The s2000 was ready to go on a cool Sunday morning. It was fall 2004 and you could tell it was going to be a good day in central California. I was headed for my favorite set of twisties to do a little canyon carving. As I made my left turn onto I-5 I took it through the gears to redline. At the end of third gear I let off and started cruising at around 75. It was a weird day as no one was on the road!? There was not one car in either direction. About a mile down the road I could see a car in the distance. It looked real good and you could tell it was new. As I caught up to it I could see it was a Crossfire!?? What the heck is a Crossfire?? I couldn't take my eyes off it. Later that day, when I got home I checked online and saw what Chrysler dealers were getting for this little road rocket. I filed it under "maybe later" and tried to forget about it.
Fast forward, March 2008. The wife came in and yelled out "Brian's here and he's got something to show you." I'm thinking who the heck is Brian and what's he doing in my house! Brian ended up being a car sales person and he had a Black limited waiting for me to test drive. He threw me the keyes and said "take it for a ride." I was like a kid with a new toy......Xmas came early! After the test drive I was hooked. But not ready to buy. I put my 2000 Audi up for sale. It was mint and sold in 3 weeks. I then started searching for the XF. The one I settled on was half way across the U.S. A ssb metalic, auto with 26K miles. I got it for a fantastic price and had a ball driving it back to Calif. I've been on this forum for quite a while and already modded the air filter system and the speakers. What a difference! I find myself going out to the garage just to make sure it's really there. It was and is and Perma-grin is now alive and well in a new household.

 

Great story! and Welcome!

 

and we thought nobody in California had any sense.


Welcome to our support group.

ENJOY THE RIDE!



roadster with a stick

 

Good write up. Welcome to the forum.

 

Good story and welcome to the forum. It's nice to know that when you want to support your addiction you can just drive and drive and drive!

 

Welcome to the Forum Doug! Interesting story. But did anybody notice he didn't say anything about getting rid of the S2k?

 

I have a similar story here as I saw my first Crossfire driving fast westbound out of Chicago back in 2004 and said the same thing ...watwasat??
Then I found out and sort of forgot about it.
Then last spring I saw a few at Carmax and I was hooked again.
This time I bought one also for a great price.
Can't imaging life without a Crossfire and this great forum.

Great story and enjoy the ride!!

 

Welcome,

You are my hero a Xfire and a S2000!

I hope you enjoy the Xfire.

Don

 

Sonoronos thanks for the kind welcome.

Rauscher; your right about Californians, why else woud we pay 50 cents more for a gallon of gas than the rest of of the country. Not to mention twice as much for electricity and heating [natural gas].

Don, I'm not your hero as the S2000 was sold some time ago. However there is a G35 coupe, 2004 with 13k miles that sits right next to the XF. Does that count for anything?

When I bought the S2000 I never thought I would feel quite that way again about a car. But I have to tell you that the XF is a much better all around car. With looks to die for! Both have their own specialties but it's no contest. The XF wins hands down. The combination of American design and german drive train and engineering makes for a very special car. Not long ago ther was a very contested thread on whether this car is American or German. I'll give you my 2 cents. This car is American, after all it's a Chrysler. Having said that, the soul of this car is German and we are taking Karman fine here. Without a doubt this car is the steal of the century.

 

Hey Dougs
When I said you were my hero, what I meant I also want the S2000, didn't get one right now due to cats- outdoor kind that love convertible tops- kind of like a trampoline to them! So I stumbled on a great value hard top Xfire, very nice.

Anyways since you have now owned both S2000 and Xfire, what I like about the S2000 is convertible and 8400 redline- I feel like that car is meant to be driven dead on hard.

I love the Xfire, but to me it is more of a refined sporty car, not a sports car that I believe the S2000 is. I agree totally that the Xfire is a great deal for what you can pick one up for, most people do not realize the value they are on the used market.

Thanks
Don

 

About the design... I was told that after Jeremy Clarkson, with his usual anti-US snide comments, trashed the Crossfire on BBC's TOP GEAR program (he said that viewed from the side it looked like a dog taking a crap) it transpired that the designer was (GASP!) a Brit. Urban myth or fact? I don't know, nor do I really care. What I do know is that it is one hellava great little car on the road, and it certainly hits all the right notes in the design sweepstakes as well.

 

The car was designed by Eric Stoddard. He was a Brit still in design school when he presented his concept to the folks at Diamler Chrysler.

The only thing American on the car is the logo. The car is as perfect a design as you could imagine. A proven German drive train and suspension, built by Karhman from an English designer to fulfill an American inspiration.

And the first (and only) version came out cool.

The NA is a toasty little sportster that is nimble and quick and the SRT version is just a mean machine.

I'll take one! Two if I can afford it.

Nice going Eric!


roadster with a stick


BTW Jeremy Clarkson is a stuffy dip stick. He can kiss my ****.

 

Dougs

The G35 coupe is an excellent car. I almost bought it after driving it. But then there was the issues my daughter had with her Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V. Wasn't real happy with the brand at the time. Both the engine and trans were replaced in the first year. 40 days in the shop.

Drove the Crossfire at the same time and there was this $9K discount that sold me.

Love to drive a GT-R.

 

kurtisberry:
Yeah, the GT-R is going to be something special. My better half wants to trade in the g-35 for one of those.... I'm thinking "NO" but she's thinking YES......here we go again.

 

Hey Dons...I have a blanket just for my cat...sets right on top the XF...most of the time the cover is on it, but when its not...on goes the blanket...he loves the XF top...hasn't hurt it in 2 yrs...but the cat...been missing for 3 days....I thinks hes dead...he was 15 yrs old...so he lived a long life...back on subject....welcome Doug....like Franc said, its an addiction and you are now in the support group....

 

I think Andrew Dyson was the actual UK designer. Eric Stoddard is an American and was very young in his career at the time.

I believe that the concept was Stoddard's design. The actual car was designed by Dyson with input from Stoddard, Dehner and McKinnon.

The Design world is strange. The ornamental patents issued to Chrysler for the Crossfire are referenced in the ornamental designs for the following cars:

Mitsubishi New Eclipse
Mitsubishi Diamante
Bentley Concept (I think it may be the Zagato)
Air vents for Porsche

I'm not sure what it is. It may be the funky coupe hump. I'm not sure.

 

"Hey Dons...I have a blanket just for my cat...sets right on top the XF...most of the time the cover is on it, but when its not...on goes the blanket...he loves the XF top...hasn't hurt it in 2 yrs...but the cat...been missing for 3 days....I thinks hes dead...he was 15 yrs old...so he lived a long life...back on subject....welcome Doug....like Franc said, its an addiction and you are now in the support group...."

He probably moved to Florida to be closer to Firey_Lauren. lol