New Car Overview of the 2005 Chrysler 300 Series Full-Size Sedan

Description: Full-Size Sedan
Base MSRP Range: $23,295 - $34,195
Invoice Price Range: $21,810 - $31,620
Where built: Canada

Chrysler's new flagship looks like an exclusive luxury coach of bold dimensions with an audacious face, upright structure and chiseled-block body.

Titled under a numeric label as the 300 series, the sports sedan for the large-car class is cast on a new platform with wheelbase stretched and engine mounted up front but power channeled to the rear wheels like elite European touring sedans. The platform was developed through Chrysler's parent DaimlerChrysler and shares some components with a sedan by Mercedes-Benz plus the new Magnum model from Dodge.

300's cabin was constructed around a cab-rearward concept to forge a space of comfort and practicality. Layout poses two large bucket seats up front with a bench in back broad enough for three.

Three engines are available to power the car through four trims tagged as base 300, 300 Touring, luxurious 300 Limited and flagship 300C. Cushy top model 300C, with soft leathers on seats and simulated tortoise shell trim on dash and steering wheel, totes a high-tech rendition of Chrysler's fabled Hemi engine with hemispheric combustion chambers. The 5.7-liter V8 makes 340-hp through an electronic automatic 5-speed transmission teamed with Chrysler's AutoStick. But the Hemi comes with a multi-displacement system (MDS) that can switch seamlessly and transparently to fuel-saving 4-cylinder mode when all of that power is not needed.

Chrysler adds another option to the 300 line with an all-wheel-drive (AWD) system available for the top two powertrains.