I had a moment of insanity , that has lasted 3.5 years now just ordered more STUFF for it.

 

Also see: What did you do to your Crossfire today?

 

At the time I first looked at a Crossfire, I was driving a Mercedes ML320. While looking at the Crossfire, i quickly noticed it had the same engine as my ML and everything in the interior was MB as well. It didn't take long to realized this was the best deal on a Mercedes you can get!

What made me stick a V8 in it?

My best friend had just bought a new Corvette and let me drive it. While it was fast, it didn't feel nearly as well built as my car. I started to think that if my car had a V8 it could be a German built Corvette! The rest is history. I am now working on a tubo kit (also for the n/a V6) that will get me to true supercar performance.

 

It's ironic that I am the enamored owner of a Crossfire.
All my life I had an unconditional disdain for Chysler products, you could call it a predjudice... About a year ago I started shopping for a car, nothing new because I could not afford a new car within the class of vehicles I was considering; the Jaguar XK8 . It's a high-end luxury sports car and unique, you just don't see too many running around, exactly what I was looking for. The Jags that I saw were either too old, had too many miles, were too expensive or in bad shape. During my internet shopping I came across the Crossfire, my curiosity over-ruled my Chrysler predjudice because I sure liked the way she looked. I found all kinds of information about the Crossfire and 99.4% of it was very positive, especially the Mercedes contribution to it. I went to a dealer here in San Antonio just to look. It was black and beautiful, only a couple of paint chips on the front and the interior was flawless, it had that new car smell - my friend persuaded me to test drive it, so I sat in it and it fit like a glove. Took it out on the road and she felt fantastic but dammit it's a Chrysler! So I left the dealer and found an Infinity G35 to test drive. the performance and handling was almost identical to the Crossfire but it was so boring - a sedan. So I went back to the dealer with the Crossfire and bought it, then I found you guys on the forum and now here I am telling you my story...

 

A little research should have put your Chrysler prejudice to rest. The SRT6 was a quick-n-cheap development effort using the existing Mercedes R170 chassis and existing hand built AMG engine and transmission along with Mercedes brakes, diff, and suspension design. Most of the interior was stolen from the SLK32 as well. And the car was built by Karmann in Germany under contract to Daimler/Chrysler.

As far as I can tell, the only things Chrysler had its hands on were.....

• A fixed roof which reduced complexity and probably cost while removing weight and adding rigidity.
• The exterior sheet metal where I think Eric Stoddard and crew knocked it out of the park.
• The wheels, where again I think Chrysler made a stylish choice for Eric Stoddard's overall design even if they are a monumental PITB to clean and wax.
• The suspension tuning where the crew at SRT tuned the car much more to my liking than its SLK32AMG ancestor.
• Some minor interior bits and styling like the silver center stack. Which by the way is only thing I'm not really fond of. I think some selective use of real fake wood would have dressed it up and been more in keeping with the art deco exterior styling.
• A huge rear wing that I've learned to like as part of the overall package.

So, Chrysler had much more to do with style than function. The car is basically German hand me downs through and through and screwed together by Germans. And it shows in the fit-n-finish when compared to 04/05 era Chryslers designed and built in North America. For whatever reason, Daimler/Chrysler didn't go out of its way to explain what the SRT6 was. I've assumed like you there was internal prejudice against the Chrysler brand and Mercedes didn't want to advertise the genetic link while Chrysler didn't want to disclose the fact they were rolling out "new" Mercedes hand me downs. BTW, they were doing the same thing with the Pacifica. That car stole the E-Class suspension design and the interior design was heavily influenced by Daimler. That's the reason the Pacifica interior looks waaaay better than anything else Chrysler was making in North America in the 04/05 timeframe.

 

Glad you got a Crossfire and found us here on the forum.
Also thanks for telling your story here.
Maybe you will meet others here at the many Crossfire events/GTG throughout the year all around the country.....see: Crossfire Meets

Welcome, Gary

 

Man, I felt the same way. I too was considering the Infinity G35. I have never been a Chrysler fan, but I knew inside this was not a Chrysler, and I love the lines of the car. Congrats on the car, and glad you found us.

 

I'd sure love to have one of your right hand drives over here on this side of the pond. How cool would that be.......

 

"BTW, they were doing the same thing with the Pacifica. That car stole the E-Class suspension design and the interior design was heavily influenced by Daimler. That's the reason the Pacifica interior looks waaaay better than anything else Chrysler was making in North America in the 04/05 timeframe."
Ditto for the 300 class Chryslers starting in '05. MB suspension with similar interior appointments. It was "Car of the Year" in 2005. Love my 300!
PACEMAKER

 

I would have to say the concept car and the fact that the lines, that run up and down the production model are nothing short of amazing

 

It was one of our dream cars!

 

The very limited production, the style, the pedigree, and definately the price!

 

I have to agree about the exclusivity and the pedigree...we came to those conclusions AFTER we bought the car!

 

Last year I ran across an SRT coupe , aero blue, on Ebay. Loved the color, liked the lines of the front 2/3rds of the car but couldnt stand the wing (WING!). Still wanted one though. Fast forward a couple months, new job, big pay raise, found a Blue roadster near me for a decent price so I did a bunch of research/begging/bartering and got the wife to agree to it. Flew up to Seattle on New Years Eve and bought it. Drove home the following day. Havent regretted any part of it in the least.

 

May I ask How many do you have???

Kj

 

WOW! Lots of really good stories to go with the purchase of your Xfires!
I don’t think mine is anything special but the method in which she came to be at my house might be. Last year my grandmother (whom I took care of for a good number of years while in college) passed away, leaving me with a mess of a legal battle with the family…. (ah family… nothing like them.) Long story short my little Nissan D21 truck that my grandfather ordered new (it’s a 86 ˝ so mid-year model change) and came on a boat from Japan (yes she is a real JDM lol!) and her Buick LeSabre are locked in a trust battle… and my 67 mustang isn’t something I can rely on as a DD; and even if it was I wouldn’t want to with the way traffic is in my part of the US… little respect for anything that isn’t theirs.

As such I needed wheels for getting around town, mainly getting to work, and I found a 2005 Chevy Silverado 1500 HD Z71 (by all regards it was a HD, but before Chevy really started to use the name HD for the 1500s with heavier transmissions axels etc. I drove her for about 6 months and saw a massive issue with the rising gasoline prices… and a minimum wage job… Basically my entire paycheck went to the truck payment and gasoline, so it had to go… I went back to the dealership I bought her from and traded it for a Chevy HHR LT…

Big mistake. The carfax did not show that the HHR had to have major work done before Enterprise Rent a Car could sell it at auction… Apparently there is a known issue with them regarding the steering column, and front suspension, and if it goes out once, it will continue to fail… my luck proved to have found one such HHR (yay for having friends in “high” places in GM who can pull warranty records!) So it went back to the dealership as trade 2 days after I got it.

I took the HHR in for the wiper blades they promised me, and I walked out with the Crossfire… HAHA!

I told the sales guy that I wasn’t happy with the HHR (and stated what I had learned about the car, but NM has some strange laws and I couldn’t fight them to take the HHR back without a major lawsuit). Lucky for me the salesman wanted to work with me and get me in something I would enjoy. He pointed me to a MB Kompressor aka a 2005 Alabaster Crossfire with ~22k miles… (this was a Chrysler dealership btw) and he said that he didn’t know if I would be interested in a MB, but that the payments on it would be less than the Silverado and had considerably better fuel economy (two big issues with a 23 year old man). After getting a truck load of flak from the “family” I drove her home and she is now my DD so I can continue work on the Muskrat.

I never would have dreamed that I would own a Chrysler let alone a MB hybrid! All I can say is I LOVE IT!!! I find reasons to leave my house in the middle of the night JUST to drive the “Kompressor” LOL!

 

Welcome aboard, and congratulations.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but like usual, the salesperson was wrong . Kompressor is german for supercharger, which only come on the SRT (AMG) models, since you said it was white, it is more than likely an NA, meaning the 'kompressor' moniker does not apply. Just wanted to let you know before you said it to a group of car guys and get some real flak

 

Oh there is no bubble to bust =) I just thought it was funny that a Chrysler Dealership would call her a Kompressor, let alone a MB....

Yep she is indeed a NA LTD, she had around 21k miles... I don't think I got an amazing deal, but the payments are indeed where I needed them to be. Although when she is paid off I am seriously considering a SC or just doing the conversion to the V8 like a few others here have as well... maybe then she can be the Kompressor they said she was

As for the flak business, I get a lot, trust me! I'm good friends with the Regional manager for Chevrolet.. and since I got rid of a Chevy for her... and I claim she is more MB than Chrsyler... oh man it's always on! He is dying to "beat" me with his twin turbo, NOS and Meth injected E85 700 HP/TQ Solstice...( I have stopped trying to figure how much is in that engine alone, but I know my LTD doesn't stand a chance haha)

 

Crossfires? Just the roadster. Vehicles in general? Down to 5 now!

 

I've always liked the Crossfire but I've always thought it was out of my price range.

Back in Feb of this year I was in a rear ender that wrote off my SRT-4. So I was looking to buy another one. Really like the speed of it. Well, the only one I could find had miss matched paint (front bumper compared to fenders and fenders compared to doors) and the wear on the tires was really strange. So I started looking at a few lots in the area. I saw an Interceptor, SRT-8 Charger, R/T Magnum and then at the very end of the lot there was an 04 Crossfire. So I went over to check it out. I was with my father and I said "How sweet would it be to drive one of these around eh?" It didn't have a sticker price though. So we left.

Later that day I started checking the auto trader and I saw a Crossfire for $8000. Then I saw another. And another. And then I saw a 05 limited roadster, aero blue, SRT-6. That's the car I wanted. Fell in love with it. So I called up the dealership the next day. They approved me for a car loan, everything was set except for the signatures. My father and I drove out to pick it up, plates, temp. insurance, everything. We get in the dealership and the sales guy asks who I am. I introduce myself and say "I'm here to sign the papers and pick up my car." He asked what car and I told him it was the Crossfire SRT-6. Another man over heard us and he says "Um.. we sold that car." I said "I know. I'm here to pick it up." He said "No, we sold that car 4 days ago to a senior's couple. It's not on the lot anymore." I was pissed. Drove 2 hours for nothing.

So I went home and started my search for another. At the time there were no more SRT-6 for sale in my area. Nearest one was in New Brunswick. And I wasn't driving out there to get it (16 hour trip). So I settled for an 05 NA aero blue coupe. Paid $16000 Canadian. 47000 km on it. Since I've bought it I've put on another 10k.

I love her. My parents love her. My sister loves her. Women love her. The only 2 that don't are my co-workers and they're driving V6 Camaros (sheep).

Since the new purchase, I've dated two new women. Both of them have "suggested" that I sell my Crossfire for a sedan (Charger Interceptor/Mustang). I'm no longer seeing either

I still want to get my SRT-6 however.