Ever since I read the accidentally leaked 2015 Chrysler 200 press release, I'm stuck on this one sentence: "Surprising details include a rendering of the City of Detroit skyline embossed on the rubber mat in the bottom of the pass-through storage of the center console."
There are legitimate complaints that the current 200 is mediocre, but driving dynamics aside, will it have the legacy of being a vehicle that's inextricably linked with the city of Detroit? Not just because it's built in Sterling Heights here, but linked to the city's culture, people and heritage?
When I think of a "Detroit" car, I think of a car that everyone in Detroit will buy just because it's popular. It's no different than a Range Rover being an L.A. car or a pickup being a Texas car. If you have one of these models, you're in the club.
The 200 obviously struck a chord with Detroiters because of the Eminem commercial and the "Imported From Detroit" campaign. Add in all the Chrysler friends and family discounts, and it's no wonder that almost every other car around these parts is a Chrysler 200.
If I were to pick a runner-up for unmistakably "Detroit" cars, I'd have to pick the last-gen Chevy Monte Carlo. Again, this car is nothing special. But not only will American-made cars flood dealers here because so many people either get discounts on them for making them or because they have blood-thick attachments to domestic vehicles, it's one of those cars that people will go for on looks alone. Guys get a Monte to pick up girls, and girls like to drive them for themselves.
Show me some other "Detroit" cars. Mercury Marauder? The Tahoe/Suburban twins?
[Photos via AP]