New Stratos Project Dead

The automotive history is full of people who tried to make their dreams come true but failed, some due to their limited ability or resources, some because of bad timing and others because the big fish swimming in their pond were, well, too big to handle. Automotive industry entrepreneur, collector and historic car driver Michael Stoschek has just joined their ranks after attempting to build a 21st century version of one of rallying’s iconic cars: the Lancia Stratos.
Earlier this week, Stoschek announced that he will not be able to fulfill the 50 orders he had already received: “The reason lies in the attitude of Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa, who opposes the production of other vehicles by companies that work with Ferrari," he wrote on his website.
His “mistake” was that he chose to use Pininfarina for the design of the chassis and bodywork, and a Ferrari 360 or F430 as a donor car for the powertrain of the New Stratos.
Although Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo himself drove it and made very positive remarks about the car, Maranello had a change of heart and announced that it would not allow Pininfarina or any other of its suppliers to be connected with the New Stratos project.
Stoschek said that, despite having the chassis and bodywork data in CAD, the search for another company to take over from Pininfarina and continue the project failed since “many of the details are only in the minds of some highly skilled people employed by Pininfarina”.
Nevertheless, he said that the New Stratos will not be confined in a garage but will instead be presented at various public events – and he added that he is already building a black Lancia Stratos Stradale, "so that the many similarities between the old and the new Stratos are more obvious".

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Dodge Bids Farewell to Caliber Crossover and Nitro SUV

The end of 2011 brings about the death of two much-criticized Dodge models, the Caliber crossover and the Nitro SUV, both of which were conceived and developed during the time Mercedes-Benz's parent company Daimler reigned over the Chrysler Group. The last examples of the Caliber and Nitro models rolled off Chrysler's Belvidere, Illinois and Toledo North assembly plants respectively this month.
Introduced in 2006, the Caliber was designed to replace the Neon in the same fashion that Nissan tried to win the European C-segment (think VW Golf) with the Qashqai crossover, but without the same success.
The Caliber left a lot to be desired, especially in the powertrain/drivetrain department and its rent-a-car like interior.
Monthly sales of the compact five-door model peaked in May 2008 with 12,856 units, dropping to a pitiful 412 units in November 2009, with Dodge delivering 1,202 Calibers last month.
The Caliber's replacement will be introduce in a couple of weeks at the 2012 Detroit Motor Show with the new 2013 Dodge Dart, which is a compact-sized sedan model based on the platform architecture of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
The Nitro SUV made its debut in 2006 as a more masculine and sportier Dodge derivative of the second generation Jeep Liberty with which it shared its platform but not the latter's more hardcore all-wheel drive hardware. It too suffered from a cheap interior while it's on-road dynamics were poor.
The best sales month of the Nitro was in March 2007 with 7,532 deliveries, while the worst was in July 2009 with 1,115 units, with Dodge selling 1,661 units in November 2012.
In a recent interview, Fiat-Chrysler Group CEO, Sergio Marchionne, said that "This car should never have been built” referring to the Nitro.
Story References: Automotive News

DODGE CALIBER

Dodge Challenger Concept designer leaves Chrysler

Big name designers often skip from one job to another in the automotive world. Chrysler seems to be losing more than its fair share of artistic types, as the Auburn Hills-based automaker has lost two top designers in recent weeks. First, long time design chief Trevor Creed retired. Now Dodge Challenger Concept designer Micheal Castiglione has left for a smaller, more diversified design house. Castiglione has joined Ken Okuyama Design as their chief designer where he will work on everything from eye glasses and furniture to trains and planes. Okuyama also has some automotive interests, including the K.O 7 open wheel and the interesting-looking K.O 8 coupe (above). During his 15-year tenure with the Pentastar, Castiglione's best work came in the form of the Dodge Challenger Concept, but he also worked on the Jeep Compass concept and the Chrysler 300 production car.