New 300c report

["Krikhaar, Alex" <akrikhaar@xxxx>]

After seeing the new 300 here in Chicago I wanted to give my personal
impression of the car. There's the good, bad & ugly, so bear with me. 



First the good news: the car looks and is big and powerful, with a 120"
wheelbase, an overall length of almost 200", and a powerful new hemi engine.
It will also have numerous technical improvements such as ESP, traction
control, better brakes, special Goodyear tires, etc. Most of these are
already seen on Mercedes cars, and it will be great to see them becoming
more commonplace in mid-priced American cars (remember when ABS and airbags
seemed exotic items on luxury cars?). It will supposedly also have some more
gadget like amenities, such as rain-sensing wipers, a proximity warning
system when backing up, etc. Personally I think that money could have been
spent better elsewhere, but more on that later. Loved the 160 MPH
speedometer, of course, as well as the electro-luminescent dash lighting.



As far as looks is concerned, it looks massive and heavy, yet powerful at
the same time. Several persons at the viewing compared the look to the
latest Bentley design, and there is some resemblance there. The Chrysler
boys used a late 60's styling trick (back then it was called fuselage
styling), where they raised the beltline of the car, making the windows
narrower, thus giving the car more visual "bulk". It's true, you won't
mistake this car for anything else on the road. The big upright (fake
plastic) chrome grille sits flush with the front bumper, and will undoubtly
be a source of lots of owner frustration, because the thing will never
survive a trailer hitch backing up into it. The other mistake made on the
front are the plastic lens covered headlights, first because the plastic
felt very thin and unsubstantial, secondly because the lens is set about an
inch into the body, and will therefore get filled with snow and ice in a
good storm. There are no headlight wipers or sprayers to take care of this
potentially dangerous design flourish. The hood styling and rear deck in my
opinion look great, as does the treatment of the rear c-pillar.



There's a ton of chrome trim on the exterior, all of it plastic, including
the door handles, mirror housings, and grille. The mirror housings
especially look cheap, and would have looked better in a neutral or body
color. The flashy chrome tire rims look like they came from Warshawsky's,
and don't help the look of the car. Ironically, the less powerful "touring"
version of the 300 will have aluminum rims, which I would swap in a second.
On the interior the raised beltline is a little disconcerting, as it makes
you feel like a little kid straining to look out of the car windows.
Visibility is horrible, and the windshield is so narrow that I can touch the
rearview mirror and the top of the dash with one hand at the same time,
which means there's only about 8 inches between the two. The new Chrysler
Pacifica has a continuous console, reminding me a lot of my 300F (not as
pretty, though), whereas the new 300 does not. The steering wheel looks a
bit cheesy, and the Pacifica's steering wheel would have looked much better
on this car. The center silver colored control console seems like a poor
man's imitation of what one already finds in Audi's and Volkswagens. The
worst interior styling mistake (aside from it being a 4-door sedan) would be
the use of translucent "tortoise shell" plastic trim on the top of the
steering wheel and on the interior doorhandles. One guy was overheard asking
the Chrysler marketing honcho if it came with a matching purse (okay, it was
me, but boy, it really was the pits). The Chrysler guy told me this ugly
trim was an idea from the styling studio everybody liked, and that it would
only be on the 300c-hemi, not on the touring version. That's right, the
touring version will feature a black leather wrapped wheel and aluminum door
handles.



Conclusion: if you really want to get one, get the touring version, and then
drop the hemi in that car. Also get some good insurance, you'll need it. My
final impression of seeing the car in the flesh is that, with its big,
chromey upright grille, heavy styling and flashy gadgets, Chrysler managed
to build the perfect new Cadillac. Despite the great engineering, the lack
of real quality in the trim and finishes is disappointing, but probably in
the best of Chrysler tradition. Don't tell me that for a given price you
can't get good quality, because as much as I don't like them, the interiors
of Honda's and Toyota's are a lot better put together, and if this car wants
to run with the likes of Lexus and BMW, they better spend some money there,
and forget about the rain-sensing windshield wipers.



Alex Krikhaar

300F (and a fine 1991 Mercedes 420)











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