300 + Hemi = Chrysler - Chrysler 300C convertible - Brief Article

Automotive Industries, Feb, 2000 by Ken Gross

The combination of a rear-drive 300-series and the Hemi V-8 absolutely nails Chrysler's brand essence.

When Daimler and Chrysler mated, pundits (myself included) predicted great things. After all, we reasoned, here were two top automakers loaded with great people and products, with scant overlap, seemingly similar cultures and bags of cash. As it turned out, both corporate cultures were quite slow to mesh effectively.

Now it's time to optimize the individual brands -- a task that could prove daunting under the new parent company. What are the options? Thus far, DaimlerChrysler hasn't hinted at anything like the Jaguar/Lincoln/Thunderbird "black parts" fusion that Ford's Premier Automotive Group is pursuing. The company's two pillars remain Mercedes and Chrysler. On the Mercedes side, brand exclusivity must be protected, in the wake of ballooning U.S. volume. Last year, a record 190,000 Americans bought the three-pointed star. For the venerable Chrysler brand, that brings plenty of upside, and upmarket, potential.

Chrysler's current model range is skewed toward lower-priced sedans and convertibles. A few decades ago, Chrysler was on a par with Cadillac and Lincoln in terms of prestige, luxury and performance. What would it take to have that happen again?

I think Chrysler showed the answer at last month's Detroit auto show, when it rolled out the stunning new Hemi V-8-powered, rear-drive 300C "concept" convertible. Styling chief Tom Gate likes. to say, "Our showcars point to a way we could go." Production Vipers, Prowlers and PT Cruisers underscored that in the 1990s. The combination of a rwd 300-series and the brawny hemi-head V-8 absolutely nails Chrysler's brand essence for the early 2000s.

Lurking beneath the 300C's sleek skin are many hints of things to come. The unibody is new along with many underpinnings. But Mercedes' S-Class contributed suspension bits; the CLK gave its top mechanism, the SL its pop-up roll bar. And oh, that engine!

Throughout the '50s and '60s, Chrysler's stock in trade was the Hemi. It's still the choice of Top Fuel dragster drivers because it's capable of limitless power. The new 353-cube version will be smooth, quiet and clean, thanks in part to twin-ping ignition. The return of that legendary V-8 upstages the competition. No other company can do that motor. Nobody but Chrysler.

Cadillac and Lincoln have nothing remotely like the 300C, in any form. As a big, husky spoils sedan, it could ambush Seville and LS. As a luxury fastback coupe, it could harass the Eldo. A hypothetical 300C Hemi slots neatly between

Chrysler's hot-selling Sebring ragtop and the Mercedes-Benz CLK. Yes, the $40,000-to low $50,000 range is Cad and Lincoln territory, but it's also fertile ground for a born-again Chrysler with the right stuff. A few years ago, Bob Lutz reluctantly scrapped a big sedan concept that was never publicly shown. The Chrysler brand wasn't ready.

Now it is, especially with help from Germany. Increased Chrysler volume at the low end of the Benz business could force Mercedes further upmarket in the U.S. M-B passenger car chief Juergen Hubbert says, "There should be a Mercedes-Benz model for every type of car." That maxim works in an environment (Europe) where even the taxicabs are Benzes. But it won't work successfully here -- even as a cutesy roadster spun off the A-Class.

Chrysler can engineer an even more dramatic comeback and displace the two top domestic luxobrands, if they build truly handsome, rear-drive, state-of-the art models, based on the 300C. Cars like that make an upscale, real American design statement. All the better if they're powered by the great-grandson of an engine that still makes enthusiasts grin.

Remember, this business is still about great cars. Tom Gale hasn't forgotten that Neither should his bosses, as they direct the Chrysler brand's future.

Veteran AI marketing columnist Ken Gross is director of the Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles. A former brand manager of a global consumer goods company, Ken has written extensively about automobiles for three decades.