MOPAR TO THEM: CHRYSLER FANS GATHER.

Byline: Erik Nelson Staff Writer

Ken Sobel of Encino came to Woodley Avenue Park on Saturday to remind people that in the 1930s, not all hoods were found on the front of a Chrysler.

Sporting a black fedora, tailored black pinstriped three-piece suit and a white tie with a stickpin, he showed a visitor to this weekend's Chrysler Performance West Spring Fling 2000 his fully operable 1934 black four-door Dodge.

He also showed what it's like to stare down the barrel of a reconstructed, but inoperable, 1921 Thompson submachine gun.

For 9-year-old Andrew Greenwood of San Jose, the oddity was not that a 55-year-old man would dress up like a gangster of eight decades ago.

``This one here,'' Andrew said, pointing to the square-backed Dodge. ``It opens from the back of the door and not from the front.''

Sure enough, the Dodge does sport doors that swing open from back hinges, prompting Andrew's grandfather, Ben Greenwood of San Jose, to note, ``They're called suicide doors'' because of the danger of an open door knocking into someone - a bank robber perhaps - attempting to get out of the still-moving vehicle.

Gone are the days when the Chrysler Corp. stamped ``Dodge Brothers'' on hoods, however.

Today the company, which is not affiliated with the CPW Club that puts on the show, is a part of the multinational corporation Daimler-Chrysler, based in Berlin. But it is still just Mopar to enthusiasts.

The fact that the carmaker was bought up last year by the company that makes Mercedes is not a problem in the eyes of Julius Steuer, treasurer of the club.

``Because Mercedes is more performance-oriented than Chrysler, it's actually helped,'' Steuer said. ``It's actually improved the performance line of parts that are available.''

He added that for the first time since the late 1970s, Chrysler is planning next year to sponsor teams on the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing circuit.

That should be a big boost to Chrysler aficionados, who, unlike the more numerous Ford and Chevy fans, must work a little harder to find Chrysler-made Mopar parts, not to mention respect.

The club's car show chairman, Troy Bray, soberly insisted that ``the Chrysler person is 10 times more devoted than (owners of) the Fords, the Chevys.''

That prompted Steuer to amplify, with a grin: ``Any person can own a Chevy or a Ford, but it takes a real man to own a Mopar.''

Saturday's 14th annual Spring Fling car show attracted about 550 Chrysler-made vehicles, most of them muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s such as Plymouth Barracudas and Dodge Challengers.

Chrysler lent a corporate presence to the show this year by bringing over one of its new 2001 PT Cruisers.

The silver vehicle, vaguely resembling a very small sport-utility vehicle and priced at about $21,000 fully loaded, had club members doing more cooing than clucking, admiring the vehicle's rounded lines and throwback style.

``It's somewhat retro to the '40s and '50s,'' said Dan Rupp, Daimler- Chrysler technical information manager for the Los Angeles zone. ``The idea was to fit into a new market segment. It's not a minivan, it's not an SUV.

``You gonna do a panel?'' asked Steve Terry, president of the Sonoma County-based Wine Country Mopar.

Yes, Rupp said, the company will be making a model that looks more like a truck, with no windows in the back.

``When can I order one of those?'' Terry wanted to know.

The show, which features everything from Joe Borja's 1949 Dodge pickup for sale for $5,500 to the missile-launching 1966 Chrysler Imperial used by the television crime fighter Green Hornet, continues today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contest judging, which includes a model car category for children, will begin at 11 a.m.