How The Chrysler PT Cruiser Got Its Name

Jalopnik readers of a certain age will remember that around the turn of the 21st century, U.S. car buyers were positively crazed for vehicles with retro styling. Consider the Plymouth Prowler, Chevrolet SSR, Ford Thunderbird, and the New Beetle – which Volkswagen assures us isn't coming back — just to name a few. Arguably, though, the most prolific retro car was the PT Cruiser, which sold more than 1.3 million units worldwide during its 10-year production run. 

The PT Cruiser was developed at a pivotal time in the automotive industry. The popularity of minivans was waning, but crossover SUVs had yet to dominate the marketplace. The PT Cruiser's boxy wagon body style — set atop Dodge Neon underpinnings — sort of bridged that gap between compactness and the ability to haul people and cargo. At the same time, Chrysler corporation sought to invigorate a sagging Plymouth nameplate. So, in 1999, the world was introduced to the Plymouth Pronto Cruizer concept car.

By the time the production vehicle was ready for sale, two things happened. Chrysler, in the midst of a merger with Germany's Daimler-Benz, decided to axe the Plymouth brand sooner than later. As a result, the mini-minivan became a Chrysler model, named the PT Cruiser instead of Pronto Cruiser. According to a MotorTrend retrospective, Chrysler claimed that PT was short for Personal Transport, but dissenting opinions exist over that simple explanation.

One of the key players behind the PT Cruiser was Chrysler engineer Chris Theodore. In an email exchange following a 2012 interview shared on the AllPar forum, Theodore explains that Chrysler's internal code for the model year 2000 Neon on which the PT Cruiser was based was PL. When the order came for a tall version of that platform, it was internally coded PT — short for P Tall. Theodore explained, "Some people tried to add meaning to the PT, after the fact, for 'Personal Transport,' but that never stuck." 

In some far-flung corners of the internet, it's even been suggested that PT stands for Plymouth Truck, which is perhaps the least credible theory. 

Nowadays, the PT Cruiser might be considered something of a bad punchline, but when these little wagons first hit the market, there was a serious buzz. Dealerships added substantial surcharges and sold the then-hot PT Cruiser at well above full sticker price. Competing brands were left flat-footed until Chevrolet introduced its copycat HHR in 2005 as a 2006 model. It's no coincidence that the HHR was conceptualized by the same designer, Bryan Nesbitt, as the PT Cruiser.

The initial degree of PT hoopla was short-lived, but Chrysler kept buyers engaged with a turbocharged version called the PT Cruiser GT in 2003. For the 2005 model year, some PT Cruisers lost a pair of doors and their tops when a convertible version hit the market. That's not to mention a plethora of special editions featuring fake woodgrain, flames, and a Route 66 motif. So there you have it — the origin of the PT Cruiser name, just as clear as mud.