2003 Chrysler Pt Cruiser Touring on 2040-cars

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Chrysler 300C returns for 2023 with SRT power and more

Chrysler will revive the SRT formula for a special 2023 300C model equipped with the snarling 6.4-liter Hemi V8. While the badge itself won't return, the 2023 300C will offer everything the old 300 SRT had and more, including a limited-slip differential, big brakes, a sport exhaust and active dampers. Chrysler 300 Scat Pack, here we come — but you'd better act fast, as only 2,000 of them will be produced for the U.S. market (plus another 200 for Canada). And after 2023, the whole Chrysler 300 lineup will be gone for good.  "WeÂ’re celebrating the Chrysler 300 and itÂ’s iconic legacy in the automotive world," said Chrysler brand chief Chris Feuell. "The Chrysler 300 changed the automotive world in so many ways, and we will carry that spirit of ingenuity forward as we transform Chrysler with a fully electrified future and breakthrough customer experiences." Chrysler last sold the 300C variant (with its standard 5.7-liter Hemi V8) for the 2020 model year. While the 5.7 was still available in the 300S, the C was long the pinnacle of non-SRT models in the 300 lineup. In much the same way that Lexus IS500 F Sport Performance revived the underlying formula of the old IS F, this limited-edition 300C brings back the magic that made the SRT8 (later just SRT) model so desirable.  Before it was canned for the U.S. market in 2015, the 300 SRT was briefly offered with the 6.4, albeit with the five-speed automatic that dated to the Daimler-Chrysler years. The 2023 revival packs 485 horsepower (up from the old SRT's 470) and 470 pound-feet of torque. Power goes to the rear wheels by way of an eight-speed automatic and limited-slip differential. Chrysler says this combo is good for a 4.3-second sprint to 60 and a quarter-mile time of 12.4 seconds.  2023 Chrysler 300C View 28 Photos From there, the list of goodies on this limited-run 300C lines up pretty closely with a standard Dodge Charger Scat Pack. Chassis improvements include four-piston Brembo brakes and active dampers, and the round black tips are attached to an active exhaust to allow for mild cruising or wild hooning. Unique 20-inch wheels, black chrome accents on the grille and bumpers, blacked out head- and taillights and a new tri-color Chrysler badge will help the 2023 300C stand out in a crowd.  Inside, unique elements include Black Laguna leather seats embossed with the 300C logo, unique silver stitching, carbon fiber inserts and gloss black trim.

Chrysler killing off the 200 Convertible, Dodge Avenger

When Chrysler rolled out the first-generation 200 to replace the Sebring range in 2010, it included replacements for both the sedan and the convertible. The Sebring Coupe, however, was left out of the mix. And now that the second-generation Chrysler 200 is descending upon us, Auburn Hills is paring things down even further. But this time, it's the convertible that reportedly isn't making the cut. Shame, too, since the rendering above shows what could have been quite an attractive droptop.
As our compatriots at Edmunds point out, sales of the convertible model accounted for less than five percent of overall Chrysler 200 sales, and at those numbers, the considerable cost of engineering a new drop-top couldn't be justified. With the Toyota Camry Solara and Volkswagen Eos also gone from the market (well, the VW isn't gone quite yet), the discontinuation of the Chrysler 200 Convertible leaves the affordable convertible segment largely to the sportier likes of the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro and smaller European offerings like the Mini Cooper and VW Beetle.
The Chrysler 200 Convertible isn't the only derivative being left behind with the new model: so too is the Dodge Avenger. That will leave a glaring hole in the Dodge lineup, with nothing to bridge the gap between the compact Dart and the larger Charger. Whether the Dodge brand has any plans to replace the Avenger with another model, not to be based on the 200, remains to be seen.

China own a Detroit automaker? Would the U.S. let that happen?

The news that several Chinese automakers want to buy Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and that one has even made an offer, elicits some mixed feelings. On one hand, as some have pointed out, it could be a win-win both for China and for FCA's American workers, ensuring the company's survival and opening new markets. On the other hand, this is China, whose trade relationship with the U.S. is the source of considerable scrutiny from the Trump administration — and whose not-a-friend, not-an-enemy status is particularly difficult to gauge right now during heightened tensions with its client state North Korea. So would such a deal pass regulatory muster? One reason that springs to mind for blocking any sale has to do with national security. Chrysler's role as a military supplier dates back to Dodge trucks used by Gen. Blackjack Pershing to chase Pancho Villa in Mexico, and shortly thereafter by American forces in World War I. The Detroit Three automakers were, of course, mainstays of the Arsenal of Democracy of World War II. Even before U.S. entry into the war in December 1941, America's industrial machinery went into overdrive, and Chrysler was one of the biggest cogs. It engineered and built the M3, Sherman and Pershing tanks and trucks for Gen. George Patton's Redball Express. It helped develop a radar-guided antiaircraft gun that knocked German bombers and V1 rockets out of the sky — on one day, shooting down 97 of 101 V1s headed for London. On D-Day, the radar system helped thwart Luftwaffe counterattacks on the beaches of Normandy, and it later helped Allied forces break out at the Battle of the Bulge. Chrysler redesigned the Wright Cyclone engines used by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the plane that firebombed Tokyo and dropped the atomic bombs that ended the war. Chrysler even played a secret role refining uranium in Oak Ridge, Tenn., that was used in the Hiroshima bomb and in the ensuing Cold War arms race. It worked on military missiles and was NASA's prime contractor for the Saturn V rocket that put men on the moon. More recently, Chrysler produced the M1 Abrams tank. And of course Chrysler is the keeper of the flame for Jeep, a 75-plus-years military legacy handed down from Bantam and Willys to Kaiser to AMC to Chrysler. The point of this history lesson is to note that in times of war or national emergency, America's industrial might has been called to serve, and may well be called on again.