Chrysler's Hemi-powered, Viper-based Firepower concept is wedged neatly in size and status between the ME Four-Twelve dream car and the very real Crossfire SRT6. Since other companies--presumably in the arms biz--own "Firepower," the label is a working codename. The car will have been renamed by the time you read this. But the vitals remain the same. The handsome, fastback skin is by Four-Twelve designer Brian Nielander and stretched over a Viper chassis--it seems Chrysler was drinking from the same design well as was Ford with the Shelby GR-1. Replacing the Viper's thumping 8.3-liter, 500-horsepower V-10 under the hood is the punchy yet refined 425-horse, 6.1-liter Hemi V-8 from the hi-po version of the hot-selling Chrysler 300, the SRT8. The suspension is tuned for a softer, GT-style ride akin to Aston Martin in handling and feel, and tires are 275/35R19 fronts, 335/30R20s rear, with 14-inch Brembo brakes all around. Production? It sits in that auto-show purgatory of "we have no plans, but if we did it, it would bridge Crossfire and [the equally uncommitted] ME Four-Twelve." At first glance, it makes a lot more sense for Chrysler than the ME, as it would be affordable and much easier to put into production if demand exists. The nose features familiar Chrysler grille, with hood-strakes like the Crossfire and ME Four-Twelve. Overall length, at 172.6 inches, is 2.9 inches shorter than a Viper (yet more than a foot longer than Crossfire) and shares the Viper's 98.8-inch wheelbase. Width is 73.0 inches, height a rakish 47.7 inches.An all-glass roof sweeps from the windshield to the glass hatch (coincidentally, the new Jaguar XK coupe will have a fastback-hatch) and the CHMSL is integrated into the satellite-navigation/satellite-radio antenna. Rear quarter-panels are influenced by Aston; the tail is GR-1-like. But overall design is tidy, elegant, muscular Chrysler.
