Nevertheless, the return is good news. Because through the years, one niche that Chrysler excelled in was the market for small, economy cars. Mostly un-hip, Chrysler cars were never boring and because they were so unfashionable (but practical in price and maintenance cost), they had a sort of reverse snob appeal.

Chrysler small cars were always interesting, unlike GM and Ford, which had AWFUL early small cars like the Ford Pinto and Chevy Vega. The late 1970s-1980s Dodge Omni/Horizon was terribly practical, even though some of its features (such as corduroy fabric seats and fake exterior wood grain) were oddly compelling. Based on a French Simca model, the series lasted for a dozen years, from 1978-1990. It had American parts; even the radio was  standard-issue Chrysler (really hard to push channel buttons) and was the same that appeared in Chrysler’s larger cars. The Omni/Horizon was a copycat VW Rabbit; oddly the Fiat Ritmo (sold in the U.S. as the Fiat Strada) also channeled the VW Rabbit.

The Dodge Neon (1994-99) was another under-appreciated upstart. While it did not survive permanently as part of the Chrysler lineup, those who still drive the car today swear by it, even with the odd colors. In fact, there is even a dealer in northeastern North Carolina who makes a habit of selling used, rebuilt Neons to be used for knockabout cars.  (If anyone has the name, please leave it below in the comments section).

Chrysler had a long string of imports badged as Chryslers. In the early 1970s, they imported the Hillman Avenger and sold it as the Plymouth Cricket; its most unique feature for an early 197os car was a manual choke! Chrysler also imported Mitsubishis as the Dodge Colt and Plymouth Champ (and also the sporty Sapporo); they were miraculous cars because of their mileage, durability and cheap introductory price.

But perhaps the most pioneering of Chrysler’s small cars were the Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Dart; a commercial is seen below. Introduced in 1959-60 as the Valiant (the Dart and Valiant became essentially the same car) and produced until the arrival of the Dodge Aspen, it was a small car that acted big. An introductory speech on the car line is at the site Valiant.org. The originals were light, airy, roomy and a bit snazzy,  with seating for six.

The names Valiant and Dart were replaced in 1976 by the Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Aspen, the former of which was a sort of Mercedes wanna-be and much more of a lunky mid-sized car. The originals had so much authenticity, derived from their simplicity, including Chrysler’s legendary Slant 6 engine, wonderfully described at the website Allpar. Allpar also has a brilliant history of the Dart on its site.

The famed Reliant K-car replaced the Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen, which were smaller, yet still held six passengers. The “A” platform survived until the late 1980s, when the line was updated as the downsized Chrysler LeBaron and Plymouth Fury. One of the more interesting variants was the wood grained Chrysler Town and Country, which later morphed into the minivan of the same name.

New Dart for 2013

Chrysler has released images of the new Dodge Dart; it will be based on an Alfa-Romeo. Nothing intrinsically wrong with that, but Dodge is making a mistake if it makes it too much of a racing car.

Certainly, it needs a sport version, but the genius of the original Dart/Valiant was that the same car could be  sold to a mom, a dad, a 70-year-old church widow AND then customized for the rural and suburban youth market. There was not only the Dart, but then there was a Dart Demon and Swinger (such a name!). Plymouth had the Duster and Scamp sport versions. At their top, they were selling nearly half a million cars a year for Chrysler.

The Dart/Valiant was replaced in 1976 by the Volare/Aspen, which was plagued by recalls, though long-term was pretty reliable.

Below, a reel of Plymouth Valiant commercials.

Below, an ad for the Plymouth Horizon. Don’t you just love the grille? So “big American car” yet a copy of the VW Rabbit.

Meanwhile, the Omni, which “Does it all”

The question becomes; is it too sporty? Does it deserve to have a less sporty version? Personally, I think so, but time will tell.

DETROIT – It’s a shame it takes an Italian company and an old rap star to see the value in Detroit. But that’s what is mightily apparent with new Chrysler 200 advertisements, which feature Eminem and the tagline “Imported From Detroit.” The commercial has had 4.8 million view on YouTube in only a short time, and that’s a big achievement for Chrysler/Fiat and Oliver Francois, the company’s chief marketing officer.

Not being a fan of Eminem, I have respect for him and his work with the company to promote not only Chrysler, but American automobiles and Detroit (and Michigan) tourism.

The commercial is both a lesson in tourism marketing and general advertising, taking what was thought of as a second-rate product, confessing the faults and fears, and then moving past them by showing what is best about the product. What is so brilliant is its use of Detroit imagery and architecture, from buildings to sculptures to local teams to gospel choirs. Over generations, Chrysler often has to fall back on design, as it has had had few new models. Perhaps the last model with true design oomph was the 1997 revamp of the Dodge Caravan. So renaming the Sebring the 200, doing some good ads, and better styling, is an excellent way forward for the company. Apparently, they are worrying about quality as well, according to press reports.

Comments on YouTube about the commercial seem to be talking more about the politics of the bailout and the sorry state of Detroit political leadership. And some other funny one remarks that Chrysler’s ads are better than their cars. But some favorite comments:

• I’m not from USA I’m from France but I hope one day I’ll visit America or maybe live there why not… It’s really a beautiful country with best artists (like Em) and best dreams in the world. I know that I don’t know all the sides of this country but I keep the hope for USA… Keep your head up America!
• GO AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• I love Detroit, personally. The place is plenty amazing when you look past all of the crime and drama. I love it there, I visit periodicly during the year and I can’t stay away, Eminem was one of many with amazing talent, and there are still many there. Dancers, Rappers, Singers, ect. It’s pretty cool to experience their dance types and shit cause it actually differs from the bullshit they put out in the movies.

Chrysler is giving America a great dose of patriotism in all its ads, even its 2011 Jeep Cherokee and its Christmas corporate ad that features some of its great autos over the years, including the Grand Wagoneer and Plymouth Voyager. Gotta love anything from the Reagan era.

An aside: For Floridians, the loss of the Sebring brand is bittersweet, as the convertible Sebring is a sort of Florida State Automobile. Perhaps Chrysler might brand the convertible a “Sebring Edition” just for the Sunshine State fleet and consumer market? Yours truly still sort of fondly recalls the Plymouth Satellite Sebring that his grandparents drove back in the 1970s. Purchased at Self Motor Company of Farnham, Virginia, it was one of many fine automobiles sold by the Selfs, a husband-and-wife team who ran a car dealership that sold Chryslers and Plymouths on the Northern Neck’s Route 3.

But back to the issue of geography and marketing. Companies now are vigorously promoting the state that they are associated with. I even heard a credit card agent from Discover promote that they were answering from Discover in Delaware. I think I will keep the card, no matter the lousy APR…

Take that outsourcing.

Question for readers: What are the sights in the ad?

Thankfully, though, the brand will hang on with collector clubs. We guess the intellectual property department at GM will try all sorts of licensing stuff to keep Pontiac away from the Chinese.

One way the brand will be kept alive is in the popular media. A recent Daily Variety article listed some of the top Pontiacs that will live on in television, the movies and music. They include:

• GTO in the Beach Boys song
• Trans Am in Smokey and the Bandit and K.I.T.T. in the original Knight Rider
• Firebird in James Garner’s The Rockford Files
• Pontiac Star Chief on I Love Lucy (Lucy, Fred, Ricky and Ethel road a Star Chief cross country)
• Pontiacs on Jimmy Kimmel Live
• Pontiac G6 on Oprah
• Pontiac Solstice on the original Transformers

One other way the brand will stay alive is through conversions. We found a fascinating conversion company, mentioned in Autoblog. It is Warren, Michigan-based ASC Creative Services. They started out putting sunroofs in cars, and now do all manner of conversions. They have gotten a flurry of press for their 2010 Pontiac Trans Am.

Here is their idea. ASC turns the new 2010 Camaro into their own version of a Pontiac Trans Am. I know this can be done because my brother in law has a Dodge Sprinter. He got a Mercedes grill for the thing and viola! He has a Mercedes. It’s funny for him, and customers love the joke. These cars, after all, were always made in the same factory, with just a bit of difference in trim.

That’s probably not a bad approach for General Motors with Pontiac. Contract with companies like ASC, either by license or directly,  to develop specialty cars under the Pontiac and Olds brand names. There is a market for these cars, albeit a small one. It does not make you much much money. But what the market does do is allow you to experiment with new car designs all the while bringing in a bit of profit from the exercise. While you will never make as much money as a full line division, you are keeping the brand fresh in case you want to bring it back. And remember, this has been done many times. Auto brands that died and came back include Mini, Abarth, Audi. Heck, even the ENTIRE U.S. car industry shut down production during World War II, and returned.

Also, if you actually make some cars, you have a good chance of keeping the intellectual property viable.

So put Pontiac on hiatus for a few years. Fix the old ones up. And allow folks like ASC to come up with some fun things in the interim.

ASC Creative Headquarters
6115 Thirteen Mile Road
Warren, MI  48092
586-446-4701

We found a sort of antidote. Its the web forum called Station Wagon Forums. It’s all about station wagons, and if you like station wagons, as opposed to crappy things like CROSSOVER this or SPORT that, then do look up the site.

By the way, below is a list of the wonderful station wagons I had growing up. This is a totally self indulgent list but this is the only place I get to put it. If readers are daring we ask them to put their list of station wagons up against mine!

1. Ford Country Squire, mid 1960s, I think realistically it was white with red interior but in my dreams it was wood grained
2. Opel Kadett wagon, green, purchased at GM Buick dealer
3. Plymouth Cricket wagon, 1971?, purchased at Wynne-Wright in Norfolk
4. Plymouth Volare Wagon, 1976, purchased at Self Motors, Farnham, Virginia. It was serviced and recalled way too many times at Green Gifford, Norfolk, Virginia. It was white with red interior.
5. Ford LTD Country Squire, 1971, yellow with wood grain, purchased used at Crowther Ford, Kilmarnock
6. Chevrolet Chevelle Station Wagon, green, mid 1960s, a gift from Uncle Charlie, paint scheme ruined when I washed it with Comet.

The Dan Kruse-Leake Collector Car Show & Auction will kick off their first auction in San Antonio’s Alamodome with a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda thought to be purchased by and titled to Elvis Presley. It is believed that Elvis bought the car in Louisville, Kentucky in November of 1971 as a gift to a female friend.

The current owner purchased the 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda in March of 2008 from a car collector dealership in Miami. While upgrading the drive train, his mechanic discovered what appeared to be the title to the vehicle between the carpet and the floor pan. The VIN number on the title does match the VIN number on the Cuda. Elvis Aaron Presley is listed as the owner but Ohio’s DMV won’t confirm it.

“True or false there is a fabulous story regarding the history of this car’s ownership,” said Richard Sevenoaks, president of Leake Auction Company, in a press release.

• Also in the auction will be a 1969 Dodge Charger from The Dukes of Hazzard’s John Schneider’s private collection. This is car number one of four Chargers that Schneider transformed into the General Lee. In 1998, it was on display in Floyd Garrett’s Muscle Car Museum in Tennessee. Schneider has also agreed to personally speak with any serious, prospective buyer, via phone or email, about this car’s authenticity.
• The auction will also feature a 1936 Lincoln V12 K Model Boat Tail Speedster. This car was custom built by Howard Hughes to be used as his personal limo.

The auction will be held in San Antonio’s Alamodome on Saturday, March 21. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Doors open at 9am. 300 cars are anticipated to cross the two-ring auction block.

Leake Auction Company was established in 1964 as one of the first car auctions in the country.

See www.LeakeCar.com.

TURIN – Fiat has brought back the Abarth brand, and cars are being delivered to the U.K. this month. Abarth, a sub-brand of Fiat (BIT: F), is one of many car brands that have returned to life in Europe in recent years, including Mini, Maybach, Bugatti and Spyker. The brand has a great racing history; Karl Abarth founded the company in Turin in 1949, and through the years the company Abarth & C. S.r.l competed against Porsche and Ferrari.

The brand survived, though not as a complete car line. Over the years, the brand survived by being associated with customizing, including co-branded models from Fiat, Autobianchi and Lancia, including the Fiat Ritmo Abarth 130 TC. (This is a possibility for GM with Oldsmobile.)

The new Abarth is somewhere between a sports car and a Mini, with too much racing heritage to be called zippy, yet still quite zippy looking. Its offices are located in the Officine Mirafiori in Turin.

This newly revived old brand comes at the same time as Chrysler LLC announced a link-up with Fiat. Chrysler officials said that they could have a Fiat model for sale in the U.S. within two years after the company buys a 35 percent stake in Chrysler. This notice came from Chrysler’s Jim Press.

Fiat Good Fit

Brand wise, makes sense that Fiat is interested in Chrysler, and if it goes through, Fiat would be a perfect partner. Chrysler has dealers that are DESPERATE for decent cars to sell, and adding all or one of the Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Fiat brands to the Chrysler dealer lineup would be a great jolt to long-suffering folk. In particular Fiat and Alfa Romeo have great brand equity in the U.S.; the influx of immigrants from Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the last two decades also means that there are large audiences for those brands here in the U.S.

In addition, Fiat would know how to give advice to Chrysler in the sales of these small cars. After all, Italy is highly unionized, has expensive labor and is, by all means and ways, a quite impractical country with nothing efficient about anything. But there is a way around those things. In fact, there is a way around everything that isn’t practical. It’s called being clever, ingenious and passionate, and Fiat is known for its automated production.

Daimler was the wrong partner for Chrysler, and they ruined it. They did not appreciate what they had, and they tried to make the company into something it wasn’t. At Daimler, they were used to doing things in a quality way, with the best materials and workmanship, the costs be somewhat ignored. Chrysler hasn’t had quality in a long time, but at at their best Dodges and Chryslers are inexpensive, easy to repair and quite straightforward, making them cheap to keep. Another reason why Fiat is a good partner is that Fiat is scrappy.

Chrysler has a long affinity for Italy and Italian design. Interestingly, it was Chrysler during the Lee Iacocca era that partnered with Maserati to produce the short-run production of the Chrysler TC by Maserati. Imagine making Maseratis on a K-car chassis!

Fiat understands branding, and its actions with a marque as small as Abarth shows that they understand what they have in Chrysler. Strangely, if Chrysler and GM can make it through the next year or so, Chrysler might have some teen-tiny advantages. Being broke, it has to be clever. And being desperate for new models means it will try new things. GM, meanwhile, has tons of different models, and not alot interesting in the pipeline. Chrysler, however, if it had Fiat as a partner, would suddenly not only have a large number of new Chrysler models, but would potentially have a lineup that was almost completely new. Add to that Chrysler’s minivans (GM has none) and you suddenly have something very interesting.

Over a year ago, we wrote a piece on the Plymouth brand, and how it was a mistake for Daimler Chrysler to kill it. With the Fiat partnership, we could easily see it coming back, even as a one-model sub-brand of Chrysler. The reality is that Chrysler dealers have no economy cars to sell, and economy is the niche of Plymouth.

Last fall, we wrote a piece (only slightly) in jest, joking that perhaps General Motors could sell consumers an Oldsmobile Switcheroo Kit. This kit would be sold to Saturn dealers, who could pop the ugly Saturn badges off of Saturn cars and turn them into Oldsmobiles. These newly badged Oldsmobiles would be cars that old people would actually buy, and cars that young people would think are cool (the only people who think Saturn is cool are 55-year-old boomers).

Idea for U.S. Car Manufacturers to Steal:

What is fascinating about Fiat’s Abarth brand is that there is a VERY small management staff for the brand, and part of the company’s leadership is a hands-on racing team. In addition, at the company’s headquarters at Officine Mirafiori, there is a small area where short production runs of the cars can be made, as well as a repair shop and Abarth museum. This sort of low cost idea could be used for any of the dormant U.S. brands (Plymouth, Oldsmobile).

It is ironic that Fiat uses its historic old plants as museum/offices and research facilities. American automakers just tear the buildings down and leave the town in rubble. It’s a great message to tell the community; everything we do is disposable.

A niche approach like Fiat Abarth might be a good way for General Motors to preserve the equity of the Hummer brand and realize some profits from it, as a sort of profit making “halo car” built for the specialty market.