I was just out for lunch, driving up a road that I don't usually take. All of a sudden I came upon a very pretty Fuselage era Chrysler 300 2 door parked in a small used car lot. I had to stop. The car was burgundy with a white/cream vinyl roof with an asking price of $5995. It had been recently repainted, nicely done, but probably hiding some stuff. There was something a little funny with the driver's side rear quarter, but not really noticable. The interior looked very nice in burgundy vinyl. The chrome and hub caps were fair and you could see some rust on the wheels behind the hubcaps. The car was a 440 single exhaust without AC and with drum brakes. It turned out to be a 1969 300 and had the front seat head rests. It was a nice looking car, but the price seemed high. Also, ther were indications around the vinyl roof of rust issues that I had just run into.
I have a 1969 Imperial LeBaron 2 door and this Chrysler is the closest car that you can get to that in terms of style. I am not sure how many 1969 Chrysler 300 2 doors that I have seen but I always thought that they looked really good. However, seeing one in the flesh and comparing it to my LeBaron, I think that the LeBaron looks better. Seeing the 300 has motivated me to get my butt in gear and get my car back on the road.
I am seriously thinking about a smooth top LeBaron, probably white with the rest of the car factory green. I had thought about a white vinyl roof, but the white vinyl roof on the 300 I saw today did not really grab me. I had also been toying with the idea of removing the chrome trim on the side of my car. (Please don't shoot). However, looking at the 69 300, I think that the trim improves the looks of the 69 Imperials. I know that later Imperials had the side trim removed, but seeing a car up close is what you need to make decisions like this.
I was also motivated by the price of this car. I do not know how realistic the price is and I know that it is a 300 vs a LeBaron, but it would not take very much work on my car to get it into similar condition and probably better. You do not get into this hobby to make money, but it certainly helps if you think that the money and time you are putting in actually makes the car more valuable.
The weather is finally turning nice here in the great Pacific Northwest so it will be difficult to find time to work on the car. However, I own cars like this to drive them and I cannot do that right now and really want to. Any motivation helps and I got some today.
Fred Joslin
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