I love the Chrysler 300. It’s a beautiful car that showed the masses want a full-size American sedan with rear-wheel-drive and even a V8, if it looked really good. But it has become the canvas for so many customizations. The Bentley mesh grilles and the 22 inch rims, I can deal with. But this monstrosity I spotted in midtown Manhattan? Who on earth thinks this looks good?
By contrast, the front is almost tasteful. I guess going for the Bentley look was just too common for this customizer!
In a word. Gross.
not me.
Some people have a strange idea of beauty, but I guess its all in the eye of the beholder.
Of course it looks like crap – these fender skirts are missing the wing!
This makes me wonder if anyone has tried to go “Airflow” with the 300. Maybe Jim Klein will give it a try for us. 🙂 But this one looks seriously bad.
There’s cash in Crass.
The ugliness is due to a clash between “hiding the rear wheels” and “showing the rims”. Decide, one way or another. The front end of almost a good pastiche of a Rolls Royce Ghost.
Concur. Subtler rims, and the look is good. I like the skirts…
Apparently the 300 is the 21st century pimp mobile of choice. Has anybody seen a 300 with Superfly style faux headlights?
Absolutely +1!!
Are those New Jersey plates? That might explain….
Those are indeed NJ plates, and the “OL” prefix on the plate number would indicate that this vehicle is registered as a limousine.
YES. I have seen Superfly headlights on a Chrysler 300. It was several years ago (if that sounds like a long time, the Chrysler 300 in its current styling idiom is now ten years old) and it was a really poor job, probably also illegal. UG-LY!
It may even have been from New Jersey, like today’s C(non)C.
These skirts probably wouldn’t look so bad except that their flatness and the sharp, straight creases on the lower edge both clash with the roundness of the car’s quarter panel.
The front does look almost tasteful, with a Lincoln Mark “feel.” But the inverted-bathtub Caprice still looks ugly to me; two wrongs don’t make a right!
+1
Not sure if that can be unseen. Very glad I have a Gen 2… 🙂
I always thought this 300 was styled after a Bently. Guess this pimp decided to upgrade to RR.
Any 300 with fender skirts needs to be killed with fire. After we take the Hemi and all the other cool bits out, of course…I could build a cool ’47 Plymouth with those…
I agree that the front doesn’t look that bad, but those skirts!!! Yuck!
I am surprised he didn’t ad one of those hideous Continental Kits.
I have noticed when watching the car auctions on TV that every ’58 Impala must have had one. Funny, I was just starting to notice new cars, ( we had a ’58 Biscayne ) in 1958 and I don’t think I saw one.
To me they just ruin a car.
Regarding the Continental Kits, I could not agree with you more. Ugh.
Could be worse at least it hasn’t got a toilet seat and half vinyl roof like Joe Dirt’s haircut.They’ve turned a good looking car into a gargoyle
“Suddenly, The 1991-92 Caprice Doesn’t Look So Bad”
Oh yes it does! Can you say “beached whale”?
I, too, love the 300 and haven’t had a chance to drive one yet.
I hate them when people bling them out beyond reason with too much stick-on chrome, skirts, grills and wagon wheels and various other useless junk.
If you aren’t proud to own a Chrysler 300, then why buy one and disfigure it like this? This immediately reminds me of how much I dislike fender skirts on ’60s cars which weren’t designed to have them. Most ’60s cars had rolled lips on their wheel openings. On them, skirts look tacky. Ala J.C.Whitney. Skirts were beautiful on Cadillacs and Olds Ninety Eights. They were part of the design. This Chrysler is hideous! As for the ’91, ’92 Caprice, to me, they were the worst looking car Chevrolet ever produced.
When I was in high school I asked a friend who worked at a gas station if he had seen the new ’65 Mustang in town that had fender skirts . He told me that if I thought looking at it was bad, he was the one that they brought it in to have him install them.
Someone here in town used to drive a two tone brown mid ’70’s F150 with skirts and a lot of other tacked on junk.
My brother in law is a body man who used to work for a Chrysler dealer. He told me that he had installed several Bentley grills in 300’s and that it required taking the whole front end apart.
I agree on the Caprice, but to each his own. I have always liked Edsels, especially the 1960 model.
I’ve seen a ’78-9 F150 and a couple ’73-’87 Chevy C10s with the skirts. They look about as good as the featured vehicle.
I have never liked cars in drag. Its like trying to teach a dog to meow,,,why? Stupid.
I have two words for you…”New” and “Jersey”
What is the point? I never liked cars that weren’t designed for fender skirts with fender skirts…they just don’t go with the car. I’m talking about older classics like a 65 Impala or a 62 Ford. Maybe these were optional on some makes, but the all chrome skirts are the worst, at least to me. This poor car looks like it’s pretending to be something it’s not.
At least it doesn’t have those stick-on aftermarket Buick portholes. Yes, I’ve seen them on more than one Chrysler!
Glad that fad cooled down too…
The sad thing is that the fender portholes that are on the current crop of Buick’s is actually cheap looking also. Like some owner had a gift card for Advance Auto and needed to find one last thing to use it on.
WHY?!!?!!? Did fender skirts look good on much of anything, ever? Horrible styling fad, IMHO.
I take issue with the fake Bentley grilles too. Yes, the 300 has some Bentley in its look, it does draw inspiration from there. BUT, to fake it like this says youre a wannabe ‘baller’. Chryslers are appealing cars on their own. Customize it, make it yours, make it like no other but trying to reach up by installing some cheeseball knockoff of another make’s styling points is just lame.
If this is a hire car then the spats may well be there to keep the clients clothes clean.In the uk quite a few 300crds earn their keep and like the merc get grubby aroound the door jambs.
Agreed, I do believe this is exactly what the intention here is.
I have never liked fender skirts. That said, when I see an old Caddy or Lincoln missing the skirts, it looks wrong.
Fender skirts only look good on cars that they were designed for. Period.
Where’s the curb feelers?
They retract into the body.
Yuck….those fender skirts look horrible.
I like most cars with fender skirts. From 1993-1999 there was dealer installed Wildcat package for the LeSabre and it added fender skirts, brougham top and special badges.
I have been trying to get a set of those fender skirts from a 97-99 Lesabre to have painted and installed on my 97 LeSabre.
I agree the skirts on the subject Chrysler don’t look very good, but I’m so starved for something other than the open wheel wells that everything has, I’ll take them.
The skirts on the LeSabre in the photo you posted look amazingly good – makes sense that is was a dealer package that must have been done in some volume, but I’ve never seen one – and LeSabres were pretty common in my area.
The Buick LeSabre with f.skirt looks great! No comment about the 300’s.
Half-assed attempt at being a fender skirt. Needs to cover more of the wheel. Like a miniskirt on a fat broad. Eccchhh! Cover that up!
I agree, this car looks hideous.
But I don’t understand all the hate for the 91-92 Caprice (or later 93-96 Caprices).
Sure, there are better looking cars than the last-gen Caprice, but still, the weren’t that bad…
And I for one actually prefer the skirted 91-92 Caprice sedans. Later rounded wheel well openings were not properly ‘centered’ (but this has already been mentioned at CC).
Yes, a Chrysler 300 is a nice looking car. Much nicer than any late model Mercedes I’ve ever seen. I don’t like the grille or fender skirts, but the huge rims are absolutely disgusting to me. That is a fad that looks like it will never end. I have seen fender skirts and a fake Rolls Royce hood on VW bugs 40 years ago. I have no idea where that crazy rim thing came from.
I just Googled images of fender skirts for Chrysler 300. OMG! I found a lowered Chrysler 300 something or other loaded with trinkets ranging from what looks like a Fulton sunvisor, to Escalade fender vents, stainless gas filler door, wagon wheels with one inch side walls, and, of course, fender skirts. The height of hideousness. It was posted on a Chrysler 300 forum where a newcomer asked if anyone knew where he could get fender skirts.for his 300. The overwhelming response was NOOOO! Don’t do it! Don’t do it!
Fender skirts or spats look awful on anything and worse on something thats completely the wrong shape the front of this looks like some old lincoln not a good look ever scrap it before it spreads.
The “Owner Livery” plates indicate to me that this guy wanted his car to be one of a kind, instantly recognizable by its look…and it apparently didn’t matter whether it was a good look.
Really?? You think THAT 300 looks gross?
Gimme a break… even with that cheap mod, that you can remove in 5 minutes, that 300 is ALOT better looking and cooler than the FUGLY 91-92 Caprice…
That Caprice was a lardass, BELUGA on wheels… especially, when it used to be a classy, clean Broughamesque GM cruiser(1977-90 era), that had a nice look for decades.
Although, I do like the Impala SS of the 94-96 era… the 91-92 “moo-moo dress” style Caprices were overweight, ugly, Moby Dicks on wheels.
You also probably think the proboscis on the Ferrari Enzo looks like an aardvark.
Opinions on the Caprice tend to be very polarized.
FWIW, the Enzo’s nose did look rather aardvark-like 🙂
I agree… As far as Ferraris go, the Enzo looks more like, GONZO, from the Muppet Show. Lol : )
Even though, I think fender skirts are kinda goofy looking… I do like 2 exceptions…
I think THIS car wore them the best… The 1977-78 Mercury Grand Marquis…
Even, Steve MacGarrett would approve. lol
1977-78 Grand Marquis
The other car that makes fender skirts, look sexy, is the 57 Chevy BelAir…
I agree. They look pretty good on a ’57, but I think it looks better without them. Of course someone just had to tack one of those awful continental kits on this one and ruin the whole effect.
Yes, Rick…
I prefer the “skirtless”, Bel Air, too. I like my 57 Chevys with Cragars, and a nice dual-exhaust out back, but that is just me. lol
I am more a muscle car type… but the 57 Bel Air, can make even fender skirts sorta do-able. Heheehe
Whatever happened to the 15″ Cragar S/S wheels. They look great on a ’57 Chevy, along with some BFGoodrich RWL T/A Radials.
I think they still have them, for the old school fans, who don’t like the DONK rims of 18″ or more. lol(18s aren’t really donk, just some prefer 15s on their vintage muscle cars).
I run 15x8s on my 86 Monte Carlo SS, and 17×9 on my 88 notch Mustang 5.0… because they fill the wheel well better than 15s would IMO.
Fender skirts only work if the car was designed without wheel lip flares or sculpting that emphasizes the wheel house. The 300 has those design features, a terrible candidate for fender skirts. Of course, when the lack of taste and motivation to fool the customer with a “classy ride” take over, any hideous mess is the result, such as this.
H.L. Mencken was right, with paraphrase: “No one ever went broke underestimating the taste or intelligence of the American public.”
But, no matter whether wheel lip flares or not, NO car looks good with fender skirted front wheels! Hey, I’m talking to you, Nash Airflyte!
Fender skirts were never as popular in the 50’s and 60’s as they are today on 50’s and 60’s collectible cars. And some of the add-ons for other models such as the subject car: not good. The cars that were made for skirts look naked without them. Think Thunderbird 55-66 or the wonderful mid-60’s Chryslers.
I’ve never seen a ’65 in that blue. Looks great with the white top, there’s something sort of nautical about it.
This Chrysler is an excellent example of what I was talking about. A car that was designed to have skirts. There is a small rise that ends at the trim piece, showing a little more of the wheel and . To me, this looks refined.
Citroen made these(fender skirts) a staple of their design theme… well, at least the car lifted itself up, so you can change a flat. lol
Actually the rear fender unbolted to change a flat
Er, change yer flat, Ma’am?
Another, Citroen…
Really??
Okay, this must be a “drive in a straight line only” vehicle… because, with those skirts, it must be difficult to make a turn.
Now, seeing this truck(?) took me back to 1960, reminding me of the parts truck that Dad stripped down in the old barn foundation. This has made me scroll back to the top and take another look at the subject Chrysler. I’m adjusting my opinion of it from hideous to just plain ugly.
Could be worse….
That is a fibreglass 1960/70s R-R Silver Shadow front end on a 2002 Ford Falcon by the way. Mind you a lot of people would say it is an improvement…
I actually, thought it was a Lincoln with a Rolls front end treatment, or some kinda Panther platformed Ford product, John…
Now, I see it’s a Falcon from down under.lol
You guys are lucky to have a nice RWD platform of the Falcon, well into the 2000s… us Americans lost the Falcon, by 1970/71. 🙁
I dunno, the AU front was heinous at the time (especially the base model) but I think it’s aged fairly well. Not sure this wagonoid thing will though lol!
From the article:
“Who on earth thinks this looks good?”
These LX cars are also usually flithed up with those stupid scissor opening or lambo doors….ugh what a craptacular fad.
I want to see more 300s turned into coupes. OR, even a ‘stealth’ coupe. Shave and fill the rear door handles, install poppers, disable the rear lowering windows and install flush mount (Sorry Zackman) and rework the C pillar and quarter glass to give the illusion of longer front doors. The rear doors would no longer be ‘doors’ rather than ‘access portals’ and it would make for a sick looking custom. But such a mod would take actual skill, engineering and vision rather than a trip to Pep boys and a credit card….
Well, at least it doesn’t have skirts on the front wheels.
Trying to make a Chrysler look like a Bentley or a Town Car look like a Rolls is just a sign someone needs therapy.
Wow William, just…wow… I like Chrysler 300s. I like fender skirts. On cars designed for them they look great. But this…conglomeration made me throw up in my mouth…
I like the 1991-1995 Caprice and Caprice Classic.