The Dodge Avenger/Chrysler Sebring twins tend to take some heat for their controversial design, but it only goes to show that beauty (or a lack thereof) is just skin deep. Underneath the oft-lamented bodywork of each car is a chassis good enough to see the cars declared a "Top Safety Pick" by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
"We are proud to receive the highest possible ratings from IIHS for the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger," said Scott Kunselman, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Chrysler. "These sought-after achievements highlight Chrysler's leadership in safety and security technology and occupant protection."
To garner the "Top Pick" rating, Chrysler fitted the Sebring and Avenger with stability and traction control, ABS and brake assist, active head rests, LATCH child safety seat mount points, front, side and side-curtain airbags, and more.
"A vehicle that earns the Top Safety Pick designation provides the best overall protection in the three most common kinds of crashes," said Adrian Lund, President of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Top-level crash-test performance plus electronic stability control to help keep drivers out of crashes are the tough criteria needed to earn this award."
Source: Chrysler
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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