The first Chrysler 300 rolled off an assembly line at the company’s Brampton assembly plant in Canada in January 2004. It carried a retro name inspired by a Chrysler from the 1950s and a retro attitude older than that. It heralded the return of big, rear-wheel-drive (RWD) American cars with acres of space and no compulsion to apologize. Its styling was automotive zoot suit – it looked like a car a gangster would drive in a comic book.
The final Chrysler 300 will roll off that same assembly line in a few weeks. Chrysler stopped taking orders for its big cruiser this summer and will stop building the car at the end of the year.
We can’t quite tell you what the final 300 will look like. But we can report on the final 300C. Chrysler says it has built the last high-performance version of the car. The 2023 300C is the most potent 300 that Chrysler will ever build, equipped with the 6.4-liter V8 from the Dodge Charger Scat Pack, making 485 horsepower. Power goes to the rear wheels through an 8-speed automatic transmission.
A limited-slip differential helps the big car keep more composure than expected in the corners. Four-piston Brembo brakes reel in all that power.
It “reaches 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds and covers the quarter-mile in 12.4 seconds,” the company says – numbers that fit a much smaller car.
The last 300C built, Chrysler says, wore Velvet Red. The interior was wrapped in black leather, of course.
If you want one of the last big, brash, V8-powered RWD American sedans, it’s too late to order a 300. But our inventory data shows that dealers have more than 70 days’ worth of 300s in stock.
A few are likely 300C models – even though Chrysler built just 2,000 copies of the high-performance version, dealers placed some of those orders. Your local Chrysler dealership might still be able to track one down for you. You’ll likely pay a premium for it.
What’s next for Chrysler? The company still hasn’t revealed the models that will power its future. But Chrysler committed to a multi-billion dollar plan to update the Brampton plant last year. “When production resumes in 2025, the plant will introduce an all-new, flexible architecture to support the company’s electrification plans,” Chrysler says.
