When I first saw the Chrysler Prowler I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. A few months later I saw a prototype PT Cruiser, and KNEW it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. I spoke with the Chrysler rep at an auto show and found out it was NOT a concept car (could it be true?), and that they were planning to release it in early 2000.

After a few months of budget planning and soul-searching, I realized that if I sold my 95 Neon ("Mabel") and my 61 Rambler ("Petunia"), I could afford to buy a new car. So I placed my order in August 2000. I was told it would be about 6-8 weeks before my car came in. Welllll, my PT Cruiser was delivered in April 2001. Not quite 8 weeks. More like 8 months.

But boy oh boy was it worth the wait.

Let me tell you, after spending nine months restoring the Rambler, selling it nearly brought me to tears. But by the time I drove my PT Cruiser home the first day I was over it. It was the agony and the ecstasy in the space of a couple of days.

Like all Chrysler vehicles, the Cruiser uses cab-forward design to give you a really roomy interior and a nice wide windshield. It's got a plenty of headroom -- my boyfriend is nearly 6'5" and he's got room to spare. The "wayback" storage space is big enough to fit 8-10 bags of groceries, and has a nice cargo net so things don't move around too much. There's also a shelf/table/partition thing back there, which comes in handy for dividing the space between top and bottom, left and right; and the table comes in handy when you've stopped at a rest area for lunch or are tailgating.

Need more space? Take out one of the back seats. They're split 60/40 so you can take them out separately if you only need a little more space, or take them both out if you need a lot of room. We drove to Cooperstown NY earlier this summer (6 hour drive from Boston). We discovered that our cooler was the same size as the smaller back seat, so we took out the seat, and put the cooler in instead. That way we didn't have to pull over every time we wanted a sandwich or a drink. When you take both seats out, you've really got a cargo van -- we moved two credenzas, a small desk, and an office chair in one trip. Whew!

The seats are pretty comfy. The driver's seat has an armrest, which is nice. Too bad the passenger side doesn't.

There are a couple of blindspots in the back, due to the really wide columns on either side of the back hatch. I'm not sure why the opted for smaller side windows vs smaller pillars; it's more of an inconvenience than an actual safety issue to me.

It gets okay mileage - 20 city, 27 highway. Granted, my Neon used to get 24/32, and it's the same engine, but the Cruiser is a LOT heavier. And while we're at it, let's address the great power controversy. I've seen a lot of complaints that the Cruiser isn't available in a V6. Well, I've driven this thing quite a bit, in a lot of weater/road conditions, and while I'll agree that a V6 would have been nice, it certainly isn't essential. Even while driving on the highway with the AC blasting, I haven't noticed any signs of "dogging", there's no noticeable loss of power.

Can we talk about the look of this thing? It's the coolest, daddio. It's got the retro thing happening, the Ford Woody style, but it's not at all boxy, it's all curves. I'm on the lookout for a raccoon tail to hang from the antenna (if you know where I can get one, drop me a line).

Plus it drives like a dream. Turns smoothly, engine transitions easily, you're not bounced around like in a minivan. And you can park it in a compact parking space.

Let's talk turkey: You can't buy a compact SUV for this price (I don't care what the DMV calls it, this is an SUV not a minivan). It's worth every penny.

What's not to love about it?

Amount Paid (US$): 18500
Condition: New
Model Year: 2001
Model and Options: F-package, AC, power locks/windows, AM/FM/CD/Cassette stereo.