The Chrysler 300 story started within the Nineteen Fifties with the introduction of the 300-letter collection for the 1955 mannequin yr. Although marketed as a private luxurious automotive, the C-300 was a wolf in sheep’s clothes because of its 300-hp Hemi V8, particularly the 331-ci FirePower.
Chrysler’s non-letter collection 300, which is alternatively known as 300 Sport Sequence, rolled out in 1962 with bench seats slightly than bucket seats. Revised in 1965, then once more in 1969, the non-letter collection would return in 1979 as an choice package deal for the Cordoba. For some motive, Chrysler marketed it as a standalone mannequin as an alternative of the Cordoba 300.
Following the Malaise Period and the gentle recession from the Nineteen Nineties, what was then often known as DaimlerChrysler launched a totally new kind of 300 in 1998 for the 1999 mannequin yr. A full-size luxurious automotive with a longitudinally-mounted engine and front-wheel drive that might make Volkswagen Group model Audi blush, the 300M was a slightly poor excuse for a 300. In spite of everything, DaimlerChrysler initially supposed to promote this fellow because the Eagle Imaginative and prescient.
The 300 of the twenty first century was penned and engineered through the DaimlerChrysler period, which might solely be described as an uneasy alliance between two extraordinarily completely different automakers. A extra distinguished breed than the 300M because of its RWD platform, the 300 everyone knows and love would not have been doable with out Merc’s technical help. Along with chassis and suspension componentry borrowed or derived from the E-Class and S-Class, the 300 was additionally provided with a Merc-sourced V6 turbo diesel and the 5G-Tronic transmission.
Picture: Chrysler
A heavy replace of the 300 was launched in 2010 for mannequin yr 2011, an replace so huge that Chrysler even modified the platform’s designation from LX to LD. This replace additionally noticed Fiat Chrysler Vehicles discontinue the slow-selling wagon, which was assembled by contract producer Magna Steyr in Austria slightly than FCA in Brampton, Ontario.
Talking of Brampton, the ultimate 300C of two,200 ever produced has rolled off the meeting line. Referred to as Stellantis after the merger with Groupe PSA, what was once known as Fiat Chrysler Vehicles has additionally confirmed that 300 manufacturing will finish by December 31. This, nevertheless, is not essentially unhealthy information.
Throughout Stellantis EV Day 2021, the American-Italian-French colossus teased a 300-like electrical sedan with two electrical drive items. The silhouette in query has a little bit of Dodge Charger Daytona SRT idea to it, which leads us to consider that the 300’s zero-emission successor will probably be made in Canada.
How come? If the yet-unnamed electrical sedan is predicated on the STLA Giant platform of the 2025 Dodge Charger, manufacturing will happen on the Windsor Meeting Plant or Brampton Meeting Plant. Again in June 2022, Stellantis confirmed that Windsor could be retooled for STLA Giant-based automobiles as a part of the automaker’s long-term electrification plant. Brampton will probably be retooled for “an all-new, versatile structure” as effectively, but Stellantis hasn’t stated which platform particularly.
By versatile, it is simple to imagine that we’re coping with each inside combustion and electrical muscle. With the STLA Giant-based 2025 Dodge Charger already confirmed to sport each inside combustion and electrical powertrains, chances are high that Brampton will make STLA Giant automobiles, identical to Windsor. Sadly, it isn’t at the moment identified which of those services will deal with 300 EV manufacturing.
