Originally Posted by Brent
In my opinion the lack of a manual transmission is overplayed. It's incessantly revered as the one true characteristic of a sports car. Yet half of all Corvettes are sold with auto trannys. Does this mean that half of all Corvettes are not real sports cars?
Is the Crossfire considered a flop because it didn't sell, or because it didn't sell as well as Chrysler had expected? Chrysler way over estimated the market for this car and overbuilt accordingly. A more reasonable production run that sold out completely would have eased much of the criticism directed at the Crossfire.
Beauty is certainly subjective with few cars evoking such polar reactions as the Crossfire. But given the choice between controversy and blandness, I'll pick the controversial car.
The Crossfire did not "flop".
It wasn't held back because it was a restyled 6 year old SLK platform or because it was overproduced, or because the SRT package didn't come in a manual tranny.
At $20K below the equivalent Benz it was hardly overpriced . And compared to the Z350 or the Porshe, it was a bargain.
Nor did it fail because some foppish Brit didn't like it's stance.
It failed to do well because it was the red headed step child of a divorcing pair of companies. It was saddled with the label of the of the poor, deflowered bride. There was little confidence in its service support or the strength of the Chysler organization.
Most people, who would buy these kinds of cars, are particular about it's pedigree. This one had a major flaw
Lovely as they are, our precious little cuties are fatherless B@stards.
roadster with a stick