It looks like the Viper-powered Chrysler 300 teased on the group's Dodge Youtube channel is nothing more than the dream of one man: David Ekins. The 300 SRT10, it turns out, started as an unsuspecting 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring (which initially came with a V6); now it's got four more cylinders and puts down a claimed 525-550 horsepower.
Mr. Ekins is said to have built the project himself (except for some specialty work), having sourced the 10-cylinder 8.3-liter engine and T-56 Tremec transmission from a wrecked donor car. Other than the power train, a slew of other systems obviously had to be upgraded in order for the car to become a 300 SRT10 and not just a 300 Touring with a massive engine.
This homemade project now rides on Eibach coilovers and gets a new sway bar kit, as well as a little bit of extra cooling up front in the form of a 3-inch thick radiator and "custom" oil filter. Other additions include a new fuel tank mounted in the trunk and the little styling tweaks found throughout.
A new recall announced by the Chrysler Group will affect 26,397 owners of Chrysler and Dodge brand vehicles in the USA. The recall includes certain 2010MY Chrysler 300 and Sebring, and Dodge Charger, Avenger, Challenger and Journey, and some 2011MY Ram pickup trucks, because a power steering pressure hose may leak fluid onto a hot engine and cause a fire. Read more »
Dodge has published a video of a current generation Chrysler 300 badged as the SRT10 and fitted with a Viper-sourced 8.4-liter V10 powerhouse on its official Youtube channel. The company did not provide any intel on the car, but it did ask the question, "What happens when you put a Viper engine into a Chrysler 300?". Feel free to post your answers in the comments section below. Read more »
After last week's [official] announcement that the Fiat Group will drop the Chrysler nameplate in Europe as its models will be rebadged integrated into the Lancia brand, a forecasting firm now says that the automaker will begin building Lancias and possibly Alfa Romeos at its Brampton plant in Canada beginning from 2012.
U.S.-based industry research company AutomotiveCompass said that Chrysler will produce a Lancia Thesis replacement based on the soon-to-revealed 2011 300 sedan, which will continue to make use of the previous generation Mercedes architecture .
Doug Shepard, forecasting manager for the research firm said that the Lancia version of the redesigned Chrysler 300 won't differ radically in appearance from the American sedan.
Today's recall comes from the Chrysler LLC group that is calling in 40,131 vehicles over a glitch with the ignition switch. The Detroit automaker said that the recall includes certain 2010 model year Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger and Charger, Jeep Commander and Grand Cherokee, and Dodge Ram vehicles. Read more »
With the glitzy Chrysler Thunderbolt taking the spotlight at the at the 1993 Detroit Motor Show, we seriously doubt that anyone even vaguely remembers the company's second concept car at Motown, the 300C sedan. Important or not, fact is that the 300C prototype model is up for grabs at Volocars.
The one-of-a-kind concept features a customized interior and exterior, as well as a glass panoramic roof with electric sun shade with the seller claiming that it cost $145,000 to build. The documented prototype, which has covered only 350 miles, is priced at $25,998. Comprehensive gallery after the jump.
To be completely fair, we weren't expecting the Fiat Group's tie up with Chrysler to produce immediate results in such a short period of time, but we doubt that this is of any concern to consumers that want to see new products rolling into in the Detroit automaker's showrooms.
We're still waiting to see if the rumors about a Lancia Delta-badged / based Chrysler turn out to be true, but for the time being, Chrysler's Detroit Show offerings will include the new 2010MY 300 S6 with a 250HP 3.5-liter V6 and the S8 with a 360HP HEMI V8.
Both models benefit from a series of exterior and interior improvements as well as equipment upgrades.
The 300 S6 and S8 are distinguished on the outside by their blacked-out grilles with chromed surround, body-color fascia accents, darkened headlamp bezels, chromed door handles, "shaved" doors with body-color mirrors and large 20-inch polished face wheels with painted pockets.
Interior highlights include a unique leather steering wheel with carbon weave accented, red stitching and brushed silver spokes, seats upholstered in a combination of dark gray leather and suede brushed aluminum accents on the instrument panel center stack, center console side trim and upper-door trim. The carbon-weave door-pull handles with red accent stitching round off the interior upgrades.
The 300 S6 and S8 models also feature a 13-speaker Kicker audio system with a 322-watt amplifier and 100-watt subwoofer, Uconnect Phone, iPod Control and SIRIUS Satellite Radio.
The new Chrysler 300 S6 and 300 S8 will go on sale at Chrysler dealerships in the spring of 2010.
If Chrysler keeps on schedule, then we'll be seeing the redesigned 300 sedan making its market debut in the U.S. and other countries sometime in the second half of the year. But for now, Chrysler's UK division has announced a new model-line up of its mid-size sedan for Britain. The new 2010 300C range will now offer four derivatives, the 300C SE, SR and SRT that are powered by 215HP 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine, and the SRT-8 fitted with a 425HP 6.1-litre V8 HEMI petrol engine.
The new entry-level 300C, the diesel-powered SE, is priced from £23,995 (approx. US$38,900) on the road.
Standard features include leather seats, ESP, ABS, front, rear and side-curtain airbags, heated front seats, dual zone climate control, LED ambient lighting, front fog lamps, parking sensors (front and rear), Xenon headlamps and rain-sensing windscreen wipers,18-inch alloys and an in-car entertainment system with CD player and MP3 capability and a six speaker Boston Acoustics sound system.
The 300C SR is priced at £24,995. In addition to the SE grade, SR models feature auto-dimming rear view mirror, upgraded Boston Acoustics sound system including subwoofer and uconnect GPS, uconnect phone with voice recognition, a hands-free communication system using Bluetooth technology.
Priced at £27,995, the 300C SRT offers in addition to the SR models a mesh grille with chrome surround, body coloured door mirrors and door handles, wheel arch extensions, 20 inch alloys, leather and suede trimmed sports seats and carbon fibre interior details.
The diesel-powered 300Cs are offered with a standard automatic transmission and can complete the 0-62mph (100km/h) sprint in 8.7 seconds while reaching a top speed of 143mph 0r 230km/h.
At the top-of-the-range is the 300C SRT-8 that costs £41,795 (about US$67,800 - in the States, the 300C SRT8 carries a sticker price of $47,315 not including taxes, but you may get a better price if you haggle the dealer).
The 300C SRT-8 with its 425HP and 420 lb-ft HEMI V8 goes from 0-62mph in 5.0 seconds, hits the quarter mile in the high 13-second range and has a top of speed of 165 mph or 265km/h.
Turns out that we fell spot on our criticism about the article from Advertisment Age (also hosted by Autonews), in concern of the 30-second TV Spot about the Chrysler 300 and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader. As we noted in our post, the author of the article, Jean Halliday did not mention all the facts about the TV spot jumping into conclusions about Chrysler ditching U.S. agencies and paying an Italian company to do the job while having received bailout money from American taxpayers.
Chrysler and Lancia CEO Olivier Francois, released a statement saying that the company did not hire the Italian agency and that no one charged automaker a single penny for the creation of the TV Spot. "The only costs were actually spent here in the US, to two companies to coordinate and manage the trafficking of this film," Francois said.
To make matters worse, Chrysler's CEO said that he told the reported that this was a one-time execution with the agency, even before Halliday wrote the story.
Francois added that Chrysler has in fact hired Fallon of Minneapolis to be the brand's official ad agency.
Olivier Francois, President and Chief Executive Officer - Chrysler Brand, Chrysler Group LLC and Lancia Brand, Fiat Group Automobiles, submitted the following letter to the editor to AdvertisingAge in response to this article:
Today we at Chrysler discovered that an act of social responsibility, running a film letting Americans know that the freedom of a Nobel laureate is currently being denied in Burma, was portrayed in Ad Age as a potential affront to taxpayers here. We'd like to set the record straight and have your readers draw their own conclusions.
First, this film was created by Lancia's Italian ad agency. For efficiencies, it was then re-worked for Chrysler. This was also not Chrysler "hiring" the agency, and in fact neither the agency nor the leadership of Nobel, nor the other Nobel Prize winners in the film charged us even a penny for it. The only costs were actually spent here in the US, to two companies to coordinate and manage the trafficking of this film.
Second, this was a one-time execution with the Italian agency, as we informed the reporter before she wrote the story.
In fact, we have hired Fallon of Minneapolis to be Chrysler Brand's official ad agency, and they are presently developing new commercials to start airing this year.
Hopefully we can enjoy the freedom of having your readers in a democratic society decide for themselves if they should be upset, or whether we instead exercised fiscal responsibility in producing this important film.
A news report from the Advertising Age is criticizing Olivier Francois, CEO of both the Chrysler and Lancia brand who was appointed by the Fiat Group, for his decision to choose an Italian ad agency over Chrysler Group's longtime partner, BBDO Detroit, for a 30-second TV Spot on the Chrysler 300.
The author of the report, Jean Halliday, says that Francois decision "may not sit well with American taxpayers, who bailed out the ailing Chrysler earlier this year with billions of dollars in loans" and that "several hundreds of staffers of Chrysler Group's longtime ad agency, BBDO Detroit, will be out of work at the end of January when the contract expires."
As expected, the somewhat one-sided report, which was also posted on Autonews, goes on to pass judgment on the advertisement saying that it's very similar to a 2008 Lancia commercial calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and that it does not connect to American consumers.
Chrysler's CEO, Olivier Francois said: "We produced the TV film in honor of all those who put their lives at stake in the hopes of making the world a better place. For Chrysler, this is a chance to use our brand image to join with others in the fight for peace and to knock down the walls that divide us. We at Chrysler believe in doing the right thing and making a difference."
Julie Roehm, a former Chrysler Group marketing chief said: "The message is a disconnect to what matters to people here. Americans are focused now on getting back to work and the economy back on track. I don't think the vast majority of Americans know who this woman is or frankly care. They have no idea who their customer is in the U.S. or have a clue how to connect with them."
Playing the devil's advocate, we must note that for one, we don't have all the details on the topic including the cost of the advertisement. Maybe the Fiat Group had a special deal going on with the agency - we don't know.
What we do know from Chrysler is that the spot was initially created as part of the Lancia brands sponsorship of the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Berlin Nov. 10-11, 2009. Furthermore, the spot first aired in Europe (on Nov. 12).
In other words, it's a global ad that doesn't only focus on U.S. consumers and more importantly, Chrysler joined Lancia's efforts, it didn't create a new type of ad.
We won't even touch the subject that nobody cares about who Aung San Suu Kyi is (nobody cared about smaller-sized fuel efficient cars here in the States a few years ago, and look at how the former Big Three are trying to catch up now...).
Unfortunately, some people do not understand that we live in the age of globalization. For any automaker or group of brands to survive today, they need to reach many different markets, both in terms of products and marketing.
If you want to sell cars all over the world, you also have to accept the fact that you will produce vehicles and hire people, agencies, etc, etc, from other countries. That's the way the game works, not only for American automakers but for everyone.
And if you want to criticize the Fiat Group for something, start from asking the Italians what's going to happen to the $73 million grant that Chrysler received from the Obama administration for the manufacturing of 220 plug-in hybrid and electric pickup trucks and minivans in St. Louis and in Michigan, now that the group's CEO Sergio Marchionne reportedly pulled the plug from the EV fleet.
We found this photo hidden somewhere between a family portrait of Olivier Francois, head of both Chrysler and Lancia brands, and a picture of the Detroit automaker's nifty new brochures in the presentation slides released by Chrysler at the unveiling of the company's five-year business plan on Wednesday. The slide is titled "Ironically Similar" and it shows a Chrysler 300 and Lancia's beluga whale on tires Thesis executive sedan side by side.
Feel free to amuse us with your answers to the question, "what's so ironically similar about the two brands or if you prefer, the cars shown in this photo?" in the comment section below.
Mr. Ekins is said to have built the project himself (except for some specialty work), having sourced the 10-cylinder 8.3-liter engine and T-56 Tremec transmission from a wrecked donor car. Other than the power train, a slew of other systems obviously had to be upgraded in order for the car to become a 300 SRT10 and not just a 300 Touring with a massive engine.
