Captain Doobie's Car Reviews, Part 3.

The Chrysler Crossfire

The Chrysler Crossfire is an odd looking car. From the back it's a boat-tail Buick, and from the front the corrugations on the bonnet instantly remind you of some sort of between-the-wars Lufthansa airliner. Which is appropriate, given the Crossfire's germanic heritage. It's essentially a reskinned Mercedes coupe, but you'll note that I said 'essentially', not 'merely'. There's nothing mere about this car. From the moment you step into the 2-seat 'cockpit' (there's no other word for it) you know you're in a real car. The low-slung seats don't give you much height, but you still get to see that long, sexy bonnet stretching out ahead. Turn over the 3.0L V6 and it doesn't just come to life, it snarls. The engine is nicely chosen, with just the right combination of torque and restraint to prevent you from accidentally doing something silly. And the sound is fantasic, even with the windows up. At low speeds it's responsive and agile. Turn it up a notch (say, around the backstreets of St Marys) and you see what an agile little thing it is. Nothing fazes this car. It's balanced, poised and sticks to the road. You turn the wheel and it goes with no oversteer. The supercharged version, however, may provide this.
If I had any reservations about the car it would be the gearbox and the centre console. The 'tiptronic' gearbox seems to lag behind, especially when you're trying to give it some stick. Making a change up while keeping your foot down results in the engine over-revving, and it's not a nice sensation (imagine putting your foot down in neutral). The centre console has obviously carried over from the LHD version because the hand brake is on the left of it, but i'm driving on the right. It wasn't a problem on the test drive in the automatic, but on the manual version it would be less than helpful and not at all ergonomic.
But for those minor niggles the Chrysler Crossfire is a truly magnificent car. It's fun, and it's not overly dangerous. My 2 favorite things in a car.