# Chrysler PT Cruiser: What were they thinking? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 26, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965 "2004-07-26T18:36:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/41 "2004-07-27T18:05:47Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > Great, now we’re going to see shrunken ['49 Suburbans](http://www.ckdeluxemag.com/showcase/post.php?post_id=515). _see also_ the new [Durango](http://www.dodge.com/durango/photos.html?context=durango-index&type=left). To be honest, that Chevy HHR looks a little too similar to the Durango to be a final design. I know that certain manufacturers like to copy each other closely, but I think that’s too much. ---
**Author:** ![siberia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/siberia/32/9129_2.png) [@siberia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/siberia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/42 "2004-07-27T19:09:26Z")
I can’t wait for the [2008 PT](http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/siberia/album?.dir=/e202) model. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/43 "2004-07-27T19:14:18Z")
What were the Chrysler folks thinking? Probably something along the lines of: “Gee, it’s been a while since anything as stupid-looking as the Pacer has been seen on the roads. Reckon it’s about time for another shot of design levity…” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/44 "2004-07-27T20:16:36Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > see also the new [Durango](http://www.dodge.com/durango/photos.html?context=durango-index&type=left). To be honest, that Chevy HHR looks a little too similar to the Durango to be a final design. Except the Durango is definately a truck. According to [Motor Trend](http://www.motortrend.com/future/concepts/112_news031224_hhr/), the HHR will be part of GM’s new small car lineup. They’re obviously aiming for the PT Cruiser market. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/45 "2004-07-27T20:38:03Z")
Ah. Based on that one picture, I really couldn’t judge its size. I now think it’ll be even sillier, being both proportioned like that and so small. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/46 "2004-07-27T20:45:04Z")
It gets worse. If you look up the last car mentioned in that Motor Trend article, you’d find [this](http://www.allautoreviews.com/auto_reviews/chevrolet/photos/aveo3.jpg)! They’re going after the Civic! ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/47 "2004-07-27T20:45:13Z")
pt = plugugly transport? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/48 "2004-07-27T20:51:58Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > It gets worse. If you look up the last car mentioned in that Motor Trend article, you’d find [this](http://www.allautoreviews.com/auto_reviews/chevrolet/photos/aveo3.jpg)! They’re going after the Civic! Looks like another rebadged Suzuki, in this case the [Aerio](http://images.google.nl/images?q=%22suzuki+aerio%22&ie=UTF-8&hl=nl). Not the first time GM pulled that trick - the Geo Metro is a Suzuki Swift. Also, that Avea/Aerio thing is a tad smaller than a Civic. But I understand that you have very few cars in the supermini segment, so you’re excused. 🙂 Errr. I’m ashamed to admit it, but the rear of that 2008 PT looks hella cool. :o ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/49 "2004-07-27T20:53:20Z")
> [@Early Out](#): > > Of course, these folks also dissed the [Morgan Aero 8](http://smogthis.net/indexaero.html), so they clearly have some vision problems! That car looks almost exactly like the one [Peter buys in “And the Wiener is…”](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-348/epid-62255/) > [@Peter Griffin](#): > > When you pull that thing in the garage, does the garage say “Is…is it in yet?” ---
**Author:** ![Padmaraga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@Padmaraga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padmaraga)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/50 "2004-07-27T20:56:23Z")
Count me one of the PT-haters. I think of it as a “Mom-mobile”; it looks like a mini-van in disguise to me. I had to laugh at our local sheriff’s dept. a few years ago when they bought several PT Cruisers for their deputies, with the rationale that they’d help the deputies relate to teens better. I’d bet not one teen in a thousand thinks they’re “cool”. Our local newspaper, when they carried the story, couldn’t resist commenting that the most frequent purchaser of a PT Cruiser is a woman in her late 40’s. Yeah, “cool”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![GillianBoardman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc79bd/32.png) [@GillianBoardman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GillianBoardman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/51 "2004-07-27T21:05:59Z")
I really like my Cruiser. I think the styling is fun, it has room for all the laundry that I take back forth to the laundromat as part of my job at a day spa, but still has room for passengers. I know the engine is underpowered, Which is a shame, but not the end of the world since I am not a NASCAR driver and since I’ve driven a lot of vans and mini-vans in my life the handling doesn’t seem so weird to me. Now if it had a real engine, I could run bootleg shine in it, which is what the styling makes me want to do! I was looking at a lot hatchbacks, but I couldn’t find one that I really liked. This car makes me smile. And kids love it. Makes them smile too! And my sister loves her Beetle convertible. Which makes everyone smile. We are fighting road rage one smile at a time. So there! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/52 "2004-07-27T21:12:47Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > But I understand that you have very few cars in the supermini segment, so you’re excused. 🙂 The ones that are here are probably all in California. > [@Padmaraga](#): > > I had to laugh at our local sheriff’s dept. a few years ago when they bought several PT Cruisers for their deputies, with the rationale that they’d help the deputies relate to teens better. I’d bet not one teen in a thousand thinks they’re “cool”. Our local newspaper, when they carried the story, couldn’t resist commenting that the most frequent purchaser of a PT Cruiser is a woman in her late 40’s. Yeah, “cool”. They should have gone with the Dodge Magnum instead. Now _that_ would be a cool police car! ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/53 "2004-07-27T21:14:51Z")
A [New Beetle Convertible](http://www.sniffpetrol.com/AdBeetle.jpg)? I’m sorry, there’s just NO excuse for that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/54 "2004-07-27T22:59:43Z")
**Coldfire** , that GM car, the Aveo, is a rebadged Suzuki Swift. They’re all over the place here in Canada. The Aveo (along with its sisters the Optra and Epica) are GM/Daewoo vehicles, and have nothing to do with the Suzuki Aerio at all. The really ironic thing about small cars in Canada is the story of Honda. The Honda Civic was the classic small car from the late seventies on. As vehicle generations came and went, the Civic and the Accord got larger and larger. The Civic sedan is now larger than the orignal Accord sedan, and the Accord sedan is practically a midsize. Apparently Honda is now looking at bring in the Jazz to get back in on the action in this small-car segment. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/55 "2004-07-27T23:21:11Z")
Yeah. The Volkswagen syndrome. Models get bigger, and smaller models replace the “old” ones. The current VW Polo is a lot roomier than the original Golf I, and the Lupo is only a little smaller. Thanks for the correction on the Aerio - I can never keep these Asian minis apart. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/56 "2004-07-28T00:55:06Z")
> [@](#): > > It gets worse. If you look up the last car mentioned in that Motor Trend article, you’d find this! They’re going after the Civic! _Motor Trend_ profiles roller skates? ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/57 "2004-07-28T01:13:45Z")
[Behold the “Boo Boo Cruiser” - this is the real deal.](http://202.83.95.2/lkmbws/_Gloria.jpg) Keen observers will note the baby seat in the back. My daughter might only be 20 months but she knows enough to go absolutely nuts with excitement every time we take her for a drive. ---
**Author:** ![siberia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/siberia/32/9129_2.png) [@siberia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/siberia)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/58 "2004-07-28T03:50:37Z")
**Boo Boo Foo** , THAT is one beautiful ride. Nice! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/59 "2004-07-28T11:29:58Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > …the Accord sedan is practically a midsize. I’d remove the “practically” from that sentence. I’ve got one, and I actually have to pay attention when I’m parking it, and I don’t mean parallel parking - I mean just regular, shopping mall parking! (For our Euro cousins: the American Accord is larger than the European one - the European one is sold here, with a few tweaks, as an Acura TSX.) ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965/60 "2004-07-28T22:16:31Z")
The PT Cruiser is sold in Greece with a 1.6 liter engine. If the 2.0 is gutless, I can’t imagine what the 1.6 is going to be. :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrysler-pt-cruiser-what-were-they-thinking/256965.md?page=4)