Cast low on big wheels with sculptured body lines raked across an exaggerated hood and over the rounded roof to a bulbous boat tail rump, the new Crossfire sports coupe seems like a designer's homage to streamlined automobiles from the Thirties in the artistic era of Art Deco.

Yet with its exuberant engine and the stiff chassis linked to a taut suspension, the retro-styled Crossfire feels as contemporary as a sporty German two-seater from Chrysler's DaimlerChrysler sibling, Mercedes-Benz. As a matter of fact, part of the floor pan plus mechanical components including engine, gearbox, steering column and suspension control arms come out of cars that wear the tri-star Mercedes badge. And Crossfire is assembled in Germany at Karmann.

However, styling for the package, a clever two-seat cockpit design and components for suspension tuning come directly out of Chrysler in North America. It ends up acting like a squatty go-kart, hunkering low on pavement with wheels pushed to corner points for keen stability and all torque from a powerful up-front engine flowing in classic arrangement to rear rubber for predictable and controllable traction.

Crossfire's enthused engine factored by the relatively light curb weight of about 3000 pounds propels it into the fast lane. In particular, Crossfire contains a 3.2-liter Mercedes V6 that produces 215 hp through a notchy six-speed manual gearbox or optional five-speed automatic coupled to Chrysler's AutoStick. To enhance the stick-to-the-pavement traction at high speeds, a slick retractable spoiler integrated into the tail deploys above a designated speed of 50 mph to exert more aerodynamic force on the rear tires.

Climb into Crossfire's snug cockpit and you will find a central spine and console cap splitting the space in half with a bolstered bucket seat on each side clad in distinctive two-tone leather. Satin silver metallic trim lines the top of the console and crowns the stubby shifter stick as well as a grab bar across each door.

Read our Review: Chrysler Crossfire

The wild five-door wagon from Chrysler shows three different powertrains for 2004, including two with turbo-charging. A turbo 2.4-liter four-in-line scored for high output at 220 hp debuted last year in PT Turbo, joining the original naturally-aspirated twin-cam 2.4-liter four-pack pegged at 150 hp. Now another turbo -- this one producing 180 hp -- becomes a stand-alone option sandwiched between the other two powertrains and it works with Touring or Limited trim and a four-speed automatic transaxle.

Variation seems to be a theme for PT Cruiser, as there have been twists like the Flame, Woodie, Dream Cruiser Series 1, the PT Turbo and the Dream Cruiser Series 2. For 2004, a limited production Dream Cruiser Series 3 will emerge early in the 2004 model-year, while a pop-top PT Cruiser Convertible is due early in calendar-year 2004. The 2004 Cruiser series also offers a package of chrome accents to line a Cruiser with chrome inside and out. (CONTINUED...)