Now It Can Be Told: Part 2 of 2; The inside story behind the stunning Chrysler supercar that's ambushing the other guys at the Detroit show.

Byline: KEVIN A. WILSON

As long as Creed has the floor, let's look at the design. Tom Tremont, vp for advanced product design strategy, oversaw the project. With concept cars already in the works for this year's show, and that desire to keep the lid down on the project, choosing a designer had to be done judiciously. The studios were charged with an "exercise'' that was presented as a loosening-up program, just to flex the designers a bit by asking them to sketch a supercar concept for Chrysler.

"At first mention, this challenge was met with a blank stare,'' admits Creed. "We don't have anything in our history to draw on for this. It was a real challenge.''

From a slew of sketches, one stood out. Brian Nielander had penned a forward-leaning design that looked like it was in motion even on paper. It was fresh, and "something about it said Chrysler.'' It didn't have anywhere near enough cooling and ventilation openings in it, but the engineers saw where these could be worked into the bodywork without damaging the theme.

"Rather than do cooling as an afterthought,'' says Bernhard, "we built it in from day one. Two-thirds of the energy in gasoline that you pump into the engine has to get out of the car through the cooling system.'' Incorporating what Bernhard calls the "highest-capacity cooling module in the supercar business-this was not negotiable with our suppliers at AMG'' was just the beginning of engineering influences on the shape. Another was the rigid discipline to achieve the 1300-kg (2860-pound) weight target, putting the ME412 at 3.4 pounds per hp (the Enzo is at 4.2, published figures on the Bugatti Veyron work out to 4.1, the McLaren F1 was at 3.9).

Then there's aero. The computers say the ME412 has a 0.358 Cd minimum, with negative lift at both ends. There's 34.5 pounds of downforce at 65 mph, 737 pounds at 186 mph. A spoiler at the tail moves backward 100 mm and raises up 10 mm as speed climbs to 200 mph, then flattens out again to reduce drag and help the car hit its 240-mph top-speed target.

The designer also was required to incorporate 39 inches of headroom, with the objective of being the only supercar that will allow really tall people to fit easily into the cockpit. The wheelbase is 110 inches, nearly six inches longer than an Enzo's and two inches longer than the Zonda's. The ME412 is 44.9 inches tall, 178 inches long and 78.7 inches wide.