Hot cars 2003: Carmakers go retro
By Daniel Ray • Bankrate.com

You want a car that gives your neighbor whiplash from spinning his head when he sees you pulling into your driveway. A car that makes co-workers press their noses against office windows when you park. A car that makes the opposite sex swoon. A car that oozes newness.

You want ... an old car.

What's hot in new cars this year is old. The 2003 buzz is reserved for retro-looking models -- ones that owe their styling or attitude to classics of the past.

Here's a look at some of 2003's retro babies.

PT Cruiser goes turbo
DaimlerChrysler will this year attempt to fan the retro flames with a turbo-charged version of the phenomenally popular PT Cruiser. Where the base model has a 2.4 liter DOHC 16-valve four-cylinder power plant with 150 horsepower, the turbo checks in at 2.4 liters, 145.6 cubic inches and 215 horsepower, along with standard 17-inch alloy wheels.

The PT Cruiser has been one of Daimler-Chrysler's success stories. Since it was introduced in February 2000, Chrysler has sold more than 310,000 of these flat-topped fun cars -- 157,000 of them last year alone.

Customization has been one of the keys to success for the turbo -- you can get them decked out with a faux Woodie look or a flame paint job. The turbo will add one more choice. In 2003, a convertible will be added to the mix.

The Cruiser has a base MSRP of $17,260; the turbo starts at $22,955.

All Cooped up, someplace to go
"The SUV backlash begins now" says the ad for the Mini Cooper, the anything-but-stuffy British import.

This head-turner derives its styling from the 1958 Mini, born as a car for the masses with a transverse-mounted engine to provide more passenger room. When a tricked-up version began to win road races in the '60s, the first episode of Mini fanaticism -- Mini-malism? -- was born.

The Mini disappeared from the U.S. in 1968, when new environmental regulations were more than the Mini could manage.

But it began retaking America by storm in 2001. Its parent company, BMW, had to hire a new shift of workers at its Oxford, England, plant to keep up with booming demand for the Mini Cooper, whose sales have been 10-percent higher than the 120,000 cars originally expected.

No wonder. It's retro, scores high on fun and turns heads wherever it goes.

The Mini Cooper starts at $16,975. It's slightly bigger brother is the Mini Cooper S. The standard 4-cylinder engine has a maximum of 115 horsepower; the Mini Cooper S is a peppy 163 hp.

Corvette celebrates 50 years
Chevy passes the half-century milestone with a cloud of dust and a hot-looking 50th anniversary coupe, which starts at $48,895. The 50th Anniversary Edition Corvette is buffed up with a special color -- anniversary red -- along with unique badging, a shale-colored interior and champagne-colored wheels.

Like all its predecessors, this two-seater sports a fiberglass body atop a steel frame. While the look still bears a resemblance to the tri-striped '53 Corvette, Chevy is boasting just as much about what's new with the 'Vette as what's old.

A new Magnetic Selective Ride Control will be offered on all 2003 Corvettes. Chevy boasts that it is the quickest and most powerful damping suspension system available.

Either a four-speed-automatic transmission or a six-speed-manual gearbox can be installed, but the Z06 comes only with the six-speed.

The return of 'the goat'
Pontiac, bereft of muscle since ending its Firebird model, is beefing back up with a revival of its classic, the GTO. The letters stood for Gran Turismo Omologato, but fans called it "the goat."

This new "goat" is descended from the first true muscle car, which appeared on the scene amid squealing tires and smoke in 1963. Late in 2003, the new model will be introduced as a 2004 model.

Many details are still to come, but it will share the same 5.7-liter LS1 V8 as some Corvette models, available in either six-speed manual or four-speed automatic versions. Other features will include 17-inch alloy wheels -- squeals are optional.

VW Beetle adds retro ragtop
Volkswagen's ads for its retro Beetle have celebrated the wonders of its round top. In 2003, it's adding a new top: none.

VW will add the convertible option to the Beetle line in midyear. It's one of several options that the automaker is adding. The convertible top will fold down with the push of a button and fold into the rear seat in just 13 seconds.

One safety innovation that VW will add to the convertible is pop-up rollover protection. Instead of a roll bar, two stiff flat panels will pop up from behind the seats in case of a rollover.

New colors for 2003 include the fancifully named Sundown orange, Mellow Yellow, Aquarius Blue and Galactic Blue. Far out.

The price of this top-down fun is expected to be about $21,350 -- that's about $4,500 more than the base model.

Go way back with Maybach
What can you say about a car that pushes Mercedes back into second place as the car-maker's new top-of-the-line model? Snooty, for one thing. Expensive, for another.

Pricing for the 2003 Mabach 62 luxury sedan has yet to be established, but at its March '03 debut, expect to fork over about $300,000. Perhaps the verb in that sentence should be "shovel," not "fork."

For that pile of money, you will get a car whose pedigree goes back to the early part of the 20th century, when the Maybach brand was synonymous with elegance. For 300 grand, you can still get plenty of that. It has a 5.5 liter, V-12, twin turbo engine that churns out 550 horsepower at 5,250 rpm.

Conveniences such as heated seats and hand-burnished wood trim are standard, of course.

Other, nonretro notables:
Audi RS6 sedan: Sometime in 2003, Audi will roll out a high-performance Audi RS6 sedan with a 450-horsepower, 4.2-liter, bi-turbo V-8 engine. Only 850 of these limited-edition models are scheduled to be sold.

BMW Z4: An extensively redesigned version of the popular Z3 debuts in 2003. BMW gives the low-slung two-seater a makeover, with a long, sweeping hood , long wheel base and set-back cockpit-type seating.

-- Updated: Dec.20, 2002

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