Quote:
Originally Posted by eclectic
But it isn't!
Its as Merc platform and was built by Karmann in Germany, apparently.
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Iirc when it was introduced it was based on the platform before the then current SLK which was, at the time, a relatively old design.
So as a then 'modern' car it perhaps lacked a little engineering credibility. Now, some years down the road, that may not matter so much.
No matter who built it I suspect it is reasonable to assume that the specs were aimed at the US market to fit with what Chrysler represented and so the overall feel of the thing would have been Americanised.
However I have never owned or driven one, so my comments may hold little weight.
One problem, however, might be parts availability.
Some years ago I bought a VX Senator. a '93 model, 4 years old when I got it. Great thing but expensive bits started to fail at around 150k miles and at 175k quite a few of the 'features' were playing up and a rear wheel arch was getting rusty.
I liked it enough to consider a refurb project but when I heard stories about basic components becoming unavailable - wheel bearings and the like - I thought better of it.
There were, apparently, about 25k Senators sold in the UK and many more on the continent (as Opels of course). Yet within a handful of years of it being discontinued and despite being the product of a mass manufacturer parts availability was a problem and, being reputed as a large luxury car, its value had sunk to very little.
So I chopped it for an Omega which could have been a nice car but was actually mechanically a pile of junk. Such is progress.
Sometimes the reality of a cheapish older 'fun' car is not as good as it may seem.
I got about 75k miles out of both the Senator and the Omega but the Omega had 40k fewer miles on the clock to start with and cost a lost more to keep on the road during my time of ownership.
Whether the same issues of parts availabiity would apply to a Crossfire used as a fun car I don't know. Sometimes low mileages create as much replacement stress as high mileages. I think I would do some checking though before taking a plunge.