Chrysler Cirrus

Not to be confused with Cirrus.

The Chrysler Cirrus is a mid-size 4-door entry-level luxury sedan, marketed by Chrysler in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil from 1995 to 2000.

The Cirrus and related JA platform models, the Dodge Stratus and the Plymouth Breeze, were known collectively as the "Cloud Cars" because their names referenced meteorological terms (cirrus, breeze, stratus).

The Cirrus was Motor Trend magazine's Car of the Year for 1995 and on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for 1996 and 1997.

Design

Originally, the Cirrus was a concept car and debuted at the 1992 North American International Auto Show.

Three years later, Chrysler transferred the name Cirrus to the variant of the new midsize JA platform which replaced the LeBaron.

The Cirrus used Chrysler's then-new "cab-forward" design. "Cab-forward" was achieved by pushing the wheels to the corners of the car and brought the windshield's touchdown point near the centerline of the front wheels. By doing this, interior cabin space was greatly amplified.

In keeping with the sports/luxury image, the Cirrus standard features included twin-post, rear-view mirrors, fog lights integrated into the front bumper, chrome front and rear bumper trim, and a chrome (sometimes body-colored) vertical grille.

Market positioning

The Cirrus was marketed by Chrysler as the premium brand in the "cloud cars" trio. It was commonly advertised as the top-of-the-line, leather-trimmed LXi form, which had a Mitsubishi-sourced 2.5-litre V6 engine.

An entry-level LX model was offered, as a Plymouth variant of the JA was not originally planned. Ultimately, Plymouth did get the Breeze in 1996, but the Cirrus continued to be offered as an LX through 1997.

Trim levels

From 1995 to 1997, the Cirrus came in two trim levels: the entry-level LX and the luxury LXi.

For 1998, the LX model was dropped, but returned in 2000 to compensate for the Plymouth Breeze which was discontinued mid-way through the 2000 model year.