Saw My 1st 300C on the Road Today

I've only seen pics, but to me while I prefer the last body style more, this one somehow looks more like a 300, more massive persona. I like the tall doors, front end is kind of flat faced but the rear is about as clean as the previous model. Would like it more if they (or anybody!) would try to use the sides of the cars to do some styling instead of just fooling around with bulging wheel wells. If they make a "Green Hornet" movie, definitely make this the Hornetmobile as an update on that old Imperial...it fits the part....Frenchy

You should find this article interesting then.

--------------- Hot luxury sedan bolsters Chrysler

Fast-selling flagship 300 car appeals to diverse audience

By Brett Clanton / The Detroit News AUBURN HILLS ? Theodore Harrington has gotten used to the stares and random questions at traffic lights. Every time he drives his new Chrysler 300 with its supersize chrome grille and brawny stance, it's the same thing. "Mostly, people just want to know what it is," said Harrington, 73, a retired carpenter from River Rouge, who bought one of Chrysler's new flagship sedans last month. Each time he's stopped, he feels a little more satisfied with his purchase.

"Chrysler really outdid themselves with this car," Harrington said.

Chrysler took a huge chance by developing a flashy, rear-wheel-drive sedan with a starting price below $30,000. But early returns ? after just a few weeks of sales ? indicate the 300's neck-snapping curb appeal is translating into sales.

America's No. 3 automaker sorely needs a hit to propel a much-awaited turnaround that finally seems to be taking hold.

The 300 debuts as U.S. automakers are rediscovering the car market they essentially ceded to foreign rivals years ago in favor of more lucrative trucks.

It's been decades since Chrysler ? which has relied on minivans, pickups and SUVs ? has had a hit passenger car. (Chrysler classifies the popular PT Cruiser as a light truck.)

At the very least, the 300 is generating buzz. The car scored a supporting role in a new rap video by the popular hip-hop group G Unit.

That people are buzzing about a mass-market Chrysler vehicle at all is significant after a product drought in recent years, said Jim Sanfilippo of Warren, an auto consultant with AMCI Inc.

"Is it going to solve all of their problems? No." he said. "But if what we initially see on the 300 is any indication of what they can do going forward, I'd say there are going to be a lot of happy people in Auburn Hills."

The biggest problem now is getting one of the bold-faced sedans to everyone who wants one. Dealers nationwide, including in Metro Detroit, are selling out and have long waiting lists.

"We can't keep them on the lot," said Michelle Yurek, sales manager at Parkway Chrysler Jeep in Clinton Township, who sold about 30 last month.

Dan Frost, co-owner of Southfield Chrysler Jeep, has 150 people on a waiting list. "I've never seen this kind of thing from a Chrysler," he said.

Chrysler sold 8,400 of the sedans in April, the 300's first full month on the market. That pales in comparison to the company's biggest sellers ? 33,000 Dodge Ram pickups were sold last month ? but Chrysler considers it a notable start for a new sedan.

Chrysler officials have even begun comparing the 300 to the PT Cruiser, the company's last runaway hit. The retro PT Cruiser, introduced in April 2000, had customers lining up to pay as much as $10,000 over sticker price. First-month sales of the 300 outpaced PT Cruiser's first month by about 100 units.

"PT Cruiser was such a fantastic success early on because it was so different, not because of the car itself," said Joe Eberhardt, chief of sales and marketing for Chrysler, a unit of DaimlerChrysler AG.

Chrysler does not release sales projections, but research firm Global Insight estimates 300 sales will approach 80,000 units this year, leveling off to around 70,000 annually over time.

What the sales numbers won't reflect is the boost Chrysler's brand image gets from putting a head turner like the 300 on the market. The sedan was designed to compete with the industry's best luxury marques ? including BMW, Jaguar and Acura.

It's loaded with upscale features such as run-flat tires and tortoiseshell interior trim. And the 300's unique exterior design ? low roof, big wheels and massive front grille ? gives it a commanding look on the road.

"You're either going to love it or you're going to hate it," Magliano said.

The design should resonate with U.S. buyers who are increasingly choosing vehicles with bulkier proportions, said Michael Tchong of the San Francisco market research firm Trendscape. "The super-sizing of automobiles is certainly a discernible trend."

The 300 is one of nine new models Chrysler is launching this year as part of a three-year plan to spark demand and rebuild profits after $4 billion in losses since 2000.

A sustained comeback hinges on luring more customers like Jon Savage, a 34-year-old telecommunications worker in Kansas City, Mo. Savage bought a loaded Chrysler 300C after first considering an Acura TL and Infiniti G35.

Savage is a family man willing to spend $35,000 on a car who admits to a weakness for classic hot rods. He was sold on the 300 when he learned it was available with a 340-horsepower V-8 "Hemi" engine. "I always wanted a car with a lot of power," he said.

So do other 300 buyers. About 50 percent have ordered the Hemi option, well above the 35 percent Chrysler was expecting and more in line with Hemi demand in Dodge Ram pickups and the Dodge Durango SUV.

That big engine helped convince Lori McConnell, 47, of Fenton to buy a Hemi-equipped 300C last month. She was eager to trade in her old Chrysler 300M, the new 300's predecessor.

"It was a nice car," she said. "But this car ? well, it's exciting."

Not as exciting as it could be, though, said Ken Smith, president of the 700-member Chrysler 300 Club, who lives in Sierra Vista, Ariz.

Smith, who owns four classic Chrysler 300s dating back to 1957, remembers when the 300 was considered "the banker's hot rod." He wishes he could see more of that flair in the new one. "If they had made a two-seat roadster and put that little Hemi in there," he said, "then they'd have something."

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Patrick

Oh yeah - that's what I look for when I try to decide what new car to buy. Makes me want to get one RIGHT NOW! I bet all the Civic drivers will be trading there's in tomorrow to go buy the 300!! Pimps and drug dealers too!

Not to detract from the rest of the article, which was not bad as hype goes, but this fascination with the "gangsta" image is unexplainable - probably loses as many potential customers as it gains.

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

Actually, it isn't the grille that bugs me (I have a 2004 Sebring with a large grille and it is quite nice looking). A large grille can look nice with the right body lines around it. It's that the thing looks a bread box. A smaller grille isn't going to fix it fuglyness.

[SNIP Article for space]

Interesting, but sounds a lot like hype. Time will tell.

Yeah - I guess that is why there are so many people on the waiting lists to buy one!

RP

There is no connection between what I said and what you said. My point is that they may have more interest without cheapening the image.

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

.........huh? How is the image cheapened? And your original "gangsta" image? What's with that???

If I have to explain it, you wouldn't get it. Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

If you can't explain it you have no idea as to the point you were trying to make. There is NO "gangsta" image. And if you cannot tell us how the image has been cheapened then it is pure conjecture on your part which, of course, is not really that uncommon for you. But then nobody can question what you post, can they Billy-boy?????

Not true at all. I simply choose not to. You're free to believe what you want to. Been to D Unit's web site? I have. The usual rap group image.

So you don't know what people mean when they say "gangsta" image? Any half-way (or fully) intelligent person whose been around the last ten years that would say that is not being honest. So if D Unit or Fifty Cent were asked what the gangsta image is, you think they would look at you like they don't know what you mean by that? Let's be just a

*little* bit honest, OK?

Whatever. No fight from me. Sure - I conjecture about a lot of things, and for different reasons. That's how ideas are discussed. You want to make an emotional fight out of it. Like I say - whatever.

Again - not true. Look back in the archives and you'll see that I often get into discussions, technical or otherwise, in which what I say is questioned. Sometimes it is due to a misunderstanding on a technical point by the other person, and sometimes it is due to a misconception on my part. I do not get bothered by *honest* dialogue and questioning of whether something I said is correct. There have been many times where I have admitted that I was wrong on a point - no big deal. However, when I think I'm right, then I say that, but not just for the sake of being right. Also I do not acquiesce to dishonest attacks that also have occurred.

Point is, to claim that there is no such think as the "gangsta" image that certain "entertainers" try to foster for themselves is just plain ludicrous on your part. Just visit their web site and observe the attitude and language that is used for our kids to feed off of.

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

The 300M? Attractive? Not to me, and it hasn't grown on me yet. Bob-tailed, sawed-off LHS with a little puckered-up grille. Pinched and undersized- too clearly showed that it was created by rearranging a few body lines on the LHS.

My favorite show car in recent times was the Charger concept. We'll see if the actual car due out next year comes anywhere close to it or not....

Well put. That is exactly what I like about it and DISlike about the

300M. The 300M just wasn't worthy of being called a Chrysler 300 in my opinion. This car is. The 300J wasn't particularly attractive to me, but no one would argue that it didn't qualify for the name. The new 300C (they should have called it "N" to avoid confusion with the real 300C from '57) lives up to its name- big, POWERFUL, and luxurious.

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Is there anyone else who thinks the body style of the original 1993 LH cars has stood up better over time than have their 1998 successors?

Is there anyone else who thinks the body style of the original 1993 LH cars has stood up better than their 1998 successors?

(sorry about the double post under two names. Working with two separate E-mail accounts on one computer and something fouled up when profiles were changed back and forth)

Back in 1998, when the 2nd generation LH cars came out, a lot of people I talked with felt they weren't as good-looking as the originals. I think that part of the problem was that the cars didn't meet the expectation of people who thought they 'knew' what an LH car 'should' look like.

Eventually, over time, the 2nd generation cars grew on people as the design became more commonplace. People's thinking evolved such that the new cars had their own space established in the realm of automotive design. I think both the 1st gen and 2nd gen hold up very well; they're separate and distinct designs, each of which can be appreciated in its own right.

I think the same thing is happening with the LX cars. I'm not entirely convinced I buy this crap that this new 300 shares much with the 300s of yore. I think the car makes a better 'New Yorker' than it does a 300. But as a design, in its own right, there's a lot to like.

Somebody I knew once who was a radio disc jockey told me: it doesn't matter if they love you or hate you, as long as they have *some* emotional response that causes them to listen. Like Rush Limbaugh, for instance...love him or hate him, if he didn't have *both* conservatives and liberals listening to him, his show would have gone nowhere. I have to believe, to a point, the same holds true for a car design. Aztec notwithstanding.

...and that's what I know about that...

--Geoff

To a degree.

Of the three originals, I actually think the Concorde generally remains the best looking. The first-gen Intrepid's tiny headlamps are a disaster both functionally and stylistically. The Vision TSi's grille is just too "beaky" and with too much plastic (I say this as a Vision TSi owner, BTW). But all the second-gens look "taller and narrower" for some reason. I like the long/low/WIDE look of the first-gen LH.

OTOH, I do like the second-gen in its own right, especially in the LHS (and later 'Concorde LXi') form.