A Very Special Dodge Dart

AUBURN HILLS (WWJ) - Chrysler is "Moparizing" the Dodge Dart compact car. They have chosen the new compact to be highlighted as the "Mopar 13", a limited edition vehicle, customized with specialty equipment from Chrysler's Mopar parts division.

"It's a great way for us to highlight the Mopar accessories that we provide to our customers, and put them on a package specifically from us," said Mark Trostle, who heads the design team at Mopar and for Chrysler's SRT performance division.

One vehicle is chosen each year to get the special Mopar treatment. In past years, Chrysler has highlighted the Dodge Challenger and Charger and Chrysler 300 big car. This is the first time that Chrysler has chosen a compact car for this special treatment.

"The Dart, obviously being the freshest vehicle in our lineup, we thought it was great," said Trostle. "We have so many Mopar accessories available for the Dart, we thought it was great to highlight those."

The Mopar 13 will be powered by a 1.4-liter MultiAir® intercooled turbo engine with a manual transmission. Like other Mopar inspired vehicles, it will have a gloss back-finish, with a pair of blue racing stripes.

Accessories added to the vehicle include a customized suspension, unique grill, and a custom Mopar Blue leather seat with black accents.

"Our new Mopar '13 Dart will turn heads and stand out from the crowd," said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group's service, parts and customer-care brand. "For this special, limited-edition vehicle, we specifically kept the driver in mind as we added select Mopar parts and accessories."

Chrysler will only make 500 copies of the Mopar 13, to keep the vehicle very exclusive.

"The Mopar Nation is very passionate," said designer Mark Trostle. "They look at these as collectors vehicles. For us to keep the numbers lower, y'know, it makes these vehicles more special."