It’s hard to remember just how popular the Chrysler PT Cruiser was after its introduction this week 23 years ago. As is typical of the latest automotive couture, customers paid above MSRP to buy one and dealers were short inventory for many months after its introduction.
This sucker was hot.
“The PT Cruiser, which gets kind of hammered by a lot of people, really hit a spot. You know, we sold 1.3 million of those things,” said Tom Gale, former vice-president of Design for the Chrysler Corp. “And we were always enjoying success as a company when we were maybe just a little bit different than some of the other guys, like shading a segment.”
But as anyone who’s shopped at Zara or H&M can attest, fast fashion quickly becomes yesterday’s news. And so it was with the PT Cruiser. But to dump on it is to be shortsighted; it would even become the subject of a song by Beach Boy Al Jardine. Everyone sang it praises — at least initially.
A mini minivan
The Chrysler PT Cruiser’s birth had its gestation with the success of the Chrysler minivan in the 1980s. As a follow up, the company sought to make an even smaller minivan. Dubbed the Z Body, designers started rendering modern tall wagon concepts, but nothing quite worked.
Eventually, the Mitsubishi-developed the 1989 Eagle Summit was offered. Produced through 1996, it landed with a resounding thud.
But company executives thought that there was still a market for such a vehicle, and Chrysler’s Bob Lutz pushed for a retro-design solution, with most of the solutions running wide of the mark, being either too retro or too modern. But designer Brian Nesbitt finally hit on the right design.
“The PT Cruiser could have been for my taste a little bit more contemporary, but Bob and others obviously they had other thoughts,” Gale said in an exclusive interview with TheDetroitBureau.com.
“You know, sometimes those things happen whether it’s what you’d like to see or not. But you know, all of those things play into it, and there are thousands of reasons why things turn out the way they do.”
It took some discussions, especially with chairman Bob Eaton, who wasn’t convinced. American automakers never made money on small cars. But the vehicle’s minimal development cost — $400 million — would ensure it made a profit, while its classification as a truck would help the company meet the EPA’s Draconian fuel economy rules.
It was approved, and went from sketch to clay model in a record eight weeks.
Chrysler trotted out any number of concepts that previewed the PT Cruiser, which was slated to go into production as a Plymouth as a follow up to the similarly retro Plymouth Prowler. But then a funny thing happened; Chrysler closed the Plymouth brand. The new vehicle would come to market as a Chrysler.
The debut of something special
When it debuted this week in 2000, the PT Cruiser was offered in Base, Touring and Limited trim powered by a 150-horsepower, 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine driving the front wheels through either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission.
More power arrived in 2003 with the debut of the PT Cruiser GT, which benefitted from the extra muscle of a 215-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter 4, joined by a 180-hp version of the same engine the following year. It was optional in Touring and Limited models. Meanwhile, the GT saw its power jump to 230 horses.
In 2005, Chrysler launched the PT Cruiser Convertible, which a large basket handle hoop to reinforce the body structure.
The changes didn’t stop for 2006, when it received its only design update. The grille got shorter and headlights were restyled. The cabin received a makeover as well. But for some reason, the revisions weren’t as widely loved, and sales started to decline.
To help stoke interest, there were any number of special edition models offered, such as the 2006 Street Cruiser Route 66 Edition and the 2007 Street Cruiser Pacific Coast Highway Edition.
The car would last through 2010, and Chrysler wouldn’t replace it.
But it faced competition from a similar vehicle created for 2006 by General Motors. Dubbed the Chevrolet HHR, for Heritage High Roof, its design was based on an old Suburban. Unlike the PT Cruiser’s Ford-like knockoff, few could relate to the HHR. It failed after five years.
And the man who designed it? Brian Nesbitt — proving that lightning never strikes twice in the same place.
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- Source: https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2023/04/the-rearview-mirror-the-chrysler-pt-cruiser/
