SWFL PT Cruiser Meeting 9-11-08

So we held our meeting last night, first meeting back after several months of disband due to "season".
Seems the rest of the world is back to normal besides us. We had two members show last night and 2 guests.
A nice couple from Marco Island in there 2003 Red PT Cruiser GT with lots of add ons.

I had to discuss with the Victory Land owner that we were looking to change locations for a bit to see if that might get some members back, we have to do what we have to do.
I explained to her that it was nothing against the restaurant, we love the place and that we will be back off and on for events and things. So we will see what happens. We are trying to figure things out and this is the first attempt.

When our original president left and gave us the demand of the club, we didn't mind we wanted the club and wanted to develop it more. We are were seeing the downward slope. So it was time to bring in new ideas.

I have taking this upon myself, as many other things, to get the word out better about the club. It seems after we have changed board members, some of the club may not like that idea. It is what it is...we are an open club and I respect the choices of others. I just wish we would get some feedback as the job we are doing. We do not get paid to do this and take out time from our own lives to share something we each enjoy.
As the only active member on the board this month, I have released that my efforts need to expand. I will have to get somethings together for telling others about our club and see what that does. We all have attempted this at one point, however I have ideas others may not have thought of.

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Colby Butler aka Kingkole02

Local Car Show coming up

Rock ‘Til You Drop: Sunday, December 7, 2008
Christmas Day: Thursday, December 25, 2008
New Year’s Eve: Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Year’s Day: Thursday, January 1, 2009
Corvettes on the Gulf Sunday, January 4, 2009
Cub Scout Car & Bike Show Saturday, January 10, 2009
Cool Cruisers show: Saturday, January 31, 2009
Super Bowl Sunday: Sunday, February 1, 2009
Ferrari Club: Saturday February 14, 2009
Fireant Follies: Saturday, March 14, 2009
Easter Sunday: Sunday, April 12, 2009

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Colby Butler aka Kingkole02

Tony Allen Thanks Everyone

"I want to thank everyone for their support of the Andrew Widman Gulf Coast Town Center Cruise-in this past Saturday and apologize to those that couldn’t find a parking place.

All of the car clubs were bidding for the privilege of winning the 50/50 and donating their winnings back to the Widman family. Many of the clubs purchased ticket together. Corvettes of Naples purchased $275 and the Quarter Mile Car Club purchased $175 worth of tickets. There were many other clubs and individuals doing the same. Finally Dick and Diane Bird of the 3-T’s Car Club won the privilege.

Their winning half of the 50/50 was $750. Diane didn’t hesitate to donate it back to the Widman family. The Fort Myers Police Department, Cape Coral Police Department and the Lee County Sheriff’s Department were all represented. Law enforcement actually has nicer (and faster) Hot Rods than most of us! There were several local businesses that made donations; including the French Connection from Downtown Fort Myers, Kilwin’s of Gulf Coast Town Center and Computer Xcellence.

I would also like to thank Julia Moore of the News-Press for including this event in the calendar of Gulf Coasting and for the fantastic coverage from NBC-2 and Amie McLain. We have ordered a film clip, that we’ll email to everyone. You couldn’t buy better media coverage than what was given to us by the News-Press and NBC-2.

There were so many people helping park cars and walking with the 50/50 barrel.

Another special thanks goes to the voice of this special event, our D.J., Tom Brooks, his wife Darlene and their friends Keith and Jennifer; in addition, our good friends, John and Tami Ferrell. My son and wife, Bonnie and Michael saw so many good friends that we haven’t seen in years; all there to support the Andrew Widman family.

OK….I know, how much money did we raise?

We presented the money to Sergeant Patrick Gallagher of the Fort Myers Police Department. The Sergeant will email us with the final count but we estimate that it was over $3,000.

I apologize if I haven’t acknowledged someone or their club, but consider yourself a valued friend. Thank you, each and every one, for helping to make this event such a success for the Widman Family!"

"Thanks again, Tony Allen"

Wow sounds like a really great day, sorry I did manage to attend.

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Our Local Club is meeting again

So back at it after a long winter for most, or should I say a cooler summer for us in Florida.
Our Local Club is back at it with meetings again. We will be picking up again in September at our normal local place the Victory Lane Cafe.

However come October we will be moving to a more centered location at Mel's Diner in Fort Myers. Our board has come to an agreement from the number of members we have whom live down south of the city, they find it hard to drive to our existing location. In an effort to keep us all having and feeling an excitement for events and meeting with friends, we have moved to this location.

This location will be good to revamp our spirits and get us back into the swing of things. Best part of all, it is a 60's replica diner! So for all the older members, they should find this place a nice fit ;). After all the PT is a "retro" styled vehicle and should be located in a retro styled place, don't you think.

Anyways we will see what happens here with the club. I have heard through the grapevine that the spirits of many other club members has been done recently and many have disbanded because of the vacationers who typically leave around this time of year.

Hope to see everyone real soon.

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Colby Butler aka Kingkole02

Movie Cruise Night

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THE "DUMBING DOWN" OF CHRYSLER

THE "DUMBING DOWN" OF CHRYSLER
A Personal Editorial and Observation

I'll apologize to begin with on this lengthy semi-editorial and any grammar errors you may see. Many of the views you read here are not necessarily mine but shared by many.

I was accepted and part of the "Chrysler Advisory Board". A moderator driven board posing questions and polls in a forums based website. Maybe 50 people are part of this board and are able to give thoughts and ideas about Chrysler who is reading and supposedly taking in the thoughts and ideas that are being discussed. The board has been up for about 7 weeks now so hundreds of posts have been made. Many redundant but all valid in their own eyes.

Such subjects are: Brand Identity; Current Chrysler Cars; Current Dodge Cars; Current Jeep vehicles; Dream Cars; Ideal Features; Older Chrysler Product Cars; Eco-Conscience; Online Shopping; Safety & Security and Technology. The moderator, who is a Chrysler employee poses questions and the board responds.

Below, in no particular order or heading are some of the thoughts from the board postings: (and more below on the PT)

• - Daimler did more damage to Chrysler in the few years they owned them than Chrysler could have done to themselves had they remained independent. People think that Daimler "dumbed down" Chrysler so that Chrysler would not compete with the various Mercedes products.
  
• - Chrysler was not allowed to market and advertise certain products properly. Why? Have no idea except possibly for the reason mentioned above.
  
• - The number one complaint are the cheap interiors. They all look the same, they all use that same dark gray hard plastic, all are basically laid out the same, all extremely cheap looking.
  
• - Everyone agrees that the Chrysler brand should stand for upscale luxury. But the lines are so blurred between all the ChryCo models that they all look the same. Dodge should stand for every day cars and performance. Jeep should be rugged off road vehicles.
  
• - The 300 base model is cheaper than the mid-model Charger. It shouldn't be, Nor should it be offered with the tiny 2.7 V6. The 300 should be offered as several models including a coupe and a Magnum wagon version (the Magnum was sold in Europe as a 300 Touring, it had the 300 dash and front end). The 300 should move much more upscale. A higher end Imperial should be offered that competes with Cadillac, Lexus, Infiniti, Mercedes.
  
• - The Chrysler Sebring sedan should either be deep sixed or completely redone. Busy body lines, a busy and cheap interior, no power are just a few of the complaints.
  - The Dodge Avenger should not look like a Charger wanna-be. It should be a stand alone car and needs to be redone top to bottom to compete with the Camry's, Accord's, Malibu's.
  
• - Apparently there is a clean-burn bio-diesel engine being used by Chrysler in Europe that gets better fuel mileage than hybrids and puts out less carbons and pollutants. And is quick compared to the current V6's offered in the US. Bring it here as an option. No smoke, no diesel rattle.
  
• - Hybrids possibly pose a greater risk and cost down the road than gas engines. Battery replacement will cost thousands per car and then of course the land fills will fill up with hazardous batteries. Hybrids are supposedly just a quick fix for right now that again could pose more issues in the future.
  
• - Two cars that were killed should have never been. The Magnum and Pacifica were cancelled. The Magnum, mentioned above should have been sold as a Chrysler. The Pacifica was one of the nicest vehicles Chrysler had. It had a unique and classy interior totally unlike anything else Chrysler had. It was the crossover Chrysler should have advertised and pushed.
  
• - The Caliber should have never happened as should the Chrysler Aspen, Jeep Compass and the remodel of the Durango/Dakota. The Caliber is NOT a replacement for the Neon even though Chrysler thought it would be. The Jeep Compass is a Caliber is Jeep's clothing. The Aspen is the answer to a question never asked. The Durango/Dakota are ugly, boxy replacements for what once was a decent looking vehicle. (these are not necessarily my thoughts but the general consensus of the board). The Dakota pickup which was once advertised as a "mid-size" pickup is now larger than the Ford F-150 was just 7 years ago. Ditto on the Durango. The Aspen shouldn't have happened, Chrysler should have kept and pushed the Pacifica as their SUV crossover.
  
• - Quite a few people think the Plymouth name should be brought back and let it be the low cost offerings. Let Dodge be the performance brand and Chrysler the up market version.
  
• - Almost everyone agrees that Chrysler, somewhere in some division needs entry level gas sippers like the Aveo, Yaris, Versa, etc.
  Now onto the PT.......
  
• - Most people on the board think the PT should be axed. Best case they think it should change and be sold as a Dodge. They don't think the PT falls in line with where they think Chrysler itself should be headed. Unless it had a complete change and went upscale, Chrysler should drop it.
  
• - A few like myself disagree and have posted reasons why.
  
• - Chrysler (or maybe Daimler) dumbed down the PT excessively. As many of you know who have 2001 or 2002 Limited Edition PT's, the current models don't hold a candle to it. We have items on our PT's that came standard equipment that you can't even get as options now. It should have only gotten better than worse.
  
• - Why in the world would a special edition PT be built off the base model? Why would hot rod type editions such as the Route 66, Pacific Coast Highway or Sunset Strip edition not even have fog lights as an option? The turbo lite offering? Makes no sense.
  
• - Why was the GT dropped? Even Chevy is hot rodding the HHR and offering sedan delivery versions...something PT people for years have been begging for. Chrysler not listening is one of the reasons it's in the shape it is. How many years and how many millions of dollars is it going to take to reverse peoples perception of Chrysler? Can Cerebus handle this?

I could ramble on more and more about what all is being said in the Advisory Board. Some is totally unrealistic, much repeated over and over by many people. It boils down to Chrysler overall having poor quality and poor offering of vehicles. Too much over lapping of products and parts. Too cheap looking. Way too much redundancy between their line up. Many perceive Chrysler as being on their way out.

I would like to see that changed. Not sure if this Advisory Board will amount to any more than someplace for a few to vent. Will Chrysler listen? Do they have the means to make the changes? Will they make the changes? Only time will tell.

Original author undisclosed.

This was a colaboration of thoughts many had from various forum boards via the internet.
Thanks for reading.

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Colby Butler aka Kingkole02

Chrysler Quarterly

The thought lost magazine has gone electronic!

Since the fall of the Chrysler provided magazine, the initial editor has decieded to bring this mag back in an eletronic format. This is the new wave of the future for all magazine types. Makes printing of paper less of a demand and you can receive you issue as soon as it is made possible via the internet.

See the first installment here!

Check out the first ever PT Impressions. Make sure you click on the sponsors to let them know that you want their support for the e-zine.
http://www.flip24.com/issues/cq/#

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Colby Butler aka Kingkole02