2009 – The Year We Lost PT Cruiser & Ricardo Montalban
Chrysler departed from 2008 with financial troubles and has entered 2009 with some more personal loss. First came today’s news that after this model year, almost-decade old PT Cruiser will be cut from the Pentastar’s line-up. Second, and most sad, Mr. Corinthian Leather himself Ricardo Montalban is Dead at 88.
Ricardo Montalban, star of such classic television and film features Fantasy Island and Star Trek, passed away in his Los Angeles home of natural causes. He was 88. Yes friends, all these years you thought Ricardo was dead the man was actually alive…until now. According to the New York Times – “Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalban y Merino was born in Mexico City on Nov. 25, 1920, and moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to live with his older brother Carlos, who was pursuing a career in show business. The brothers traveled to New York in 1940, and Ricardo landed a bit part in “Her Cardboard Lover,” a play starring Tallulah Bankhead. The next year Montalban returned to Mexico, where his mother was dying. He made a dozen Spanish-language films in Mexico, becoming a star.”
We honor Mr. Montalban with a classic mash-up of his clips from science fiction classic Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan:
And in a turn of events everyone in the auto industry was waiting for, Chrysler announced they will end their run of the PT Cruiser.
Also up for grabs is equipment used to make the model, being sold off like used parts on someone’s eBay page. The almost-decade old PT saw a moderately successful run in its time, even without major upgrades to design and interior.
Ricardo Montalban must have been a contender for Lady’s Man of the year at least a few times during his lifetime
Jan 15th, 2009 at 8:20 am
[...] week we lost the man Chrysler knew as Mr. “Soft Corinthian Leather” – Ricardo Montalban. In tribute we present the best Khan mash-up we could find on [...]