2023 Chrysler 300C: A Last Hurrah

It is not just the end of the line for the 300 sedan, which Chrysler has just announced will be retired after the end of the 2023 model year. It may also, by dint of that, be the end of the line for Chrysler, too.

For once the 300 is gone, the only remaining Chrysler model will be the Pacifica minivan. The good news is it’s going out with a bang.

What it is

The 300C is a last-hurrah version of Chrysler’s hugely successful 300 sedan, which almost singlehandedly revived the brand in the early 2000s, when it first appeared. It was the first rear-drive, V8-available Chrysler car since the very early 1980s.

It will be the first and last 300 to be powered by a 6.4-liter version of Chrysler’s mighty Hemi V8 engine, essentially the same engine that is available in the R/T versions of the Charger and Challenger as part of the “392” package.

It will be made in limited numbers — only 2,000 of them will ever be produced — each with a base price of $55,000. This is about $15,000 above the base price of a standard-issue 300, equipped with a V6 engine. Actual transaction prices — what people pay to get one — are apt to be much higher as these are, truly, the last of the line, never to pass this way again.

What’s new for 2023

The C package, with the 6.4 liter/392-cubic inch V8 engine as its centerpiece, is a new (and final) option for the 300.

The good: It’s the last big American sedan you can still buy new, the biggest-engined version of this sedan, ever, and certain to appreciate in value.

The not-so-good: Is “already” appreciating in value. Expect to pay full MSRP — plus a lot more than that. Only a relative handful will be built. It’s being forced off the market.

Under the hood: Last year, the biggest engine you could get in a new 300 was the 5.7-liter version of Chrysler’s mighty Hemi V8. There was no C version of the 300 last year.

This year — for the final year — the C makes a brief return. Under its long (and wide) hood is a 6.4-liter version of the Hemi, which is the biggest version of Chrysler’s (modern) Hemi.

The 6.4 is not lacking in the horsepower department, either. This last-of-the-big ones makes 485 horsepower — far more power than the smaller 5.7-liter Hemi, which summons a comparatively modest-sounding 363 horsepower, enough to get this two-ton sedan to 60 mph in just over four seconds.

On the road: If you are among the fortunate few who get your hands on one, you will have the ride of your life in a car you’ll want to drive every day, which is not something you could say about the Hemi-powered Chryslers, Dodges and Plymouths that were available before the last Extinction Level Event back in the early ‘70s.

They gave you the ride of your life, too, but you probably wouldn’t want one every day. The price you paid for 426 horsepower was a choppy idle, easily fouled spark plugs and general unhappiness at anything less than pedal-to-the-metal.

The 485 horsepower C idles as smoothly as the V6, does not foul plugs, is very happy to just trundle along. In fact, it excels at the latter. It is better than the V6 in that department because of the combination of the always-available abundance of seemingly effortless power, accompanied by the deep-down bass rumble a V6 cannot produce.

It is also as comfortable — in keeping with the tradition of C-badged big Chryslers.

At the curb: The 300 was — well, still is, for a little while longer — the last American car with almost as much spreading out room in the back (40.1 inches of legroom) as up front (41.8) inches and a properly sized 16.3-cubic foot trunk.

It is also elegant, almost limo-like, which is a function of its exceptionally long (120-inch) wheelbase, or the distance in between the front and rear axle centerlines. To put that in some context, the wheelbase of a BMW 5 sedan is only 117.1 inches, and it is only 195.8 inches long versus 198.6 for the 300.

What you are getting here, in other words, is an almost full-size luxury sedan for less than the cost of a midsize luxury-brand sedan.

The rest: The C comes standard with pretty much everything that is optional in the lesser trims, except all-wheel-drive (which is only available with V6 versions of the 300) as well as features and amenities you cannot get in other 300s, such as a four-piston Brembo brake package, performance-tuned adaptive suspension, “active” exhaust (it opens up under full throttle to let the Hemi breathe and let everyone hear it breathe) with black tips, an integrated decklid spoiler on the trunk lid and Black Laguna leather seats with silver stitching and “300C” accents.

The bottom line

Chrysler is taking reservations for these last-of-the-line, going-out-with-a-bang 300s. But it may already be too late to get your name on the list.

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