Chrysler News

Yikes!! It is hard to believe that Chrysler's Minivan first rolled off the production line 30 years ago. This simple design caused a complete transformation of the car industry and started the great world-wide rotation out of sedans and station wagons that is still impacting markets today. The Minivan boosted Chrysler financially, created a global category which every other car maker copied and elevated Chrysler boss Lee Iacocca and his product planning guru, Hal Sperlich, into the pantheon of automotive gods. You see, when both were at Ford, it was Lee and Hal who saw the future for a small sporty car and raided the Falcon parts bin to create the iconic Mustang. Chrysler was not the first to sell a "garageable" car-like van. Many makers tried and VW fans might rightly claim the Kombi as the initiator. But it was too spartan and un-carlike to have mainstream appeal. What Lee and Hal did was monetorise the idea. They identified a big target market, raided another parts bin and sold it to eager buyers for a premium price. Simple, really. It was Sperlich who, when at Ford in the mid-1960s, first predicted that as the baby boomers married and had families they would have to forsake their Mustangs and Camaros for something more versatile. Research showed they did not want the station wagons their parents bought in the 1950s. (Are we there yet Dad?).  What boomers wanted was a roomy, multi-purpose vehicle, which drove like a car, would fit in their garage, look reasonable stylish, be powerful enough to cruise along a freeway and seat up to seven in comfort on the way to soccer. Sperlich called it the "MiniMax". But Hal had two problems to overcome. The first was an engineering issue. To fit in a garage the van had to be low and this meant a front wheel drive configuration. And Ford had no suitable front drive package. The second was that Henry Ford II did not see the future as clearly as Sperlich and regularly told him to "forget about it". Sperlich persisted with the idea and in the end Mr Ford got tired of hearing about it and fired him. Hal went to Chrysler where he continued to work on the idea. In 1978 "Hank the Duce" also got tired of Iacocca being President of Ford and fired him. And over to Chrysler he went as well. You all know the story from there on. Iacocca saved Chrysler with government backed loans and a plain, four cylinder, front drive automobile called the K-Car. So once Chrysler was again financially stable Lee and Hal turned their attention to the old MinMax idea. They had the money, they had the front drive platform, they had the K-Car parts bin and there was no Henry Ford II to get in their way. The rest is history. The irony is that Chrysler never thought to trademark the name "minivan". David Burrell is the editor of www.retroautos.com.au  

How can they not, when the Japanese hero is now the world's all-time favourite with a production total that has just topped 40 million cars. Based on those numbers, the Corolla is nearly twice as popular as the Volkswagen Beetle with 21.5 million sales and even further ahead of the T-Model Ford at 16.5 million, although it has had the advantage of selling at a time when far more people everywhere in the world own and drive cars.My first experience of the Corolla was in the 1960s, soon after the original cars landed in Australia. By the standard of the times, and we're talking here about Falcons and Kingswoods and Valiants, it was tiny and tinny but also solid, sensible and smartly priced. I was only a rider and not a driver at the time, but it also had a fun factor that was missing from other cars of my acquaintance - and you have to remember that an Austin Freeway cringed in our suburban Sydney driveway.The original Corolla helped ignite a small-car revolution and laid the firm foundation that now sees Toyota rampaging along as Australia's favourite carmaker, with annual sales that trump the combined efforts of Holden and Mazda in the other podium places.In America, the Corolla - along with the Honda Civic - is credited with the relatively recent bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler. Looking back to the USA in the sixties, it became the 'second' car in many American households and won over women and youngsters driving for the first time. They went Japanese and never came back. Does that sound familiar?Since the late 1970s I've driven every new Corolla model and had some fantastic fun on the side, including flat-out track laps in pursuit of an Australian racing championship and several forest fights in the Australian Rally Championship. And a Corolla has never let me down.And that gets me thinking about the Honda 750 four. You see, the Honda stalwart from the seventies was tagged as the Universal Japanese Motorcycle because it could do anything, from high-speed pursuit duties with the Highway Patrol police to daily commutes to touring the world in the days before long-distance motorcyclists switched to BMWs.In the same way, the Corolla should be known as the Universal Japanese Car. It's as sensible as an accountant, as dependable as a bullet train, and as predictable as a new tech toy from Apple.  It's also a bankable investment on the secondhand scene and will never offend or annoy. It doesn't have the attitude of an Alfa, or the performance of a Porsche, but a UJC is just fine and we have 40 million signatures to prove it.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

Mark Skaife has declared incoming manufacturer Volvo is not a replacement for Ford in the , with the V8 Supercars commissioner set to do everything he can to make sure the famous brand remains in the

Thousands of Fiat Chrysler Group cars in Australia are being recalled as part of a worldwide problem with automatic head restraints. Fiat Chrysler Australia says 3725 Jeep Cherokee cars built between 2011-13 and 520 Dodge Nitro vehicles built between 2011-12 are affected in Australia.Chrysler announced on Wednesday it was recalling about 490,000 vehicles worldwide to fix the glitch. The US manufacturer says potentially fatal microcontrollers have been installed in certain vehicles that may prevent head restraints from automatically moving forward during some kinds of rear-impact collisions.Fiat Chrysler Australia will contact all Australian owners of affected cars and ask them to go to their local Chrysler Jeep and Dodge dealer, a company spokeswoman says. "We will then replace the component or upgrade the system software at no cost to customers," she said.The spokeswoman says they are not aware of any injuries or accidents associated with the problem. If customers have any concerns before they are contacted by the company, they can go straight to their local dealer, she says. 

Chrysler Group has done a deal with the makers of the new Superman movie Man of Steel, to promote its Ram ute as well as the soon to be released movie.It has come up with a special Superman-themed truck that was presented at the New York premier of the movie earlier this month and will be rolled out at a series of promotional events across the US.Chrysler Group provided “several vintage trucks and other vehicles” to Warner Bros. for use in the Man of Steel movie, although it wasn’t clear when this story was written whether the current model Ram pick-up is featured.It did develop a special Man of Steel version of the Ram Power Wagon, which is still a ute despite the use of the word wagon in its name. The custom Man of Steel pick-up truck uses several visual cues to align itself with the movie.These include anodised red grille inserts and a high gloss black roof, with painters applying 14 coats for maximum effect. The rest of the body is covered in a dull grey, best described as steel grey, body wrap, with a black strip along the sills that matches the black front and rear bumpers.Chrysler Group says the texture was designed to match Superman’s suit. There are S-shield logos on several locations around the truck’s exterior and also the inside. The cabin features grey leather seats, with red trim sections on the doors, dashboard and seats, which also feature mesh inserts modelled on Superman’s suit. Forged 17-inch alloys and chunky off-road tyres finish of the muscular look.At this stage, Chrysler Group says the Man of Steel ute is a one-off and will be auctioned off for charity once it has finished its promo role. Even so, if it gets a good reception, the idea of a special edition Superman Ram ute might just take off. 

The second world was over and four years of pent-up consumer desire was unleashed across America. Detroit had only pre-war designs to sell in 1947, but that did not matter to car buyers.  They wanted new cars, even if the designs were almost ten years old. John Slater's 1947 Chrysler Windsor two door coupe is a fabulous example of what a “middle class” family would have bought. John explains the heritage of this two owner Newport Blue Chrysler. “It was purchased by a doctor in Cheyenne Wyoming on 29th December 1947 and owned by his family until 2012,” he says. “It was ordered with the rare and very desirable Highlander tartan cloth interior and a number of other options including a push button radio and heater,” he adds. The radio and heater are in perfect working condition. They were high dollar options in 1947 being almost 10% of the car's purchase price of $2306.45, according to the original sales invoice which came with the car. The good doctor ticked many more of the option boxes on the order form. The big car also sports wheel trims, a pair of swan neck mirrors and fog lights. John explains that the car has never been restored. “It has been lovingly maintained in original form. Some of its paint is original, the bumpers have been re-chromed, the front seat trim, carpet and headlining have been replaced. The car shows no signs of rust repairs.” John bought it sight unseen off the internet, and was surprised at its pristine condition when it arrived in Australia. “I always expected something not to be as described”, he admits. “But it was near perfect.” The speedo says 106,000 miles and the 4.1 litre six cylinder engine has been rebuilt. On the road the big car tracks straight. The dashboard is a mixture maroon plastic and Bakelite, and the clear knobs and buttons have a beautiful art deco feel to them. The transmission is a device call Fluid Drive, which was Chrysler's early attempt at a semi automatic transmission. The fluid drive system allowed the driver to stop at a traffic light or in traffic and remain in gear without depressing the clutch. The original owner's manual and a mint condition workshop manual all came with the car. David Burrell is the editor of retroautos.com.au  

A car dealership in the Adelaide suburb of Frewville will be forced to take down its latest marketing after complaints were raised with Burnside Council. Belcar Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership, on Glen Osmond Rd, erected a bright orange jeep that rotates atop a 12m pole last month. Burnside Council received two complaints about the jeep last month. The council's communications adviser, Jenny Barrett, said the dealership did not apply for approval. The dealership has been given until February 28 to take it down, otherwise council would take legal action. Belcar Chrysler Jeep Dodge general manager Grant Jasper said the dealership did not apply for approval as it believed it was unnecessary for a temporary structure. He said Belcar offered to submit a retrospective application and lower the pole's height. "We spoke to the council and we were just shut down," Mr Jasper said. "We were flatly told if we made an application it would be denied." Belcar staff were disappointed the "Jeep on a stick", which would have been on display for six months, would be removed.  

With the opening of Peninsula Fiat-Chrysler in Mornington, the Peninsula now has its own dedicated Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealership, and soon Italian iconic brands Fiat and Alfa Romeo will join it.

The facilities – set to open in August in the Gold Coast’s only dedicated vehicle precinct -- will house the group's Mazda, Hyundai, and prestige used-vehicle dealerships.They will complement the group's Southport and Tweed outlets and will comprise three showrooms, each with workshop facilities along with customer amenities. The construction project is understood to represent a $10 million investment for the company which is rolling out the facilities on a 1.5ha site at 4 Brabham Circuit.The Frizelle motor group will join the Grand Motors, Von Bibra Motors, and Hinterland Toyota dealerships at the Automall, which also is home to a number of complementary businesses. Its site was purchased at a cost of $9.57 million from RPA Properties in a deal that settled in 2011.The Frizelle group called tenders for the showroom project in October and the construction contract was awarded to Condev, which launched initial siteworks before Christmas. The showroom facilities, conceived by Design Imagery, will share 4950sq m of floorspace and 93 parking bays and each will feature display space, parts and administration areas.They will offer driveway service, house a combined 31 vehicle-servicing bays, and accommodate a range of client facilities including lounge areas and wi-fi-enabled work spaces. The two brand-specific buildings will comply with Mazda and Hyundai corporate image guidelines and all buildings will feature LED lighting to minimise power use.They also will utilise low-emission, energy-efficient glazing to minimise the airconditioning load. Rainwater will be stored for irrigation and general dealership usage. The group's dealer principal, James Frizelle, said the project represented a significant growth milestone for the business and had been made possible by the company's strong customer base."We strongly believe the market will support the expansion at Robina and we will continue to strive to provide top-level sales and after-sales care for our customers," he said. Executive Brett Frizelle said the Automall project presented a prime market area opportunity for the group's Mazda and Hyundai marques which were continuing to grow market share."We have confidence that the Coast market will continue to grow and there is the convenience factor for existing customers of the central-city location," he said. "We also see big opportunities in the used-car segment. "We expect to sell 11,000 vehicles in calendar 2013 and are trading a large number of high-quality vehicles."The Frizelle Automotive Group's dealerships also include Audi, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Skoda marques.