This Chrysler nameplate first appeared in the 1957 model year as the 300C, part of the original Chrysler 300 “letter series” performance-luxury cars. That first 300C was a high-profile flagship built around Chrysler’s big HEMI V8 and was marketed as one of the most formidable American production cars of its day. After the letter-series era ended, the 300C designation disappeared for decades, making it a historically significant early chapter in Chrysler’s performance heritage rather than a continuously used badge.
The nameplate returned in the modern era in 2005, when Chrysler revived the 300C as the top version of the new rear-wheel-drive 300 sedan. This second production period was a very different interpretation of the concept: a full-size luxury performance sedan that paired bold styling with HEMI-powered V8 performance and helped reestablish the 300 as one of Chrysler’s most recognizable modern vehicles. In Chrysler’s own history materials, the 2005 launch is described as the rebirth of the 300C and a key moment in the brand’s design and performance identity.
The modern 300C continued in various forms for years, and in 2023 Chrysler offered a limited-production 300C as a farewell model, celebrating the long-running nameplate and the heritage of the original 1950s cars. Because the badge has appeared in more than one distinct production period, it should be treated as a revived nameplate rather than a single uninterrupted model run.