The Chrysler PT Cruiser is one of those cars with an unfortunately bad rap. People still have spicy takes about the PT even though its been over 14 years since the last one rolled off of the line. I found a Chrysler PT that even the haters will love. In 2002, Chrysler teased a possible future of the PT by rolling out the California Cruiser concept, a shooting brake with a retractable glass roof and 215 HP on deck – and oh yeah, you could even sleep in it.
You don’t have to look too hard to find an enthusiast with a strong opinion about the neo-retro era of a few decades ago. Automakers were happy to pump out cars that looked like classic hot rods but sometimes forgot about the “hot” part. The Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Plymouth Prowler appear to be two of the biggest punching bags from the era, never mind that nothing as cool-looking as the Prowler has ever been made again and the PT Cruiser was a pretty versatile car once you got past the styling.
There are about a million theories as to why people turned on the PT Cruiser back then and still dunk on it today. Regular Car Reviews spent a whole 17 minutes conjuring up an explanation involving the vehicle’s often Boomer original owners, Postmodernism, and poor second or third owners. Doug DeMuro famously crushed a PT Cruiser with a Hummer! I’m not going to dissect why people hate the Cruiser so much, but you should know that, despite the hate, Chrysler managed to sell over 1.3 million of these things over a decade. It’s no surprise that other automakers, namely General Motors, also tried cashing in on the neo-retro boom.
Appealing To Your Lizard Brain
That kind of popularity is hard to ignore, and the PT Cruiser flew off of lots early on. In 2001, buyers went home with nearly 145,000 of the cars. Chrysler never let off of the throttle and did its best to keep Cruiser fever going. For a deeper look at the PT’s rise, I highly recommend reading Matt Hardigree’s retrospective by clicking here.
The short version is that Chrysler sought the help of French medical anthropologist and psychiatrist Dr. Clotaire Rapaille to design a vehicle that would appeal to our so-called lizard brains.
As Matt mentioned, Chrysler was adrift again when Bob Lutz came on board and the brand needed a home run, something more special than just a better car or truck. Enter Dr. Rapaille and his whole schtick about that lizard-brain thing, and PT Cruiser sprang into being as a bunch of parts shared with the Dodge Neon in a package designed to evoke some sort of response out of you.
Chrysler let Bryan Nesbitt have fun designing the PT Cruiser. The automakers punched out concepts like the custom Pronto Cruizer Concept, the Euro-style Plymouth Pronto, and the weird mid-engine Pronto Spyder. Finally, the PT Cruiser Concept previewed what the production car was going to look like.
But here’s the thing: Chrysler never stopped making concepts. In 2000, the Chrysler GT Cruiser concept previewed a hopped-up PT Cruiser while the Panel Cruiser concept showed what a work van version of the PT Cruiser would look like. In 2001, Chrysler followed it up with the PT Cruiser Convertible Styling Study.
Chrysler followed through on some of these concepts. The turbocharged PT Cruiser GT hit the market in 2003 while a convertible launched in 2005. Sadly, we didn’t get an official panel van, but the later Chevrolet HHR got a panel variant and fab shops have made custom PT Cruiser panel vans.
The Shooting Brake
Another variant Chrysler proposed was the California Cruiser. This concept hit the show circuit in 2002 beginning with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance before it got shipped off to the Paris Motor Show. At the time, it was reported that this design likely hinted at the next variation of the PT Cruiser.
Jim Schroer, Executive Vice President of Chrysler Group Global Sales and Marketing, said: “With PT Cruiser, we created a whole new segment and virtually redefined the blend of design and versatility in the small vehicle market. That vehicle anticipated new consumer demands and expectations around the world. Now, we bring you a concept of what might be next, the Chrysler California Cruiser.”
At the front, the California Cruiser represented Chrysler applying its new corporate face to the PT Cruiser. That meant giving the California Cruiser the same kind of scalloped headlights found on vehicles like the Ram and the Crossfire. Then came a bolder chrome grille and a more integrated bumper cover.
But the real awesomeness happens beyond the face. Chrysler ditched the vintage hot rod and panel van roofline of the PT and instead went for a flat chopped-style roof. Yes, this turned the lowly PT into a two-door wagon, but it goes even further than that. The roof is made out of giant glass panels that, at the flick of a switch, move out of the way, creating an open-top wagon.
Look at these happy surfers!
The concept further lays down sweet touches like bucket seats for all four occupants, a stereo mounted in the rear of the vehicle for tailgate parties, and hatch glass that rolls away like some of our favorite Toyota 4x4s.
Part of the marketing for the California Cruiser was that it was perfect for surfers, so the seats folded flat so you could store surfboards in the vehicle. Chrysler also saw you folding the seats flat and sleeping in the car on the beach with someone else. It’s unclear where Chrysler expected the vehicle’s other two occupants to sleep, but look, concept cars aren’t always logical.
All of this was wrapped up in a package powered by a turbocharged 2.4-liter engine making 215 HP. So, not only did you get your PT Cruiser as a sweet two-door wagon, but it was properly quick to match. Add the 19-inch billet wheels and Woodie-look silver side panels and this is easily the coolest PT Cruiser ever built. Schroer continued:
“An expert surfer will tell you they are after the NEXT wave, not the one in front of them. The same holds true for the Chrysler Group, as we look to new consumer demands and expectations around the world. Chrysler California Cruiser is a concept that might be that Next Wave – with us, you just never know.”
Tell me that doesn’t look hot!
Unfortunately, the California Cruiser never became a reality. Elements of the concept went to other PT Cruisers. As I noted earlier, PT Cruiser buyers did get a turbo model and there was also a two-door convertible. The 2006 facelift PT also got a new bumper, headlights, and a revised grille. But we never got a two-door PT Cruiser wagon and that’s sad.
There isn’t an explanation for what happened to this concept, but it is known that PT Cruiser sales slowed as production continued. Perhaps Chrysler lost the motivation to try to keep PT Cruiser fever going. Either way, the California Cruiser is cool. The California Cruiser is so cool that I’d dare to say that it’s the PT Cruiser that would even shut up the haters. It’s a shame we never got anything even close to it.
(Images: Chrysler)
Nope…still ugly
So what would people prefer, a PT or the HHR?
It’s trying too hard to be cool
These were great cars based on the Dodge neon which was virtually bulletproof still see many of these running around with 300.000 plus miles
I sure wish someone had told my ’97 Neon that it was supposed to be bullet proof. That thing worked in 3 month intervals. If it was running, it was only because it had just been repaired, and was returned to a state of “On the verge of breaking down”.
When I first saw the concept for the PT Cruiser, I was hooked. I signed up for updates on the Chrysler web page and got ready to buy.
Chrysler invited me to a sneak preview event and my spouse and I drove from Wrigleyville to Aurora airport to test drive this car. I was going there ready to buy.
We spent time in line and drove over their closed circuit separately. When we met back at the parking lot and asked each other what we thought, it was an almost immediate and simultaneous “yuck”. I never drove a car with a more horrible turning radius.
Wait, Daimler-Chrys…Fiat-Chrysler…Stellanti…had a hit but undermined it by poor quality and a lack of continued development???? I am SHOCKED!!!
Exactly, there should have been an all-new second generation around 2006 or 2007, but, instead, they kept on building the (fairly lightly) facelifted 1st generation through 2010, typical DaimlerChrysler-Fiat Chrysler-Stellantis narrative
When the PT Cruiser debuted, the financial press was severely criticizing DaimlerChrysler for their inability to build the cars quickly enough to meet demand, PT Crusiers, a ca. $17,000 car was getting slapped with extraneous markups by dealers, and dealerships in California (which, until Tesla came along, was not a place that especially liked domestic brand cars) were running lengthy waiting lists to get one. It was a massive, massive hit, on the scale that Chrysler really hasn’t ever repeated in the past 20+ years, and instead of finding a way to keep it fresh and maintain the momentum,they just let it whither and go stale and turn into the 21st century equivalent of the AMC Pacer
The quality was fine… not Toyota-levels, but fine. The issues the PT had where not horrendously expensive like you have on the BMWs that everyone says they love.
And I’m saying that as someone who used to own a PT Cruiser.
The main issue that killed it was the lack of continued development you mentioned. It was left to rot on the vine with no meaningful updates after they got the turbo engines in 2004.
The update it got in 2006 was a ‘cheapen it up’ non-update and it lasted to 2010.
The only rental I could find on Orcas Island was a PT. Convert, of course I liked it. I also like this concept.
The PT Cruiser was a Neon in wagon’s clothing. It was overrated, underpowered and simply cheap as hell feeling in every package. That said, it was reliable, cheap to maintain, and good looking for the “retro” looks of the early 2k’s. Not as good looking as the Mustang, but better looking than the Beetle (imho).
Reliable? Don’t make me laugh. I used to work on those hunks of junk for a living.
Mine was reliable. The key is keeping it maintained. Once the PT hits the 6-8 year mark, a common issue is a cracked thermostat housing which causes a coolant leak.
It’s a cheap DIY fix. But after 6-8 years, it’s a good idea to have a shop go over the cooling system.
Failure to keep the cooling system maintained can lead to low coolant and overheating which will cause the headgasket to blow.
The PT Cruiser I had was reliable. But it was reliable because I kept it maintained and fixed things like the cracked thermostat housing.
The ones that aren’t reliable are the ones that haven’t been proactively maintained.
Dude, I was fixing them when they were still under warranty. You got lucky.
Mine was also one with the base engine with the manual and no options… not even A/C. Fewer options means less stuff to go wrong.
I disagree. It was always ugly, and the Turbo model was pretty fast.
Yes it was based on the Neon platform. But I think it was underrated. And with the manual transmission, it absolutely wasn’t underpowered.
And I don’t think it felt cheap overall. It just needed some improvements in some key areas… such as better seats and a more efficient automatic transmission.
Everyone who says the PT was underpowered is someone who only drove it with the base engine with the slushbox.
With the manual and the base engine, it had a peppy-feelling 8.5 second 0-60 time… faster than the Honda Fit I had and faster than other similarly cheap Japanese cars.
And with the 2.4 HO turbo, it was a decently fast car.
Turbo PTs were decently quick with either transmission. As much as I hated working on them, and how unreliable they were, there were things I loved about the PT, especially the interior and how fun they could be to drive.
There seem to be a LOT more PTCs on the road these days than Neons.
Neons are nearly extinct, whereas you see both HHRs and Cobalts in good numbers.
Don’t think I’ve seen HHRs or Cobalts in a LONG while… and I live in a big city. However, it’s not uncommon to see Civics and Corollas from the 90s still tooling around.
Here in the southern city I live in, appears to be the opposite, still see HHRs, but rarely a PTC. The current HHRs you see tend to be the ‘fancier’ models, well taken care of.
My Mom had an HHR. It was a ‘fine’ car, but I hated driving it….giant rolling blind spot…not good for elderly driver.
I think the PTC and HHR were the predecessor to the ‘tall/high seat’ CUV vehicles we have today.
The Pronto Spyder should have been built… PT Cruiser was shit.
I think it looks like a baby-Ford Flex. Is it just me?
Or it the Ford Flex a grownup version of the PT since it came earlier?
Hot take: The Dodge Hornet should have been a new PT Cruiser instead.
Hotter take: the PT Cruiser should have been the Dodge Hornet in the first place.
I ended up reading the whole piece about the lizard brain you linked to instead,interesting stuff. And then I went back and remembered I was actually reading about the PT cruiser.
This is one the cars that didn’t age into it’s looks. I still shiver when I see one.
I helped a friend move on that was purple with flames and I felt like I needed a shower after driving it.
The only thing I found a PT Cruiser good for were the seats, which are a direct bolt-in replacement for the factory seats in my Scout. Which were gone when I got it; the PO had welded a set of Shelby GHS seats to my bases. Let’s just say the Chrysler seats from 2006 are much more comfortable (and sturdier) than the Chrysler seats from 1986.
Not too long ago I witnessed someone in the act of swapping MOST of the running bits (including engine) from one dull, champagne colored PT Cruiser to a different, slightly better looking dull, champagne colored PT Cruiser. And I had to wonder, why would anyone go through all of that effort when the reward is merely a dull, champagne colored PT Cruiser?
Eh, to each their own.
Lizard brain I bet.
Maybe it had sentimental value. It just blew my mind that this person put the time, money, and effort into finding a donor car for a high mileage PT cruiser. And I think it was a major swap, I saw them removing interior pieces, like various bits of trim, headrests and mats. I’m sure in the end it may have potentially probably likely been one of the nice(-er? -est?) high mileage, champagne colored PT Cruisers AT LEAST in the local zip code, maybe even the county.
Maybe it was John Voight’s car?
Yeah, and was his gnawed pencil in the glove box?
There’s always been a small but very tight PT Cruiser enthusiast community on the fringe of car culture. As someone who grew up in countries where the PT was a rare novelty or just simply not sold, I’ve never had much hate towards it myself and so from my outside perspective I can kinda see why someone would love the things, even if they’re objectively crappy cars. For a related example, in India, where I was born and a place I still visit relatively regularly, the Ford EcoSport is well liked by general car enthusiasts and has its own niche of car culture. In the Middle East the car had no real noticeable cultural impact, but in the UK and in America I’ve heard almost nothing but derision for it.
I have no for certain Idea why but I immediately have a massive negative physical reaction whenever Doug DeMuro is brought up. He is on par with vileness for me in the same vein as The Whistlin’ diesel douche.
I do however find it kind of interesting how the Neon is now much loved while it was hated when the PT came out. I was provided a purple rental in San Francisco of all places 2 decades ago. I can say the raised roof and drop down seats sure made it easier to use and it did not drive any worse than any other economy car of the time. But I was not especially proud to be seen in it either, so I guess Meh?
There’s a jackass automotive scribe named Jack Baruth who consistently and pathologically hates on DeMuro. It’s obviously just malignant envy that DeMuro has been cashing in on his auction platform and is a better writer. His jealousy is both amusing and revealing.
I don’t wish anything bad on Doug, but my face wants to make the kind of expression one generally makes upon smelling something bad anytime he’s brought up.
I always think of Doug dedouche.
I can’t find the webpage that was made when people started calling Doug a douche at Jalopnik, No sr20!
Not a fan of DeMuro either. His presentation grates like nothing else. The few reviews I’ve watched, came across as remarkable shallow.
He’s the lovechild of Quentin Tarantino and Jeremy Clarkson.
Nah, I like Doug no one goes both indepth and misses important information like him. Its not like he flat out makes crap up like Scotty Kilmer
His videos have so much freaking clickbait that I unsubscribed.
Interior is awesome, but the early 2000s cladding and wheels are a no from me dawg.
PT Cruisers were and are fine; I’m not sure why they get the hate they do. Their only crime is being “of an era.”
It’s the Dodge Caliber that deserves our hate. To my eternal chagrin, I learned to drive on one: Dad’s refrigerator-white 2007 model. At least it was an SXT—one step up from the base trim, so it had power locks, power windows, keyless entry, and cruise control. Oh, and that nifty little rechargeable flashlight that plugged into a spot in the cargohold.
As for this concept? It’s lovely.
I saw a Dodge Caliber the other day on the highway, I heard something screaming like a Ninja blender on high, here comes on the left lane on my mirror. The speed didnt match the scream of the CVT transmission. The poor car was screaming just to keep up with traffic, it was hilarious.
The Caliber was blindingly ugly, both interior and exterior. While other cheap conveyances finally got some appreciation like the Pinto or Chevette, the Caliber will never be appreciated by anyone.
The Caliber was probably most hated for the CVT, otherwise it was really not much more than a blockier PT, or perhaps a crossover Neon if you remembered them by then.
The Caliber was on a completely new chassis shared with the Mitsubishi Lancer.
And the engine was an all-new design developed with Mitsubishi and Hyundai and it got about 10% better fuel economy and made more power than the older 2.4L in the PT.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_GS_platform
Like the PT, the Caliber was a much better car if you got it with the manual.
I don’t know anyone who didn’t have issues with their Caliber, truly cursed cars. One of my favorite things about them though is in Need for Speed Heat, they’re one of the best selling cars in that Miami analogue. Like a solid 30% of the population of Fake Miami has a Caliber. I thought they should have more dents to look more realistic so I always targeted them when I was driving around.
Oh, the Caliber, what an egregious misfire. The Neon sold over 128,000 copies in its final full year on the market (5 years into its second generation), the Caliber beat that number only once in its entire production run, and that was in its first full year, then tumbled quick. By the time it hit its 5th year, sales were at less than 50,000. Talk about completely squandering customer loyalty and brand equity, what a colossally stupid product planning decision from start to finish, people should have seen what was coming when they had David Spade and those weirdass Russian clowns from Slava’s Snow Show do the introduction in Detroit.
I just want to state that the PT Cruiser GT had the SRT4 engine, and all SRT4 upgrades are compatible. So you could easily make a reliable 300-400hp PT Cruiser that would smoke so many cars, for not a lot of money. Would be hilarious.
there are a few doing that. I know of one in Wichita with all manner of tacked on crap including some sort of dual rear window mod to lok even more like some old 30’s car. But it does have the turbo motor with a few mods that seem to make it run decent….of Course When it is running.
I assume the production model would have changed some things (like the door windows going beyond the door–that looks cool, but would have been expensive to implement), but this feels like it could have easily come to production and been a bit of a boost to sales of all PT Cruisers (having a cool version of something makes the normal ones just a little cooler by association).
It’s too bad we didn’t get this.
Well, really, it looks like there are secondary windows that roll down on their own, between the front door glass and the fixed quarter-panel glass. What would’ve had to happen for this to make production would’ve been increased body stiffness. I’d say they could start with the cabriolet body as a foundation, but the wheelbase is too short and the rollbar would have to be removed. Either way, it would need much thicker B-pillars.
Edit: actually, it looks like the wheelbase is just fine, and moreover, the production cabriolet and 5-door had the same wheelbase.
You’re right as to what those windows are, but they’d be expensive. No pillar between those windows and both of them moving would mean you’d need to come up with a pretty significant seal without sacrificing the appearance.
I wouldn’t think it would be too expensive. Such seals are on expensive pillarless coupes like Bentley Continental GTs and Rolls-Royce Spectres, but you’ll also find them on affordable cabriolets like the Ford Mustang and Chrysler’s own cabriolet variant of this very car.
They’re also not much effort to replace. Both of the seals in my 2015 S 550 Coupe (which is pillarless and which has front and rear windows that roll down independently) developed hairline cracks. They were perfectly functional from a water-sealing standpoint, but let in more noise than an S-Class Coupe ought to have. But they cost $30 apiece and took five minutes to replace.
Perhaps you’re right. But I still suspect they’d change things. I think it would look weird to have a visible seal shortly ahead of the pillar. The PT Cruiser convertible puts that seal right where they have a body stiffening beam anyway. What this concept does well is sell the whole area in front of the pillar as front door window, and I think it would lose that with a visible seal there. Maybe I’m wrong and they’d make the sacrifice for the effect with the windows down.
I think it would be far easier to do one of two things to mostly maintain the concept and not have the weird pillar/seal spacing: move the pillar or extend the door. Of course, positioning it as a surfer car may mean they just figure the windows would be down almost all the time.
Chrysler motors took the expedient of putting the seal on the door window in the 60s. 2 door hardtops were pillar-less and with just the front window down, the nicely finished edge of the glass barely showed up.
Amazing concept. Really love the color combo and wheels
“It’s unclear where Chrysler expected the vehicle’s other two occupants to sleep…”
You clearly haven’t seen “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane”
WHAT IS THAT!? AND CAN I GET ONE!!!
Ah crap I can’t… 🙁
I’m kind of surprised the panel van never made it into production. They could have produced it much less expensively than the concept version by building it the same way Chevy did with the HHR Panel, by simply blanking out the windows on the rear doors.
I don’t know how many units of the HHR Panel actually sold, though, and I guess Chrysler decided it wasn’t worth the effort.
I think the panels were something like 10% of HHR sales, roughly 50,000 out of a total run of 537,000, a PT Cruiser van launching earlier would have done at least a bit better than that
Likewise, I’ve always wonder what would have happened it they’d “crossover-ed” both of them…just lift them a little, give them bigger wheels, some cladding, etc. Would they now be see as these minor key fun classics, given our SUV mania?
I don’t know how many HHRs sold, but I do know they were ideal for things like flower delivery. If you don’t need a tall roof or heavy load capacity, they are an excellent delivery vehicle. And there’s plenty of delivery covered by that. Given the popularity of the PT Cruiser, it probably would have been plenty popular as a panel van, too.
I bet Chrysler figured people would just convert them to panel vans if they so desired.
And they did eventually do a panel van, using the larger minivan as a basis. Remember the short-lived Ram C/V?
Ah, good point. In fact Chrysler Corporation made panel vans out of minivans from about day one (1984?) so yes, a PT minivan would have just been competing with another Chrysler product.