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I am presently the proud owner of a
2008 Chrysler Sebring convertible, a car that I grow more fond
of everyday for a variety of reasons. I could ramble on for
paragraphs about all the little reasons why but that isn't my
inspiration today.
My wife and I recently took a vacation and one of our stops was
Detroit, Michigan. Being the consummate car guy that I am, a
trip to the "Motor City" was inevitable at some point but I
never expected to uncover my car's storied ancestry.
The Walter P. Chrysler Museum is located on the grounds of the
Chrysler Headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, which is one of
the many suburb communities of Detroit. This sprawling facility
sits on 504 acres and includes a test track & proving grounds.
The buildings themselves are over 5 million square feet total
with enough parking area to shame an NFL stadium. The museum
seems minuscule in the shadow of its automotive parent but great
things can come in small packages.
I recommend the Chrysler museum for any gearhead but if you are
a dedicated follower of the PentaStar, then this place is a gold
mine. The main foyer is graced with concept cars while the first
floor is early history. The second floor is filled with the
development years most of us recall so well but the trip down
the elevator to the "Boss' Garage" is pure automotive candy.
Walter Chrysler was an innovator who was hired away from Willys
(who he had just put back on their feet) to take over the ailing
Maxwell-Chalmers automaker. Chrysler rolled out its first car in
1924 and it boasted an impressive list of features unheard of
for a car of this price range. The 4 wheel hydraulic brakes were
a first as well as an internally lighted instrument panel with
an engine temperature gauge. The engine featured an air filter
for its carburetor and internal pressure lubrication with an oil
filter, both improvements that would give the engine greater
durability. Yet it was the design of the engine itself that made
it a harbinger of things to come, a high compression four liter,
six cylinder engine that made more power than many of its larger
competitors due to its semi-hemispherical cylinder head. Yes
gearheads of the world you heard it right, this engine was the
infancy of the legendary Hemi engines that would follow in the
decades to come.
A scant four years later Chrysler put its car with its bold
little engine to the ultimate test. The 24 Hours of LeMans had
only been run for the first time in 1923, so the race itself was
still new to the world but the automakers from all over the
globe saw it as a crowning achievement even over the Grand Prix
title of Europe. Chrysler entered four of its Model 72 roadsters
in the 1928 event to take on the giants of the sporting car
world. Bentley, Stutz and Aston Martin were all among the
heavily favored cars to win, and all were vehicles that sold for
as much as four times the price of the lowly Chrysler
convertible.
The racecourse in 1928 was an unpaved, ten mile loop through the
City of Le Mans and across the French countryside, but when the
checkered flag dropped the winner was a Bentley, the Stutz was
second and the incredible little Chrysler was third. Granted the
distance between the winning car and the third place Chrysler
was ten laps or about 100 miles, but Chrysler had proven to the
world beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were here to stay.
As I stood there reading this information and gazing at the pale
yellow roadster sitting in front of me, I could not help but be
overcome with a swelling of pride in my Sebring outside in the
parking lot. I had often wondered back in 1997 when the Sebring
Convertible was introduced why they had chosen that particular
namesake. I knew Sebring, Florida was the home to the storied 12
hours of Sebring endurance race, and that event was North
America's premier run-up to Le Mans. Yet here I was face to face
with the grandaddy of all Chrysler convertibles, and a podium
winner at the toughest automotive race in the world. Suddenly,
Sebring seemed like a fitting homage to such a legendary
ancestor.
While the modern day Sebring isn't a performance giant by any
means, and it doesn't boast a Hemi powerplant, it has fulfilled
the mission of a lot of value for its price. The Sebring
convertible quickly became the darling of the rental car
industry, thereby exposing more people to this little gem of a
car than the showroom ever would alone. The Sebring has put the
ability to own a nicely equipped,fun to drive convertible within
the grasp of virtually class of people in the country. Even used
examples that are now ten years old still fly off the car lots,
purchased mostly by middle aged buyers which has spawned the
term "The mid-life Chrysler". So even many years after his
passing, the cars that bear Walter Chryslers namesake are
reaching the inner child in a great many of each year. I stand
as a happily guilty example to this trend.
In the vein of offering innovation at an affordable price, I
didn't have to look very far in the museum to run across another
amazing example. The 2008 model Sebring was the first car in its
price range to offer a folding hardtop convertible. I knew
Mercedes and other high end cars had this option for some years,
and I certainly recall seeing a few examples of the old Ford
Sunliner convertible at the Rods & Customs Show. Yet here in the
concept car section of the museum I took in the sight of a sleek
silver coupe, the 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt. Only six of these
beauties were ever built and its smooth aero design was penned
by none other that Alex Tremulis, who went on to design the
famed Tucker Torpedo in 1948. The one feature about the
Thunderbolt that really struck my eye was that it was equipped
with the first ever electrical powered retracting hardtop. So
once again Chrysler has paid a fitting tribute to a past that
has brought a history of firsts to the automotive world.
Chrysler has fallen on hard times of late and its last two
partnerships have been less than stellar. Daimler-Benz pulling
out when they did left Chrysler in bad straits and the Cerberus
Group that bought in afterwards proved to be true to their
namesake, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of hell.
They were by their own admission "not car people" and certainly
not worthy of holding the reigns of an automotive legend like
Chrysler.
Chrysler's latest partner however shows a good deal more
promise. Fiat is the largest automaker in Italy and blankets
such brands as Lancia, Maserati and Alfa Romeo. They also build
aircraft and are spread across Europe, Asia and South America.
Possibly with an infusion of Fiat's help, we might see the
return of a Chrysler to the Circuit De La Sarthe and the streets
of LeMans. The Dodge Viper growled through Arnage and scorched
the Mulsanne straights in 1996, but I have longed to see and
hear the venerable rumble of the Hemi from a racing machine over
the hard buzz of the Viper's V-10.
Back in 2005, Chrysler tickled that fantasy with an incredibly
sexy concept car called the "Firepower". Based on the Viper
chassis, the Firepower has all the class and style of the
Corvette over the brutal,raw edges of the Viper. The SRT version
of the new generation Hemi V8 bristled beneath its straked and
vented hood. The Corvette has been the dominate force in GT
class at LeMans for the past several years, proving that an
American hot rod can run with Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston
Martin. How fabulous would it have been to see and hear the Hemi
motivated Firepower challenge the world and stand on the podium
once again. That would truly be a full circle achievement, and
if the car came with a targa roof option, it could once again be
the Chrysler convertible that took on the world. Alas the
Firepower was simply a concept and I have read no further
information that hints towards its production, but until the
next "glory days" of Chrysler come to pass, I will drive my
Sebring with a level of pride and an honored legacy to its
incredible forefathers.
Long Live Chrysler, the Hemi engine and the passion that drives
them both.
Timmy
www.tobthebat.wordpress.com
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