End of an era: this is the last Chrysler 300C

Chrysler 300

The American brand Chrysler has been releasing cars with the number 300 in the model name for many years. Initially, they did this in the 1950s with the Chrysler 300. This was followed by the 300M in the early 2000s. This car was succeeded by the first generation of the 300C, which shared much of its technology with cars from Mercedes-Benz.

Europe

In America, the 300C became a huge success and you also saw it driving in the Netherlands from time to time. Between 2004 and 2010, 2,717 were sold in our country. All European 300C models were built until 2010 by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria. The second generation after 2010 was delivered in the Netherlands as Lancia Thema. Of these, only 108 went on yellow license plates.

Limited to 2,200 pieces

In Europe the party is long over for the 300C, but in America the model remained in production for a long time. But now it’s really done for the American sedan. On Dec. 31, the very last car rolls off the assembly line. With a special farewell model, Chrysler closes the 300C chapter in style. In the front is a monstrously thick Hemi-V8, good for 492 hp and 644 Nm. This is a special series and is limited to only 2,200 units.

V8 violence

A sprint to 100 km/h does the car in 4.3 seconds and the V8 violence does not stop until 257 km/h. If American owners get tired of the exhaust noise for a while, they can use the built-in damper system to muffle the sound. As with previous versions, the 300C is an automatic and is rear-wheel drive.

Old wine in new bags

The current, second generation was introduced in 2011 and still contains much of the same technology as the first generation from 2005. You can see that immediately, looking at the interior of the current 300C in the photo below, which appears to date from 2005.