Word: chromes
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Ralph Gilles is showing off his Chrysler 300C, and as he points out details like chrome accents on the door trim, he insists that he has just one complaint: "It doesn't come with dubs." In hip-hop car lingo, dubs are oversize, 20-in. wheels. And Gilles is a big-wheel guy. An amateur racer, he hits the track on weekends with his 10-cylinder Dodge Viper--a nerve-racking hobby for his wife, the mother of his two young kids. As soon as he got his 300C for street use, he supersized it with black dubs. "It looks...
...Zetsche wasn't going to leave any detail of the 300 to chance. Over lunch at Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., he told TIME that he held talks with the design group to determine, down to the millimeter, the dimensions of the vehicle's imposing front grille. The chrome ringlets around the air conditioning and audio knobs: "That was from Dieter," says Gilles. Zetsche even suspended production of the air vents because they didn't close the way he wanted. "We had to have the courage to go for something different," Zetsche said...
...rose fast. At 31 he was appointed one of just seven studio chiefs. What got him noticed? "Probably my mouth," he says. "I've been pretty outspoken from Day One." While designing the interior of the Jeep Liberty, his first production vehicle, he got in a fight over chrome ornamentation, which other executives were convinced was too pricey. He recalls a meeting that wasn't going his way. "I got really emotional," he says. "For the first time in my life I made an impassioned plea to the marketing guys that this is something you have...
Still, in the Toyota tradition, the tC offers terrific value in a low-key package. For a base price of $16,465, it comes with a sport-tuned suspension, antilock disc brakes, 17-in. alloy wheels and a chrome-tipped exhaust. Under the hood, there's a 160-h.p. four-cylinder engine. I didn't expect pulse-pumping pickup and didn't get it. But the five-speed manual I drove shifted smoothly in L.A. traffic. The steering was responsive, the ride firm, and during the brief spells in which I clocked more than 10 m.p.h. on the clogged freeway...
Inside, Scion aims for the sport-tuner look and basically gets it right. The instrument panel is cleanly laid out; chrome finishes accent the door handles and vent dials. A panorama sunroof, treated to reduce UV rays and interior temperature, lends an airy feel to the tight quarters. Scion rounds out the standard package with air conditioning, cruise control, power windows and mirrors, keyless entry and a 160-watt stereo...