2011 Chrysler 200C: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

It's no surprise that the 2007 and on Chrysler Sebring is not a looker. Sure they're removed the hood ribbing and cleaned up the bizarrely mismatched taillights, but overall it's still a bland and chunky design.



Fugly

The 200C concept was the exact opposite. When Chrysler announced it was bringing the concept to production I had high hopes. Even when it was announced it would basically be a reskinned Sebring. Dodge did a good job with it's extensive Charger facelift - a car that was in much less need of a change - so I expected big things. Front and rear teaser shots seemed to verify big changes were in store.


Sexy


So I was a bit disappointed to see official shots released today confirmed that the facelift is solely focused on new front and rear ends. Hell - even the door skins are the same (although they did have some of the more interesting detailing of the old car). Sadly the doors aren't the only things inherited from the Sebring - it also gets it's rather high body and awkward looking greenhouse.


Disappointing


Up front things are relatively attractive, although the headlights look a bit busy. I really like the new corporate grille, with it's twisted horizontal bars. Unfortunately the Hyundai/BMW-like detailing in the bumper of the 200C is gone.


Sexy


Out back, Chrysler unfortunately decided to forego the Chrysler Firepower-ish rear end treatment for one that looks remarkably like a Jaguar XF. Despite lacking the originality of the 200C, it still manages to be attractive.


Plagiarism-y


In the end, this doesn't quite end up in the fugly realm- at least until we see better pictures of the side of the car. For now it ends up being an example of a fugly car revised to look average. Lets hope Chrysler's powertrain, suspension and interior revisions raise the bar high enough for the Sebring 200C to at least be competitive with it's competition.

Chrysler Sebring

Although this car has marginally gotten better looking in recent years, it’s still a noteworthy design and sales disaster of this decade. The original Sebring (sedan) was a slightly European take on the American mid-size sedan, with clean lines and an egg-crate grille. The current design is an art-deco disaster, all the more upsetting as it was released after the successful and much-lauded 300. There were a lot of raised expectations for this car, and a lot of people were let down. Basically they took a Crossfire – a car which didn’t exactly fare the concept to production journey all that well – and added two more doors, gave it a tall and narrow stance and stuck on some mismatched taillights. I mean – what’s the deal with the taillights? The fender mounted pieces look like they’re from a different car than those affixed to the trunk. It kind of looks like what you see on some run-down older cars, where they had an accident and replaced portions of the taillights with pieces from a scrap yard, except it’s from a newer (or older) model and slightly different. At least the (eventually) fixed them, and got rid of the hood strakes.