Who the hell is John Varvatos, and why should I buy his used car?

Well for starters, John Varvatos has an American auto badged in his name and inspired by his chic fashion designs, a bit like the Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer model I wrote about last week.  This Chrysler 300C Varvatos Collection is more elegant and stylish than the Eddie Bauer Ford, but hey, it’s also got a massive 5.7 liter V-8 and AWD, so it’s cool, strong, and classy in a way the truck is not.  It’s a bit of a unicorn not because there aren’t a huge number of Varvatos cars out there, this Luxury Edition is pretty common, and even the Limited Edition isn’t all that limited, but because I’m thinking not a lot of folks know who John Varvatos even is! You do now.  I do, too.

Here’s all you need to know.  He’s 63 years old and was born in Detroit, which gives him some street cred with an American muscle car, and he has been an award winning men’s fashion designer from a young age. And he signed Zac Brown to his record label.

 

 

 

Most importantly, he gave us the boxer-brief made famous in the Marky Mark ad of 1992 (back when old man Mark Wahlberg was a boy – don’t get too creeped out by the ad) – underwear that changed my life.  Too old for tighty whities, too young for boxers – more than you need to know.  Trust me on this.

But wait there’s more!  John Varvatos made Willie Nelson look even more badass than he is, and that’s even more impressive than Marky Mark’s abs.  Nothing more you need to know about why John Varvatos gets to have his name on a car.

Back to the car.  Yes, it’s two tons of Yankee steel, but at 363 hp and a 0-60 in the mid-5 second range this plus-size sedan moves briskly.  Kind of like Magic Johnson when he was in Michigan.  And the creature comforts…..heated and air conditioned seats, an Alpine stereo, panoramic sunroof, remote start, and rear sunshade – as cool as the 300C gets short of the Motown edition (yes there really is one!).  Car and Driver said, “You can practically taste Detroit” in this review.

 

This two owner car sold for about $50,000 when new, believe it or not in Michigan, before moving to Amish country for the last few years.  It’s selling for about half its new car price tag, but I’d still get the MaxCare warranty.   You never know how those Pennsylvania Dutch get when behind 363 ponies.

 

 

 

I’ve driven a V-8 300C for hundreds of miles, at night, in the snow, and loved it.  I’ve even seen a few really low mile, highly optioned, and low priced 300C  V-8’s on the CarMax web site over the years.  I’ll be keeping my eyes out for a Limited Edition, an even classier version of this throw-back big sedan.  Find this one here in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.