If the economic downfall of 2008 had happened just a few years earlier, the Chrysler 300C SRT8 probably wouldn't exist. Think about it: when the nation was on the verge of $4.00/gallon gasoline and people were doing everything possible to get out of their fuel-sucking SUVs and into smaller, more efficient vehicles, a 425-horsepower flagship sedan with a free-breathing 6.1-liter Hemi V8 doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But then again, did it ever?
The 300C SRT8 is the product of a pre-castrated Chrysler. This was a time of Viper-powered Rams, Hemi-powered Jeeps and SRT-badged Neons. "You want it, you got it." Chrysler wanted the 300C SRT8 to start a new trend of muscle sedans – a land where quarter-mile times reigned supreme, and booming exhaust notes were all that mattered. This trend never really caught on (save the Cadillac CTS-V, which has been honed to be one hell of a machine), and at the end of the day, Chrysler was left with a big, heavy, powerful sedan that didn't offer much in the way of refinement and carried a near-$50,000 price tag.
But despite its flaws – and there are quite a few – we still think of the 300C SRT8 as a guilty pleasure. It has all the ingredients of an American muscle car wrapped in a four-door, luxury(ish) package. We'd probably never buy one or recommend buying a new one to a friend, but if we're totally honest, there's still something about the SRT8 that gets us all giddy when one comes through the Autoblog Garage. Make the jump to find out why.
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