More pictures after the jump, here:We just received a slew of spy shots from Rob, an avid Autoblog reader who fortunately has a Sony Clie equipped with a 1.2 megapixel camera on him at all times. Rob caught these pics of the Dodge Nitro lighly camouflaged in Bloomfield Hills near DCX HQ. He also attempted to street race the Nitro in his 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport and was kind enough to document the experience for us.
Notice the wheels on this Nitro compared to the ones in the concept Nitro we snapped at the Frankfurt Auto Show. They're the exact same wheels, although apparently powder-coated black on the test vehicle. Can't say if that's just for discretion out on the streets of Detroit or it implies this is an SRT version of the Nitro being tested. Rob does comment on the explosive power of the vehicle while he was pursuing it for pics. Either way, the production model is shaping up to be the spitting image of the concept.
Rob's own words on shooting the Dodge Nitro…
”It was intense. There she was, cruising down Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan doing 10 over. I quickly scrambled for my Sony Clie with a 1.2 megapixal camera, almost swerving into the Toyota Prius next to me. Not that hitting it would have affected me or deterred me from the objective at hand.
The driver made a quick right onto Square Lake Road heading towards the I-75 expressway. There we were, face to face, stopped at the red just before entering 70mph land. I turned off the A/C to get extra power to the engine. Green hit and he took off like like the Discovery (minus the week delay).
Anyway, I’ll cut to the chase since it’s 5:19pm and I want to get out of the office. The guy was going 80 down the expressway, knowing that I was snapping shots. We both dove to the University Road Exit. Took a few last shops before he drove into the DaimlerChrysler headquarters through the secret gate.
The car was fast. Real fast. Especially compared to my 2001 V-6 Jeep Cherokee Sport.”
http://www.autoblog.com/2005/09/19/reader-spy-shots-dodge-nitro/
