Enjoy... hooah

http://photos.imageevent.com/firebas...%20USA%20b.wmv

 

Well, maybe not born in the USA, but styled here at least.

 

...by an Englishman.

Nice one Firebase!

 

FirebaseD I bow to your superior editing!!! I love the black and white and well... the entire work!!! GREAT!!!

 

OK let us open this baby up and see where it goes... here is my opening statement concerning the Crossfire "born in the USA" thinking: The Crossfire was born in the USA... a concept car shown at the 2001 North American International Auto Show in Detroit...

According to Art Anderson, senior manager, Advance Vehicle Engineering (the project leader), the program was a "multicultural, multinational, cross-Atlantic undertaking." When asked why he thinks that the Crossfire is a quintessential American sports coupe. Trevor Creed, senior vice president, Product Design, points out such things as the trunk (which is not as utile as it might be given the boat-tail rear) and the center spine that bisects the vehicle right down the middle (assuming that you're looking at it from above): "No Europeans would do things like that."

I should consider starting another thread on this subject, but let us see how far this one will go... hooah

 

Well my opinion is that in the auto industry these days, everything is so diversified and multi-national, it is hard to pin down an exact country of origin for any car. Sure, a company like Ford or Chrysler is based in the US, but they are really global companies. So, is the crossfire born in the USA? Well, no. But we could say it was conceived from German-American genes, and has been adopted by us as an American car, but I am sure the Germans would say it is just as much theirs. And from an earlier post, the English played a small part too.

 

ehh, no! even there are a lot of slk-genes stuffed into that cute and really true american car (look at it`s design again! only the us automakers can do such cars in these days that really touch your heart, maybe benz, porsche and some other expensive euros could do, but never volkswagen, saab, volvo, renault etc.! boring stuff!!!), no german would say it is "our" car. the design is too extraordinary in a positive way and the whole spirit of the car is just american. also, the appearance of a car is more important than its technique under all the metal, so the designer (a british one, as mentioned above), plays even a more important role than all the nice parts from Stuttgart, I guess. and, the main reason: only very few people here even know this car, it sells very bad and - true - you will see more ferraris here than crossfires...

jens

 

I think its absolutely fair to say the Crossfire was born in the USA. I think that is one of the reasons it has had a luke warm reception in Europe - we are just not used to the concept of an American sportscar, or American cars in general. The nationality of which individuals actually penned the design is academic - they were doing it for Chrysler to their brief. As for the German connection, that only really came about in that it was the most cost effective way for Chrysler to get the Crossfire into production, it was the most convenient platform in the DCX portfolio.

Andrew Dyson on Design

I personally believe Chrysler are one of the few manufacturers who, at least in recent years, have pushed the boundaries of design with the PT, Crossfire and 300C. Who else has put some many concept/show cars in to production, and stayed as true as possible to the original. I was completely bored with new cars, with nothing to distinguish them apart other than the badge. I always preferred to run old classics like my old 911 and 124 Spider (still do really). Then I saw the press release for the PT - here is a company daring to do something different. I had to have one! Then within months they announced the Crossfire concept - and they were going to build it! I had to have that too. The PT was a big gamble, probably more so than the Crossfire given its styling, but it paid off... the Crossfire didn't. You win some, you lose some.

Oops, I think that has well and truly jacked this thread.

 

Well ok, I guess thats true, no German would flat out say the Crossfire a German car, but I think in their mind they know that its a German under there. This is very similar to the Rolls Royce/BMW thing and the Lambo/VW thing. Sure, the Gallardo is not a "German" car, but thank goodness they helped! And the Phantom isn't "German" either, but BMW certainly had a positive role in the making of that car.

 

The center spine and the whole concept of the car is a direct copy of the Bugatti Atlanta coupes of the late thirties. It is a car designed to carry you, your mistress and your luggage for a weekend to Monaco faster than your wife's lawyer can follow.

When viewed from the side the car most resembles the Bill Thomas Cheetah, a California sports car of the early sixties.