great to hear you are coming home...I could be in Decatur in 21/2 hrs...2 if need be...lol....let me know....I'm always up for a drive....and a beer...

 

Thanks Everybody!

I'll let you know the final dates, times and route soon. For those of you in Chicago, I probably won't make it up that way. Most likely I'll be heading through St. Louis before heading west.

Decatur is about 3 hours south of Chicago and 2.5 hours from St. Louis, so a gathering near Decatur might be doable. Might be a fun day trip for some of you.

-Eric

 

Eric,
First let me say it's great to have you coming back to the states.
There might be a large GTG in Decatur if you can make your self available.
I'm sure everyone will be following this thread closely


Just in case you missed it...
Ray Hacker has made arrangements with the Walter P. Chrysler Museum to have the Crossfire Concept Car on display on Friday August 20th ...
the weekend of the Woodward Dream Cruise
We currently have 32 Crossfires attending this GTG

 

ABSOLUTELY ..........

 

I did some of the early work on the Sonata, but the final design was by Andre Hudson, a colleague of mine in California.

Among other things, I worked on the Genesis Coupe, Elantra, and the new Tucson.

 

Definitely Crossfire. The 2.0T GC is a bit of a dog unless you mod it, even though on paper it nearly matches CF. CF's V6 has more low-end grunt and feels much more refined overall. But the the 3.8 GC is scary fast! Might be a toss up, but I'm much happier with the Crossfire design.

I always imagined it at a car show 30 years from now when I was designing it.

 

I am sure you are anxious about the idea of coming back to the states. Hopefully, you have someone in Decatur that has been taking care of the XF. Otherwise you are probably going to need a new battery and probably an oil change before your xc trip back to So Cal. And if you are pressed for time, I am sure that there is a forum member in the area that could assist you and have a battery ready for your Crossfire. I don't think Chrysler ..... then again maybe they would.... naaaaw.

PS Did you also design the SRT6 and the Roadster?

PSS If you take everyone up on a stopover and and brewski, you may have to get into a 12 step program as we have all done with owning the Crossfire. Of course #1 is the permagrin we all have and admit to having every time we get into the car. LOL It has been an addicting automobile.

 

Mr Stoddard, congratulations on two outstanding automobile designs. I took the tests for Chrysler School of Engineering in 1955 and passed but decided to reenlist in the USAF where I spent 22+ years. The Chrysler choice was one with mixed emotions, the length of the work/school term, thoughts of going on strike every three years because of labor/management disputes, newly married and what if I didn't like it? Past history, I think I made the best choice in the longrun, although I did enjoy cruising up Woodward and down Grand River in my Brand Spankin' new '56 Chev Convert.
We have a rather large contingent of Crossfire Owners in TEXAS, eeeeh Hawwww, and the timing for your cross country jaunt is pretty close to our next big gathering at the TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY in Ft Worth on 11 Sept. Our speeds are controlled by a dirty word Pace Car and three outside trucks so we seldom get a chance to sneak into triple digits on the speedo, but the 24 degree turns are enough the make it worth while. If your itinerary permits, we would love to have you join us for a few laps, a few brews, and meet some of your most avid admirers.

John Penz
aka FTroopChief
jpenz@stx.rr.com

 

Ahn yong ha say o Eric!
Two years, that's it?
I did 6.5 years there!

Welcome home!

 

Welcome back to America Eric. I used to work at Metalcrafters when they they built the Crossfire concept. On your your road trip to CA, if you stop in Phoenix, It would be cool to meet. I would buy the first round

 

Eric, since you're coming back to SoCal we'll need to get a group of us to meet up at Cars & Coffee again. Last time we did that the Hyundai guys brought out a pair of Genesis Coupes as teasers (the interiors were still more mock up than anything else) and when I stopped by to say "hi" they asked what I was driving. I pointed to the row of 8 or 9 Crossfires and said "a distant relative, so to speak". They immediately got it and said they'd mention to you that we were all hanging there that day.

Would be great to have you at one of these meets.

 

That's great news Eric! I hope you can fit it into your schedule and travel route to come through Dallas/Ft. Worth for the Running of the Crossfires IV at the Texas Motor Speedway on September 11th. We'll have all Crossfire runs out on the track!

For more info, see this thread: https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...sept-11th.html

PM me and I will be glad to provide you with more details.

 

Dan, how's about a carrot for the shtick? Make Eric an Honorary TEXAN! What better honor is there? Sorry but I'm an immigrant from Noo Yawk.
FTroopChief

 

What else can I say, this was my nod to the gods...

P1010021.JPG

 

That looks really cool !!

 

Anybody hear anything yet, about Mr. Stoddard's timing on being available in the Decatur area?

 

i will be makeing the trip any were Mr. stoddard will be ..

 

Awesome! I would love to meet with you

So guys, where can I get a good autograph pen?

 

ill give u mines after he sign's my xfire shirt

 

It would be nice to have his autograph on my dash