Man, that's just crazy. Next thing you know you'll be seeing Mazda selling an Explorer called a Navajo, or Pontiac selling a Toyota Matrix called a Vibe or Saturn dropping a Honda engine in a Vue . . . .

Seriously, this is just unimaginable.

Hopefully that will stop another PT cruizer from making the streets.

They should also be looking at buying the exteriors from other manufacturers.

Everything old is new again.

Photoshop anyone? I think it would be an epic.

whatshisname: They should also be looking at buying the exteriors from other manufacturers.

I don't know, the body stylings of chrysler/dodge vehicles is pretty much all they got going for them.

In other words, using other manufacturers mechanicals so their butt ass ugly car designs can last longer.

You mean like what they did 10 years ago with Eagle?

/drives a 1994 Talon TSi

Great motors too. Transmissions.....not so much.

Chrysler is talking to other automakers about using the mechanical underpinnings of their models and putting a new exterior on them in order to cut costs

The Cimarron returneth!

Ya know, if they'd take a Corolla and call it something like "Crystal" and sell it for a little less than Toyota but with a larger dealer network, they might just be onto something. (I'm aware of the Vibe, but I prefer sedans).

In the German days, Chrysler didn't invest in designs much because they thought they'd largely be selling Smart Cars and imported Chinese Chery models by now. They'd be in better shape if they were.

derekste: You mean like what they did 10 years ago with Eagle?

/drives a 1994 Talon TSi

I was gonna say the same thing. Not to invoke just the Talon/Laser/Eclipse trifecta, but also the GT3000/Stealth.

This isn't a new phenomenon by any means.

Ooo.

American Motors Corporation lives again.

GoodCopBadCop: Man, that's just crazy. Next thing you know you'll be seeing Mazda selling an Explorer called a Navajo, or Pontiac selling a Toyota Matrix called a Vibe or Saturn dropping a Honda engine in a Vue . . . .

Seriously, this is just unimaginable.

Or Isuzu selling a Chevy Colorado.

Lawnchair: Ya know, if they'd take a Corolla and call it something like "Crystal" and sell it for a little less than Toyota but with a larger dealer network, they might just be onto something. (I'm aware of the Vibe, but I prefer sedans).

In the German days, Chrysler didn't invest in designs much because they thought they'd largely be selling Smart Cars and imported Chinese Chery models by now. They'd be in better shape if they were.

Chevy did that with the prizm. It was a Corolla rebadged.

/cheaper too

VW is already doing this with Chrysler. They're selling later this year a reskinned Dodge Caravan as the VW Routan minivan, and building it at the Chrysler plant in Windsor, Ont, Canada. It's set to debut shortly at the Chicago Auto Show.

I'm a VW zealot, I'll admit to as much, as I've got a stable of VWs in the driveway. This....will be either awesome or craptacular. My money is on the latter. I am quite concerned that this will bring VW's overall reliability reputation down, if that's even possible.

The Daimler-Chrysler merger already infected Mercedes' reliability- the new MBs are just garbage relative to what they used to be, especially the ML and C classes.

/oddly enough, I once owned a '98 Dodge Stratus that was quite reliable to 85,000 miles when I sold it, but it was a tired car by then.
//my VW Passat has over 100k miles, and will go anbother 150k more probably.

rmoose: Hopefully that will stop another PT cruizer from making the streets.

The PT Cruiser is a dodge neon on the inside. The 420A, lackluster engine, if I'm not mistaken...

They are doing it backwards.

Sure, why not drop original designs like the Viper and add some Corollas in SUV drag, also need to stock an entire manufacturer's line of parts & train mechanics.

Chrysler RIP 2008.

I don't want to buy a crappy car :`(

BOO!

/poor form old boy

They tried the same thing back in the early-80's. It was called the K-Car concept. It failed miserably, and the cars that came out of it were some of the worse ever built.

Or H2 using an F150....

This is a novel idea, and I can see why it is newsworthy.

Nightmaretony: Or H2 using an F150....

No, it is built on the suburban.

/Hummer is a GM product.

Submitter needs to look up the term "rebadge".

I don't see why people knock on Chrysler designs. They've brought some of the least dull stuff to market - Prowler, Crossfire, etc I guess if you just want the latest Lexus blandness they're "ugly".

Joao: They tried the same thing back in the early-80's. It was called the K-Car concept. It failed miserably, and the cars that came out of it were some of the worse ever built.

You'll love this. (new window)

Huh? Half their lineup uses Mitsubishi chassis already.

How come everywhere else the car makers band together, but here in the states we get the left over poop?

When I was in central american they had isuzu pickups (chevy colorado) with a baby 4 cylinder Duramax diesel engine and 4x4 drive train. You know they probably got 30 mpg and could pull a load like a some beach.

This is somehow new?

FIAT/SEAT/Murat/Lada
FIAT/Lancia
Honda/Sterling
Chevy/Toyota
Dodge/Mitsubishi
Chevy/Opel
Ford/Mazda
Every car company on the planet, since forever.

Uncle Karl:

Chevy did that with the prizm. It was a Corolla rebadged.

/cheaper too

Early morning, Uncle Karl? "Prizm" "Crystal" *grin*

globalwarmingpraiser: Great motors too. Transmissions.....not so much.

The only Chryslers I'll buy have Mitsubishi motors.

ctobio
VW is already doing this with Chrysler. They're selling later this year a reskinned Dodge Caravan as the VW Routan minivan, and building it at the Chrysler plant in Windsor, Ont, Canada. It's set to debut shortly at the Chicago Auto Show.

I'm a VW zealot, I'll admit to as much, as I've got a stable of VWs in the driveway. This....will be either awesome or craptacular. My money is on the latter. I am quite concerned that this will bring VW's overall reliability reputation down, if that's even possible.

For the love of god I hope they use the Chrysler electricals. I have a friend trying to buy a used 'New Beetle' right now and every carfax she shows me has a scary amount of electrical work done under warranty. I can't imagine what it will be like when they actually get old.

/batteries at 10-20,000 miles
//power windows and power locks at 10-40,000
///alternator at 15,000
////they sound less reliable than my '68 bug

Lawnchair: Uncle Karl:

Chevy did that with the prizm. It was a Corolla rebadged.

/cheaper too

Early morning, Uncle Karl? "Prizm" "Crystal" *grin*

Still a "little" hungover.

Joao: They tried the same thing back in the early-80's. It was called the K-Car concept. It failed miserably, and the cars that came out of it were some of the worse ever built.

I think it was the K car that saved their asses from extinction 25-30 years ago. They were simple, cheap, economical, and versatile. Sh*t, even the early Caravans had K car underpinnings.

But, of course, you get what you pay for. Somebody find me a 20 year old Le Baron, minivan or similar that isn't a mosquito killer.

Their products are probably fine for lease, but for long term ownership...not so much.

We're witnessing the death throws of a car manufacturer.

Prediction...and I said it here first...

The next gen Nissan Titan will be a Dodge Ram 1500 underneath

/I'll bet a total fark for a month on it.

I would like my Corvette with the supercharged 426 HEMI please?!

Joao: They tried the same thing back in the early-80's. It was called the K-Car concept. It failed miserably, and the cars that came out of it were some of the worse ever built.

Good or bad (sucky, eventually), the K-Cars sold like hell, were relatively fuel efficient (my carburated 81 got about as good as anything Chrysler sells today), functional, and were pretty radical for the time. I look at pictures of parking lots from about 81 or 82 and the K-Cars look so damn modern compared to the cars sitting around them. A pretty radical departure, considering that an 08 Civic or Camry doesn't stand out at all in a field of 93 Corollas or Chevys.

Combine that with the record-setting K-based vans and the eternal extensions (Dynasty, Spirit)... they got a *lot* of mileage out of that design. Could go for worse.

strothgar: Prediction...and I said it here first...

The next gen Nissan Titan will be a Dodge Ram 1500 underneath

/I'll bet a total fark for a month on it.

Try the other way around.

After new exteriors, Chrysler can use the competitions' interiors too.

Karmann Ghia

This is pretty much industry standard for a vehicle class that a carmaker can't profitably make due to low volume in the intended market. If an Asian automaker sells a car in their home market but has no market penetration in the U.S., that automaker can make some extra profit by selling extra vehicles and production capacity to an American automaker, and the American company gets to sell a new class of car for themselves and not have to spend money developing it initially. After they've got a car as a captive import, they can start designing their own vehicle while paying for the project with the profit from the captive import.

defects: How come everywhere else the car makers band together, but here in the states we get the left over poop?

When I was in central american they had isuzu pickups (chevy colorado) with a baby 4 cylinder Duramax diesel engine and 4x4 drive train. You know they probably got 30 mpg and could pull a load like a some beach.

I saw one of those Isuzu Colorados (called an I-290) yesterday in a Best Buy parking lot. I just checked the Isuzu website and the US version doesn't have an available diesel.

They had a chance to redeem themselves with the Challenger, but then they unveiled it and it is a fat tub of a car. The thing weighs around 4200 pounds and has a whopping 67 HP per liter.

That is 4.5 HP per liter more than my 1998 Mazda 626.

i'm sorry, did someone say something about hopefully using chrysler electrical systems? every mechanic i've evr spoken to says they're virtually guranteed to die at 90,000k miles, and my own experience with a cirrus backs them up. And chryslers are very hit or miss, style-wise. For every crossfire or prowler, you get a cruiser or 300(a trully hideous car, and incredbly backwards and dated under the hood. If americans weren't so in love with their imaginary past, the car would never have made it.)

utter_bastard: They had a chance to redeem themselves with the Challenger, but then they unveiled it and it is a fat tub of a car. The thing weighs around 4200 pounds and has a whopping 67 HP per liter.

Not everybody wants to drive some small, foreign pos with a 4 cylinder engine. Personally, I'm holding out for the new Camaro.

i guess they feel that their mechanical underpinnings isn't the reason people aren't buying their cars?

come on - there's a reason why they need a 100,000 mile warrenty to get people to take a chance on their vehicles, and it aint because of the body style.

Not a new idea at all



=

Best K Car ever made:


Charlie Sheen drove one in the wraith.