Spied: 2008-2009 Chrysler 300 facelift

December27

chrysler-300-facelift.jpg

Spy photographers have snapped some photos of a facelifted Chrysler 300 prototype. The car’s headlights are unchanged — so far — but it appears to have a new set of taillights. From the five test cars that have been spotted to date, only the tail-ends have been covered in camouflage, suggesting the changes to the rear might be the focus of this update.

Some of the most extensive changes might come to the interior, where a complete overhaul is said to be planned. Speaking to the Automotive Press Association in May, Ralph Gilles, vice president of design at the Chrysler Group said, “we need an update [...] you’re going to see a significant improvement in the interior of that car.” Gallery after the jump…




 


44 Comments

  1. Aren’t those just the regular 300 (non C Models) headlights? I mena, the Touring model has those already, so i don’t see any changes in the headlights at all. The interior improvements could be good.

    Comment by A non E Moose, posted on December27 at 3:40 pm
  2. This car is a complete pile of poo, like all Chrysler/Dodge product

    Comment by Dizzy Queen, posted on December27 at 3:50 pm
  3. Dizzy Queen - You probably can’t afford it in the first place so everything to you looks ****.

    Comment by Stuart, posted on December27 at 4:11 pm
  4. why would the only update the rear?! i suspect the front will only get mild updates…

    Comment by YourNameHere, posted on December27 at 4:20 pm
  5. They probably are changing the trunk sheetmetal.
    Anyways, a very boring update.

    Comment by lanapat7, posted on December27 at 4:34 pm
  6. yeah, it’s definately mild since it’s completely free of camoflage and yet car nuts like ourselves can’t even see the changes.

    They got ride of the indentation in the top of the bumper for the headlights. The headlights (the round part) used to dip down into the bumper. Also, I believe they’ve removed some brightwork. VERY mild refreshing.

    Good to hear they’re changing the interior. It’s WAY too angular and lacks warmth.

    Comment by 6ix, posted on December27 at 4:34 pm
  7. oh my god, can’t u all see? the rear lights are exactly the same as 300C. Hope Chrysler isnt using those taillights for base, touring, and limited models. How are they gonna differinate from the regular 300 to 300C ?

    Comment by S-60-driver, posted on December27 at 4:35 pm
  8. Chrysler=Junk
    300 series=Junk
    Who cares about redesigned Junk anyway.

    Comment by Ted Bell, posted on December27 at 5:28 pm
  9. 6ix, these lights are from the 300 (non C models), they already look like this, without the dipped round bottom into the bumper. Only the “C” models have the rounded bottoms. These are NOT new headlights.

    Comment by A non E Moose, posted on December27 at 5:29 pm
  10. This is one of the few sedans I’d actually buy if I was in the market for one. Credit has to be given where credit is due, and Chrysler really pulled it off with the 300C. This update makes it even more polished, IMO. :)

    Comment by 1c3d0g, posted on December27 at 6:05 pm
  11. The exterior is fine. If they lifted the headlights just a bit to make them look less droopy and spiced up the rear a bit (a strip of chrome like the Impala or Aura would do the trick), then they’re set.

    I dunno, I was in a couple of 300s and I never had a problem with the interior. I suppose it looks like some of the other interiors but really it’s not bad. So an improvement will be very nice.

    Comment by Brendino, posted on December27 at 6:06 pm
  12. I’ve always felt the biggest downfall of the 300 was the interior. It was a bit bland, well made, but lacked any sort of design. If this comes in 08 though, and is such a minor face lift then I fear that the car may get a bit stagnant later in its life. Chrysler, like the rest of Detroit, needs to keep on its toes.

    Comment by Kenny W, posted on December27 at 7:17 pm
  13. > I’ve always felt the biggest downfall of the 300 was the interior. It was a bit bland, well made, but lacked any sort of design.

    It’s also gray. Dark gray, medium gray, and/or light gray, in some combination. it must be overcast all the time at Chrysler.

    Comment by bison, posted on December27 at 7:41 pm
  14. LX cars are great american sedans. They surpass anything similar offered by Ford or GM and do it at a reasonable price. I have a Magnum RT and love it.

    Comment by bun_a_gm, posted on December27 at 8:09 pm
  15. Hmm… I believe the 300 was Motor Trend car of the year in 2005, so apparently what Ted Bell, and Dizzy the Queen consider junk equals top shelf automotive engineering to the rest of us. The LX cars are excellent vehicles. An all new interior in this car would be welcome, I always hated the steering wheel. Got to drive a SRT8 Charger, and LOVED it. Most of the cops in our county now drive Chargers. Now if only the LX Cars had a real transmissions. One with a clutch…

    Comment by ironpony42, posted on December27 at 8:59 pm
  16. All that means is that chrysler ponied up to buy car of the year.

    Comment by youngm7, posted on December27 at 9:32 pm
  17. IRONY PONY and LEE OSWALD are some automotive afficianado’s i can tell by the reference to motor trends car of the year that they have in depth knowledge of the vehicles they speak about. sorry for my ignorant post i must not know a thing about cars.

    Comment by Ted Bell, posted on December27 at 9:58 pm
  18. BUY Car of the Year??? Do you really expect anyone to believe MT magazine gets paid by automakers to give awards to thier products? You sir, are high. MT magazine gets paid by the advertizers within it’s pages, and by subscriptions to the mag. Thats it. If an automaker could “buy” the MT Car of the Year award, you would have seen something like “2005 KIA RIO, CAR OF THE YEAR”.

    I’m not saying MT is the last word in Automotive Journalism either, since in 1980 they deemed the Chevrolet Citation as COTY. Everyone makes mistakes. But they were on the money with the 300.

    Comment by ironpony42, posted on December27 at 10:11 pm
  19. At least you recognize your ignorance Ted. That’s the first step. And since you admit openly to not knowing anything about cars, you may quit posting on an automotive forum, and go back to looking for young boys on Myspace. Hope to see your appearance on DATELINE. Good Day sir.

    Comment by ironpony42, posted on December27 at 10:18 pm
  20. actually sir, that was sarcasm if YOU knew anything about cars you would know that my statement, though blunt, is not inaccurate. but then again you were probably one of the smart guys that bought these taxi cabs so i understand your bias.

    Comment by Ted Bell, posted on December27 at 10:26 pm
  21. As long as they add far better textures and materials to the interior, it’ll still sell.

    Hope that black-out isn’t hiding some retro 60’s, fake spare tire hump…
    They made me nervous with that Sebring-thing, sedan and hard-top convertible.

    Comment by MyGodBeatsYourGod, posted on December27 at 10:44 pm
  22. The headlights are changed (ever so slightly). Visit the Chrysler wepsite. And all the Big Three bashers in here can go to hell for cluttering up the posts. Yeah, it’s your right… blah… blah… blah…

    Comment by psiclone, posted on December27 at 11:08 pm
  23. I don’t really care about the changes to the exterior. But I do know that the 300C’s interior was a pile of cr@p… and Chrysler is supposed to be updated the interior.

    So, hopefully, they’ll make the interior into something that isn’t a steaming pile of dog cr@p.

    (Not likely, but you never know.)

    Comment by Gogogodzilla, posted on December27 at 11:44 pm
  24. not a facelift…more like a butt lift haha ha

    Comment by Endeavor1776, posted on December27 at 11:50 pm
  25. Every time ted bell opens his mouth, he shows the whole world just how dumb he really is. I wonder if he has learned to tie his own shoes yet. Or wipe his own ass.
    Come to think of it, all the **** comes out of his mouth anyway, so why bother wipping his ass. He is to dumb for words. As dumb as dirt. I have heard that ted and dizzy queer are butt buddies.

    Comment by chuckram, posted on December28 at 12:55 am
  26. @ironpony - as much as i support everything else you said, there is some politics when it comes to MT’s awards. unfortunately I don’t have a link to support it though. :-/

    But it went along these lines… MT does the award to help promote their publication. So they’re not going to give out the award to someone who won’t market the crap out of it. You heard a lot about Motor Trend when Honda won two out of three, do you suppose there’s something to that?

    Comment by Brendino, posted on December28 at 2:52 am
  27. Remember boys & girls: Caps lock makes you look cool.

    As for the Motor Trend COTY Award, Peter Delorenzo did a piece on it and how it’s bought by companies. Unfortunately the archives are down right now, but if you search you should be able to find it.
    http://www.autoextremist.com/index.shtml

    Peter has worked in the industry for awhile and is usually on target with his comments & rants.

    Comment by Kenny W, posted on December28 at 8:18 am
  28. that was a very insightful post chuckram, you’ve completely changed my opinion about the 300. please tell me more of the vast features and benefits this car has so i can tell all of my friends to go buy one. and cutealbert, the only 300 you’ve got is made by fisher price. its called “fisher price, my first taxi cab”

    Comment by Ted Bell, posted on December28 at 11:59 am
  29. My God people, its just a car for crying out loud. For those of you that hate it why do you even post here? I hate Toyotas but I dont post under Toyota stories giving my opinion that I think they are “junk”. Why waste my time. For those of you that, like me, love the 300. YOu have great taste, its a great car.

    Comment by jackdev73, posted on December28 at 12:37 pm
  30. i love seeing 300 tourings or limiteds with 22 inch rims. the dumbass driving it could have gotten the 300C with the money spent on those rims instead….

    Comment by gsh, posted on December28 at 1:08 pm
  31. i love seeing the taxi driver pull up in a 300 when i’m drunk and need a ride home from the bar. i also love when i am traveling and i have the option for a 300 as my rental car. but what i love the most is watching the plummeting value of the 300 and seeing the look on peoples faces when they are told what their trade in value is on the car that the bottom has dropped out of the market.

    Comment by Ted Bell, posted on December28 at 1:54 pm
  32. “It’s the first sedan in recent memory to go fast, look good (good enough for dozens of hiphop videos, which is not a small thing) and be totally affordable, even to young guys with little expendable income.”

    Bwahaha!. This just further proves that they’re gaudy cars.

    Comment by devilsadvocate, posted on December28 at 2:59 pm
  33. First time I’ve seen only back camoflage. Maybe they’re facelifting it one half at a time.

    Comment by TOZO, posted on December28 at 3:40 pm
  34. And you sund pretty smart too

    Comment by Ted Bell, posted on December29 at 12:26 am
  35. I stand corrected on the headlight issue. Also, jackdev73 makes a good point. Why do all he American car bashers waste their time in here…? Oh yeah, they’re probably jobless hippies.

    Comment by psiclone, posted on December29 at 12:27 am
  36. Ted Bell is not an american car basher, Ted Bell is a crappy car basher. And yes, the 300 from chrysler is crap. therefore Ted Bell bashes the 300. I’m Ted Bell.

    Comment by Ted Bell, posted on December29 at 7:52 pm
  37. Lets see, Why is Ford and GM suddenly changing to rwd? Oh Yeah, the 300 made it acceptable and fashionable again.

    Comment by ChuckDePatty, posted on December30 at 1:56 am
  38. yes the car was successfull, i agree, that doesn’t change the fact that after the original hype of the design, which is a blatant copy, the car is ****. no smart person would purchase a 40,000 dollar car that can be had for 20,000 with a few less options. no smart person would purchase a car for $40,000 knowing their car is the same car used by fleets of taxi cabs and rental car companies nationwide. and no self respecting person would purchase a car for $40,000 if that same car is obviously a cheap knock off of an extremely prestigious vehicle. If you are rich buy that bentley or rolls, if you are not rich and you want to look rich by buying this cheap knock-off, well then you just look like a moron who wishes he were something he is not. I don’t support the posers who are driving this garbage. I’m Ted Bell

    Comment by Ted Bell, posted on December31 at 5:28 pm
  39. Ted Bell — Just like no self respecting Police Department would use the same car as a Taxi Fleet. Oh wait, Caprices and Crown Vics went for 100k miles as Police cars, then 100k more as taxis.

    The 300C borrows designs from the previous Mercedes generation (DAIMLER-chrysler remember?), although I will agree they should have borrowed the build quality, as well! It’s a solid design for the price, assuming you avoid the gaudy aftermarket 22″ rims…

    Comment by shoblime, posted on December31 at 7:15 pm
  40. Wow, Ted Bell is a dumbass who apparently thinks that the only way to buy a car is check off every singe option box and then some. You can get a well equipped 300C for around 30 grand, and a fully loaded for 35.

    Comment by cknoff, posted on January5 at 12:34 am
  41. “They probably are changing the trunk sheetmetal.
    Anyways, a very boring update.”

    You want to talk about a boring update? look at BMW, although they have a look that looks good for them, they unlike mercedes never do any redesign on the exterior thats worth talking about. True, how long has the Chrysler 300 been out? just a couple years right? Im actually supprised they are revising it.

    But seriously, i love those cars, cheap for the sheer size of the car, you can walk your dog and play tennis in the back seat.

    Comment by maddawg0, posted on January22 at 6:38 pm
  42. Rumor has it that the SRT8 version will get the 6.4 liter (392) Hemi making 470hp. Hopefully, they’ll have the cylinder deactivation and a 6 speed box.

    Comment by lefthandstratocaster, posted on February10 at 7:29 pm
  43. Chryslers are sooo crappy that Daimler wants to cut them loose.

    Comment by rinterstate, posted on February15 at 12:30 pm
  44. I stumbled across this site by chance and could not believe the amount of attention Ted Bell gets around here.
    This guy obviously feeds off this popularity albeit solicited through real thoughtless submissions to this forum.
    Mr Bell, if this is your real name, please check the expiry date on your medication. Also please make sure you don’t mix the red capsules with the blue ones, I’ve told you before this would lead to hallucination. Also taking Ginseng for your microphallic syndrome will highten this condition. Lastly, you are overdue for your next medical (mental evaluation), so please schedule URGENTLY.
    Yours Truly
    Dr Phil.

    Comment by Cpt.Durango, posted on March14 at 5:34 am

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