Motor City - Saved by a government bailout for the second time by holding its employees hostage for a second time, the buzz around Capitol Hill is that Chrysler won over President Barack Obama with new concept car design they call: "The Obama-Mobile".
"Actually, we called it the 'Homer-Mobile' all the while we were working on it," said Albert Richards, a Chrysler engineer who worked on the project. "We called it that after the 'The Simpsons ' episode where Homer Simpson is put in charge of designing the every-man dream car for his long lost bother who's an automobile executive."
Chrysler executives, however, changed the name to the "Obama-Mobile" for obvious reasons.
"That's why we called the 'Homer-Mobile', because the suits started sending us e-mails with suggestions they picked up from Obama," said Richards.
President Barack Obama was unaware that the Chrysler executives were picking his brains at the time and he was only presented the concept car that they named after him, after the prototype was completed and presented to him.
"They picked up Obama at the White House in the prototype car late last night and drove him directly to a local Chrysler dealership," said Richards. "Then they turned up the heat on him, setting loose the country's best Closer [top salesman] on him. Poor guy, he never stood a chance."
According to Richards, Obama was placed into a small room without air-conditioning, windows or a phone. And given a small Styrofoam cup halfway filled with water, while his Secret Service agents were kept busy on the showroom floor.
"Mr. Cool not only lost his cool, but his cherry too," said Richards. As Obama began to sweat, repeatedly wiping his forehead under the pressure of the high-pitched sales tactics of the Closer.
Reportedly, Obama asked if he could leave or call his wife for her advice dozens of times, but the Closer ignored his request, teasing him instead, telling him that he was the only leader of the free world that he knew that was henpecked.
When the Closer started making a whipping sound, motioning his hand back and forth, Obama finally gave in and signed the papers, buying not only the concept car but the Chrysler Corporation as well.
"That whipping sound never fails," said Richards. "It gets them every time."
