Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Chrysler 300 combines that model’s mobster aesthetic with a healthy dose of go-fast goodies for good measure. Let’s see if its mods outweigh its asking, or if that price has you saying fuggedaboutit.
Okay, before we get the lowdown on how Friday’s bagged 2005 Lexus LS430 faired, I have some good news to share—I’ve fixed the polls! Polldaddy, my NPOCP polling resource of choice, was recently acquired by another company, Crowdsignal. As is frequently the case when one company buys another, the new overlords impart changes in how the business is run, and that can cause headaches for all involved.
Long story-short, Polldaddy changed the way the polls displayed without evident notice. A few of you pointed out the issue allowing me to find the solution after some quick investigative work. Thanks to all of you who helped.
Oh yeah, and that Lexus? Its 82 percent Crack Pipe loss was about as low as its parade-rest suspension setting. The seller said he was “testing the waters” with the price, and I’m guessing Friday’s result was a cold splash in the face.
Have you ever heard the phrase “I only want what I cannot have?” Whether it’s unrequited love, or a goddamn brown mid-size station wagon with a diesel and a stick, we as a species tend to obsess over seemingly unobtainable goals. Quixotic as that may be, sometimes the effort pays off. Guess what, today is one of those days.
I mean, who hasn’t thought about the combination of the Chrysler 300’s sexy Ralph Gilles-penned bodywork wrapped around what’s basically a Challenger SRT-8's drivetrain? This 2008 custom Chrysler 300 SRT-8 is all that, and a bag of supercharged chips.
Now, the 300 has been made available with rock ‘em sock ‘em Hemi mills all along, the top of which being the 6.1-litre, 425 horsepower edition found in the SRT-8. That’s what you’ll find here, however it’s been imbued with a Vortech V3 centrifugal supercharger with an air to water charge cooler. Backing up that mean motorscooter is this car’s most notable addition: a Tremec T6060 six-speed stick with a Hurst shifter. As Homer Simpson once said “Whoo-hoo-hoo! Hee-hee! Ho-ho! Oh, my.”
The car is said to have been professionally built and combines the 300 with 50K on the clock with a wrecked Challenger SRT-8 that had done 10K more before getting boned. Along with the hottie drivetrain, the car comes with Brembo brakes—six pot up front and four piston in back—to keep everybody in line. Wrapped around those are a set of black-painted Challenger Daytona alloys fitted with what are claimed to be nearly new BFGs. A 3.92:1 diff rides in back, and sends power through upgraded half shafts.
The car rides on lowered springs—albeit not as low as Friday’s Lexus could go—giving the car’s already criminally good looks an even more sinister appearance. New ebony paint covers body and trim, and there’s a custom grille up front since nobody ever leaves a stock grille on their 300. I think it’s the law.
The interior rocks the SRT front seats, which from my experience are a hell of a lot better to look at than they are to do any kind of distance in. SRT floor mats and the aforementioned Hurst swizzle stick are additional sporty totems in the otherwise stock interior.
The seller says that the car displays no warning lights nor questionable codes, despite the major transplant work underneath. It’s described as being immaculate with “no dings no touch ups,” and the promise that it has “never been beat, raced or even a burn out!” Appreciably, it even comes with a clean title.
That’s a lot of car to take in on a Monday morning, and as you might expect, many are going to caution first and foremost that this is “somebody else’s project.” Yes. Yes it is. Now that we’ve gotten over that, who wouldn’t want to be tossed this beast’s keys and told to “go have fun?”
Well, fun costs money and in the case of this 300, that cost is $40,000. Whoa doggies that’s a ton of cash. And yes you are again right in noting that there are a lot of cool cars you could buy at that price.
Unfortunately, we’re only considering this one, and it’s now your job to consider if this Chrysler’s mods are enough to make that $40K asking a deal. What do you think, is this 300 worth that? Or, at that price, is this a Hemi you couldn’t get ‘round to considering?
You decide!
Greenville, SC Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to @paul_juntunen on the Twitter for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOCP. Hit me up at rob@jalopnik.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.