Curves, anyone?

Am I alone in missing curves in Chrysler products? It seems with each new release lately I’m more underwhelmed. The Nitro is the latest example; all of the hard, cold edges inside and, especially, out, just do nothing for me. There’s no warmth in the vehicle. I’m so incredibly glad that our PT’s are of the original design (even though the ‘06 refresh is far ahead of most of what I’ve seen come out since). The warmth and the character of the lines and curves and design elements of that car, and the LHS (later Concorde) and 300M have just disappeared from the newer designs. Even the original Neon…that car had personality sitting still. And it was a welcoming personality; not one that encouraged giving it a wide berth. Sure, the ‘in your face’ stance of the Magnum and 300 struck a chord, but…it’s too much now. Worse, the interiors have followed suit, and all seem to have that faux aluminum center stack that I so dislike. At least in the Caliber it’s optional to have that piece body color, bringing some much needed life into the interior.

Oddy enough (and it’s really amazing I’m saying this), probably the best execution I’ve seen recently is in the Aspen. It’s remarkably how much of the ugly they’ve taken out of the Durango.

But otherwise, boy, the pickings have been slim. I sure hope we get the expected 8-10 years out of our PTs and avoid this particular design ‘phase’.