The PT Cruiser was one of the cars the most spectacular examples of the retro-design trend at the beginning of the 2000s.
It was launched at the 1999 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Chrysler designed the PT Cruiser to fit the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) criteria as a truck and treat it accordingly, including the EPA ratings. Thus, the companies could buy it and decrease the average company fuel consumption. The trick worked and the private customers were relaxed even though the crash-tests revealed very poor protection for its occupants. But the car looked too different to be avoided.

The fenders resembled the look of the American sedans from the ’30s and ’40s, and the hot-rod aesthetics of the ’50s and ’60s. But there was a modern shape for the headlights and taillights and the car was fitted with new technologies of the ‘2000s. A big, shield-like, grille stood tall from the bottom of the apron to the hood gap, interrupted only by the front bumper.

Inside, the flat dashboard and the cue-ball shape of the gear lever enhanced the retro-design of the car. Even the dials and the shape of the steering wheel were on the same page. As for the flat seats and bench, nobody seemed to care about it.

Under the hood, the PT Cruiser was offered with various engines from a small, 1.6-liter up to a turbocharged 2.4-liter unit that could give performances appropriate for that ’60s hot-rod look. For the European market, the PT-Cruiser was assembled in Austria. The car was produced in Mexic, as well. During its 9 years of production, it was produced in 1.35 million units.