Four years ago, the North American International Auto Show, know also as the Detroit Auto Show, looked like a desolate ghost town of a once-great American car industry. This was the height of the recession, before the auto bailouts, the Obama stimulus, or a renewed sense of purpose in the auto industry.

But 2013 marks what some might say is almost a return to normalcy, with American carmakers loading the showroom with fast and loose concepts, new production models, and more emphasis on performance than in past years. Nowhere was this more apparently than the Chrysler-Fiat booth.

Unfortunately for the Italians, we forwent spending any time with the multitude of Fiat 500 concepts and instead focused our efforts on Chrysler’s extensive line of performance vehicles. As you might expect, the focal point of the Chrysler booth was none other than the 2013 SRT Viper. Chrysler actually had both a production version finished in an eye-grabbing red, as well as a GTS-R race car.

Alas, Chrysler seemed intent on keeping the public from getting too close a look at either vehicle, and so we couldn’t get any decent interior shots to share with you. A shame, because the new SRT Viper is said to have a much-improved interior over the last-generation of Chrysler’s halo car. But it still has a massive 8.4 liter V10 engine, 640 horsepower, and that classic Viper look we all know and love. Meanwhile the racing version of the Viper just takes all of those qualities to their performance extremes; we’ll take one of each, please.

While the Viper display was no surprise, what did catch us off-guard was the Chrysler 300 Turbine Concept. Painted a fresh-looking metallic bronze matte color, the 300 Turbine Concept was a bold take on Chrysler’s large sedan. Unfortunately, Chrysler realized it is a lot cheaper to make some unique, turbine-style 22-inch rims than it is to actually cram a turbine engine into a sedan. So instead, power comes from the new Pentastar V6 engine. In other words, Chrysler isn’t out of the woods yet.

But Chrysler didn’t stop there. Prior to the show opening its doors to the press, Chrysler announced that it would be expanding its Blacktop package to include the Dodge Durango, Journey, and Grand Caravan…but we weren’t all that impressed. That said, the Dodge Challenger and Charger Blacktop models Chrysler also brought along really showcased the features of the Blacktop package well. We especially liked the blacked-out grille and wheels of the Charger with the Blacktop package.

Moving on to the latest addition to the Dodge lineup, Chrysler also brought along a tarted up version of the Dart compact. Called the Dodge Dart GT, Dodge gave it the most powerful engine in the lineup, a 184 horsepower 2.4 liter engine with a true dual exhaust system, a feature unique to Dodge in this class of cars. Projector headlights and LED taillights, combined with body-color door handles and larger wheels to improve the exterior aesthetics.

On the inside are Napa-leather perforated seats, an 8.4-inch LCD touchscreen command center, and Chrysler’s U-Connect infotainment system. A rear backup-camera and sport suspension package are also included in the $20,995 package.

Which brings us to the last vehicle at the Chrysler booth that really caught our eye…and this one might surprise some of you. That vehicle is the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which will soon be available with a 3.0 liter diesel engine, a first for Chrysler. This turbo diesel V6 will pack a respectable 240 horsepower and and a whopping 420 ft-lbs of torque, most of it available at very low RPMs compared to the standard HEMI V8.

The EcoDiesel engine will allow the 2014 Grand Cherokee to tow up to 7,400 pounds; while in normal, day-to-day driving, customers can expect to see around 30 mpg on the highway, and 21 in the city. Sure, it is no Grand Cherokee SRT8, but depending on the price premium Chrysler gives the diesel engine option, this new motor could be a real money saver, without sacrificing anything in the way of performance.

That is pretty much the Chrysler booth in a nutshell, although there was one setup we didn’t get to see, but wish we did. That’s the Mopar Garage, which includes Mopar-branded tool boxes, flooring memorabilia, and more than 300 officially-licensed parts for every product in the Chrysler lineup. Hopefully we can catch up to the Mopar garage at another show later on this year.