[Chrysler300] 300F

[Bob Merritt <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bob,

My brother was a district sales mgr for the Chrysler and Imperial Division
in the late 50's and thru the mid 60's covering NC, SC&  VA. One Friday
afternoon in March, 1960 he called me and asked if I'd like to take a bus to
Columbia, SC to pick-up and drive a 300F back to Shelby, NC. Of course the
answer was "yes". The 300F was a white coupe and the doors were lettered
with crossed checkered flags and " Tom McCahill Director of Speed Weeks" was
painted above and below the flags. The car had been driven from Daytona to
Columbia and displayed along the way at various Chrysler dealerships. The
car was to go to a Chrysler dealers show in Boone, NC when I got it back to
Shelby.

The story I was told before I left Shelby is that "Uncle Tom" had driven the
car in the "Flying Mile Time Trials" at something like 143 +- mph. Greg
Zeigler won in a 300F Special at over 144. The car that  I drove was
featured in Mechanix Illustrated Magazine in April 1960 and I have a copy
that I bought on ebay a few years ago. From what I have able to gather from
the articles that I have read, the F that Uncle Tom used as "Director of
Speed Weeks" may not have participated in the Flying Mile. Tom's car was not
a prepared car, as it had an automatic transmission and was not a solid
lifter motor.

Hindsight is a terrible thing and it causes great moments of anguish. As in
I did not think that in time the 300F would be an automotive icon and that a
photo of me in that car or just of the car would have some historical
significance in later years. Or if I had just written the VIN so it could be
traced in the future.  I have seen pictures of a white 300F on the beach
with a NASCAR official waving a checkered flag as if to signal the end of a
Flying Mile run and wonder if this is "my car". In that iconic photo, the
body of the NASCAR flagman covers the door of the F that was  lettered as I
described. I have showed the picture and said that if the flagman had his
legs spread just a little, the crossed flags and lettering would be visible.

I personally drove the car to 135 plus mph on the back roads of SC. It had
much more to go but I was running out of straight road. Before I departed
Columbia, SC, I filled the car with 20 plus gallons of Crown Gold gasoline
( over 100 octane ) at the high, rip off price of about $.32 a gallon and
used it all in my 110 mile trip to Shelby. I must admit that I suspect that
way over 50% of that trip was at over 70 mph and WOT from every standing
start . The combined musical talents of Mozart, Beethoven and Bach have
never produced a sound as magnificent as the sound of a ram induction 300
accelerating from 0 to pick-a-number.

I wonder if any of the 300 Club International members have ever mentioned
any link of their F with NASCAR, The Flying Mile, Mechanix Illustrated
Magazine or Tom McCahill? I would be very interested in knowing the fate of
this most "Beautiful Brute".

Sincerely,
David Rose
Shelby, NC





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