The Cosworth
07-12-2006, 11:39 AM
Long on style, splashy concept cars attract lots of attention and provide "interesting" test drives.
The watchful "handler" for the Dodge Challenger keeps a soft cleaning brush in the car's trunk to sweep away dust from the car body.
The Dodge Challenger interior conveys a heritage look, right down to the stylized black leather seats.
Under the hood of the Challenger is a 425-horsepower 6.1-liter HEMI V8 with a reported top speed of 174 miles an hour.
The Chrysler Imperial looks large and Rolls-Royce-like, no matter if it is traveling on the road or sitting at an auto show.
The interior of the Chrysler Imperial is roomy and inviting. The steering wheel rim is sizable, however.
The last time I test drove a one-of-a-kind, multimillion-dollar concept car, the gear shift handle came off in my hand during the drive. I was rescued by the Chrysler official who oversaw the vehicle and who thankfully was in the seat next to me. He calmly took the disconnected part from my sweaty palm and gently fitted it back into place so we could continue our drive.
In a matter-of-fact tone he explained "these things happen" in concept cars that are built primarily for auto show stages.
That's right. Many of the great-looking concepts that get all the publicity at car shows and on car magazine covers are, well, rather delicate. They're also lavishly primped and watched over. Indeed, concept vehicles for DaimlerChryler's Chrysler Group are transported in their own special semi-trucks whose drivers never leave them alone, not even to sleep in a motel room on cross-country trips.
Concepts are conceived and put together in a matter of months—instead of the two to four years on a production vehicle—and are a peek at the future of transportation. Yet they often suffer from the oddest of real-world snafus. Besides that faulty gearshift handle, I've seen door handles pulled off by mistake, concept car doors that closed correctly only if they were gingerly pushed back into place, and problematic convertible roofs.
It's not what consumers see when they visit auto shows, of course. Sitting pretty—and most importantly, stationary—under the bright lights, concepts flaunt their high style and design, promising a new persona on the roads.
However, for more than a decade automakers, led by Chrysler, have labored to craft "working" life-size concepts, which some might call prototypes, as part of an effort to better explore and speed up new model introductions.
This development work sometimes leads to test-drive opportunities. I certainly couldn't resist a chance to drive two of today's hottest concepts—the Chrysler Imperial and Dodge Challenger. Both were unveiled at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Noble Imperial
Appropriately enough, the Chrysler Imperial was waiting at the entrance to a luxury resort, where several hotel guests stopped to stare at the big, tall and very brown sedan.
Unaware this is the only Imperial of its kind on Earth, they asked how much the car cost—well over $1 million, if you have to ask—and if the car is already on sale. No, and no decision has been made to make and sell the Imperial. To date, the Imperial is a "design study" about how the Chrysler brand might push farther into the large, luxury car class, beyond its current Chrysler 300 sedan.
Thus, the Imperial sits on a rear-wheel-drive platform borrowed from the 300 that has been lengthened by 17 inches and widened by 6 inches. The car also borrows a 300 C engine: a 340-horsepower 5.7-liter HEMI V8.
But the Imperial's four individual seats that look like first-class seats off an overseas airliner and the stylish beige and dark brown materials throughout the interior are decidedly new. So, too, is the high ride height for passengers. It seems to rival that of a modern day Rolls-Royce Phantom rather than a Chrysler 300.
I sit on the Imperial stiff driver's seat. I don't really drop down onto it because passengers sit 7 inches higher here than they do in a Chrysler 300, and I position myself behind the thickest steering wheel I can recall in a car.
"Don't bother with the seat belt," the car handler seated next to me says, "because it doesn't work." See what I mean about odd concept car experiences? Many items in and on the cars aren't operable.
The handler suddenly seems distracted, because another writer has joined us, sitting in the back seat. It would be the first time that the Imperial would have three people in it as it traveled under its own power. And, it would be the last time. More on that later.
There's an immediate sense of having almost no roof above my head in this hardtop Imperial. In fact, the windshield glass goes up to about midway on the car's roof. It isn't just clear glass. It has a bronze tint to go with the Imperial's earthy brown motif.
The V8 starts, I shift without incident into "Drive," and we are off. The Imperial suddenly feels huge. The tall hood is there, right at the windshield, and I'm aware of how wide the Imperial is as I navigate curves down a hilly two-lane road.
Steering isn't tuned precisely in this show car, so I find I must turn the steering wheel more than I expect and I wander over the line a couple times, thankful that traffic is light. The handler reminds me to keep my fingers away from the center of the steering wheel. Unlike a regular car, the center part doesn't move with the steering wheel, so there's a chance of getting pinched fingers.
The HEMI works superbly and has me going at a pretty good clip downhill, but how do I know how fast I'm going? The stylish speedometer in this concept, as in many concept cars, doesn't work.
So the handler is my barometer, telling me that I'm going fast enough. He seems more concerned with my braking and reminds me to start braking well ahead of the curves. I follow his instructions, and his tension seems to ease.
But then the car hits a rough patch on the road, and there's an unsettling "wha-whoomp" sound from the back. I tell him it didn't appear that the Imperial suspension handled those road bumps. This car is wearing large, heavy, 22-inch wheels and tires, and he indicates there isn't too much of a suspension under the sheet metal of this concept car.
After we return to the parking spot, he will not allow anyone to ride—and add weight—in the back seat again.
With my short drive done, I leave the Imperial with a lasting impression of tall, regal elegance and power.
Challenger Muscle Car
The bright orange Challenger is the opposite of the stately Imperial. It's a hot number with lots of noisy muscle.
It's expected that Dodge will build the Challenger and get in on the muscle car revival that has fueled Ford Mustang sales in recent years. But company officials insisted during the test drive that they haven't given the project final approval. Still, with Chevrolet looking to revive its Camaro, the Challenger, which rides on a shortened platform of the Chrysler 300, is getting lots of attention form the press and consumers.
As I settle in the driver's seat, I'm looking into deep-set gauges on the dashboard—not all necessarily functional. Their design gives the unmistakable impression that I'm looking straight down into the engine, just the way the Challenger designers had hoped.
There's an awesome-sounding 425-horsepower 6.1-liter HEMI V8 under the hood. But it doesn't start without some initial, clickity racket—stemming from a too-small cable connected to the battery—and it all makes me very aware that I don't want to stall this hot car when I shift manually into first gear.
Whew, we make a clean getaway. At 5 feet 4, I feel myself straining to see over the tall dashboard. But I love the Challenger's loud, rumbling engine sounds.
The car's handler makes sure I get nowhere near the reported top speed of 174 miles an hour, and I can't really test the handling in my short drive. But I revel in the classic style of this Challenger. This is an unabashed, sizable, four-seat coupe, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long while. Other drivers stare intently at this orange crate as we rumble past.
I wonder if they remember the Challengers from the '70s. Everything in this concept, from side windows that lack the messy moldings of the early Challengers to the better-styled wheel-to-body proportion, looks authentic but better than the original cars.
All too soon, I have to park the Challenger. Oops, better leave it in first gear, because this concept car doesn't have a working emergency brake.
And my first question upon exiting—when is the Challenger coming to showrooms?—still awaits an answer.
The watchful "handler" for the Dodge Challenger keeps a soft cleaning brush in the car's trunk to sweep away dust from the car body.
The Dodge Challenger interior conveys a heritage look, right down to the stylized black leather seats.
Under the hood of the Challenger is a 425-horsepower 6.1-liter HEMI V8 with a reported top speed of 174 miles an hour.
The Chrysler Imperial looks large and Rolls-Royce-like, no matter if it is traveling on the road or sitting at an auto show.
The interior of the Chrysler Imperial is roomy and inviting. The steering wheel rim is sizable, however.
The last time I test drove a one-of-a-kind, multimillion-dollar concept car, the gear shift handle came off in my hand during the drive. I was rescued by the Chrysler official who oversaw the vehicle and who thankfully was in the seat next to me. He calmly took the disconnected part from my sweaty palm and gently fitted it back into place so we could continue our drive.
In a matter-of-fact tone he explained "these things happen" in concept cars that are built primarily for auto show stages.
That's right. Many of the great-looking concepts that get all the publicity at car shows and on car magazine covers are, well, rather delicate. They're also lavishly primped and watched over. Indeed, concept vehicles for DaimlerChryler's Chrysler Group are transported in their own special semi-trucks whose drivers never leave them alone, not even to sleep in a motel room on cross-country trips.
Concepts are conceived and put together in a matter of months—instead of the two to four years on a production vehicle—and are a peek at the future of transportation. Yet they often suffer from the oddest of real-world snafus. Besides that faulty gearshift handle, I've seen door handles pulled off by mistake, concept car doors that closed correctly only if they were gingerly pushed back into place, and problematic convertible roofs.
It's not what consumers see when they visit auto shows, of course. Sitting pretty—and most importantly, stationary—under the bright lights, concepts flaunt their high style and design, promising a new persona on the roads.
However, for more than a decade automakers, led by Chrysler, have labored to craft "working" life-size concepts, which some might call prototypes, as part of an effort to better explore and speed up new model introductions.
This development work sometimes leads to test-drive opportunities. I certainly couldn't resist a chance to drive two of today's hottest concepts—the Chrysler Imperial and Dodge Challenger. Both were unveiled at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Noble Imperial
Appropriately enough, the Chrysler Imperial was waiting at the entrance to a luxury resort, where several hotel guests stopped to stare at the big, tall and very brown sedan.
Unaware this is the only Imperial of its kind on Earth, they asked how much the car cost—well over $1 million, if you have to ask—and if the car is already on sale. No, and no decision has been made to make and sell the Imperial. To date, the Imperial is a "design study" about how the Chrysler brand might push farther into the large, luxury car class, beyond its current Chrysler 300 sedan.
Thus, the Imperial sits on a rear-wheel-drive platform borrowed from the 300 that has been lengthened by 17 inches and widened by 6 inches. The car also borrows a 300 C engine: a 340-horsepower 5.7-liter HEMI V8.
But the Imperial's four individual seats that look like first-class seats off an overseas airliner and the stylish beige and dark brown materials throughout the interior are decidedly new. So, too, is the high ride height for passengers. It seems to rival that of a modern day Rolls-Royce Phantom rather than a Chrysler 300.
I sit on the Imperial stiff driver's seat. I don't really drop down onto it because passengers sit 7 inches higher here than they do in a Chrysler 300, and I position myself behind the thickest steering wheel I can recall in a car.
"Don't bother with the seat belt," the car handler seated next to me says, "because it doesn't work." See what I mean about odd concept car experiences? Many items in and on the cars aren't operable.
The handler suddenly seems distracted, because another writer has joined us, sitting in the back seat. It would be the first time that the Imperial would have three people in it as it traveled under its own power. And, it would be the last time. More on that later.
There's an immediate sense of having almost no roof above my head in this hardtop Imperial. In fact, the windshield glass goes up to about midway on the car's roof. It isn't just clear glass. It has a bronze tint to go with the Imperial's earthy brown motif.
The V8 starts, I shift without incident into "Drive," and we are off. The Imperial suddenly feels huge. The tall hood is there, right at the windshield, and I'm aware of how wide the Imperial is as I navigate curves down a hilly two-lane road.
Steering isn't tuned precisely in this show car, so I find I must turn the steering wheel more than I expect and I wander over the line a couple times, thankful that traffic is light. The handler reminds me to keep my fingers away from the center of the steering wheel. Unlike a regular car, the center part doesn't move with the steering wheel, so there's a chance of getting pinched fingers.
The HEMI works superbly and has me going at a pretty good clip downhill, but how do I know how fast I'm going? The stylish speedometer in this concept, as in many concept cars, doesn't work.
So the handler is my barometer, telling me that I'm going fast enough. He seems more concerned with my braking and reminds me to start braking well ahead of the curves. I follow his instructions, and his tension seems to ease.
But then the car hits a rough patch on the road, and there's an unsettling "wha-whoomp" sound from the back. I tell him it didn't appear that the Imperial suspension handled those road bumps. This car is wearing large, heavy, 22-inch wheels and tires, and he indicates there isn't too much of a suspension under the sheet metal of this concept car.
After we return to the parking spot, he will not allow anyone to ride—and add weight—in the back seat again.
With my short drive done, I leave the Imperial with a lasting impression of tall, regal elegance and power.
Challenger Muscle Car
The bright orange Challenger is the opposite of the stately Imperial. It's a hot number with lots of noisy muscle.
It's expected that Dodge will build the Challenger and get in on the muscle car revival that has fueled Ford Mustang sales in recent years. But company officials insisted during the test drive that they haven't given the project final approval. Still, with Chevrolet looking to revive its Camaro, the Challenger, which rides on a shortened platform of the Chrysler 300, is getting lots of attention form the press and consumers.
As I settle in the driver's seat, I'm looking into deep-set gauges on the dashboard—not all necessarily functional. Their design gives the unmistakable impression that I'm looking straight down into the engine, just the way the Challenger designers had hoped.
There's an awesome-sounding 425-horsepower 6.1-liter HEMI V8 under the hood. But it doesn't start without some initial, clickity racket—stemming from a too-small cable connected to the battery—and it all makes me very aware that I don't want to stall this hot car when I shift manually into first gear.
Whew, we make a clean getaway. At 5 feet 4, I feel myself straining to see over the tall dashboard. But I love the Challenger's loud, rumbling engine sounds.
The car's handler makes sure I get nowhere near the reported top speed of 174 miles an hour, and I can't really test the handling in my short drive. But I revel in the classic style of this Challenger. This is an unabashed, sizable, four-seat coupe, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long while. Other drivers stare intently at this orange crate as we rumble past.
I wonder if they remember the Challengers from the '70s. Everything in this concept, from side windows that lack the messy moldings of the early Challengers to the better-styled wheel-to-body proportion, looks authentic but better than the original cars.
All too soon, I have to park the Challenger. Oops, better leave it in first gear, because this concept car doesn't have a working emergency brake.
And my first question upon exiting—when is the Challenger coming to showrooms?—still awaits an answer.