It’s spring 1992, and a new vehicle, dubbed the PL, was undergoing a final walkaround by company executives before being approved for production.
The car’s design was previewed on the 1991 Chrysler Neon Concept Car, which featured four sliding doors, a fabric sunroof, a retractable rear window and even a trash compactor. But perhaps its most striking feature were its round headlights.
Now, Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca, President Bob Lutz and Design Vice President Tom Gale and others were examining the proposed production car. While the more fantastic elements of the Chrysler Neon Concept Car’s design were absent, such as the trash compactor, so too were its round headlights, replaced by narrow headlights similar to those being used on Japanese cars.
Iacocca was not happy.
Yet he had promised the development team he wouldn’t interfere with the PL’s development, something very unlike Iacocca. Still, he couldn’t help himself. “You’ve lost the cuteness,” Iacocca complained, a story recounted in the book, “Comeback” by Paul Ingrassia and Joseph B. White.
Iacocca was right, and despite breaking his promise, the design change was ultimately made, costing $7 million in tooling costs. But the new headlights proved cheaper to make, so the costs were recouped.
The PL would debut this week in 1993 at the Frankfurt Motor Show as the Dodge and Plymouth Neon, an attempt to build a profitable, desirable American compact car.
“We think the Neon will be one of the first small cars people will want to buy, instead of have to buy,” Lutz said.
Indeed, it was, as Chrysler would go on to sell more than 2.2 million of them. And it was also profitable. In fact, its efficient development would eventually attract the attention of Daimler-Benz.
A time of trouble
It’s 1990, and Chrysler is hemorrhaging cash.
Having saved the automaker from declaring bankruptcy in the early 1980s, Iacocca had nearly driven it off the cliff once again by the end of the decade, using profits to diversify the company rather than investing in new products. But it was time to replace the Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance, known internally as the P-Cars.
Small cars never made money for American automakers. They were loss leaders used merely to satisfy federal fuel economy standards that allowed car companies to sell larger, thirstier and more profitable cars. So, Iacocca was looking to others to supply the company’s next small car, including Fiat, Hyundai and Mitsubishi, an automaker that had provided Chrysler with a number of small cars under the Dodge and Plymouth brands since 1971.
But other Chrysler executives wanted the company to develop its own small car, one that could be built profitably in America. By April 1991, Iacocca was convinced, and work began on what became known internally as the PL-Car.
Smart choices make for a profitable small car
The PL team chosen was a mix of personalities. Some came from American Motors Corp., which Chrysler bought from Renault in 1988, where they worked on the AMC-designed Renault Alliance replacement, based on a Renault. Others came from the L-Car team, which created the popular Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon. The car would be sized between Chrysler’s P-Cars and their L-Cars, aka the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon.
But unlike those cars, the PLs would be a three-box design, one with a low beltline and big daylight openings to enhance its feeling of spaciousness. Its design eschewed the boxy functionality that had become de rigueur among economy cars, trading it for a funky cuteness that oozed personality, thanks to its friendly face, with large round headlights and a horizontal slot grille.
With a development budget of $1.3 billion for an all-new car, there wasn’t any money to refurbish a plant, let alone build a new one. The PL team would have to reuse as much existing machinery as possible, something that had never happened at Chrysler. This and other cost constraints led to some smart decisions.
Since the PL Cars would be built at the same facility as the midsize Chrysler New Yorker and Dodge Dynasty sedans, the new car would share their 104-inch wheelbase — which was long for what was supposed to be a compact car. But the Neon’s cab-forward design, which devoted more of the car’s length to its cabin, made it possible. This saved the automaker millions of dollars in manufacturing costs, as much of the New Yorker and Dynasty’s manufacturing equipment could be reused.
Recycle and reuse nets big green
This and other efficiencies were put in place for the first time, including one major money saver: both the Dodge and Plymouth PL cars would have the same name and same design. The old Detroit trick of using different nameplates and adding minor styling differences fooled no one, but cost big bucks. The savings allowed Chrysler to fit the Neon with standard driver’s- and passenger’s-side air bags and adjustable front seatbelts, and offer optional anti-lock brakes, all unusual in a small car at the time. And, of course, it had cupholders.
Engineers also developed a new engine by reusing the old Chrysler 2.2-liter’s block, but fitting it with a new head and four valves per cylinder, minimizing the need for new tooling, although a new five-speed automatic gearbox was engineered. Chrysler’s 3-speed automatic was reused.
Most importantly, Chrysler injected it with a fun-to-drive feel, with a 132-horsepower four-cylinder engine, or an optional 150-horsepower mill.
If its design proved distinctive, so too did its ad campaign, which featured a front view of the car, looking to all the world as if it was grinning, with the word “Hi” underneath it. It was as charming as the car itself.
It would last through two generations, and spawn an SRT variant, and cost a mere $4,000 a unit to build, despite a retail price of $8,000. Chrysler’s ability to develop and build a profitable American compact car attracted the attention of Daimler Benz, which ultimately merged with Chrysler Corp. in 1998.
The Neon was replaced by the Dodge Caliber in 2006. Developed under the German-led DaimlerChrysler, it would prove to be a misfire.
The magic was gone.
