Re: [Chrysler300] '50s Hardtops

[John Lazenby <french_fryguy@xxxxxxxxx>]

I've seen the David Wallace hardtop up close and personal.  At that time it was owned by Lloyd Mayes a major T&C collector.  I parked our 300B directly behind the hardtop at the Spring Fling gathering.  
 
Another T&C collector that I knew, Tom Kaiser, was there and did the introductions.  Lloyd was kind enough to give me a detailed tour of the car and it was very nice.  To me one of the more interesting features was the covered hardtop.  This was an alligator skin looking material known as "Tolex" which was the same stuff used in the early T&C Chrysler wagons.  At one time I owned a 1951 NYer T&C which was one of 251 built and I believe the lowest production wagon Chrysler ever built.  At that time there were two known to exist.  Lloyd told me the top material was "original" on this example.  Not to long after this Lloyd passed away and his collection has been sold off.  I think Tom Kaiser has passed as well.
 
My dad had a 1947 T&C convertible when I was young and that was the car that got my interest in Chryslers going.  They are magnificent automobiles.
 
John Lazenby


________________________________
From: Terry and Andree Hoeman <tehoema@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: 'Don Warnaar' <300country@xxxxxxx>; 'Chrysler300 Group' <Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 7:58 AM
Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] '50s Hardtops


   
 
Agreed--six cars is not a production run.  Still amazed that none of the
others have ever been accounted for.

Here is the whole strange hardtop lineup for 55 Chrysler

Windsor

Nassau is bottom of line up

Newport is the top of the line up

New Yorker

Newport is the bottom of the line up

StRegis is the top dog

300

Needed no further Id I guess--would have caused unneeded wind
resistance. 

Then the Imperial was just the Newport  which was bottom of the heap and top
also.

BTW we have had all of the above here at one time or the other.  Down to
just the Windsor convertible, NY StRegis and 300 though now. 

Now for the real forerunner of the 300's.   Chrysler airflow coupe  We even
have a set of original Nebraska plates for 35 to go with our coupe---C300
ones.  Was amazed the day we found them.!!

-----Original Message-----
From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Don Warnaar
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 7:08 AM
To: Chrysler300 Group
Subject: [Chrysler300] '50s Hardtops

This topic certainly has become interesting.

It is well known that Chrysler experimented with a 2 door hardtop in 1946
with the Town & Country.  But six examples doesn't exactly make it a true
production model.  They missed the boat with that one, and of course we all
know that GM made the big splash with the Riviera, Holiday, and Coupe de
Ville a few years later.

The hardtop names became a bit confusing in the mid '50s when the names were
extended to full model series in many instances.  And then the 4 door
hardtops arrived, adding to the confusion.

Terry McTaggart wrote to me about excluding the Imperial.  Good point.  The
Imperial began as a separate marque in 1955 and used the Newport name also
at first.  Before that, of course, it had been a Chrysler Imperial Newport.

The 1955 Chrysler 300 (how's that for sneaking in the 300 related material
into this email), as far as I know did not have any other name to indicate
it was a hardtop.  I never thought of it as a 300 Newport.  It was just the
Chrysler 300.  Rich Barber, resident C300 expert, can you add to this?

Don Warnaar

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