Cooler with the top down

By ALISTAIR SLOANE

First there was the Chrysler PT Cruiser, a memory-lane sedan the American carmaker said was "too cool to classify."

Then came a couple of Cruiser concepts - the Panelvan and turbocharged GT.

The Panelvan's future is on hold but the four-door GT variant has been signed off for production and will go on sale in America within 12 months.

Now comes the concept convertible, pictured here for the first time in New Zealand.

The drop-top two-door is based on the PT (for personal transport) Cruiser sedan and is to be unveiled at next week's New York Motor Show.

If showgoers like it, DaimlerChrysler will most likely build it. That's pretty much how the German-American carmaker has worked in the past.

The convertible is supposed to evoke a fastback appearance with the soft-top up and a classic convertible style with the roof down.

"Basically, it shows what potential the PT Cruiser has for the future," says DaimlerChrysler design executive Sjoerd Dijkstra (pronounced as it is spelled).

Engineers lowered the Cruiser's roofline by 25mm and redesigned the rear-wheel arches and body panels to accommodate the longer front doors.

The vehicle was also lowered by nearly 40mm. Body-coloured bumpers and a chrome grille were added to give the convertible a customised look and to "emphasise its free-spirited attitude," said the carmaker.

Under the bonnet is a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine, the American standard sedan powerplant. Right-hand-drive markets such as New Zealand get the 2-litre engine from the Neon model.

"The PT Convertible is a natural," said senior designer Trevor Creed. "It has a modern look when the top is down, with its sport bar and long passenger compartment. Yet when up, the top has a slammed-forward retro-position, much like a 1930s custom-chopped coupe, emulating the tension of an archer's bow being drawn back."

The styling study is painted in a deep blue pearl on the outside and a dark taupe and light pearl beige with cognac and blue accents on the inside.

The soft-top seats four and the rear passengers sit higher in theatre-style seating.

The soft-top is power-operated and the New York-themed "Empire" wheels are 19-inch alloys.

"Even though the convertible's roof was lowered, the rear passenger compartment provides ample room and comfort," said interior design chief Jeff Godshall.

The longer front doors each hold an audio speaker and mesh storage pocket. Rear seat passengers have a recessed armrest and courtesy light in each quarter panel.

The rear and front passenger seats fold down for easy storage for things like golf clubs, skis or surfboards.

Said Creed: "The PT Convertible is the latest example of the sort of fun we can have with PT Cruiser. And there's more to come."

There is talk that the PT Cruiser will become a model range all its own, with as many as six variants. A pickup truck hasn't been ruled out.

The four-door PT Cruiser sedan, launched in 1999, rekindled America's love affair with Americana.

Its appearance prompted more hysteria than the arrival of the revamped Volkswagen Beetle a year earlier.

Chrysler quickly had to increase production, demand was so great. It was nicknamed the "gangsta" car, because it looked like the vehicle 1940s film hero Humphrey Bogart or comicbook cop Dick Tracy might have driven.

Ageing hippies liked it as much as the dotcom generation. Teenage drivers bought it as fast as retired bankers, who also admired its throwback styling.

The PT Cruiser sedan appeared last year in New Zealand, where women buyers have so far outnumbered men. Those statistics mightn't change in this part of the world if the convertible gets the go-ahead.