1997 Chrysler LHS A big luxury sedan with sporty undertones. By Paul A. Eisenstein, New Car Test Drive .com

The LHS is Chyrsler's full-size luxury

flagship with acres of passenger and cargo space. But it's no land yacht.

Equipped with front-wheel drive, relatively little weight and a sporty

character, the LHS is an enjoyable car to drive. It may look rich and formal

on the outside, but underneath the sheet metal, is the heart of an import

performance sedan.

The LHS is the direct descendant of the once-revered New Yorker. Designed

to attract import-buying baby boomers, the LHS was introduced as a sporty

upgrade to the New Yorker. Much to Chrysler's surprise, everyone--including

the traditionally more conservative New Yorker buyer--began opting for

the more lavish, more expensive LHS with its bucket seats and taut suspension.

So in 1995, the long-lived New Yorker nameplate faded into oblivion.

We're not spending a lot of time lamenting the passing of the New Yorker,

however, because the LHS is a much more enjoyable car to drive. Those buyers

opting for the LHS were no dummies.

The LHS is the latest in a long line of full-size Chrysler luxury sedans,

but this class is part of a vanishing breed. This fall, the LHS will shrink

toward midsize sedan dimensions, in part because Chrysler's research shows

most customers prefer smaller cars.

So while plenty of people still want a full-size luxury sedan, their

choices are continuing to narrow. The 1997 LHS may represent the last opportunity

to keep Chrysler on the full-size shopping list.

And we're here to tell you there are good reasons to keep this year's

LHS on that full-size shopping list. Besides its sporty nature, the LHS

offers a lot of value. There's only one model available and, priced at

$30,850, it comes with a high level of standard equipment. The only option

on our car was a premium sound system, which brought the total to $31,150.

Compared with other domestic luxury cars, the LHS is about $7,400 less

expensive than a Lincoln Continental and about $9,400 less than a Cadillac

Seville. It also stacks up well against the smaller imports, going out

the door about $5,500 less than an Infiniti J30 and about the same as a

Lexus ES300.