OMG I want the 500 Bigbody Hp

[Jeff]

Chrysler has come back from the brink of destruction twice. Both time realizing important trends in what people want from a car. In the early 80's the gas crunch about destroyed them as the large car lines were selling poorly and the Aspen and Volare were not doing much for the image or the customer satisfaction. The implementation of FWD and the K-based line up was an innovation not seen before in the automotive industry. They built almost everything from the same, very reliable base. Realizing the failure of the station wagon and the fact that vans too were on the demise they decided to capitalize on the idea of blending the two, making a van that was based from a FWD car. The Car-A-Van was born. It was the new FWD, versatile, handled like a car, and was easy on gas. Fast forward 20 years. They had killed off Eagle and Plymouth to trim up the lineup but the poor performance of the early Neon (similar to the Aspen/Volare) was giving the company a worse reputation. Once again, playing the same cards and not trying to make anything better had shot them in the foot. The second generation (double door) minivan was neat and new but other then that there was the Neon (1 and 2) and the relatively poorly executed LX body cars. So once again the company was not turning any heads and headed down a rocky road. In late 1998 (or there about) the Germans stepped in with the intent to purchase the company to help expand benz into the united states and to give them a value line platform to build more cars. As we have seen Chrysler, not benz, has benefited more from the partnership. All the good things are happening on this side of the pond. It is hard for many to understand the HEMI craze because few of you have really looked into where that comes from. This same campaign was run in the 70's. Although they didn't put it in everything we make (damn the Jeep SRT-8 to hell) it was a big big deal to have a Hemi in your car. They are cheapening the name, yes, but it does sell cars, trucks, SUVs, and anything else they want to stuff it in. They have their moments when bursts of inspiration do good thingsand then it falls flat again. Look at the PT cruiser.

I need to harp on one more interesting thing about ChryslerÔÇÖs past. Nick and I were on our way to Student Org Night the other day. I stopped and was looking at a rather rare 1982-3 Chrysler Lebaron 2-door. Nick as usual remarks ÔÇ£What a flaming pile of shit.ÔÇØ I as usual state the rare nature of an early 2-door k-car. He then asks me ÔÇ£Why the hell do they go out of their way to put FRONT WHEEL DRIVE on the back in huge letters?ÔÇØ The answer is simple, it was something that was pioneered in many ways by the development of the K-car in the late 70ÔÇÖs and it was a major selling point then all the way to now. As much as you hate on FWD it must be realized itÔÇÖs impact on the car buying public during this time period. There are still tons of people who will never own a car that is not FWD. So to say that Chrysler (or any car company really) does not innovate is asinine and stupid.

The Hemi is not a sales gimmick Andyits a good engine. A well executed V8 engine. How about I tell you that VTEC is a gimmick huh? VTEC is a very useful well executed idea, as is the multi-displacement 5.7 and 6.1L Hemi engines. Also, go ahead and call Chrysler unreliable. That just shows how little you really know about the cars they build. My fathers 94 LHS (an awful LX car) has 280,000 miles on it. Never spent more then $800 on a repair, and he has only done that twice, once for fuel rails and some stuff and the other for a water pump and t-belt. My first car was a 91 Lebaron with 180,000 miles on it. Ran like a raped ape. I broke it. It was not the cars fault. My uncles 96 T/C minivan has 190,000ish miles on it. He barely even changes the oil in that and it has never given him a moments problem. 3 examples are good enough for now. Lastly, if you want to give me a line about lacking real world functionality I will call you out as an ignorant hater. I need to stop writing now, the more I re-read your posts the more I want to write, its hard to write this much for a class paper. Im gonna go burn some consumer reports car issues and re read last months Motor Trend about 4,000 times.