2005 Chrysler Crossfire Roadster

In the car-a-minute culture of the 21st century, it is rare to find one that gives pause. Automakers will race a car into production, through the get-to-know-yous and onto the laps of a public that scarcely understand what it is or why it's something they should buy. Five years later - or maybe three - the car is gone in a maelstrom of marketing, replaced by a vehicle that looks nothing like its predecessor yet has the same name.

And so it goes. Nowadays, it is rare to find a vehicle that deserves the honor of even a die-cast salute, which is quite probably why makers of die-cast statuettes continue to make their livings in the 50s and 60s.

There just aren't that many current model cars out there worth preserving, even as a 1/16th model scale.

Except maybe the 2005 Chrysler Crossfire. With its Mercedes' guts and Bugatti-inspired American design, the Crossfire looks nothing like what it is: a compromise car between two very different automotive companies, a merging of sorts between two cultures.