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Grandparents “GETAWAY” Car
by Cathy Droz
As featured in nationally published GRAND magazine

If someone mentions a town car to me I think of a chauffeured trip to the airport or a neighbor’s car that always has room for two or more additional passengers. It’s hard to find the look and feel of a limousine made by one of the big three auto manufacturers for under $40,000.  However, Chrysler has a 300C Hemi engine designer sedan called the Walter P. Chrysler Executive series.  It comes in a touring version or with a Hemi engine for the more performance minded boomer. You can recognize this beautifully designed Chrysler 300 anywhere.  It’s the one that looks more like a made-for-television gangster’s car than a grandparent’s “getaway” car.

The Chrysler 300 series isn’t anything new; it’s been around since l953. However, it never really made it big until Mercedes Benz got involved, and in 2005 the Chrysler 300 was awarded “car of the year.” The Chrysler 300 model was credited with giving style and class to a brand that was perceived as stagnate and ordinary.  They took a step toward extraordinary by introducing the limited edition Walter P. Chrysler executive car, named after the founder.

As a member of the boomer generation, I want to drive a car that looks good, is functional, safe for my family and friends, and is priced for a budget that also enables me to contribute to the grandchildren’s college fund.  I don’t want to give up performance, spacious leather seating, and cargo space, nor do I want a gas guzzler.

The Chrysler 300C Hemi Walter P Chrysler Executive series has what most boomers are looking for.  Though the price tag for this designer label may be $10,000 or more than the entry level 300, you will have the look and feel of a more expensive luxury executive car. If Eddie Bauer, who invented the down parka, can have his name on a vehicle then heck, having Walter’s badge on my car is fine with me.

The rear-wheel-drive 300C Hemi executive car has a wheel base of 126 inches, with rear seat passenger foot rests, not to mention the rear seat passenger writing tables, or as I call them “desks for toddlers.”  These pull-down trays are perfect for checkers or coloring or if allowed, eating in the car.

The leather seats are easy to clean or when Miss Jayden goes way out of the lines in her coloring book onto the “executive” writing tables.   This series includes Sirius TV hookup and DVD player which enables you to play Disney shows for the younger grandchildren or Grey’s Anatomy for the more “sophisticated” passengers.

For long trips to exotic places with other friends, you couldn’t ask for a nicer ride except perhaps for a Bentley.

The grandparent trip I would take with the family in this Hemi would be to the Walter P Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Michigan.  There are educational tours and vehicles on display, from the 1903 Rambler to the 2001 Intrepid NASCAR.  There are also a number of Hot Rod and Cool Mod days where you can gawk at the cars of our youth while the teens get to yell out “sweeeet,” as they see the “tuner” cars of today.

Besides this “limo” having a 5.7 Liter Hemi V-8 engine averaging 17 mph in the city and 24 mph on the highway; there are other aspects of this vehicle that are perfect for the ageless driver.  You’ll find easy to read gauges for day and evening driving, upper tether anchorages to secure a child safety seat, a cabin air filtering system, a DVD based GPS system, 12-volt center console power outlets and for this 5’2 and descending in height grandma,  adjustable pedals with memory no less.   Six inches are added to the wheelbase of the Walter P. Chrysler edition and even though we know size doesn’t matter, transporting a few teenagers in the back seat, a three-year old aspiring artist and a pre-teen soccer player, it does make a difference.

Enjoy the design and luxurious feel of this limited edition Chrysler while everyone is occupied in the backseat either hooked up with their i-pod, DVD watching or reading a book.   You can actually quietly enjoy the Hemi engine all the way to the museum with your car passenger full, or have total silence … the minute you drop them all off at the end of the day.

Grandma Droz has 20 years of automotive marketing experience. She test drives cars for manufacturers and journals her evaluations in print, radio, TV and the internet.  Droz writes a weekly column with her daughter Melanie called Boomer and X and has a successful radio show called Two for The road with broadcast partner Bill Z.   The proud grandmother of Jayden Droz, she spends as much time with her as she can and takes her on her test drives for fun and research.  For more on Cathy and her lifestyle journalism go to www.twofortheroadusa.com