The Morning Call and Mcall.com's view

It’s been so easy for the media to dump on Chrysler.

After years of goodwill with the automotive press, the company was taken over by Daimler and all was wrong with the world. Suddenly, Chrysler, now DaimlerChrysler, wasn’t the media darling it had been. Even its hugely successful PT Cruiser got bashed for the shortness of inventory at most dealers.

Is it fair?

Maybe. A ride in the Chrysler Sebring Convertible for a week neatly summed up the the situation the company currently faces.

I thoroughly enjoyed the four-door sedan version of the Sebring. For modest everyday driving and the thousand trips to the supermarket, soccer practice and the office, this moderately-priced sedan seemed conservative, handsome and had a modicum of handling. The convertible, despite having two fewer doors, is based on the same platform, while the Sebring coupe is based on Mitsubishi components. That means that rather than looking and driving like the coupe, the convertible looks and drives like the sedan.

Does the newest version reinforce the Sebring’s status as America’s best-selling convertible?

It comes in three trim levels, stripped-down LX, mid-level LXI and fully-loaded Limited. DaimlerChrysler supplied the Limited for the test drive.

The styling still retains the flashy look the previous Sebring was known for. Its crisp lines, with an egg-shape grille up front and just the right amount of chrome out back, lends the Sebring a classy look. The Limited test car’s blue sheet metal with coordinating blue top is striking when not in use, moreso with the top down. Then the cream-colored leather interior and linear dash show off to good effect, turning heads wherever it’s driven.

The cloth top (base model gets a vinyl top) is lined and features a glass rear window with defogger, something the engineers at BMW still haven’t managed to figure out on their convertibles. They still rely on plastic. Putting the top down was a snap. Unlatch two handles up front and hold a button. Voila. As your spirit soars, all four windows sink as does the top.

The conservative dashboard features fake wood trim and easy-to-use rotary knobs for the climate control. The top-of-the-line Infinity sound system provided good sound, although it lacked speed-compensated volume, something other manufacturers offer on convertibles. (As the wind rush increases, so does the volume on the radio.) The four-CD changer is in-dash, but it’s buried at the bottom of the center stack behind the cupholders. To change a CD you’ll have to empty the cupholders before emptying the changer. The center console box holds CDs plus has room for extra items, including change. It doesn’t lock. An engine immobiler is standard on LXI and Limited models, important when parking with the top down.

The instrument cluster is easy to read and expertly designed. The art-deco styled instruments are a pleasant detail. The quality of materia ls is a little brittle, especially considering the car’s price. It lacked the over-the-top luxury feel the interior was trying to put across.

The front bucket seats are roomy and comfortable, with good support. They lack side bolstering, but that’s a nit. Back seat room is excellent in this class, trumping rivals like the Toyota Solara and BMW 3-Series. Ditto on trunk space, which seems larger than its 11-cubic-foot measure.

So this car looks the part. It easily survives its transformation into a hollywood star. How does it perform?

This is where the car falters a bit.

Under the hood is Chrysler’s 2.7-liter double-overhead-cam 24-valve V-6. It’s good for 200 horsepower, much better than the old 2.5-liter engine from Mitsubishi. It’s relatively quiet and does a commendable job of moving the car with some authority.

Standard on the Limited is the AutoStick 4-speed automatic transmission; a manual is unavailable. The Auto Stick allows manual tion of gears, allowing the driver to take better advantage of the car’s power. When left in drive, the car hesitates to downshift and occasionally clunks.

While the handling is adequate for sedan use, it doesn’t work as well on the convertible, where a little more sportiness is called for. The suspension still leans too much in corners. A moderate drive around the block will reveal a pleasant car. But take it out on some of Uncle Sam’s crumbling highways, and you’ll find a car that doesn’t always absorb impacts as well as it should, topping out easily. A ride along Interstate 95 made the car start to pogo up and down so easily, I was ready for Dramamine.

So the car, while even more attractive and boasting more power, still doesn’t have quite the handling moxie that its stunning looks suggest. Still, there are few cars on the market that offer the passenger space and cargo space along with the Chrysler’s classic style.

What will help the Sebring Convertible retain its best-seller title for now is a bit more money spent on handling and build quality – it would go a long way.

But that’s always been the problem with Chrysler. So while the car gets praise, it also gets dumped on.

And so it is with DaimlerChrysler.

Is it fair?

Yes.