Beneath the high bonnet of the Chrysler PT Cruiser there does not (to the disappointment of many) lurk a rumbling V8 engine, however much it may look as though there should. But to a large extent it doesn't matter.The PT Cruiser can be considered as one, or perhaps both, of two things. At one level it is what Chrysler intended it to be from its days as a show car, namely a good-humoured pastiche of the American hot rods of fifty years ago. It is also a remarkably practical saloon car with so much space that it is occasionally referred to in the same breath as mini-MPVs.In neither of these guises does it require anything other than the perfectly adequate two-litre 16-valve engine it currently possesses. Even if there were a case for fitting one, though, it would be extremely unlikely to happen, since the PT Cruiser is, underneath its very effective disguise, nothing more nor less than a Chrysler Neon.The prospect of a car based on the Neon platform being fitted with a multi-hundred bhp V8 is not one that should be investigated too closely. Even if the chassis could be persuaded to cope with that amount of power (an unlikely scenario if ever there was one), it would still be transmitting it to the road via the front wheels, which would cause new cries of horror from the can-we-have-a-real-hot-rod-please brigade. To turn the PT Cruiser into the car many people think it should have been in the first place, you would have to keep the basic outline and throw everything else away.So never mind the width, feel the quality. The Cruiser looks so distinctive, even in the rather unsuccessful black of the test car, that absolutely everyone will stop and stare as you drive past. I even found myself being stared at by a fellow driving the other way in a bright yellow Porsche Boxster, not a thing that happens every day.Some manufacturers would have let it go at that and produced a plain interior, using whatever they found in the parts bin. Chrysler, typically, has been far more adventurous, carrying the retro spirit of the exterior into the passenger compartment.There's an enormous amount of space in there, though most of it is between the floor and the roof. Legroom isn't nearly as good - I found it difficult to operate the clutch smoothly because of the restricted space, though that may just be me, while sitting in the back required such an acute knee angle that I don't think I'd be comfortable there for long.The Neon engine is only moderately powerful, and needs, tiresomely, to be kept above 4000rpm to do its best work. But that's only a problem if you want a performance car, in which case you would probably not have considered the Cruiser in the first place.Road manners are identical to those of the Neon too. Both cars are quite impressive as long as the shock absorbers are not required to work quickly. On smooth roads, therefore, you can make brisk progress very happily, and enjoy a steering system which is among the sharpest of any front-wheel drive car currently available.It's when the dampers have to react suddenly that the ball falls off the slates. A sudden bump throws the suspension into a state of utter confusion, with the back end in particular jumping around so wildly that you reckon the car should be renamed the PT Space Hopper.This has been a Neon problem since the day that car was launched, only partly sorted for the 1999 model year revamp. It's the Cruiser's biggest failing, and I can't understand why something so relatively easy to cure was allowed through to the production stage.Otherwise the Cruiser is good fun. If you're looking for something which makes the ground shake every time you switch it on, buy a Viper instead. If you want something more provocative, there's always the Prowler. But if you want a car which will turn heads in your direction, yet is as practical as most saloon cars, this one is definitely worth a look.Second opinion: You like it or you think it's stupid, and you can put me in the first category, although I have no ambitions to have people gawp at me as I drive by. The PT Cruiser is just loaded with neat retro touches (look at the spoof 1950s gearlever!) and if you're not into retro, leave this car well alone. The Limited is the top-spec version, and it's unobtrusively well kitted out, although not at a bargain price. Good passenger space and driving position for people who are normally dimensioned, and smooth-road handling which is far more balanced and enjoyable than you would think. But there is that problem about bouncy roads, with which the CARkeys neck of the woods is far too liberally supplied. Ross Finlay. Engine 1995cc, 4cylinders Power 140bhp @5700rpm Torque 139ib/ft @4150rpm Transmission 5 speed manual Fuel/CO2 33.6mpg / 196g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 9.6sec Top speed 118mph Price From £15823.00 approx Release date 01/07/2000
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