[Chrysler300] Muscle Cars before C-300?

["christopher beilby" <thelastbestgenius@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Re what was the first/original musclecar, mention was made of Pontiac's GTO. 
  Another GM Division in the 30s stuffed their big cube/hp limo motor in a 
modified short chassis with it's division's smallest body.  The Division was 
Buick, and their 840 Special 'special' became the 860 Century, the Century 
designation referring/alluding to 100 mph in roadster form/weight.  I owned 
a couple about 20 years ago, 1937 models, as well as an 840 Special.

Whilst not thinking in terms of 'musclecar' in the 30s, they sure had 
torque/urge/grunt, and made the Special seem anaemic.  And whereas the 840 
had 16 rims/tyres, the Century had wider 15 inch rims/tyres, bigger brakes 
too I think.  They also later offered twin carb setups.

So near 20 years before the first 300s, and near 30 years before the GTO, a 
musclecar in all forms except perhaps a more 'in your face name' was out on 
the streets for those clever enough to know/own.

I am not old enough to know these Centurys when new, they 30 years old when 
as a late teenager I got my first one, maybe those in the US can alude 
more/better.  They had GMs brilliant independent front suspension, good 
solid bodies, nice feeling steering, gearbox, brakes, and with the '37's 
leaf spring rear, the one's we got in Australia were cars you could safely 
drift through high speed dirt corners if you wished - just a car that felt 
great, fun, whenever you drove it. And on a very brief once only drive, a 
nicer car than the other US prewar performance hottie/darling, the just pre 
war (Cadillac) V8 Lasalle Roadster/Coupe?!

It and any early 300, are cars anyone would be proud to own and enjoy, never 
mind what 'book expert' name callers may finally wake up to. We love em 
because we love em - if others love them too, that is a bonus?!

Christopher from OZ


>From: <john_nowosacki@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: <robkern@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,<Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] Official Muscle Car Recognition of C-300?
>Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2006 20:57:58 -0600
>
>For many 'experts', the muscle car era gets defined as when the biggest 
>engines, previously only available in the biggest cars, were transplanted 
>into mid size offerings, hence the GTO references when the big Bonneville 
>engines went into a Tempest to create a better horsepower to weight ratio.
>
>I always counter this argument with the 413 Max wedge cars of 1962 from 
>Plymouth and Dodge, since it could be argued that the big 413 from the 
>letter series was stuffed into the mid size Plymouth and Dodge of the day.
>
>I suppose if the 300 horsepower 331 Hemi of 1955 were to have been made an 
>option for the 55 Dodge Royal Lancer D300 (I just made that up, it didn't 
>exist), then that would have been the first 'muscle car' by that 
>definition.
>
>Sounds like another opportunity for an interesting thread.
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
>Behalf Of rob kern
>Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 9:44 PM
>To: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [Chrysler300] Official Muscle Car Recognition of C-300?
>
>Hello 300'ly to all!
>     The July 2006 issue of Hemmings MUSCLE MACHINES magazine pays great 
>tribute to the C-300 and the B. Very  interesting comment regarding the 
>C-300 under George Matter's column on page 10 entitled "Mopar mania: Will 
>it ever end?". He and colleague Tom Comerro labored over last months Mopar 
>price guide in the June issue. To quote George: "We spent hours making sure 
>we had all the models we considered muscle cars and tore our hair out what 
>year to begin and when to cut it off. We decided on 1955, when the C-300 
>debuted. This was a very LARGE car, but at the same time packed a big punch 
>under the hood with 300hp coming from a 331-cu.in. Hemi. Certainly a 
>performance car in our collective opinion."  They went on to cut it off at 
>the end of the 1972 model run. I was overjoyed to see this recognition from 
>a bona fide muscle car authority in essence stating that the original 
>muscle car was the C-300.  This is nothing new to this club, but there has 
>been much debate in past threads about defining muscle cars, etc. and I was 
>glad to see this line certainly being drawn starting with the '55 letter 
>car. On page 74 under the Vintage Racers column there is a fine tribute to 
>Carl Kiekhaefer entitled CARL'S 1956 300-B, Carl Kiekhaefer's Chrysler 
>survived circle tracks of the 1950s. This dovetails nicely with Don 
>Miller's talk of restoring Carl's  racing 300-B in the NASCAR Museum in 
>N.C. I must agree with John Lazenby that the C-300 and the B will be 
>recognized soon for their NASCAR significance and will skyrocket in value.  
>Just received my new copy of IRON FIST from Amazon.com and will start the 
>read after I finish the Dodge Brothers book.  ROB KERN
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
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