Our Thursday blog series Showroom and Tell is about letting people know of new models we’ve received. We write so often about new features and models that will be out in a year or two that sometimes we neglect to mention what we already have in our wheelhouse! But “new” is a fantastic concept that contains mystery, an element that teases the imagination with all sorts of possibilities.
When the refresh of today’s car was first hinted at last year, people began to wonder what it would look like, how it would feel, how it would make them feel. When it was actually shown for the first time on January 13 of this year, public reaction was favorable because it was at once what they had expected, and also surprising. Straddling the line between being pleasing—which requires some sort of connection to the past—and new—which leaps past what’s anticipated—is a hard thing to do. When a company is fortunate enough to figure out how to do it once, there is the potential to do it again and again.
As owner of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati, Fiat knows quite a bit about making sports cars. These are the cars that get people super excited about speed, racing, winding roads, and coming as close to flying as you can without leaving the ground. When Fiat announced that it was buying Chrysler Group, the automotive world knew that a seismic shift was coming to the historically American group of brands. Brands like Dodge, Jeep, RAM Trucks and Chrysler are known for being tough and rugged. An Italian sports car culture was sure to trickle down into the new brands, but what effect would it have?
As the first example of this new union, today’s car, the newly refreshed Chrysler 200 sedan offers a look into the future. With arresting LED lights, wraparound body lines, a staggering nine-speed transmission and decidedly European luxury feeling, the 200 is about as dramatic a departure from the staid “Ready-for-Hertz” hunch-backedness of its predecessor as you could imagine.
Now available in Leith Chrysler dealerships, it’s a fascinating newborn from Italy. We highly recommend checking it out.