It happens every few years or so - a new vehicle completely captures the public imagination, not to mention its pocketbook. In the first few months after the first Mazda Miata hit the streets, the little two-seater was so hot that dealers could slap an extra $5000 or $10,000 in "handling" charges on their inventory, and crazed customers would fork over the extra cash without a backwards glance. Much the same automotive feeding frenzy greeted the introduction of the PT Cruiser in mid-2000, when the funky little wagon rolled out amidst massive fanfare. Some clever designer at Daimler-Chrysler applied the retro styling they'd been using on the Prowler to a mass-production vehicle, and buyers simply went mad for what remained at its core nothing more than a Dodge Neon station wagon. It didn't hurt (although it may have been a surprise) that the demographic snapping up the Cruisers was heavily weighted toward aging baby-boomers.

In 2004, its fourth production year, the Cruiser still has fans but the hype that greeted the rollout has long since faded. Who knows - maybe anyone susceptible to rampant "retromania" has already bought his or her Cruiser. Ford, too, tried to make inroads with the retro crowd, but their classic-look T-Bird was quickly abandoned as a flop. If you ask me, that probably had as much to do with its price tag as with Ford's execution. Certainly no other design concept in recent years has rivaled the success of the Cruiser, including the boxy Element and Scion nameplates, although the convertible truck-SUV (Chevrolet Avalanche, Subaru Baja) is drawing interest in some quarters. Me, I'm waiting for the resurrection of the El Camino...

Not long ago I rented a 2004 PT Cruiser for a week, my first lengthy exposure to the little guy since driving a 2001 model more than two years ago. The moment I remember best from that prior experience was sheer panic at learning the hard way that I couldn't execute a U-Turn in heavy Houston traffic because of the little vehicle's abnormally large turning radius. Forewarned is forearmed, so I knew better this time out...


The Vehicle, rented from Enterprise just as the last time I drove the nameplate, was a base model this time out (last time it was a Limited). Though D-C has equipped their pricier Cruisers with a 180-hp turbo-charged in-line four, the base engine in this trim is the same 2.4 liter four available in its first year, producing a paltry 150 horsepower and 162 lb-ft of torque. Torque production is biased towards low to mid-range RPMs, giving the Cruiser fair acceleration at moderate speeds but leaving it a bit gutless both on takeoff and while tooling down the freeway. My rental (as is the usual case) eschewed the standard five-speed manual in favor of a four-speed automatic transmission. The combination tends to make the Cruiser more "doggy" than one would expect from the manual version.

The base model is merely an ordinary econobox dressed up with a flashy shell, in keeping with its Neon roots. Standard equipment includes a single-disc in-dash CD player (with optional cassette player for us old-timers), cruise control, and power windows. From the car's introduction, power window switches have been mounted high on the dashboard, with a secondary set of rear-window controls at the back of the console. The entry level trim (more on other trims below), which starts at a tick over $18K, is your basic "key and a heater" model with few additional features other than its versatile seating setup. Over thirty different seat configurations are possible with the two front buckets and the 60:40 split rear bench, which allows the Cruiser to carry more - and larger - cargo than one might expect from its overall dimensions. Seats fold flat, tumble, or can be removed entirely (assuming the person doing the removal is pretty buffed). Cargo space is boosted by the vehicle's relatively high roofline, though a high seating position decreases headroom for human cargo.

From the exterior, the base level is obviously a PT Cruiser with that signature forties panel-truck motif, but it lacks much in pizzazz. Base wheel covers are bland and there's no pin-striping or special badging. Because the base level has 15-inch wheels instead of the 17-inch wheels found on more expensive models, its turning circle is much more in keeping with its size, rounding out at a modest 36.5 feet.


Other Trims are available, of course, and one of the the most popular is a Limited edition, which is probably less "limited" production-wise than the base model. A touring model is sandwiched between base and limited, but for the bottom three trims the engine and transmission options remain pretty much the same. The touring and limited models add in a touring suspension as opposed to the "normal-duty" on the base model. Power locks and mirrors and remote keyless entry are added, as are upgraded sound systems and external badging. The extra $2000 for the Touring model also buys you sixteen-inch wheels (the base has fifteens) with aluminum wheels; another $2000 for the Limited gets you chrome sixteen-inchers, side airbags, a moonroof, and a power driver's seat. ABS doesn't come standard until higher trim levels, though they're available as an option at lower levels. All the bells and whistles on the Series 3 "Dream Cruiser" tend to raise the price significantly over my bare-bones model.

The power train alters radically as well as you go up the trim scale. Though there's insufficient room for a V6 under the Cruiser's hood, D-C offers two different turbo-charged models in the higher trim lines. A 180-horse (210 lb-ft) power plant is optional on Limited and Touring models and standard on the Limited Platinum, but the cream of the crop is the high-output turbo standard on the GT and Series 3 models, which cranks out 220 horsepower and 245 lb-ft of torque. At a guess, I'd imagine that last year's introduction of the turbo-charged mill put paid to the grumbles about lack of get-up-and-go in the early versions! Just keep in mind that the top end version of the Cruiser is bumping up against the $30K price range, quite a bit for a subcompact station wagon even if it is travelling incognito.


The Human-Vehicle Interface remains the same from the original model release. High-mounted seats are supportive but very flat - I found my bony behind desperately trying to slide off the seat as I negotiated cloverleaf on- and off-ramps (I have nothing to compare from the last time, since there are about four cloverleafs total in the entire state of Texas). The seats are relatively comfortable for medium-length drives, and a much-admired feature of the seating is the large amount of legroom for rear-seat passengers. This room comes at a price, of course - cargo room behind the rear seat is too limited for anything but a day trip if you're hauling four adults. The cunning little device that acts both as a shield to prying eyes and a shelf for light-weight packages remains unchanged - unfortunately, D-C still hasn't figured out a place to stow it when you're carrying larger cargo (neither has any other manufacturer, for that matter).

The dashboard layout, too, is unchanged. A pair of retro bullet-style instrument clusters house the speedometer, tach, and other gauges and idiot lights; the trip odometer button still sticks out of the space between the bullets like a swollen pinky finger at a British tea party. Climate control and radio are mounted in the center of the dash; the radio buttons are (as is often the case with Detroit-built models) too small to manipulate with gloves on... Between dashboard style and choice of fabrics, the Cruiser's interior styling recapitulates the exterior's retro look without giving up any modern comforts. Things do get moved around a bit, however, as anyone who wants to open a window will have noticed. The cabin, though relatively roomy, tends to be somewhat short on storage space - cup holders are placed awkwardly and, when holding large containers, can block access to dash controls and make shifting a bit dicey. That's unchanged in the past three years, too.

Driving a Cruiser in the Midwest tends to be more fun that in Texas, since it's far less frequently dwarfed by the Suburbans, Excursions, and other behemoths that proliferate in the Lone Star State. Of course, you also have more opportunities to dodge chuckholes in the snow belt, and the roads tend to be a bit more pitted - all the more chance to drive a mini-obstacle course. My trip was dogged by on-again/off-again snow and wind, and the Cruiser handled admirably for a two-wheel drive car (front-wheel drive always helps, I'll admit). The Cruiser's climate control, though, wasn't equal to the task - the windshield kept icing up whenever it was snowing, and the cockpit took a long time to get very warm.

Handling on dry roads is unchanged from the first version of the Cruiser. It's small enough to be maneuverable, and quite responsive to the driver's hands, if not his foot. With the base engine it takes advance planning if you want to pass, but those turbos ought to fix that problem. Parking the vehicle is made relatively easy by its small size, and the base model's fifteen-inch wheels allow it a considerably smaller turning radius than its more expensive siblings. At forty feet, the turning radius on the top-of-the-line models with seventeen-inch wheels is actually larger than a Dodge Ram short-bed pickup by half a foot! When compared to a Civic or Corolla, well, it's the Queen Mary coming into dock.

On the open road the Cruiser doesn't get as many interested glances as it did back in the model's early days. It still handles nicely in both city and highway driving, with steering that's crisp and clean and minimal body roll through the turns- now if it were just a a little easier to stay in the seats. The suspension in the base model takes small bumps in stride, though the sportier touring suspension in more expensive models might give a more jittery ride. Interior noise levels are a bit disappointing - there's not a lot of road noise, but you can hear the engine laboring away on the other side of the firewall, and wind noise is almost extreme at highway speeds.


Getting it Right? D-C has apparently addressed the quality-control problems I noted in the first model I drove - fit and finish were far superior to what I saw in the 2001 model. They've also expanded the line to address other negatives for the nameplate, especially the unseemly lack of power for a "hot" looking little vehicle. My compliments...


R-A-G-G, T-O-P-P, Ragtop!! And now, D-C introduces the PT Cruiser convertible, coming to the streets near you late last month. Starting at a notch under $20000, the base convertible adds a few amenities (power locks and mirrors, keyless entry) to the equipment on the base sedans. Two other trims are available, A touring edition and a GT. The latter has the high-output 220-horse turbo. All models have a "sportbar" crossing the passenger compartment at the location of the B pillars.

I don't know if you've seen one (it's not Convertible weather 'round here yet, so I haven't), but the ragtop looks... strange.. in the photographs; sort of stubby and awkward. They've also given up the vaunted seat versatility, as rear seats don't fold and tumble - there's simply a 50:50 split with a pass-through from the trunk.

Not so sure about the convertible. Somehow, I don't think it'll make the Cruiser the new "hottest" thing.

Amount Paid (US$): $44/day
Condition: New
Model Year: 2004
Model and Options: Base trim level, AT