As a movie, “Sunset Boulevard” was the comeback vehicle for actress Gloria Swanson.  In the movie, she played a faded star who dreamed of a comeback, but was actually living in a fantasy world of her own creation, a semblance of what it had been when she was truly great.

Into this comes the Sunset Boulevard Edition of the Chrysler PT Cruiser, a limited edition of only 500 vehicles ostensibly commemorating the Woodward Dream Cruise.

This is the “new” Chrysler?

A little extra chrome, some telegenic paint, and a $1,000 more on the sticker.  Under the hood, it’s the same weak 140 hp engine they’ve been pawning off on people since they introduced the crate.

And this is Chrysler’s idea of commemorating the Woodward Dream Cruise?

Woodward Avenue in Detroit.

That is what the Dream Cruise is about.

Woodward Avenue, in the day, was the place that the factory engineers went to play with their toys, and see if they could beat the best.  It was street fighting with cars, and sometimes with the back-door backing of a major corporation.

So, this is the “new” Chrysler.

A tape and paint job on an old crock, with a sticker price that’ll never stick.

Wow.

Those guys from Cerberus really figured it out, didn’t they?