Alliance Has Chrysler Brand Playing to Hip-Hop Crowd

Posted 11/5/04 2:08 p.m. CST

By Kevin Schweitzer
cars.com

LAS VEGAS — Mopar, DaimlerChrysler's performance-product brand, announced this week that it will unveil a line of vehicle accessories in conjunction with Dub, an automotive customizing and lifestyle magazine that plays to the urban hip-hop crowd.


Dub put scissor doors on a Chrysler 300C as part of a Mopar exhibit at the 2004 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

"It's a pretty radical move for Mopar to offer a line of flashy products," said B.J. Birtwell, DaimlerChrysler youth marketing manager, at the Specialty Equipment Market Association Show, where the line was unveiled.

The line will focus on appearance products such as grille inserts, floormats, exhaust tips and even a replacement timepiece for the 300C made by Jacob Arabo, known to celebrities as "Jacob the Jeweler" and "the king of bling-bling."

"You can get it diamond-encrusted or non-diamond encrusted," Birtwell said.

Birtwell said the somewhat unlikely partners gravitated toward each, conceiving of the accessory line by mutual consensus, when both companies noticed that the Dodge Magnum and Chrysler 300C appealed to much the same audience as Dub magazine.

"We said, 'The 300 and Magnum are really hot right now. We need to connect with that market,'" Birtwell said.

One of Dub's flashiest ideas will not be available to the public. Dub put scissor doors on a 300C and a Magnum as part of the Mopar exhibit. They were two of innumerable vehicles on display at SEMA that were prepared by Dub or carried Dub logos.

The Dub accessories will be available in 2005. Prices have not been announced yet.

On the technical side, Mopar also unveiled a crate Hemi engine for customizers. The 540 Hemi, named for its size in cubic inches, will generate 720 horsepower.