Re: Will the Crossfire last?
In the automotive world, rare needs to be interpreted carefully.
As collectors our family knows a thing or two about "Rare" Limited production of a desirable model lends itself to rare. Certain options that were offered I.E. powerplant, transmission etc. on a limited quantity of cars for any given production year, may make that care rare.
Cars that are mass produced with virtually identical options as in the case of the Xfire are not rare. Poor or slow sales of a vehicle forcing the manufacturer to scale back production carries a story behind it and does not make the vehicle rare. Consumers have a long memory and are car wise. If and just if, the Xfire is not successful in it's own right, it will not earn the title of rare, it will earn the title of failure, something most car owners will not want to own and a manufacturer will live with for decades to come.
The SRT for example is marketed as a performance car with an automatic transmission. Building an SRT with automatic in my mind is ridiculous, resale on these models is going to be tough and they are going to take a big hit. Chrysler desperately needs to get a manual transmission in this vehicle and they had better do it sooner than later.