grille and fins; the Hemi engine was
upgraded to 392 cu in (6.4 L) with 375 hp, or as a very limited edition
390 hp version (18 built). A convertible model was available for the
first time. The car had a number of red, white, and blue ‘300-C’
medallions on the sides, hood, trunk and interior.
With the introduction of the 1957
300-C, 300 Letter Cars became known as the
“Beautiful
Brutes.”
The
1957 300-C did not compete in NASCAR track events, but with its 375HP
hemi engine, again won the Daytona Beach flying mile, making the
Chrysler 300 the fastest American car for the third straight
year.
1958
300-D Overview
Production |
618 Coup;
191 Conv Produced |
Body and
Chassis |
Body Style |
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible |
Powertrain |
Engine |
392 cu in
(6.4 L) 380 hp V8 |
Transmission |
3-Speed
TorqueFlite A488 Auto |
Dimensions |
Wheelbase |
126
in |
Length |
220.0
in |
Width |
78.8
in |
The
1958 model year was to be the last use of the old Fire Power Hemi in the
300. The engine was still 392 cu in (6.4 L), but tuned to 380 hp as
standard.
Thirty-five cars were built with fuel
injection and delivered 390 hp, but the fuel
injection
system was troublesome and most cars soon had it replaced with the
standard twin-quad carburetor setup.
A 300-D was driven to 156.387 mph
(251.680 km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats that year, and at Daytona,
one was driven to an et of 16 seconds with a 94mph trap
speed.
1959
300-E Overview
Production |
550 Coup;
140 Conv Produced |
Body and
Chassis |
Body Style |
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible |
Powertrain |
Engine |
413 cu in
380 hp (6.8 L) V8 |
Transmission |
3-Speed
TorqueFlite A488 Auto |
Dimensions |
Wheelbase |
126
in |
Length |
220.0
in |
Width |
79.5
in |
The
big news for 1959 was the new Golden Lion V8 that replaced the heavy
and
expensive Hemi V8. The new Golden Lion V8 sported
Chrysler’s new wedge-shaped combustion chamber design. The new 413
“Wedge” V8 continued to use dual four-barrel carburetors. Acceleration
was fast at a claimed 8.3 second 0-60 time.
The appearance of the 300-E was
similar to the previous model. The most significant change was the use
of narrow horizontal red bars highlighted by four chrome bars in place
of the older egg crate grille. Red bars were also used in the narrow air
scoops for the front brakes that were positioned below the headlights.
Also new were the “300” letters located on the lower, driver side
portion of the hood. At the rear were new taillights and a larger bumper
with recessed back-up lights.
1960
300-F Overview
Production |
964 Coup;
248 Conv Produced |
Body and
Chassis |
Body Style |
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible |
Powertrain |
Engine |
413 cu in
375 hp (Opt 400 hp) V8 |
Transmission |
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/Racing 4 Sp Man |
Dimensions |
Wheelbase |
126
in |
Length |
218.8
in |
Width |
79.4
in |
The
bodywork was also redone for 1960, using Chrysler’s new lightweight
unibody construction and given sharper-edged styling with
outward-tilting fins that were visually separated from
sides.
The
300-F introduced a new; higher power 413 cu in (6.8 L) Wedge engine
delivering 375 hp (280 kW) in standard form. A new, and completely
unique “Cross Ram” manifold was used, placing the carbs on each side of
the engine. The design was to have a “supercharging” effect in the heart
of the rpm range. Low range performance was helped with the design, but
at the cost of performance over 4,000 RPM. To solve that problem,
engineers removed a section of the inner walls to create the 400 HP
versions. The “short” rams looked just like the longer version, but were
in effect half the length. Only 15 of these “short ram” cars were built,
mostly for Daytona or Flying Mile racecars and were dubbed “Specials”.
Six of them captured the first 6 places at the Flying Mile event, with
speeds ranging from 140mph-145mph. The short ram option also included
the French made Pont-a-Mousson 4 speed manual transmission, which was
made for the Facel Vega, a Chrysler powered French luxury
car.
1961
300-G Overview
Production |
1,280
Coup; 337 Conv Produced |
Body and
Chassis |
Body Style |
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible |
Powertrain |
Engine |
413 cu in
375 hp (Opt 400 hp) V8 |
Transmission |
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/Racing 3 Sp Man |
Dimensions |
Wheelbase |
126
in |
Length |
219.8
in |
Width |
79.4
in |
The
1961 300-G saw another restyle. The grille, formerly wider at the bottom
than the top, was inverted; the quad headlights, formerly side-by-side,
were arranged in angled fashion, inward at the bottom, in a manner
reminiscent of 1958-1960 Lincolns.
Small parking lamps below the
headlights were likewise slanted and V-shaped, and the front bumper was
canted up at each end, scoop-like. At the rear, the taillights were
moved from the fins to the tail below them and the fins were made
sharper pointed. Power windows were standard. Mechanically, the
cross-ram “short ram” and “long ram” engines remained the same, although
the expensive French manual transmission was dropped, and replaced by a
more reliable and still expensive Chrysler racing
manual
transmission (referred to as ‘option code 281’).
1962
300-H Overview
Production |
435 Coup;
123 Conv Produced |
Body and
Chassis |
Body Style |
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible |
Powertrain |
Engine |
413 cu in
380 hp (Opt 405 hp) V8 |
Transmission |
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/Racing 3 Sp Man |
Dimensions |
Wheelbase |
122
in |
Length |
214.9
in |
Width |
79.4
in |
From 1962s 300-H, the fins were gone.
New management at Chrysler decided that it was time to remove Virgil
Exner’s styling cues from the lineup.
The
300-H also now shared the smaller platform of the Newport
line.
Both 413’s received a 5HP boost, and
the 300-pound weight savings of the smaller wheelbase gave the 300-H the
best power to weight ratio of any of the letter cars.
Under the hood of the 300-H the
standard cross ram intake was gone, and there was a return to the inline
dual 4-barrel carb setup of the 300-E. With a slight power boost and a
300 lb (140 kg) lighter body, the 300-H was faster than the
300-G.
1963
300-J Overview
Production |
400
Produced |
Body and
Chassis |
Body Style |
2-Door
Hardtop |
Powertrain |
Engine |
413 cu in
390 hp (6.8 L) V8 |
Transmission |
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/Racing 3 Sp Man |
Dimensions |
Wheelbase |
122
in |
Length |
215.3
in |
Width |
79.1
in |
Further restyling for the 1963 300-J
(the letter “I” was skipped because people would confuse it for the
numeral “1”.) left the car with a smoother, more angular 1960s look.
(Shared with the Newport and New Yorker series, this body design was the
last one styled during Virgil Exner’s term as Chrysler’s styling
chief.)
The letter-series convertible was
dropped, leaving the hardtop. The only engine
available
was the 413 cu in (6.8 L) ram-induction V8, with an increase of 10 hp
from 1962. A redesigned and more sumptuous interior featured an oddly
squared
steering wheel. The 300-J was faster than the
standard 300-H of the year before, with a 142 mph (229 km/h) top speed,
8.0 seconds 0-60 mph, and a standing quarter mile time of 15.8 seconds
with a terminal velocity of 89 mph.
1964
300-K Overview
Production |
3,022
Coup; 625 Conv Produced |
Body and
Chassis |
Body Style |
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible |
Powertrain |
Engine |
413 cu in
360 hp (Opt 390 hp) V8 |
Transmission |
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/4 Sp Manual |
Dimensions |
Wheelbase |
122
in |
Length |
214.9
in |
Width |
79.4
in |
The
convertible returned for the 1964 300-K.
The
“cross-ram” engine became an extra-cost option available on the 300-K
only. A 413 cu in (6.8 L) Wedge with a single Carter AFB 3614S 4-barrel
carburetor, a regular
intake manifold, and 360 hp was the
new standard engine.
Leather upholstery was no longer
standard either.
All this reduced the baseline price by
over a thousand dollars, and sales responded with the largest total
ever.
1965
300-L Overview
Production |
2,405
Coup; 440 Conv Produced |
Body and
Chassis |
Body Style |
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible |
Powertrain |
Engine |
413 cu in
360 hp (6.8 L) V8 |
Transmission |
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/4 Sp Manual |
Dimensions |
Wheelbase |
122
in |
Length |
215.3
in |
Width |
79.1
in |
The
1965 300-L was the final year of the traditional letter series. A
complete restyle, with crisp lines, slab sides and a tall
“greenhouse”—styling cues introduced by Elwood Engel when he succeeded
Virgil Exner as Chrysler’s styling boss—brought a sleek mid-1960s linear
look to the cars.
Dropped was the panoramic windshield
that had disappeared from other Chrysler models in 1961.
The cross-ram engine was no longer
available; the 413 cu in (6.8 L) engine with
regular
carburetion and inlet manifold was the only one supplied.
1970
Hurst 300 Overview
Production |
501Produced |
Body and
Chassis |
Body Style |
2-Door
Hardtop & One Convertible |
Powertrain |
Engine |
440 cu in
375 hp (7.2 L) V8 |
Transmission |
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/4 Sp Manual |
Dimensions |
Wheelbase |
124
in |
Length |
224.7
in |
Width |
79.1
in |
The
1970 Hurst 300 lacks the single-letter suffix of its forbears and
appeared five years after the last Letter Series Chrysler, the 300-L. It
was a high-performance variant of the luxury 300, built with the input
of aftermarket parts manufacturer Hurst Performance. Only 501 units are
believed to have been built.
The Hurst 300s
were all 2-door and shared a white and gold paint scheme similar to the
Oldsmobile and Pontiac Hurst models of the day. The scooped hood and
trunklid (with a molded spoiler) are both fiberglass. All Hurst 300s had
satin tan leather
interiors that were straight out of the
Imperial and could be had with column- or
console-mounted
727 Torqueflite automatics. All came with the 375 hp 440 cu in (7.2 L)
4-barrel TNT V8 engine.
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