When I entered the meeting room today I thought I must've got the wrong room, the place is packed! Great turnout. It was a pleasure meeting some of you today and wish you all a safe trip home. Apparently a question came from one of the members about the "wrong" wheels on a Special on the final line. 17" all season tires on chrome rims is now an option for customers concerned about winter traction.
major recall on continental tires (600,000 tires). Used mostly in Ford Expedition and Navigator. But I wonder if other continentals may have the defect too. Another reason to go with Yokohama, Michelin, or other quality brand replacement tire. http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/020819/autos_continental_1.html
It must kill you guys to know that plain jane Intrepids run down the same line as the all mighty 300Ms! Now you have to know that they are really the same car; just a different skin. I do drive an R/T proudly! Sorry, I expect flames, but I have posted here before and have been ignored to the point that the attitude of the 300Mrs has upset me a bit.
The bunch here doesn't typically "ignore" anyone. Is it possible that you asked a question and nobody had an answer? That would seem more likely. As for the Intrepids and Ms sharing a line....that's old news. I for one am not bothered at all as I'm very fond of both cars. In fact, the looks of the Intrepid a few years back really got my attention.
I too don't think there is anything wrong with the Intrepids, but IMO I thought 300M's were nicer inside and out. I looked at a Intrepid R/T before buying the M, at that time a loaded Intrepid R/T was 29k. Then I looked at the 300M, better looks, much nicer interior, more goodies(and more power than the Intrepid as well). With a good DC discount and dealer discount($4500 off) I got a completely loaded '01 M for that same price as the Intrepid. So there was no question. Biased a little, sure, but this is the 300M board you're posting on. If you're gonna slam the 300M, then you probably will be ignored by a lot of M owners. At the same time, you won't see any of us on the Intrepid board slamming your car. We all enjoy what we drive, right?
All of us old guys that have the M's were sitting in the front of the room and all those at the back who were in there twenties were Intrepid owners. Interesting. Have you had any feed back from the guys in the plant on the mods that were done to the several cars on show in the plant ?
Other stuff that came up. 1) The production area that we toured covers 50 acres or to put it into a different perspective; 55 N.F.L. football fields. 2)There are over 5 miles of conveyor lines used for the production. 3) A car roles of the line every 48 seconds. 4) The total man hours to build a car is 25. 5) I saw two girls eating their lunch in the back of a 300M that was on the production line during the lunch break shutdown. I hope for the new owners sake they weren't sardine sandwiches. I love trivia
OK - I'd bet dimes to dollars, whoever this is is probably a member here, but I have to ask. I was driving to the airport on Sun. Aug 18 and saw a white M on the road. Went to look at it and saw a set of duals! I said to my uncle (who was driving) I'd bet that person's on the M board I was on the highway, but don't know which one as I'm not from the area. Was near the airport...
So who is it???
Anyway, as you noticed, I'm back from vacation Hope everyone is having fun at Brampton...
Sponge Bob pics, glad it made you chuckle. As for the Car carrier sounds good to me. Except I would want to drive through the Rockys. The drive from Denver to Detroit would be kind of boring. To me it is like the I5 route north of Bakersfield. to Redding, there must be only two steering wheel movements (if you are in the slow lane to pass (none if you stay in the fast lane)) required for that trip. I10 to Los Angles from Phoenix is another.
"For the CTS, a 5.7-liter V-8 producing about 400 hp is expected to be offered for the 2004 model year. Manual and automatic transmissions will be offered. "
Was great to meet you and your wife. We really had a great time with the group. I love that Inferno Red with 10 coats of Zaino. It was a coincidence that the Intrepid group was there at the same time since John (sat next to your wife) is an Intrepid owner. Thought the tour was good and the employees were very friendly. We hated to pull our cars out early (Tom Mills & I) but, we had a 9 hour drive ahead of us. All in all the Woodward Cruise was an experience I,ll not forget, especially when John Wyche ran up to my car in the middle of the street and knocked on my window to ask " where I got my taillight covers". His wife said he chased me for 2 blocks. Thank you to everyone who was involved in putting this together especially Russ Klass, Otto and Roger and Paulette. GREAT MEET. Rick Stilp/Geezer300M
Had a sapphire blue special pull up next to me at Costco this weekend. I shouldn't have been knowing the majority of M drivers I see around here, but I was suprised to see a gray haired woman >60 get out of it(sigh!).
WOW! Someone is listening. I seemed to be the only one who thought it was absolutely ridiculous to buy a $30,000+ car and then, if you lived in a "snow" region, have to go out and spend hundreds more for winter tires so that you didn't kill youself! Someone in Auburn Hills wasn't thinking that day!
I know that car enthusiasts who own Camaros and Firebirds do this all the time, but NOT on a 300M "Special"! It took a while, but it makes a lot more sense now.
As for the LH cars all being built on the same line, that was reported here ages ago. Basically all the same thing. Just like Acura being a fancy Honda and Lexus being a fancy Toyota!
Glad everyone had a good time on the tour. Hope some pics will be posted soon. Anyone bring ottowrkr any Earnhardt goodies? ;-))
Well everyone, I made it back to the USA (even without a birth certificate) and took some time to put together a webpage of the trip. It includes some photos (click on them to bring up a larger image) and I documented the actual trip from my point of view. It was the most amazing thing I've done and seen and I gotta say, the 300M club members are the best people around.
It has been a well-known fact for years that all the "LH" cars came off the same production line.
What surprised me, however, was that they didn't schedule production runs of each vehicle for a day, or a shift at least. I just didn't envision an Intrepid followed by a 300M followed by a Concord....
By the way, having owned a '98 Intrepid before my 2000 300M, I can objectively state that the Intrepid is a beautiful car. However, since 1998 they have offered lower-priced models and the Intrepid is now, unfortunately, a commonplace fleet vehicle. One of the things I love about the M is that I don't see another one every day. I see lots of Intrepids, some of them with unrepaired body damage. I think that generally there is a bit more pride of ownership with a 300M...and a lot more exclusivity.
thanks for the great site and the beautiful photos. Those Ms look soooo good. I wish I had been there. It must be an amazing sight seeing such a production facility and getting to share that with so many 300M lovers. And I am sure it strengthened the workers believe that they are not just producing another product but a piece of art. Well, maybe if there is another tour one day I can make it out there. Hopefully then in a beautiful 300N.
What amazed me was how on one side of the building, all of the bodywork is done including the painting of the entire exterior. Then the doors detach and go their separate way only to meet up with their exact frame later once the interior is installed. Everything matched up perfectly. Amazing.
Those were great pictures videoman, and a great synopsis of the weekend. It,s funny but I did not see one Inferno Red in the group shot. What happened? I hope all you people that attended from south of the border were treated well. I have not been to the beer store this morning to see if you all drank us dry. Was I right about how far your dollar goes up here? Wish I could have been there but the miles are too far for me. I would have loved to have the plant guys buff out my car.
You know I hear so much about his M, but the only photo I've seen of the entire car is the tiny one on the club site. I sure someone got some good photos of it. I gotta say...I love those rare black 00 M's (w/o the chrome window trim).
Ask and you shall receive. Here's some photos I took of John's car. I know I shot pics of his interior, but I can't find them. If I do I'll add that too. I'm sure one of us took a photo of it.
My Inferno Red was there in Brampton but I guess most of the picture taking was done in Detroit. During the two hour tour of the plant there wasn't one of the Reds on the line. Too bad but I guess it makes our cars a little rarer. If you won't to email me at mhicken@idirect.com with your email address I'll send you a picture of mine at the Brampton Hotel.
Great pictures videoman1. Can't wait for the rest of them.
Geez! On the pictures videoman1 posted in the fourth picture from the endat the restaurant I'm the third guy on the right hand side. I didn't know I had a bald spot on the back of my head til I saw this picture. Sighhh!!!
I was just North of 13 mile road when the club cars went by Saturday morning. They were all looking really good. The platinum (maybe silver) with racing stripe immediately caught my attention, since I had see photos of it here. I went up in the PT Cruiser this year, but maybe will take the M next year. I'm hooked on the Dream Cruise for life!
What a great weekend I really enjoyed meeting all you 300 owners.I think you impressed a lot of us who work at the plant (epically management) at the level of enthusiasm you have for your 300's. Russ even told our plant manager that if they keep removing content on the 300 they will be losing future customers. I hope they listen. John and Robert got some personal attention from some of our paint specialists .They really thought that was cool.
Well all the planning and months of preparation are now over ,and I just want to say thanks to all you 300M club memebers who made this club meet a great event.
videoman1 - captures the first pic of me, and he got my bad side.AAAAHHHHH!!!!
someone asked why Intrepid owners were at the plant, well some of Dodge guys must read this site(Hi guys ;-) )I was asked by some of them if they could come and of course I said yes. We are all a big family. So that the story. Here is a link to some of the Dodge owners pics.
Videoman: Great pix Mike!...more please! I couldn't play the video for some reason, got an error message. Otto: Great job on the tour, Jeff! Thanks! Best moment: A hand lettered sign on the assembly line that read: ALL 300Ms are Special!
Russ, when I tried to play the video from Netscape, it didn't work. Using Internet Explorer it opened up in Windows Media Player and played fine.
Cool that some Intrepid owners got in on the plant tour, too. I'm sure they're nice cars too (I had a '93 3.5L Concord, which inspired me to get my M). I always check Intrepids on the road for the R/T badge, but I see very few.
Yeah baby! They are Ractives. I like them so much I'm probably gonna change to those. Wish you, glenn, and Mike(s) (Ritchie and Sylvia) were all with us at the Cruise and plant tour. We kept saying if Don Hanesworth (new member) could drive from San Francisco (3200+ miles) with a new car, then you veteran club members could make it from San Diego. All kidding aside, we really missed having our some of our most active club members with us. Maybe next year.
The bonus if you go is, you get that real factory trained 5-star service we've always heard about. Those guys were sooooooo good to us.
someone mentioned something about protective clear covers for the headlights and turn signals? any pics of these covers and where can they be purchased----I notice some small pits on mine due to road gravel etc. --probably would be a good idea to cover them if the look is ok
Gee I met you in person and didn't think you had a good side You guys were great. Unfortunatley I missed meeting "wire2" Maybe next time. I thought it was great that the plant manager took time out of his busy schedule to come and talk to us. To me I found this very impressive. This guy has to be very busy keeping you guys in line and to take 1/2 an hour or so to talk to us was great.
Russklass- The other sign I saw along with the " All 300M's are special" was " 300M's Rock" Also how come your son was the only guy to get a 300M hat and how much have you offered him for it so far?
"Russklass- The other sign I saw along with the " All 300M's are special" was " 300M's Rock" Also how come your son was the only guy to get a 300M hat and how much have you offered him for it so far?" I guess youth has it's advantages...sigh! But wait 'till he's not looking...
Thanks, for the pictures. Sounds like you all had a great time (if there were any doubt) Maybe next time the Canadan Police will give an escort to the plant. LOL
Glad to here you won (most mods) gives me something to shoot for when East meets West. LOL Just post the next years dream cruise so I can plan early (to be out of town) on that week.
Great job! The pics were great and the commentary even better. Thanks for sharing them. I look forward to seeing the rest.
I was looking for a Candy Apple/Inferno Red 300 too! ;-))
Now I know where the REAL "5-STAR" service people are! I knew that if all the guys in Brampton were as nice and helpful as ottowrkr, that you would all have a great time there.
Thanks for the nice comments guys. I really appreciate it. I figured everyone would be chomping at the bit to see what went on during the meet so I wanted to get something up asap along with explaining the events.
Russ and Roger (and I'm sure their wives) did such a wonderful job putting the whole thing together, I figured the least I could do is put something online for the club.
I'm going to try to add the rest of the photos sometime tonight or tomorrow. I just have to make sure I have enough space on my website server. Plus I want to figure out the best way to show all these pictures.
Also, I know that many others were taking snapshots of the event and hopefully we'll see what theirs looks like soon too. I'll let you know when I get the rest online.
so whats up with that wheel ---is that used on the 2002 Concorde---hope they dont plan on using it on the M--exactly how is it constructed---is it the same weight as the M wheels---and what did you do--take a sledgehammer to that wheel just to show us the innards? Inquiring minds want to know!
Sdmike - Yes, we got the brief cases and I know that John Wyche won one of them as a door prize. That guy hit the jackpot all weekend with the super pot being an full factory buff of his car. I can't remember who won the other cases. I won a 300M club baseball cap.
Easyrider, Ottowrkr explained to me that the wheel is aluminum but the "Chrome" part is just plastic that's chrome plated and stuck onto the wheel. It's not a genuine chrome/aluminum wheel like we have now. These chrome coated wheels will be on the 300Ms. I'm not sure of the weight comparisons.
are they still going to charge $800 xtra for the fake chrome wheels? Thats enough to make me not want to buy an 03 model if I were in the market for a new M unless the didnt charge extra for the wheels. In that case I would just go out and buy a nice set of real Chromies. Those plastic chromies remind me of the hubcaps they use on the Grand Marquis---plastic hubcaps with a crome finish. They actually look pretty good, but how durable can they be. Then again those a just hubcaps and can be replaced fairly cheaply. A plastic coated aluminum wheel probably would not be so cheap to replace. No chromed exhaust and now plastic wheels---and I thought car models were supposed to get better as the years progressed--does Chrysler think the public wont notice or wont care? Big mistake to cheapen the M. Well at least it will make my 2000M more valuable in comparison.
Comments
Apparently a question came from one of the members about the "wrong" wheels on a Special on the final line. 17" all season tires on chrome rims is now an option for customers concerned about winter traction.
If you're gonna slam the 300M, then you probably will be ignored by a lot of M owners. At the same time, you won't see any of us on the Intrepid board slamming your car. We all enjoy what we drive, right?
1) The production area that we toured covers 50 acres or to put it into a different perspective; 55 N.F.L. football fields.
2)There are over 5 miles of conveyor lines used for the production.
3) A car roles of the line every 48 seconds.
4) The total man hours to build a car is 25.
5) I saw two girls eating their lunch in the back of a 300M that was on the production line during the lunch break shutdown. I hope for the new owners sake they weren't sardine sandwiches.
I love trivia
So who is it???
Anyway, as you noticed, I'm back from vacation
As for the Car carrier sounds good to me. Except I would want to drive through the Rockys. The drive from Denver to Detroit would be kind of boring. To me it is like the I5 route north of Bakersfield. to Redding, there must be only two steering wheel movements (if you are in the slow lane to pass (none if you stay in the fast lane)) required for that trip. I10 to Los Angles from Phoenix is another.
"For the CTS, a 5.7-liter V-8 producing about 400 hp is expected to be offered for the 2004 model year. Manual and automatic transmissions will be offered. "
The 400ph CTS will smoke HEMI 300N.
http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=40422
Thought the tour was good and the employees were very friendly. We hated to pull our cars out early (Tom Mills & I) but, we had a 9 hour drive ahead of us.
All in all the Woodward Cruise was an experience I,ll not forget, especially when John Wyche ran up to my car in the middle of the street and knocked on my window to ask " where I got my taillight covers". His wife said he chased me for 2 blocks.
Thank you to everyone who was involved in putting this together especially Russ Klass, Otto and Roger and Paulette. GREAT MEET.
Rick Stilp/Geezer300M
WOW! Someone is listening. I seemed to be the only one who thought it was absolutely ridiculous to buy a $30,000+ car and then, if you lived in a "snow" region, have to go out and spend hundreds more for winter tires so that you didn't kill youself! Someone in Auburn Hills wasn't thinking that day!
I know that car enthusiasts who own Camaros and Firebirds do this all the time, but NOT on a 300M "Special"! It took a while, but it makes a lot more sense now.
As for the LH cars all being built on the same line, that was reported here ages ago. Basically all the same thing. Just like Acura being a fancy Honda and Lexus being a fancy Toyota!
Glad everyone had a good time on the tour. Hope some pics will be posted soon. Anyone bring ottowrkr any Earnhardt goodies? ;-))
fastdriver
Check out the page at:
http://www.fastforwardclub.com/300M/Brampton/Rendezvous.htm
-vman
What surprised me, however, was that they didn't schedule production runs of each vehicle for a day, or a shift at least. I just didn't envision an Intrepid followed by a 300M followed by a Concord....
By the way, having owned a '98 Intrepid before my 2000 300M, I can objectively state that the Intrepid is a beautiful car. However, since 1998 they have offered lower-priced models and the Intrepid is now, unfortunately, a commonplace fleet vehicle. One of the things I love about the M is that I don't see another one every day. I see lots of Intrepids, some of them with unrepaired body damage. I think that generally there is a bit more pride of ownership with a 300M...and a lot more exclusivity.
Just my $.02...
thanks for the great site and the beautiful photos. Those Ms look soooo good. I wish I had been there. It must be an amazing sight seeing such a production facility and getting to share that with so many 300M lovers. And I am sure it strengthened the workers believe that they are not just producing another product but a piece of art. Well, maybe if there is another tour one day I can make it out there. Hopefully then in a beautiful 300N.
-vman
http://www.fastforwardclub.com/300M/Johns-ride/
-vman
Great pictures videoman1. Can't wait for the rest of them.
Sighhh!!!
Well all the planning and months of preparation are now over ,and I just want to say thanks to all you 300M club memebers who made this club meet a great event.
videoman1 - captures the first pic of me, and he got my bad side.AAAAHHHHH!!!!
someone asked why Intrepid owners were at the plant, well some of Dodge guys must read this site(Hi guys ;-) )I was asked by some of them if they could come and of course I said yes. We are all a big family. So that the story. Here is a link to some of the Dodge owners pics.
http://www.dodgeintrepid.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=109807#post109807
http://www.fastforwardclub.com/300M/Brampton/president-message.wmv
-vman
Otto: Great job on the tour, Jeff! Thanks!
Best moment: A hand lettered sign on the assembly line that read: ALL 300Ms are Special!
Cool that some Intrepid owners got in on the plant tour, too. I'm sure they're nice cars too (I had a '93 3.5L Concord, which inspired me to get my M). I always check Intrepids on the road for the R/T badge, but I see very few.
The bonus if you go is, you get that real factory trained 5-star service we've always heard about. Those guys were sooooooo good to us.
http://www.autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=332
I thought it was great that the plant manager took time out of his busy schedule to come and talk to us. To me I found this very impressive. This guy has to be very busy keeping you guys in line and to take 1/2 an hour or so to talk to us was great.
Russklass- The other sign I saw along with the " All 300M's are special" was " 300M's Rock"
Also how come your son was the only guy to get a 300M hat and how much have you offered him for it so far?
Also how come your son was the only guy to get a 300M hat and how much have you offered him for it so far?"
I guess youth has it's advantages...sigh!
But wait 'till he's not looking...
My buddy AIRBAG BOB wrote those signs.Just for you guys.
Great job! The pics were great and the commentary even better. Thanks for sharing them. I look forward to seeing the rest.
I was looking for a Candy Apple/Inferno Red 300 too! ;-))
Now I know where the REAL "5-STAR" service people are! I knew that if all the guys in Brampton were as nice and helpful as ottowrkr, that you would all have a great time there.
fastdriver
Russ and Roger (and I'm sure their wives) did such a wonderful job putting the whole thing together, I figured the least I could do is put something online for the club.
I'm going to try to add the rest of the photos sometime tonight or tomorrow. I just have to make sure I have enough space on my website server. Plus I want to figure out the best way to show all these pictures.
Also, I know that many others were taking snapshots of the event and hopefully we'll see what theirs looks like soon too. I'll let you know when I get the rest online.
-vman
Easyrider, Ottowrkr explained to me that the wheel is aluminum but the "Chrome" part is just plastic that's chrome plated and stuck onto the wheel. It's not a genuine chrome/aluminum wheel like we have now. These chrome coated wheels will be on the 300Ms. I'm not sure of the weight comparisons.
-vman