The 2023 Chrysler 300C marks the end of the line for one very cool but old American sedan. How do you say goodbye to a legend? In exchange for $55,000, some two thousand buyers are going to experience the performance of Scat Pack in a luxury package powered by the 6.4-liter HEMI V8 engine.
Don’t they offer that already? They don’t, and you don’t know that because this sedan barely gets any attention. Before the hype of the Hellcat supercharged engines, Chrysler could match the power and performance of the Dodge Charger and Challenger. We’re talking about the 300 SRT, which has been missing from the American market for over 7 years now.
The 300 SRT came out at the 2011 New York Auto Show with a 6.4-liter 392 HEMI engine pushing 470 hp. However, it was only available for the 2012-2014 model years because Chrysler wanted to be a luxury brand while Dodge handled all the performance business.
This was based on the second-generation 300 which was technically new at the time. However, the platform was basically the same as the original LX-based vehicle. This older model had its own SRT version powered by the HEMI engine of the time, a 6.1-liter V8 making 425 horsepower.
Pricing and details
This 2023 Chrysler 300C obviously has the same output as a Scat Pack at 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. This is hooked up to an eight-speed automatic gearbox from ZF, as opposed to the old 5-speed, that sends power to the rear wheels through a limited-slip differential.
Officially, this sports sedan is supposed to do 0 to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and has a 12.4-second quarter-mile time, although we’d love to see a drag race just to be sure.
The exterior looks basically the same as a 300S, which has the lower 5.7-liter 363 hp HEMI. However, Chrysler did add four-piston Brembo brakes with red calipers, 20-inch forged wheels, a rear spoiler, and the tri-color 300C badge. We’d have preferred the SRT badge, but the aggressive exhaust system makes up for it.
Only three colors will be offered Gloss Black, Velvet Red, and Bright White. As for production, 2000 units will be made for US buyers and another 200 for Canadians. While $55,000 might sound like a lot for this outdated vehicle, you can always use the “they don’t make em’ like this anymore” excuse.
Chrysler doesn’t make SRT models
Even after 2014, the company still produced the 300 SRT in very limited numbers for markets as varied as Korea, Australia, and the Middle East. Chrysler has been really struggling after the SRT performance brand was stripped. And while we’re hopeful it can thrive with the help of EVs such as the Airflow, we need to understand how successful the big HEMI sedans actually were nearly two decades ago.
The 2005 model year SRT8 had a retail price of $40,000. This meant you could buy this for half the price of a new Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG. This might seem completely irrelevant right now, but the LX platform had front suspension derived from the Mercedes S-Class and a rear 5-ling design from the E-Class.
The styling was fresh, and every rapper seemingly wanted to own one. Detroit was back on top!
