When I walk around New York City and watch people carelessly fling garbage into her streets, a part of me dies a little bit. But then I am cheered by the fact that Fiat Chrysler is still putting big and dumb motors in cars that have no business with motors that big or dumb. It’s stuck Hellcat engines into Charger, Challengers and Jeeps. Now it seems like it’s the Chrysler 300's turn.
In a story detailing Chrysler’s new, upcoming lineup, Automotive News included this snippet in regards to the 300 sedan:
Sources say a planned redesign of the LX-based 300 onto the Giorgio platform, originally scheduled for 2020, has been scrapped. Instead, designers will do a major freshening of the 300 in 2019 in hopes of shedding weight and improving fuel economy. The addition of a turbocharged four-cylinder is a strong possibility to augment an improved V-6 to help get the job done. In the meantime, Chrysler will put a Hellcat engine in its luxury sedan in late 2018 because why not?
If this is true, then perhaps that thing we saw running around last May could very well be a Chrysler 300 Hellcat. Hopefully, this will put an end to the days of people dismissing the 300 by saying it’s a Rolls-Royce or Bentley knockoff to saying that it’s a Rolls-Royce or Bentley knockoff with a Hellcat engine.
I’m not satisfied, though. Any loon can put a Hellcat motor in a Chrysler 300. Personally, I’m holding out for the Fiat 500 Abarth Hellcat. Or the Alfa Romeo 4C Hellcat. Or the Chrysler Pacifica Hellcat.
We have reached out to FCA for confirmation of the Chrysler 300 Hellcat and will update if we hear back.
Update 7:30 p.m. EST: An FCA spokesperson responded to our request for comment:
“I can confirm that there are NO plans to offer the supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V8 (Hellcat) engine in the Chrysler 300.”
Sad!