{"id":34615,"date":"2025-06-12T10:51:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T14:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34615"},"modified":"2025-06-12T10:51:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T14:51:35","slug":"payne-1925-chrysler-six-vs-2025-chrysler-pacifica-hybrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/payne-1925-chrysler-six-vs-2025-chrysler-pacifica-hybrid","title":{"rendered":"Payne: 1925 Chrysler Six vs. 2025 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Belle<\/em><\/p>\n

Belle Isle – At its 100th anniversary display for media, Chrysler showed off (from left) the 1924 Six prototype, Halcyon Concept, and 2025 Chrysler Pacifica.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n

Belle Isle<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Happy 100th<\/sup>\u00a0birthday, Chrysler, you\u2019ve given\u00a0us<\/em>\u00a0the gift of many memorable automobiles over the years.<\/p>\n

Over a century not much \u2014 and yet everything \u2014 has changed.<\/p>\n

As in 1925 with its Six (and sister Four) models, Chrysler today offers two 2025 vehicles for the U.S. market: the Pacifica and Voyager minivans. Following in the footsteps of its Six, Pacifica is an innovative family vehicle, bears a winged logo, rides on four air-tube tires and burns gasoline. Those fundamentals aside, a test drive of the two Chrysler icons reveals just how much autos have evolved after a century of innovation.<\/p>\n

Speed<\/h2>\n

I tested the 2025 Pacifica plug-in Hybrid and the 1924 Six B-70 (the prototype for the \u201925 production car) at the brand’s 100th<\/sup>\u00a0birthday bash at the Detroit Yacht Club last week. I rode both at 35 mph around Belle Isle\u2019s perimeter road (behind the wheel of the Pacifica; riding shotgun in the Six with an expert driver, Neal).<\/p>\n

That\u2019s slow by Pacifica standards, and just about right for the Six.<\/p>\n

\"Belle<\/figure>\n
\n
Belle Isle – The 1925 Chrysler Six (this is the 1924 prototype for the production model) was one of two models made by Chrysler – the other was the similar Four with a four-cylinder engine.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t have wanted to go much faster than that on the roads they had back in the day,\u201d laughed Chrysler historian Brandt Rosenbusch. No wonder the Six had a big, Jeep-like spare hanging out the back (the Pacifica comes standard with a tire repair kit). The Six wasn\u2019t slow for its day. Indeed, its smooth, 3.3-liter inline-6 (thus the Six moniker. The Four was powered, natch, by a four-cylinder engine) was prized for its pace \u2014 so much so that Chrysler advertised its impressive-for-the-time 70 mph top speed with the B-70 badge.<\/p>\n

Had that tradition continued, Chrysler\u2019s fire-breathing, 173-mph, 435-horsepower, V8-powered 2005 sedan would have been called the B-173 instead of the 300C SRT8.<\/p>\n

The Pacifica is a rocket ship compared to the Six B-70 with a top speed of 106 mph and a 0-60 mph dash of 7.3 seconds. Zero-to-60 mph in the Six?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone has ever asked that,\u201d laughed Rosenbusch. \u201cProbably a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
\n
The 2025 Chrysler Pacifica e-Hybrid is one of two vehicles made by Chrysler today – the other is the similar Voyager minivan.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

Operation<\/h2>\n

It takes a minute and several steps to start the Chrysler Six:<\/p>\n

1) Depress the clutch pedal with your left foot.<\/p>\n

2) Turn on the ignition to activate the six-volt battery.<\/p>\n

3) Pull out the choke (if the engine is cold) to add fuel to the carburetor.<\/p>\n

4) Push the starter button on the floor with your right foot.<\/p>\n

5) If the Six struggles to fire, maintain pressure on the starter button with your right toes and goose the accelerator pedal (actually a button on the floor next to the starter button) with your right heel.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
\n
The 1925 Chrysler Six was a convertible – but curtains could be ordered to help keep out the wind and cold.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

VROOM! You\u2019re ready to go. The 2025 Pacifica is as simple as pushing a dash button \u2014 its 12-volt battery turning over the starter motor.<\/p>\n

Ah, how spoiled we\u2019ve become. Remember clutch pedals?<\/p>\n

Manual transmissions have largely been relegated (performance cars aside) to the ash heap of history. Since it first appeared as a three-row SUV from 2004-08 (evolving into a minivan in 2017), Pacifica has\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0been operated by a stick.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
\n
The 2025 Chrysler Pacifica e-Hybrid’s posh interior includes reclining seats and twin digital displays, among features hard to imagine a century ago.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

But a three-speed manual is all you got in the \u201825 Six. Its steering wheel looks oddly modern with its center-mounted horn and what appear to be a pair of shift paddles hanging off the sides. They aren\u2019t shift paddles, though. The right paddle acts as a sort of cruise control (\u201c20 mph was a good speed,\u201d smiled Rosenbusch). The left paddle? It was used to advance the spark plug timing if the engine ran rough.<\/p>\n