crap. The worst design, to not come out of China, I have ever seen.

The Dodge Aspen is what, a more expensive Durango? A vehicle doing nothing in the marketplace. The Aspen is DOA.

The Autoextremist is correct when he says it is over for Chrysler design.

As for Bradford Wernle, he may be right that Chrysler put on the best show. But then they had to as they had by far the worst product.

Smoke and mirrors.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 00:38:05 +0000

I don’t even know what they might have been going for with styling.

By: BCM

BCM — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 23:00:50 +0000

“A car that screams america?�? What, exactly, about this entirely derivative design screams “america�? to you?

That part I do agree with– fabulously expensive bad taste is a bedrock American value. Think of all the Eldorado convertibles in Texas with longhorn cattle horns mounted on the grilles. You don’t see people doing that to a Jag, M-B, or Roller.

By: tim

tim — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 21:48:46 +0000

“A car that screams america?” What, exactly, about this entirely derivative design screams “america” to you? If anything, this screams “Chery” at me. It’s a spoof of an existing car, the Phantom… down the the wheel design. Chrysler definitely humiliated themselves at the show. The Aspen was badge-engineered ubiquity, and the Jeep Compass? Explain that one to me.

The Camaro concept was great. It took it’s cues from previous design, but wasn’t beholden to it. I’m also a fan of the Charger concept, but not as much.

By: BCM

BCM — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 20:40:07 +0000

It’s a shame that Lee Iacocca isn’t head of Chrysler anymore. Even more than the 300, the Imperial cries out for a vinyl landau roof, opera windows/lamps, wire basket wheel covers, and a continental kit to go with its absurd 70s retro high-beltline styling. Then the blue-haired ladies sitting on cushions so they can see over the dash would feel right at home. Oh, and they need to put a pentastar hood ornament on it in place of that cloisonne badge. Then maybe Ford can bring back a 500-based LTD Landau and Grand Marquis Brougham with embossed-vinyl-covered hidden headlamps and rear fender skirts.

By: jimothy

jimothy — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 20:36:54 +0000

Indeed, “it was so easy to not get this one (the Camaro) right.” And I think that’s exactly what GM did: They did got the Camaro almost complete wrong. The only thing about the design they got right was the rear quarter panel, which looks as if it were lifted from the production Charger.

By: daniel sweeney

daniel sweeney — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 19:50:59 +0000

the imperial concept is the most awsome vehicle of the autoshow this year, it’s about time one of the big three shows a car that screams america, this car has to go into production, it is the logical next step for chrysler, they just can’t go wrong with having a stunning imposing, and massive luxo sedan, and they would definitly take the competition away from lincoln and cadillac in that segment, because the dts and towncar are old and dull. go for it DCX!!!