Cruiser Customizing

Save The PT Cruiser Campaign Launched

Scott Kissinger has a passion for the PT. The computer whiz, who now lives in Colorado with wife, Stephanie, fell in love with DaimlerChrysler's PT Cruiser the first time he saw photos of one.

So he decided to build a website devoted to the retro-style car that has been labeled "too cool to categorize." Thus, http://ptenthusistas.org was born in 1999, even before the vehicle arrived at Chrysler showrooms.

And the rest, as they say, is history. PT Enthusiasts has grown into one of the most popular vehicle websites on the Internet, garnering 3000 hits a day.

The free website features news, maintenance tips, how-tos and an events calendar listing PT shows worldwide.

Lately there has been much chatter about Chrysler ending production of the PT Cruiser in a couple of years, so Kissinger decided to launch a SaveThePT petition campaign. (http.//savethept.com)

Apparently, Chrysler is paying attention, having posted this on its website blog from Kissinger before he launched the petition website:

"I suppose my fascination with the PT Cruiser started way back in January 1999, during my annual pilgrimage from our home, at the time, in Kokomo, Indiana, to Detroit in the dead of winter to attend the auto show.

"I expected lots of shiny, unobtainable cars. That year was different.

"There, on a turntable in the Chrysler stand, dripping with personality, was a shiny, silver, retro-wagon; part Plymouth Prowler - part panel van. Under $20k? I knew I wanted one.

"It wasn't long into my PT Cruiser fascination that I realized that, like me, there would be many that would want to hang out with each other, sharing tips, stories, and love of this unique car. PTEnthusiasts.org was born.

"Little did I realize at the time how big PTE would get. Over the years, we've grown to thousands of users, all calling PTE their home. It is the unique group of folks that make up the PT community that have really built PTEnthusiasts into what it has become.

"PT people are special. Where else in auto-dom will you see the folks who spend thousands customizing their cars hanging out with the ones who limit their customization to fuzzy dice and window clings? PT folks drive across continents (and a few who fly across oceans) just to meet up with folks they only know by their screen names, pictures of their cars and online conversations. I've turned summer vacations into pilgrimages just to put faces with screen names and to be inspired by what others have done to these modest cars.

"Years after most of us have discovered the PT Cruiser, for our loyal community, the friendships live on, and the hundreds of thousands of PT owners know there is no substitute."

Kissinger has been getting some national media attention for his SaveThePT campaign: The SaveThePT petition has been covered in media outlets such as Autoblog, Autoweek, etc.

Kissinger points out that you do not have to own a PT Cruiser to sign the petition. Fans are welcome, too.

If new DaimlerChrysler owners, Cerebrus, heed the pleas of more than 1.2 million PT Cruiser owners worldwide, the little retro car will get a fresh (though definitely retro) redesign and be produced well into the next decade and beyond.

Such grassroots campaigns have helped revive popular television shows that were canceled by the networks, and cars like the Ford Mustang in the early 1990s. Perhaps this petition campaign will do the same for the all-too-cool Cruiser.