Forgotten Chrysler products?

Cool stuff there, that's for posting.
The only major disagreement I have would be with the cricket. Those really were awful!
But at the time of the gas crunch, ma mopar had nothing to compete with the Datsuns of the day.
 
Thanks for posting. The Crossfire should be #15
2004_chrysler_crossfire_2dr-hatchback_base_fq_oem_2_500.jpg
 
Re: Crossfire
The engine in the Crossfire was a 3.5L Mercedes V-6. I saw one on a display at a Chrysler event. Looks really nice and such, BUT it made no more power than the existing Chrysler 3.5L V-6, at that time. We also know the Chrysler V-6 was much less complex and made within 5 horsepower of the more complex Mercedes engine. A Chrysler body over a Mercedes platform must have made some of the Germans cringe?

CBODY67
 
The name, “Mopar,” which is synonymous with the Chrysler Corporation (FCA) products today, came from the name “Motor Parts.”

The Grand Turismo Exterminator or GTX

Are the above statements factual?

I've been a fan of the older Traildusters and Ramchargers since I was introduced to them in 1990. I wish I could find a decent one for a price I could afford.
plymouth_trail_duster_5.jpg
 
After looking at the link, thanks for the posting. It's one of the better ad-laden sites to get through, from my experience.

To me, the reason for the "forgotten" aspect is just time itself. At the time of their manufacture, they were significant automotive products, especially when compared to what GM and Ford had back then!

The Crickets and Colts were existing Chrysler-partner products, just with some Americanization. Cricket from the Rootes Group in England and Colt from Mitsubishi (of which Chrysler owned about 10% of at the time, as Ford owned a similar amount of Mazda and GM in Isuzu).

The Magnum just needed more motor, but at the time the upper limit of horsepower seemed to be 200 horsepower, fwd and rwd. Corvettes only had about 230, by comparison.

The FWD fleet of smaller utility vehicles, luxury coupes/sedans, and later specialty vehicles that had the K-car platform in their heritage . . . this was when Chrysler was hitting niches which Ford and GM couldn't. Some pretty neat cars for the time! Key phrase, "for the time". The "forgotten" list forgot about the Dodge Shadow Turbo cars, and the progression of the Turbo motors that were in them, including the resurrection of the "Rental Car Hot Rod"!

The ONE thing this "forgotten" article didn't mention . . . that most of these vehicles (or platform of vehicles) has a significant national club following for them. Thc TC has its own AACA forum! There have been several online website and forums for the fwd Mopars and a national Shelby-Dodge fwd club, basically performance-oriented. Those fwd Mopars with turbos can run fast very easily! Some of the Mustang GTs of that time, when they came up against somebody that knew how to best drive a turbo, found that out. Obviously, some are stronger than others as many of those cars became "used cars" and were treated as expendables. Yet many of the North American products show up each year at Mopar Nationals with enthusiastic owners. If a Cricket or Colt shows up, all the better.

Happy New Year!
CBODY67
 
Jack Smith (Plymouth product planner best known for the Roadrunner) said GTX was nothing more than a cooler sounding name than GTO.
 
"GTO", as applied to Pontiacs was "Gas, Tires, Oil"

"GTX" became "GiTX" . . . "X" being later in the alphabet.

"GTO" was an allusion to the race class at the LeMans races, for an alleged increased "cache" effect.

CBODY67
 
I got as far as the gtx...

What s tye whole list of cars for ppl like me that doesn't want to click through it all
 
CBODY67 said:
Re: Crossfire
The engine in the Crossfire was a 3.5L Mercedes V-6. I saw one on a display at a Chrysler event. Looks really nice and such, BUT it made no more power than the existing Chrysler 3.5L V-6, at that time. We also know the Chrysler V-6 was much less complex and made within 5 horsepower of the more complex Mercedes engine. A Chrysler body over a Mercedes platform must have made some of the Germans cringe?

CBODY67
Click to expand...
No question the power of the Chrysler 3.5 is not earth shattering but I have it in a Charger and it moves that heavy car along very nicely. With a stick shift these cars are great handling sports cars. As evidenced by Carm's reaction, peoples reaction to them is either love it or hate it. I really like the styling particularly the ribbed hood.
Edit: Sorry I got the motor wrong...
he standard transmission is a 6-speed manual with an optional 5-speed automatic. Base (Standard) and Limited models, originally sold beginning in the 2004 model year, are equipped with a Mercedes-Benz 3.2 L, 18-valve, SOHC V6 engine which produces 215 hp (160 kW) and 229 pound force-feet (310 N⋅m) of torque. SRT-6 models are equipped with a special supercharged version of the engine built by AMG. SRT-6 models came only with the 5-speed automatic transmission, consistent with AMG cars of the same era. The 6-speed transmission used by the Chrysler Crossfire is a variant of the Mercedes sourced NSG-370. The 5-speed automatic transmission in the Crossfire (known as 5G-Tronic) is also Mercedes sourced and a variant of the 722.6 family. The automatic achieves a better EPA fuel efficiency rating over the 6MT, mostly due to the difference in gear ratios.
 
Last edited:
Fratzog said:
No question the power of the Chrysler 3.5 is not earth shattering but I have it in a Charger and it moves that heavy car along very nicely. With a stick shift these cars are great handling sports cars. As evidenced by Carm's reaction, peoples reaction to them is either love it or hate it. I really like the styling particularly the ribbed hood.
Edit: Sorry I got the motor wrong...
he standard transmission is a 6-speed manual with an optional 5-speed automatic. Base (Standard) and Limited models, originally sold beginning in the 2004 model year, are equipped with a Mercedes-Benz 3.2 L, 18-valve, SOHC V6 engine which produces 215 hp (160 kW) and 229 pound force-feet (310 N⋅m) of torque. SRT-6 models are equipped with a special supercharged version of the engine built by AMG. SRT-6 models came only with the 5-speed automatic transmission, consistent with AMG cars of the same era. The 6-speed transmission used by the Chrysler Crossfire is a variant of the Mercedes sourced NSG-370. The 5-speed automatic transmission in the Crossfire (known as 5G-Tronic) is also Mercedes sourced and a variant of the 722.6 family. The automatic achieves a better EPA fuel efficiency rating over the 6MT, mostly due to the difference in gear ratios.
Click to expand...

Actually, many years before the Crossfire came along, Chrysler's home-grown, Trenton, MI-built, unboosted 3.5L V6 was making more HP than the Mercedes. The one in my driveway has 170k miles on it with nothing but the overdue timing belt 50k ago.

IMG_20171230_134145.png
 
CBODY67 said:
Re: Crossfire
The engine in the Crossfire was a 3.5L Mercedes V-6. I saw one on a display at a Chrysler event. Looks really nice and such, BUT it made no more power than the existing Chrysler 3.5L V-6, at that time. We also know the Chrysler V-6 was much less complex and made within 5 horsepower of the more complex Mercedes engine. A Chrysler body over a Mercedes platform must have made some of the Germans cringe?

CBODY67
Click to expand...

The crossfire was a Chrysler by name only. The body was of Chrysler design, executed by Ghia in Italy, MB drivetrain, assembled in Halifax, Canada. As "far" as globalization cars go, I would take a Pontiac G8 over a crossfire any day, even though it's a GM, sort of.
 
3C's & a D? said:
The crossfire was a Chrysler by name only. The body was of Chrysler design, executed by Ghia in Italy, MB drivetrain, assembled in Halifax, Canada. As "far" as globalization cars go, I would take a Pontiac G8 over a crossfire any day, even though it's a GM, sort of.
Click to expand...

You still could, sort of. Called the Chevy SS now. I have seen exactly ONE on the road, and this is GM's Global HQ and R&D HQ! Not a good sign.
 
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