The 300C aces its course in design. It really hasn't watered down its original retro-gangster design look. The grille has changed from wire mesh to horizontal slats, but rest assured, this car will stand out at all kid functions, though people may worry it will steal their lunch money because of its menacing, angled LED running lights.

Make no mistake, the 300C is big. It's wider and longer than its predecessor, and it fit in my garage with not much room to spare.

Getting into the car requires some attention. Both the front and rear doors open so wide that kids opening them may ding the car next to them in a parking lot. They're a little heavy, too, especially for younger kids. The biggest problem both my kids, ages 7 and 9, and I had was closing the door when seated in the car. At the first door stop, the door is reachable. If I opened the door to the second and last stop, I couldn't reach the handle without scooting to the seat's edge and holding on to the steering wheel to pull myself back in. My 6-foot-2 neighbor also struggled to reach the handle.

For those putting kids in the car, the roofline was not too low. The 300C's squared-off roof (as opposed to the low rooflines that many sedans are going for these days) allowed a little more room for getting smaller kids in without head-bonking.

The trunk was big, yet the back of the space, toward the backseat, was tapered. I didn't need to worry about fitting groceries, but it could prove difficult to fit a double stroller in it.

My kids would give the 300C its highest marks in the speed category. That's no surprise with the 300C's 363-horsepower, 5.7-liter Hemi V-8. It earns low marks at the gas pump, though. My test car got an EPA-estimated 15/23 mpg city/highway and used regular gas. A rear-wheel-drive 300C gets 16/25 mpg. The V-6-equipped 300 gets 18/27 mpg.

Where the 300C got high marks from me was in the all-wheel-drive department. I drove the 300C at night in a blizzard with slippery roads and low visibility. The 300C was a champ — never once losing its grip on the road.

Family Friendly (Not Really, Fair, Great, Excellent): Great
Fun-Factor (None, Some, Good Times, Groove-On): Good Times