First Drive: 2005 Chrysler 300
The Taming of Rear-Wheel Drive
By Erin Riches
Date posted: 03-09-2004
After watching its stable of sedans — the 300M, Concorde and Sebring — get lost in a crowd of newer, more refined competitors, Chrysler decided that drastic measures were necessary to get the attention of shoppers hell-bent on buying fast Nissan Altimas and super-refined Toyota Avalons and Lexus ES 330s. Seeking an edge of their own, company designers and engineers took a wistful journey back to the mid-1950s when Chrysler's letter-series 300 cars were some of the most powerful and desirable cars on the American market. Upon their return, they specified three ingredients for the company's next sedan:
1) Rear-wheel drive
2) An available "Hemi" V8 engine
3) A more authentic luxury ambience
The product of their efforts is an all-new large sedan bearing the name 300. Priced from the mid-$20Ks to the low-$30Ks, this 300 will square off against a range of competitors — some of them family-oriented, some of them luxury-branded, but very few of them rear-wheel-drive. And it will be the only one available with a 5.7-liter V8 with hemispherical combustion chambers — taking the venerable old 300C name when thusly equipped.
Although one can't help but fixate on its large chrome grille and double-lens headlights (ostensibly borrowed from the 1957 300C), the 300's body doesn't have quite the "retro" appeal of its sister car, the Dodge Magnum wagon. It's no cause for criticism, though, as the sedan's simpler lines and more classic shape should appeal to a wider cross-section of buyers. All the same, there's certainly no shortage of testosterone here: The 300's powerful stance is anchored by an exceptionally high beltline and standard 17-inch wheels (18s on the 300C) encased in bulging fenders.
more...
The Taming of Rear-Wheel Drive
By Erin Riches
Date posted: 03-09-2004

After watching its stable of sedans — the 300M, Concorde and Sebring — get lost in a crowd of newer, more refined competitors, Chrysler decided that drastic measures were necessary to get the attention of shoppers hell-bent on buying fast Nissan Altimas and super-refined Toyota Avalons and Lexus ES 330s. Seeking an edge of their own, company designers and engineers took a wistful journey back to the mid-1950s when Chrysler's letter-series 300 cars were some of the most powerful and desirable cars on the American market. Upon their return, they specified three ingredients for the company's next sedan:
1) Rear-wheel drive
2) An available "Hemi" V8 engine
3) A more authentic luxury ambience
The product of their efforts is an all-new large sedan bearing the name 300. Priced from the mid-$20Ks to the low-$30Ks, this 300 will square off against a range of competitors — some of them family-oriented, some of them luxury-branded, but very few of them rear-wheel-drive. And it will be the only one available with a 5.7-liter V8 with hemispherical combustion chambers — taking the venerable old 300C name when thusly equipped.
Although one can't help but fixate on its large chrome grille and double-lens headlights (ostensibly borrowed from the 1957 300C), the 300's body doesn't have quite the "retro" appeal of its sister car, the Dodge Magnum wagon. It's no cause for criticism, though, as the sedan's simpler lines and more classic shape should appeal to a wider cross-section of buyers. All the same, there's certainly no shortage of testosterone here: The 300's powerful stance is anchored by an exceptionally high beltline and standard 17-inch wheels (18s on the 300C) encased in bulging fenders.
more...