Sailing Large (part 1 of 2); Chrysler launches a flagship under American colors.

Palm Springs, California, has more than its share of Rolls-Royces and Bentleys on the roads, more than its share of people who have accumulated wealth over a lifetime and landed here in retirement. A Mercedes-Benz S600 just means a few more folks on their way to the casino or an early dinner. No one blinks at any of this. Park a new 2005 Chrysler 300C at the curb on what looks like a sleepy stretch of Palm Desert Highway, though, and you can draw a crowd. And suddenly, you find the younger people, too.

Here is a car America has been longing for, a truly large rear-drive domestic four-door sedan. And it is built for people who like their cars big. Ten feet from wheel center to wheel center, the new 300's distinctive style gives it an undeniable curbside presence. No Chrysler, not even the Town & Country extended minivan, has boasted this 120-inch wheelbase since the Imperials of 1926 through the '30s.

Don't get the idea that the car is only about wretched excess. It replaces the LHS, Concorde and 300M in the lineup, and with the base 190-hp 2.7-liter V6 the price starts at less than $24,000, in the heart of the sedan market. Even with the Hemi-equipped 300C, starting at less than $33,000, you'll work the option list to push the MSRP very high. If you want to stretch it near $40k, wait for fall when all-wheel-drive models arrive. Otherwise,you can start taking delivery in April.

For all the expanse of its wheelbase, the 300 isn't even absurdly huge, just big enough that you don't feel dwarfed on highways full of SUVs. At 4999 mm (196.8 inches) bumper to bumper, it just squeezes inside the five-meter limit that defined the outgoing 300M, a length that has much to do with European sales ambitions. So, as the long wheelbase smooths its ride and leaves plenty of room for a spacious cabin, the short overhangs pay benefits in parallel parking and mountain twisties alike, we found.

In a way, this car has been a decade in the offing, though its development time is measured in the modern 24-to-36-month fashion. In the pre-merger days at Chrysler, Tom Gale and Bob Lutz were in a constant search for a proper flagship for the marque. Thinking of a limited-production car that would do for Chrysler what Viper was doing for Dodge and Prowler (supposedly) for Plymouth, defining the brand image, beginning with the 300 concept of 1991 and right on through the Chronos of 1998, the old team kept coming up with ideas. They were great concepts, but only the last one, Chronos, stood a chance of seeing the showroom. That was just when the merger with Daimler came along, and the notion of a long, voluptuous V10 luxury sedan looked superfluous when the company was harnessed to Mercedes-Benz.

But there was a flip side to that coin. Where the biggest obstacle to the establishment of a true Chrysler luxury flagship was the lack of proper, sophisticated drivetrain and suspension bits on the Chrysler shelf, the new ...