Chrysler 300 grille: art on wheels

interview with Brandon Faurote

Automobile as art?  It is when you talk to the engineers behind one of the more interesting designs of the 21st century, the Chrysler 300.  Brandon Faurote leads the Chrysler Brand design group in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

When the car was launched in 1955, “it stood for sophistication, elegance, and performance,” said Faurote, whose team re-launched the vehicle in 2005 with an oversized grille that seems to take up a lane and a half as it barrels down the road (still with 300 hp).

“When you see one coming down the street, you know exactly what it is,” a worthy artistic pursuit even for an automotive designer.

For inspiration they drew on the 1955 design and the 2005 “modern 300” (etched in marketing history by Eminem and a gospel choir soundtrack).  They also find images in “fashion design, architecture, product design, things outside of the automotive industry that might inspire a shape or a finish on the vehicle.  Inspirations come from every direction.”

Music on this feature by Cab Calloway, “I Gotta Go Places and Do Things,” and Duke Ellington, “Jeep’s Blues.”