[whitejeep1989]

http://www.automobilemag.com/f....html
Automobile Magazine is spilling more beans on the Chrysler Corp-Fiat marriage. The teaming up of Lancia and Chrysler will see the North Americans building and exporting (yay!) a lot of product to Europe. Chrysler will take the lead on large and RWD platforms, with Lancia eventually supplying cars or tech for small and FWD Chryslers.
Brief synopsis:
Chrysler 300=Lancia sedan and wagon(!)
Chrysler Town & Country= Lancia MPV
Chrysler 200C=Lancia midsized sedan
Chrysler Crossfire/Dodge Copperhead=Alfa/Lancia small RWD sports cars
The juicy bit from the article:
"2013
Tentative plans call for a new Lancia sports car, which may resurrect the name Flaminia. It would be based on a new mid-size, rear-wheel-drive platform to be shared with a proposed Alfa Romeo 4C, a Chrysler Crossfire replacement and a baby Viper that Dodge chief Ralph Gilles hints could adopt the Copperhead name from the 1997 Dodge concept. For now, though, the program is in limbo due to financial constraints."

Modified by whitejeep1989 at 6:48 AM 3-23-2010


Modified by whitejeep1989 at 6:52 AM 3-23-2010

 

[ByronLLN]

Re: Chrysler-Lancia Marriage= Baby Viper/Copperhead and/or new Chrysler Crossfire (whitejeep1989)

Good. Chrysler's strength lately has been in their RWD offerings. Now all they need to do is get away from the Benz-shared components so they can shake out the reliability issues.

 

[Bav17]

The Chrysler Voyager is a popular MPV for europe, and I think it also have high brand equity. Its interesting that they want to muddy the waters with a rebadge.

 

[Grinder]

Re: Chrysler-Lancia Marriage= Baby Viper/Copperhead and/or new Chrysler Crossfire (whitejeep1989)

I found the article confusing at best.
"The Lancia Delta (the hatch shown with a Chrysler grille at the Detroit auto show) will be face-lifted. Changes will be limited to mild cosmetic tweaks, and a rearranged engine line-up. " - This is for the NA market I presume - that would be good
It is disappointing to hear that old "Storied" Lancia names like Aurelia might be used for for a re-badged Chrysler. In this case a 300.
There was no mention on whether Italian autoshow ladies will be re-badged for the NA market

 

[whitejeep1989]

Re: Chrysler-Lancia Marriage= Baby Viper/Copperhead and/or new Chrysler Crossfire (Grinder)

Quote, originally posted by Grinder »

I found the article confusing at best. "The Lancia Delta (the hatch shown with a Chrysler grille at the Detroit auto show) will be face-lifted. Changes will be limited to mild cosmetic tweaks, and a rearranged engine line-up. " - This is for the NA market I presume - that would be good It is disappointing to hear that old "Storied" Lancia names like Aurelia might be used for for a re-badged Chrysler. In this case a 300. There was no mention on whether Italian autoshow ladies will be re-badged for the NA market

The Chrysler 300 and Town & Country are "old storied names" themselves. I suppose it depends on your perspective or affiliations.

Modified by whitejeep1989 at 8:03 AM 3-23-2010

 

[6cylVWguy]

Re: Chrysler-Lancia Marriage= Baby Viper/Copperhead and/or new Chrysler Crossfire (whitejeep1989)

I'd really like to see Chrysler replace the crossfire with something equally as unique looking but with a bit more power. Though I think as far as durability is concerned I would likely prefer the mercedes architecture of the original crossfire over something by lancia. Either way, I hope chrysler will eventually offer another affordable (after rebates anyway) 2 seat sports cars. The viper is awesome but just too much $$$$$.
I think as I may have said before, I think Chrysler is the only company currently that I am actually excited and looking forward to seeing their new products. It's like they don;t have anywhere else to go but up at this point in time!

 

[Grinder]

Re: Chrysler-Lancia Marriage= Baby Viper/Copperhead and/or new Chrysler Crossfire (whitejeep1989)

That is a good point about the 300 being a storied name as well . I guess my issue is that it is, and was historically, a big American car. The concept of it does not seem very similar to the smaller Itialian Aurelia. It somehow seems to ignore the history of the product. Though sadly, the same can be said for many cars including the previous generation of the 300 that was a FWD model.
I think that the Chrysler 300 is a pretty good on it's own merit, and nothing is served by relating it to an unrelated car.

 

[whitejeep1989]

Re: Chrysler-Lancia Marriage= Baby Viper/Copperhead and/or new Chrysler Crossfire (Grinder)

Quote, originally posted by Grinder »

That is a good point about the 300 being a storied name as well . I guess my issue is that it is, and was historically, a big American car. The concept of it does not seem very similar to the smaller Itialian Aurelia. It somehow seems to ignore the history of the product. Though sadly, the same can be said for many cars including the previous generation of the 300 that was a FWD model. I think that the Chrysler 300 is a pretty good on it's own merit, and nothing is served by relating it to an unrelated car.

Out of curiosity (not trying to cause an argument or debate), I looked up the Aurelia. It was a very beautiful series of cars. It was produced from 1950 through 1958.
The dimensions of a 1950 Lancia Aurelia 2-door only differ significantly from the current Chrysler 300C sedan in overall length (by nearly 2 feet).
Wheelbase: Lancia-112.5 / Chrysler-120
Width: 61.5 / 63
Length: 174 / 196
Height: 59.1 / 58

I hope that someone at these combined companies is hard at work with organizing a collection of these beautiful Italian and American cars from the 1950s!

 

[Snacker]

Re: Chrysler-Lancia Marriage= Baby Viper/Copperhead and/or new Chrysler Crossfire (whitejeep1989)

Uhh, is that actually an SRT8? I thought they were lower and had different wheels.

 

[1SICKLEX]

All I know is Chrysler better come with class leading in a lot of ways and not just average and okay.

 

[ByronLLN]

Re: Chrysler-Lancia Marriage= Baby Viper/Copperhead and/or new Chrysler Crossfire (Snacker)

Quote, originally posted by Snacker »

Uhh, is that actually an SRT8? I thought they were lower and had different wheels.

It is, is, and does.

 

[TigerinColorado]

Re: (1SICKLEX)

Sweet tasty bits of rumor. Best of luck to them in pulling it all off!

 

[Entwerfer des Audis]

Re: Chrysler-Lancia Marriage= Baby Viper/Copperhead and/or new Chrysler Crossfire (whitejeep1989)

Generally speaking, I like this news very much. I'm particularly interested to see what they do with the Crossfire and 300, both of which I think were firmly a step in the right direction. As for the 200, if they keep it close to the concept, it will be a beautiful car.