Chrysler has marketed a 300 model off and on for almost all of its post-war history, with both the “letter series” cars of the 1950s and 1960s and the “non-letter cars” of the 1960s and 1970s. They also offered a 300M between 1999 and 2004, based on the front-wheel-drive (FWD) LH chassis.

The vehicle we’re talking about here is the LX- or LD-bodied Chrysler 300, the full-size sedan that was offered in two generations from 2005 until the present. These are primarily rear-wheel drive (RWD) cars, though Chrysler does also offer the 300 with all-wheel drive (AWD) for the current generation. Chrysler 300s are available with either a V6 or a V8, and all are equipped with automatic transmissions.

These cars have taken up some of the slack left when Ford and Lincoln abandoned the Panther platform, which underpinned the Crown Victoria and Town Car. While not as large inside as those models were, the Chrysler 300 remains luxurious and singularly American, despite being built on an aging German platform.

Generations: Two

Chrysler 300 1st Generation Chrysler 300 2nd Generation

Pros: Classic American luxury sedan styling, A range of power plants and drivelines, Full-sized without being enormous
Cons: Low rooflines make entry a challenge in the early cars, The only LH car without a Hellcat variant, Loss of the SRT-8 trim level after 2014

Chrysler 300 2nd Generation (2011-Present)

No manufacturer doing business in the United States has made more out of a single platform than Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) has with the LX. Along with the Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger, this platform spawned the Dodge Magnum wagon and the more stylish, less performance-oriented Chrysler 300. The basic structure has outlasted three separate corporate parents in its 18 years of existence.

The current 300 rides on the LD chassis, which is essentially a slightly updated version of the LX that underpinned this car when it arrived in 2005. It is the backbone of the W220-chassis Mercedes-Benz S-Class, along with the five-link rear suspension of the W211-chassis Mercedes-Benz E-Class. These two cars together represented some of the finest luxury cars produced at the time. Neither has been in production since 2009, but the Chrysler 300 soldiers on with a lot of their DNA intact.

The 300 is powered by either a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6, which has been capable of 292 horsepower from its introduction in 2011 until today, or a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 that puts out 363 horsepower and 394 lb-ft of torque. These engines are all backed by a single transmission, the ZF 8HP45 eight-speed automatic, marketed by Chrysler as “TorqueFlite” and featuring paddle shifters. Two of the six-cylinder trim levels are available with AWD. The V8 engine is RWD-only.

The 300 is available in four trim levels for the present model year. The Chrysler 300 Touring starts at an MSRP of $33,740. That’s followed by the Chrysler 300 Touring L, the Chrysler 300S V6, and the Chrysler 300S V8, which tops out at $45,350.

The 300 Touring comes with cloth bucket seats, while the Touring L, 300S V6, and 300S V8 all have leather. The 300 Touring and 300 Touring L have a Uconnect 4C infotainment system with an 8.4-inch touchscreen, an AM/FM/HD radio system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM Satellite Radio with a six-month trial included, Integrated Voice Command with Bluetooth, Bluetooth and Bluetooth streaming audio, and a media hub with an audio jack and two USB ports. The 300S V6 and 300S V8 add Uconnect 4C NAV, plus five-year services of SiriusXM Travel Link and SiriusXM Traffic Plus.

The 300 Touring has little in the way of adaptive safety technology. Adaptive cruise control is not available, even as part of a package, and neither are forward-collision warning, active braking, park assist, blind-spot monitoring, or rear cross-path detection. Those features, as well as lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, and auto high-beam headlamp control, are part of the SafetyTec Plus Group available on the 300 Touring L, 300S V6, and 300S V8.

Chrysler 300 1st Generation, (2005 to 2010)

The first-generation Chrysler 300 debuted as a concept at the 2003 New York International Auto Show. It’s amazing to think that 20 years have passed and this vehicle has only really gone through a major update once. The car took its name and its styling cues from the 1955 Chrysler 300C, featuring a large grille, a long hood, a short deck, and a very low roofline. Like the second-generation 300, this car’s underpinnings were supplied by the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and E-Class, at a time when Chrysler was DaimlerChrysler, which took a lot of direction from Mercedes-Benz.

The cars were powered by a larger range of engines in the first generation. The smallest, a 2.7-liter V6 making 190 horsepower, was restricted to the base 300 trim level (which was renamed 300 LX in 2008). The 300 Touring and 300 Limited used a 3.5-liter V6 engine developing 250 horsepower. The 300C was introduced with a 5.7-liter Hemi V8, with a multi-displacement system that allowed the engine to run on as few as four cylinders, topping out at an EPA-estimated 23 mpg on the highway. Finally, the SRT-8 trim level introduced the 6.4-liter Hemi V8 with a stunning (for the time) 425 horsepower, offering something that Ford and Lincoln never had: A performance car based around an American luxury car aesthetic.

Early V6 cars were equipped with a four-speed automatic transmission, while the V8 cars and, later, all of the LX cars were equipped with a W5A580 “5G-Tronic” five-speed automatic transmission straight from the Mercedes-Benz parts bin.

The cars were limited on safety features, containing the requisite airbags, seat belts, and crumple zones. Adaptive safety was still a ways off even at the end of the first generation’s six-year run.