Chrysler design-chief talks up production Demon Roadster

Posted on Friday 17 August 2007


With Cerberus Capital Management in charge of Chrysler, the immediate goal for execs is to implement a massive turnaround plan which will see thousands of jobs lost and extensive cost cutting in most departments. Last month, plans for the flagship Imperial sedan were thrown out and any new model will be scrutinized more so than usual before getting the green light.

One of these new models is a production version of the Dodge Demon concept that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. According to Chrysler’s Design Chief Trevor Creed, who spoke recently with Wards Auto, the new Demon is at the top of his agenda and that conditions for this car getting the go-ahead is ideal.

The concept’s efficient 2.4L four-cylinder engine is in line with a general trend towards smaller engines by consumers, while its “edgy” styling will keep it looking fresh for the foreseeable future, Creed boasted. Aimed at the same “affordable performance” section of the market as Mazda’s popular MX-5/Miata, the new Demon would be priced around the $15,000 mark.

Is Chrysler’s SRT performance division planning a second all-new car? Brand CEO Ralph Gilles won’t say, but fans are asking for a compact performance car he reveals.

Currently the only true SRT vehicle is the new Viper, with the remaining SRT badged cars all being high-performance versions of existing Chrysler family models, ranging from the Charger to the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

In a sit-down interview with Gilles he revealed that the feedback the company has received from its fans, in particular through social media, hasn’t gone unnoticed. “When are you going to have your own BRZ,” he says, paraphrasing the comments he hears from SRT owners. “I’m happy to see that a lot of our fans want that,” he says. “They ask us about that a lot.”

A CEO and a car designer, Gilles is a true enthusiast at heart and known for taking his own Viper to the racetrack. “It’s exciting to think that way,” he says, revealing his true feelings about the concept of an affordable SRT performance car.

While the SRT brand today is known only for its V8-powered monsters, not that long ago things were different. “We’ve had two generations of SRT4s,” Gilles reminisces. “We’ve had Crossfires, we’ve had pickup trucks.”

“The community goes deep,” he says, mentioning in particular those owners of SRT4 models (both Caliber and Neon), who are the ones asking for a new compact performance car from the SRT brand. Chrysler might not have sold an SRT-badged compact since the suped-up Caliber was cancelled in 2009, but fans of the old SRT4s, “still care about what we’re up to,” Gilles says.

Not long before the Caliber SRT4 was discontinued, Chrysler revealed the Demon concept (above). A front-engine rear-drive roadster it was designed to bookend the Dodge performance lineup, with the Viper sitting at the opposite end of the spectrum. Revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in 2007 it was powered by a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder making around 170 hp. No official word was ever given on the car’s fate.

Sine the debut of the new Dart, rumors have swirled that an SRT4 model was in the works, sporting as much as 300 hp. A production version, however, has yet to materialize.