It’s funny how some things stick in your head. I’ll never forget Hispanic actor Ricardo Montalban’s satisfaction with the 1976 Chrysler Cordoba: “I like what they’ve done to my car!” My mind also reserves a mental YouTube for the actor’s penchant for “soft Corinthian leather.” Of course, the fact that the term was invented by copy writers at Young & Rubicam, and that the hides in question were equestrian in origin, helped write the ROM. It’s not clear if the Cordoba campaign was the first time a car hooked into a post-modern ironic vibe, but it certainly set the tone for the company for years to follow. In fact, you could say that the 300 is the logical inheritor of this self-referential pomposity. Well, at least that’s what I thought this morning when I watched a beige 300 with arc eyes chrome wheels, a mesh front grill and a dark tan fake Landau roof (complete with matching trunk lid and, wait for it, gas door cover) roll into the local Amazing! porno store parking lot. Does that mean that Chrysler products aren’t just badge engineered, but somehow deeply forever faux? I know: let’s ask Jonny! 

When Wally Parks started the National Hot Rod Association in 1951 there was no way he could’ve foreseen the sport’s mainstream appeal. The NHRA started out as a small organization that gave pistonheads an outlet for legitimate hoonage, bragging rights and a trophy. It has since become the largest motorsports sanctioning body in the world, offering some $50m in annual prize money.  The original national events held twice annually have given birth to a 23 race North American series.