The path to the development of the recently launched, Chrysler 300C has turned up a little-known connection with Australia.

One of the stylists of the large sedan was also behind the Australian Chrysler Charger of the '70s.

More than 30 years ago Bob Hubbach lived in Australia for nine months, after being sent here by the Chrysler Group in the United States to help style a locally made competitor to Holden and Ford. The exciting two-door Charger took everyone by surprise and with a high performance engine amongst the options under the bonnet, the car became an overnight sensation stirring the adrenalin of an entire generation.

The associated ‘Hey Charger’ advertising slogan in the seventies for the Chrysler Charger also remains one of the more famous marketing campaigns of all time.

Fast-forward to 2005 and Hubbach’s final styling task for the Chrysler Group was to work with the styling team of the equally dramatic 300C, which has just gone on sale in Australia.

“The brilliance of the Chrysler stylists, including Bob Hubbach, is evident in both the dramatic and handsome lines of the 300C, and the classic design of the Charger,” said Gerry Jenkins, managing director, Chrysler Jeep Australia.

“Both are great looking vehicles that turn heads and possess outstanding presence on the road,” said Jenkins.

Hubbach has since retired from the Chrysler Group.

The VH Valiant and its sibling, the Charger, were amongst the first Chrysler products that Hubbach styled.

Hubbach was also involved in several other inspiring Chrysler Group designs over the years, including the Plymouth Prowler and Dodge Viper GTS.

Mazda Kabura and Mazda CX-7 For Detroit
14th December, 2005
Mazda Motor Corporation will showcase the world premiere of the Mazda Kabura sports coupe concept vehicle, and the Mazda CX-7, a crossover sports-utility-vehicle (SUV), at the 2006 NAIAS ..... more

Audi To Compete With Diesel At Le Mans
14th December, 2005
Audi will become the world’s first car manufacturer to fight for overall victory with a diesel-engined sportscar in the famous Le Mans 24 Hours ..... more

Limited Edition For 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser
13th December, 2005
One of the coolest vehicles in modern motoring has received a boost to its status with the introduction of the 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser and the addition of a limited edition ‘Route 66’ model ..... more

Mitsubishi Outlander Tops 10,000 Orders
12th December, 2005
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation today announced that it has received 10,000 orders for the new Outlander in less than two months since its launch, in Japan, on 17th October ..... more

Audi On Target For New Record
11th December, 2005
Audi sold almost 767,000 vehicles worldwide between January and November, an increase of 8.8 percent on the corresponding prior-year period ..... more

Holden Takes On Global Design Role
8th December, 2005
Holden will significantly expand its Port Melbourne design centre to design vehicles for General Motors markets around the world ..... more

Small Cars Push Motor Vehicle Market Towards Record Year
6th December, 2005
Another record month of small and light car sales has all but ensured that the Australian motor vehicle market is heading for its fourth straight annual sales record ..... more

Peugeot 407 Coupé – 5 Stars for Euroncap
6th December, 2005
Elegance, power and outstanding handling and dynamics, the 407 Coupé is also distinguished by its high levels of passive safety ..... more

Safer car design has cut road casualties
4th December, 2005
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Holden Celebrates Four Millionth Export Engine
4th December, 2005
Holden has produced a range of four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines for export at Port Melbourne since 1981, and currently holds contracts to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and North America ..... more

Peugeot Round Australia Trial 50th Anniversary
3rd December, 2005
In April 2006, to mark the victory of a Peugeot 403 in the first Ampol Trial in 1956, Peugeot Automobiles Australia will sponsor the Peugeot Round Australia Trial 50th Anniversary Rerun ..... more

Volkswagen dominates "Auto Trophy"
1st December, 2005
This year's "Auto Trophy" produced some remarkable results: Volkswagen Group products were voted onto the podium 23 times by the readers of "Auto" magazine ..... more

Suzuki Announces New SX4
1st December, 2005
Following the recent success of the new Suzuki Swift and new Grand Vitara, Suzuki Motor Corporation has today announced it will start production of the all new SX4 at their Hungarian plant in December 2005 ..... more

Jeep Introduces the Most Prized of Birds
30th November, 2005
The Golden Eagle, which has been introduced to meet record demand for the iconic four-wheel-drive, comes complete with exclusive styling and bold graphics ..... more

Land Rover G4 Challenge
Australian Representatives Selected
28th November, 2005
Three outstanding world class competitors have been selected to represent Australia at the International Land Rover G4 Challenge selections event to be held at Eastnor Castle, UK in January 2006 ..... more

VW Golf GTI Wins
25th November, 2005
On the back of what has been a very successful period since the launch in May of the Volkswagen Golf GTI, it has been awarded Australia's Best Car in the category of Best Sports Car Under $57,000 ..... more

Land Rover Announced as Best Cars Winner
24th November, 2005
Land Rover has accepted the prestigious BEST CARS "Best All Terrain 4WD" award for Discovery 3 Td V6 as announced at a ceremony held at the RACV in Melbourne ..... more

Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Bids
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24th November, 2005
The Mitsubishi Motors factory team has entered four cars in the 2006 Dakar Rally, as it bids to become the first team in history to win six successive Dakar rallies ..... more

German Debut For Volkswagen Race Touareg 2
24th November, 2005
The new Race Touareg 2, with which Volkswagen will compete in the 2006 Dakar Rally, will be unveiled to the public in Germany at the world’s largest exhibition for sports cars and tuning specialists, the Essen Motor Show ..... more

Mitsubishi 380 Wins Best Large Car Award
23rd November, 2005
The newly released Mitsubishi 380 has added another prestigious award to its growing trophy cabinet with the announcement yesterday that it has been awarded Australia's Best Cars "Best Large Car" ..... more

Cadillac Wins Manufacturers’ Titles
18th November, 2005
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New Volkswagen Passat Clinches Prestigious Award
17th November, 2005
Upholding the tradition of all its predecessor generations, the new Passat again takes the honours as winner of the Bild am Sonntag newspaper’s “Goldenes Lenkrad” (golden steering wheel) award ..... more

Ford Invention Wins Award
17th November, 2005
The UK's Autocar magazine has presented Ford with the "Idea Of The Year Award" for its Easy Fuel Concept, a simple device that prevents drivers from accidentally filling their diesel car with petrol ..... more

DaimlerChrsyler Selling Mitsubishi Shares
14th November, 2005
DaimlerChrysler AG has agreed to sell its remaining equity interest in Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) ..... more

Peugeot Welcomes UK Bio-Fuel initiative
13th November, 2005
Peugeot is keen to make customers aware that their HDi diesel cars are already capable of operating on this environmentally friendly fuel ..... more

UK Requires 5% Renewable Fuel By 2010
13th November, 2005
The UK's Transport Secretary has announced new measures to make transport fuels 'greener' by requiring 5% of all fuel sold on UK forecourts to come from a renewable source by 2010 ..... more

UK Crackdown On The Uninsured
11th November, 2005
In the UK, tough new enforcement action to crackdown on uninsured drivers has been unveiled. From yesterday, police forces across the UK can use automatic number plate recognition cameras to spot and ultimately seize and destroy cars being driven without insurance ..... more

Prince Andrew Visits Bentley Motors
11th November, 2005
Bentley Motors welcomed HRH Duke of York to their factory yesterday, in his capacity as Special Representative for UK Trade and Investment ..... more

Mitsubishi Upgrades Outlander & Pajero
11th November, 2005
Two of Mitsubishi’s popular models – Outlander and Pajero – have received upgrades to enhance their popularity ..... more

Europe's VW Touareg W12 Sport Edition
10th November, 2005
A sporting look and dynamic performance with outstanding comfort. The Touareg W12 Sport Edition with an extensive package of equipment is available now in Europe ..... more

Ford Unveils America's New V-6 Engine
10th November, 2005
Ford yesterday unveiled its new 3.5-litre V-6 engine, a more powerful and cleaner engine that, eventually, will be under the bonnet of one in five Ford products in North America ..... more

Mazda Roadster Wins Japan Car of The Year
9th November, 2005
Mazda announced today that the Mazda Roadster, known as the MX-5 in overseas markets, has won the Japan Car of the Year Award for 2005-2006 ..... more

Twenty Four Million Golfs
9th November, 2005
The world’s 24 millionth Golf was produced yesterday at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg. The anniversary model is a 2.0 litre TDI, 103 kW Golf Comfortline in tornado red ..... more

Best October For Chrysler Jeep In 4 Years
9th November, 2005
Capping off five consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains, Chrysler Jeep achieved its best October performance since 2001 ..... more

Peugeot’s Carbon Sink in the Amazon Forest
5th November, 2005
The CEO of PSA and the Director of France’s Office National des Forêts (ONF), traveled to the São Nicolau tree farm in Brazil for a review of their experimental carbon sink project ..... more

Mitsubishi 380 Most Secure Local Car
3rd November, 2005
Mitsubishi’s all-new large car, the 380, has been announced as the most secure locally manufactured car by NRMA Insurance in its 2005 Car Theft Ratings just released ..... more

Range Rover Sport At SEMA
3rd November, 2005
Land Rover North America is presenting the first Range Rover Sport to appear at the annual Specialty Equipment Manufacturer’s Association (SEMA) show, in Las Vegas, USA ..... more

Hummer To Sponsor Team Dakar USA
2nd November, 2005
Hummer and Robby Gordon Motorsports have joined together to take on the Dakar Rally, widely considered to be the most grueling off-road race in the world ..... more

GM'S 2005 SEMA Showcase
2nd November, 2005
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Ford GTX1 Roadster At SEMA
2nd November, 2005
With the 1966 Sebring-winning Ford GTX1 roadster as inspiration, Ford SVT's Kip Ewing unveiled his take on that legendary racer at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas ..... more

VW Touareg Tow Ball Down Weight Now 350kg
31st October, 2005
Volkswagen has now increased the tow ball down weight of the Touareg from 140 kilogrammes to 350 kilogrammes ..... more

Chrysler 300C Goes On Sale In Australia
30th October, 2005
Following its success in the US, the Chrysler 300C has arrived in Australia, priced from $53,990 ..... more

4MOTION For New Volkswagen Passat
27th October, 2005
The new generation Passat can now be ordered with permanent 4MOTION four-wheel drive in Europe ..... more

Audi Shooting Brake Concept For Tokyo
20th October, 2005
An Audi sports car of the future may possibly have just started the journey from drawing board to driveway in the shape of the Audi Shooting Brake Concept, a convention-challenging, technology-laden design study destined for the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show ..... more

Volkswagen Wins Grand Challenge 2005
20th October, 2005
Volkswagen won the American Grand Challenge 2005 with a Touareg TDI ..... more

FPV Shifts into Top Gear with New BF Range
18th October, 2005
Ford Performance Vehicles unveiled its bold new range of high-performance vehicles at Sydney's 2005 Australian International Motor Show ..... more

New VW Jetta Visits Sydney's Motor Show
17th October, 2005
The new Volkswagen Jetta has just been launched in Europe. Jetta is a sporty but elegant compact sedan and will be a great value proposition, suiting the Australian market ..... more

Holden's Wild Hot Rod Brings FJ Back to Life
13th October, 2005
A wild 21st Century hot rod reinventing one of Australia ’s most famous cars, the FJ Holden, was unveiled today at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney ..... more

Mitsubishi Grandis Gets Luxury Treatment
12th October, 2005
Mitsubishi’s Grandis people-mover has had a luxury make-over as part of a model upgrade, and now offers even better value for money in its new guise ..... more

Dodge Nitro For Australia
10th October, 2005
At the California International Motor Show on Thursday, the Chrysler Group confirmed production of the Dodge Nitro mid-size SUV ..... more

I'm Always Dreamin'
20th September, 2005
Codenamed ‘Project Tempest’, development work on a core range of affordable, high performance cars, is now at an advanced stage ..... more

Chrysler's PT Street Cruiser Honours 'Route 66'
17th August, 2005
America will see a limited-production Chrysler PT Cruiser dedicated to Route 66, which is affectionately known to Americans as “The Mother Road” ..... more

Chrysler Says 'Yes' To 2007 Dodge Caliber
9th August, 2005
Confirming production of the all-new 2007 Dodge Caliber, the Chrysler Group has announced that the powertrain choices for the vehicle will be engineered to meet the demands of global customers ..... more