...we are the eccentric folks that actually bought one. IMO, clearly a commercial flop, despite how good it is. Maybe, in the end, it is just simple marketing. Some brands just are not meant to have a sports car. "Chrysler" and "sports car" don't go together any better than "Mercury" and "sports car" or "Buick" and "sports car". The Pacifica, the Crossfire, and the 300C were all attempts to move Chrysler up market. Of those, only the 300 worked. The rest all had to be unloaded at deep discounts, and a more basic "base" version of each had to be rolled out (unexpectedly) to generate the sales numbers. Except for the 300C, which has a high Hemi take rate. Better than anticipated, in fact.

 

So when was the last time we saw a Crossfire commercial? The marketing is almost non existent...

I'd show a Crossfire going down a nice winding seashore road with some cool camera angles and a blonde in the passenger seat.

 

What is a crossfire commercial, don't think I ever saw one but on the internet...

 

You hit the nail square on the head. A flop for DC... yes. For me... No, unless someone wants to sell me a new SL 500 dirt cheap.

 

Exactly...

 

The Crossfire is starting to remind me of the Merkur of the 80's, except our cars have all German running gear and engineering. Back in the day, the Merkur XR4Ti was going for about $23K in 1989, alot of money IIRC and the Merkur Scorpio was in the mid 30's IIRC, damn! The mistake with the XR4Ti was electrical and price tag, same with the Scorpio's, although I don't know about the electrical problems, but I know this, a car with a 2.9L V6 that weighed about 2 tons and costs in the mid 30's wasn't going to sell very well over here at that time, no way in heck. I've seen some nice Merkurs around, a lady at work here has a friend who's got an 89' Scorpio w/ 29K on the clock and there was an 88' XR w/90K going for about $2,500, wish I'd bought that one, it was almost brand new. In closing our cars will not have the same "rep" as those cars, even if they were built at the same plant!

 

Maybe a commercial flop for the DC bean counters. Blind Freddy could see it's very limited market appeal - it's a sports car. And as a sports car for unique design and rock solid build it'll go down as a success.
That there are so few on the road, all the better for those of us in for the long haul.

 

Probably because DC is still recovering from all the $$$ they paid to Celine Dion to hawk Pacifica's...

 

Yeah, I think they could've gotten someone a bit more "current" and I agree about the commercial about a hot blonde/brunette/redhead in the passenger sea!, that would've been a good one, heck, maybe all three of them in the car for that matter!!!

 

You know, there was a Chrysler commercial with the Crossfire in it, with Celine driving it.

Funny, isn't it? IMO, the Crossfire is a very masculine performance car, that (mostly men) end up buying. Having Celine wail old Cindi Lauper tunes to sell the thing is kind of like having Richard Simmons tell you about a really good place to get pizza and beer. On a rational level, it just doesn't work.

 

Juddz, I think I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. I don't see the Crossfire as a very "masculine" performance car. Oh sure, you're 100% correct when you say mostly men own them, but I feel that's only because Chrysler never marketed them to women.
Nearly everytime I get approached by some one at a gas station, (or some other public place) to ask me about the car, more often than not , it's a woman. And unlike my Viper GTS, where most women usually say they would like to ride in it, with the Crossfire they usually say the want to "drive" it. I don't know if the Viper intimidates some woman or what. But one thing's for sure, the Crossfire doesn't, and of course the Viper shouldn't either since it's just as easy to drive (on dry pavement) as the Crossfire.
Now I'm not saying the Crossfire is a "chicks" car either, I'm simply saying it seems to have the "substance" to satisfy, and still entice both sex's. Not alot of cars can do that.
Personally I feel Chrysler missed the boat again by not actively pursuing the "Professional Women" out there in car buying land. If they had strategically planted some ads in Medical, Wall Street, (Cosmo?), and other upscale magazines, maybe more women would have been aware of the fact that the car existed.
Something I noticed in the 2005 Crossfire dealer brochure is that there isn't one woman represented in it. None. Not lounging seductively inside, or outside of the car. Not standing next to "their man", next to the car. And not even riding "shotgun" next to "their man", and most assuredly not driving it. I don't think I can remember such a conspicuous absence of the female form in any other automotive promotional literature that I've seen.
Is that good marketing? I think not.
Now this of course is just my observations, I'd love to hear the women's point of view.

 

Here in Australia the Crossfire Coupe is listed at $69,999.00 (Aust $ = $0.73 US). They are currently discounted to around $55,000.00. The Roadster is $6,000.00 more and the SRT's around $15,000.00 more.

They are not strongly marketed but the 300C was just released here in the past couple of weeks. It has been reasonably well promoted on TV and print media. The TV commercial runs and just the last few seconds shows a Crossfire Coupe and then a Crossfire Roadster. Unless you knew what you were seeing the Crossfire appearance is pointless. There is usually a Crossfire advertisement in the dealer ads. of Weekend newspapers.

They are not the most common car on the road but people certainly notice them. From what I can work out there are eight Crossfires on the Gold Coast. Two Coupes and six Roadsters with a least one Roadster being the SRT.

I bought mine because I love the style. It is not the most practical vehicle I have owned but it would be the most stylish. The resale value is dropping rapidly but that is OK as I don't intend to sell. I also believe the value will increase again in the future. Most people are not aware of the heritage. With styling by Chrysler, underpinnings by Mercedes Benz and assembled by the Karmann factory in Germany we are/will be onto a winner. Mechanical parts should not be a problem. People are still restoring Model T's, Beans, Allards etc. so body parts will become expensive but there will be trades people who can come up with the goods.

I ran Chrysler products in the late 60's, 70's and early 80's before they were taken over by Mitsubishi in Australia.

Besides I would rather drive my Crossfire than a Jaguar, with you know what underpinnings. The Jags are even more expensive.

So, we know what we have. Let's enjoy and too bad to all those others who don't, and probably never will know, what they are missing out on. Perhaps we should spare a thought for those who live in inhospitable regions and have to put their Crossfires away for the Winter. Can't imagine doing that actually. Then again I don't have to change to Winter treads or even press the switch on the console from "S" to "W".

Regards
Ausfire

 

Two years with my XFIREX...I'm still a happy driver! When I bought my XFIREX, I bought it for the one of a kind design and style, the auto-deployed spoiler, the Euro interior and the Mercedes platform inside it! The speed comes in demand later but was not really a priority if you are not racing with other cars. It is considered a sports car because it performs better than regular cars. If you're racing your Crossfire...spend money on it to compete at a higher level and the upgrades are already available in the market.

 

Well its a hit with me and that's all that matters.

Pat