[rickaren]

A Chase Car to Lure Private Eyes Out of Retirement

HOT WHEELS The SRT8, a performance-tuned edition of the Chrysler 300, can run with German supersedans like the BMW M5, at roughly half the price.

March 15, 2013

When I think of people who’d fall hard for the Chrysler 300 SRT8, names come to mind: Kojak, Mannix, Rockford, Starsky and Hutch.

Trivia lovers will note that the private detective Jim Rockford was a Firebird man, and that Starsky and Hutch favored a white-striped Ford Torino. And it’s the 300’s sister car, the Dodge Charger, that’s been recruited for actual police work.

But on the gritty streets of Brooklyn and New Jersey, the broad-shouldered Chrysler always seemed a step away — specifically, a step on the gas pedal — from a tire-burning cop-show chase. Or, alternately, a video game appealing to characters on either side of the law.

Continued