If you follow the business section of the paper – or the general automotive press for that matter – then you probably know that the much-ballyhooed honeymoon between Chrysler and Daimler-Benz has pretty much come to an abrupt end. A combination of decreased sales, surplus inventory and deep retail price cuts to remain competitive in the marketplace have caused Chrysler to predict a whopping $2 billion loss for this year. That’s right, billion with a “B”. Needless to say, the boys in Stuttgart are not amused.
The board at Daimler, led by Jurgen Schrempp, responded pretty quickly by lopping off a few key heads near the top, one of which being Chrysler president Jim Holden. At this point, you may be wondering what this has to do with the price of Porsches in Peoria? Well, I’ll tell you. I recently had a conversation with one of the top people in Chrysler’s marketing division. He told me that due to a combination of Chrysler’s yearly losses and its tremendous financial commitment to starting a factory NASCAR program (reputed to be $18 million at startup and a remarkable $20-30 million/year to operate), Chrysler was terminating all of its sponsorship and support of vintage racing except for those deals which it was already contractually obligated to for 2001. Turn out the lights, Jurgen, the party’s over.
If you think about it for a moment, the significance of this development is pretty profound. Historically, Chrysler was the first – and to date only – major corporation to support vintage racing on a truly widespread, international basis. In addition to major, big-dollar sponsorships of events like the Monterey Historics, Goodwood Festival of Speed, Lime Rock Fall Festival and the Louis Vuitton Concours, Chrysler has also invested a tremendous amount of money to support individual club-level events and historic racing organizations around the world. For the last ten years, Chrysler has been probably the largest and most consistent benefactor in the vintage racing world. The big question that immediately stems from all this is whether Chrysler’s withdrawal will have a significant effect on the future of vintage racing? Auburn Hills giveth… and Auburn Hills taketh away.
Because Chrysler has invested so much – and quite frankly benefited so much – from its association with events like the Monterey Historics and the Goodwood Festival, it appears likely that its involvement in those events will continue, but perhaps on a scaled-back level. Unfortunately, the folks who will suffer the most are the race clubs who have, rightly or wrongly, become dependent on their annual Chrysler sponsorship money to make the proverbial “monthly nut.” I know of at least a couple of clubs that are having to scramble to figure out how they are going to offer the same level of events and services with an estimated 10-25% less income next year. Can you say cold turkey?
Is there a silver lining here? Of sorts. Whether or not you agree with the increase in growth and popularity that vintage racing has enjoyed over the last decade, Chrysler’s financial involvement has certainly raised the image and exposure of the sport to a point where, hopefully, other major corporations will recognize the benefit of participation. So who will be vintage racing’s next big patron? Well, it probably won’t be a “dot com” or high tech company – they’ve had a much worse year than Chrysler has. Ford and especially GM are possible candidates, but the same financial pressures that are affecting Chrysler are probably also being felt in Dearborn and Detroit. In reality, the companies that would likely benefit the most would be the luxury goods manufacturers, who would like to have the attention of vintage racing’s predominantly upscale audience. Could there be a Sony Monterey Historics? A Sprite/Mini Challenge brought to you by your good friends at Louis Vuitton? Only time will tell.
It seems a little ironic that while CART and F1 deal with the looming disappearance of tobacco money, vintage racing is forced to come to grips with the disappearance of Chrysler involvement. Regardless of the outcome, you have to tip your hat to Chrysler… its been a friend of vintage racing for a very long time.
