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Plymouth Pronto Spyder Feted by Designers Society

15 May 1998

Plymouth Pronto Spyder Feted by Designers Society

    AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 15 -- The Plymouth Pronto Spyder,
introduced by Chrysler Corporation at the 1998 North American
International Auto Show in Detroit, has won the highest award bestowed by the
Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).
    Chrysler was one of two automotive companies to win the 1998 Industrial
Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) Gold Award and the only automotive company to
win two awards for car design.  The 1998 Chrysler Concorde was given a Bronze
Award.  Of the 1,031 entries, 33 won gold, 34 won silver and 59 bronze.
Categories ranged from computers to furniture to museum exhibits.
    In the last five years, Chrysler has won 8 IDSA awards, more than any
other automotive company.
    "The Pronto Spyder goes beyond being a very attractive sports roadster,"
said IDSA's Gerhard Steinle, a juror for automotive design.  "It quite
possibly could be a new milestone in the history of the automobile."
    The concept car explores the use of a lightweight, low cost plastic body
-- one that is potentially much lighter and less expensive to make than
vehicles made of conventional steel.  If the process works, it would
revolutionize the way cars and trucks are made.  The material being
researched, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), is nearly 100 percent recyclable
and may eliminate the need for a paint shop because the color would be added
while the car body is being molded.
    IDEA has become the world's most prestigious recognition for excellence in
the profession responsible for the form, use features and interactive
qualities of products, exhibits and software.

SOURCE  Chrysler Corporation