At 01:23 PM 1/21/04 -0600, you wrote:
>Chrysler has always been a middle class brand.
Imperial began as a Chrysler Imperial. As a Chrysler Imperial, it earned
immortality as a Classic. Chrysler Imperials shared the ether with the big
Packards, Pierce-Arrows, Stutzes, Duesenbergs, etc.
For many years, a Chrysler Saratoga, New Yorker, Imperial or Town & Country
was a mark of good taste - a sensible choice over contemporary Cadillacs,
Lincolns, and Packards.
Chrysler prestige held fast until Imperial was seperated for 1955. This
triggered a downward reaching for market share by Chrysler. Enter the
Chrysler Newport, exit DeSoto Division.
It's hard to say when the lustre finally left Chrysler. Sometime during the
Iacocca years, I suspect. So much in the American auto industry was erased
then.
Chrysler can reclaim its respectable status. It can only do so if it is
true to those ideals that elevated it in the first place: engineering,
power, style - and a bold confidence to do things differently. I believe
that the 2005 Chrysler 300 C, with V8 Hemi power, is the first sign of
recovery.
Now, if Chrysler could just get the name right!
Dave Duricy
desotoland.com
duricy.com/~imperialist
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