THE CHRYSLER ME FOUR TWELVE(PART 2)

In 2004, prototypes were being tested; top speed appeared to be 240 mph with quarter mile times of 10.6 seconds at 136 mph. When AutoWeek test drove it in August 2004, they found numerous differences in the prototype. It used the double-clutch automatically-controlled manual transmission designed and patented by Chrysler, with manual overrides via steering wheel paddles.

One shortcoming of the ME-412 is that it easily beat the expensive Mercedes SLR, which was years in the making, costing Mercedes a large sum of development money, especially when compared to Chrysler's ME4-12. Dieter reportedly was screamed at for this, and it may even have been one of the reasons why Wolfgang Bernhard was "de-selected" from the Mercedes-head job.

In early 2005, we received reports that the ME-412 had been cancelled entirely. In August 2005, we learned that Eckhard Cordes was leaving, along with Juergen Schrempp, and that Dieter Zetsche is replacing them; newspapers reported that the ME-412 had once again gone “under active consideration.”