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The final PT Cruiser was made on July 9, 2010. Newspapers mentioning PTcruizer.com included USA Today, the Detroit News, the New York Times, and the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph While highly profitable, the Chrysler PT Cruiser suffered from constant de-contenting — despite being one of Chrysler’s biggest selling (and highest quality) cars. Chrysler leader Chris Theodore wrote, “The PT Cruiser was unloved by management, and suffered from benign neglect. We had to fight the chairman to get the program approved. Many other models were planned, but never came to fruition. Other than Brian Nesbitt, Design hated the car because they felt their job was to move the state-of-the-art forward, whether the customer likes it or not.” Tom Gale planned the Cruiser to be a Plymouth, like the Plymouth Prowler; it was to have been followed by a matching car and minivan. With the loss of the PT Cruiser came the end of the last car designed as a Plymouth.
Chrysler PT Cruiser informationThe first PT Cruiser was loved for its ease of parking, use of space, ride and handling, and personality. New Beetle owners swarmed to dealerships to trade in their bugs for PTs. The Chrysler PT Cruiser had good handling, fit into small parking spaces, and held four full-sized adults and their luggage in comfort. The reverse-Watts suspension packed a lot of cornering and ride quality into a space smaller than a Neon on the outside, with more cargo space than many mid-sized cars on the inside.
Motor Trend named the 2001 PT Cruiser the Car of the Year. The base PT went from 0 to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds, nearly a half second faster than the Honda Civic EX, and nearly the same as the Volvo V70 T5 Cross Country; critics said it was too slow. Braking was good, with the Cruiser going from 60 to 0 in 120 feet - lower than most other tested vehicles (the Civic required over fifteen more feet). The skidpad and slalom rating were identical to the Civic EX and the skidpad was close (within .02 g) to the Audi AllRoad Quattro, Elantra GLS, Lexus LS 430, and Volvo V70 T5 Cross Country. Demand stayed high until the 2006 redesign, which included cheapened, hardened seats, a cheaper air dam, and a more generic interior. Primary stylist Bryan Nesbitt said, “I didn’t like the update they did when they [altered] the headlights. But I find it interesting that Chrysler decided to keep it in production. I believe it is the most profitable small car in Chrysler’s history.” Sales of the PT Cruiser fell dramatically in 2008 and 2009, and the sales mix changed dramatically from heavily loaded Limited and Touring models to inexpensive base models. 1,304,702 PT Cruisers were made between February 2000 and July 2008. LinksDavid Turnbole’s “pink smoke” photo is from the Central New York PT Cruiser Owners’ Club site; the car is owned by Ken Mulder and driven by Jason Mulder. It’s a 2002 Series II Dream Cruiser with the Stage One turbocharger, shown at the ESTA drag strip in Cicero, New York during the club’s Verona show. Please read our terms of service / privacy policy. Copyright © 2000-2012, Allpar LLC. PTCruizer.com is not related to Chrysler but this site is dedicated to Chrysler's PT Cruiser. |
