Re: [Chrysler300] The forgotten K

[TNHARKINS@xxxx]

Timothy & Fellow 300 Club Members;

I too have been reading about "forgotten" Letter cars and if you will indulge 
me for a moment, I would like to add my 2 cents worth.

My wife, Mary Ann and I are proud owners of our 300 F Coupe, "FiFi." Now, 
before I continue, let me say that FiFi is a survivor. Her former owner 
parked her in his garage from 1967 to 1997. During those 30 years, she sat 
and patiently waited for her freedom from being just a "storage bin" for many 
unimportant things we all stick in the garage or attic. When she was finally 
released from her "sentence" it was discovered that her engine had frozen and 
the exhaust and brake systems were totally useless. It took 10 months to get 
her roadworthy once again. At this point, her former owner was now 80 years 
old and just could not take care of her. So, I was fortunate enough to 
persuade him to sell her to Mary Ann and I.
She looked dreary and a little sad, but, she was at the same time, beautiful 
to us. We took her home and started to clean her up. Her paint was hopelessly 
oxidized and had numerous scratches and nicks from being used for so long as 
a storage bin. Her interior was tired and fading but the dash was in 
surprisingly good shape. We had all kinds of plans for FiFi and began to 
investigate what we needed to put her into "shape." She had a small dent in 
the left rear quarter and back bumper and needed new springs. Even with the 
need for these things, we took her to some shows, local as well as to 
Carlisle. At first we felt a bit intimidated because of the many beautifully 
"restored" Letter cars shown by other Club members. However, it became 
apparent to us that we truly had something special....we had an original 
survivor and the people loved her. We always had someone who wanted to know 
the entire history of our FiFi and they would always ask, no, beg us to keep 
her the way she was. To paraphrase them, there are plenty of beautifully 
restored cars out there but so few survivors. Well, we have changed our minds 
about FiFi, we keep her mechanicals in tip top shape but, cosmetically she 
will continue on as she is for as long as we can. Both of us are very proud 
of her and never tire of hearing spectators as well as other Club members 
urging us to keep FiFi in her present state. If you will be at Newport next 
spring, stop by and we will gladly show you our FiFi.

With Pride,
Mary Ann & Tom Harkins
300s4ever