RE: [Chrysler300] 300K- The Forgotten Letter Car?

["JONES,DOUG (A-USA,ex3)" <doug_jones@xxxx>]

Hi Kelly,

Unfortunately, a certain amount of tunnel vision comes with the car hobby.
>From a parts reproduction point of view, the point has already been made
that it is all in the numbers. Components that were used for one year only
(never mind which) pose real challenges in terms of break-even volumes and
pricing. From a broader perspective, it certainly seems to me that the Club
has a kind of unspoken heierarchy, that being 
Real 300's are the '55 to '58 models cuz they had hemi engines or
Real 300's are the '55 to '61 models cuz the series 300 had not
happened yet or
Real 300's are the '55 to '65 letter models and the Hurst model but
not the rest or ...

and so on. Personally, I have had (since 1974) a '63 Pace Car convertible,
which the Club does not officially recognize as even being a '300.' I find
all this rather silly. To me, if Chrysler said it is a 300, it is one. And
I like them all, but not for the same reasons. I enjoy the flair and
excitement of the Exner cars, and I like the dignity and clean lines of the
Engle cars. For me (we are all allowed our own opinions), the juxtaposition
of the two in the '63-4 cars made it the best looking design of the lot.
Others don't agree, of course. Which is why we don't all try to marry the
same person and live in the same house!

An advantage of your K is that much of the body trim was also used on the
more common Chryslers. The rear bumper surround piece, for instance, was on
all '63-4 cars. So you might be better served to go to a general MoPar
hobby organization that caters to all the models. Critical mass is a lot
easier when you can include New Yorkers and Newports! 

For the parts that are unique to the '64 300 model, like the wheel cover
medallion, you are in the same fix as the 'E' owner who checked in. These
are tough to find and difficult to justify making reproductions of. Again,
though, if your search base includes the series cars, your chances improve
significantly. Our E owner does not have that advantage - ANY '59 Chrysler
is thin on the ground and most of the trim was used for one year only!

Cheers,
Doug 

-----Original Message-----
From: Kelly Pierce [mailto:jkrestor300@xxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2001 9:32 PM
To: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Chrysler300] 300K- The Forgotten Letter Car?


I have been a club member since 1983 when I finally managed to buy a letter
car. Since that time I have watched as the club has gone with quite a few
projects- all seem to be for the earlier letter cars, 62 H seems to be the
cut-off year. I realize some consider the K to be a weak sister in
comparison to the earlier cars due to Chrysler making many standard
equipment items options on the K as a way to boost sales- which they did.
But with the larger numbers of the K why is it and its owners ignored in the
projects for reproduction parts projects? A few items come to mind- The
chrome trim between the tail lights, sill plates and wheel cover centers.
Even with the availability of parts from non-letter 300's , New Yorker etc.
these parts sources are rapidly drying up, as even these cars are now 37
years young. Even here in Montana where there are yards that don't crush the
older cars the parts are drying up. 
I have not been able to attend a meet due to a number of factors,
Finances being the primary difficulty. I have finally got the K HT Painted,
Bumpers re-chromed etc. Next up is replacing the leather and carpeting. All
this is done on a slim budget that comes from working in Law Enforcement- A
career I love but you will never get rich doing it! One of our goals is to
drive our K to a national meet, to see in the flesh(Sheet metal) the letter
cars you just don't see any other way, to meet so many people in the club
that I feel I know but have never met and Learn alot about the cars. 
Anyone out there care to tackle this question/ comment?

Joe Pierce jkrestor300@xxxx


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



To send a message to this group, send an email to:
Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For list server instructions, go to
http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm 

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Chrysler300-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/