It was a quarter of a century ago. Already. Chrysler lifted the veil at the Detroit International Auto Show, on a rare hatchback which in Uncle Sam’s country will have had a colossal success. In fact, no less than 1.35 million units will have been assembled between 2000 and 2010, both in Mexico and Austria. Because in fact, the PT Cruiser would also experience great success in Europe, where it was truly a symbol of the American dream.
Present at the event (but unfortunately absent during the official unveiling), I still remember the reaction I would have had when seeing this car, which was difficult to describe as such. Was it a car? A small truck? Not clear. But the answer would quickly come by discovering that its bases were those of Neon.
Winner the following year of the North American Car of the Year award by the NACTOY jury, the PT Cruiser would quickly create a shock wave in the compact segment. A car that would make models like the Ford Focus family, much more traditional in approach, bite the dust and also attract customers who would otherwise never have considered this format of vehicle.
Photo: Stellantis
Its design was so successful that demand quickly became greater than supply at dealers. In fact, I knew a guy who, in 2000, received one of the first copies delivered by his dealer. His reflex was to store his PT Cruiser Limited in the garage for an indefinite period, believing at the time that its value would appreciate. Which of course never happened…
Although today, we make fun of this car which has not stood the test of time, we must nevertheless admit that initially, its design was genius. The work of Bryan Nesbitt, who would later be hired by GM to design the Chevrolet HHR, the PT Cruiser arrived at a time when retro fashion was at its peak. You just have to remember the Volkswagen New Beetle, the Ford Thunderbird or the Mini Cooper to realize how rich this era was in the rebirth of legendary models.
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The idea of launching a model skilfully evoking the era of station wagons from the 1940s was therefore downright brilliant. However, Mr. Nesbitt also designed a concept inspired by vans (the Panel Cruiser) which unfortunately did not reach the marketing stage. It was rather Chevrolet which, six years later, had this audacity, by launching the HHR Panel.
Over the years, Chrysler has gone all out to evolve the PT Cruiser. With multiple special editions, including a Woody model. Also, with the introduction of a powerful 215 horsepower turbo engine. The convertible version launched in 2004 also helped to extend its career, which arrived shortly after the introduction of the New Beetle Cabriolet. Unfortunately, sales were already seriously declining at that time, with the SUV market taking up more and more space. And then, the vehicle was already showing serious wrinkles after only four or five years.
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Oscillating in the United States between 122,000 and 144,000 sales during the first five years of marketing, sales began to fall seriously in 2007, plummeting to less than 18,000 units in 2009. The end of production was announced for 2010, without renewal, a consequence of the success of the Jeep Compass and Patriot.
Note that the Dodge Caliber launched in 2007 would also go under the knife after the 2010 model year, Chrysler (then under the reign of the financial Cerberus and just out of bankruptcy) having chosen to abandon the car market compact.
Interestingly, the development of the PT Cruiser (PT standing for Personal Transportation) took place with a view to marketing it under the Plymouth badge. In some ways similar to the design of the Prowler launched in 1997, the PT Cruiser could clearly have allowed a (temporary) revival of this division.
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Unfortunately, Chrysler had already announced its death at the end of the 90s, judging it unnecessary to maintain a brand that only sold clones of Dodge models. A wise decision, especially since at the time, the Jeep brand was taking up more and more space.
Let’s finish by mentioning that among the most daring concepts deriving from the PT Cruiser, we note the California Concept Cruiser. A vehicle unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2002, and which would set the tone for the upcoming arrival of a convertible version.