On a trip to the US, I was recently introduced to a distant in-law.

Now, on paper, this bloke and I shouldn’t have hit it off. See, he’s a church-goin’, God-fearin’, Trump-fancier and by any of those measures, I should have been waiting outside in the car.

But damned if I could help myself but like the geezer. In fact, it was impossible not to like him. He was good company and we parted mates. And I reckon if he was a car, he’d be the long-term Chrysler SRT.

Chrysler 300 SRT rear

It’s a bit too, you know, obvious and even though the new interior is better than ever, it still looks a bit kitsch to me. But, same thing: Damned if I didn’t find it impossible to dislike.

The engine is a peach, sounds good and makes for super safe overtaking. I also managed to squeak less than nine litres per 100 on a cruisy stretch of highway. The only thing that grates (literally as it turns out) about the driveline is the cylinder deactivation that dumps four pots on a light, steady throttle to save a litre or two.

Chrysler 300 SRT side

But I’m tipping if the car was mine, I’d find a nerd with a laptop who could disable the four-cylinder mode for me. And who knows, with Holden and Ford about to stop building big V8 sedans, maybe the 300 SRT is where big oafs like me will be heading. Could be worse.