Maybe it's
my morning caffeine talking, combined with this email
thread, but a couple things come to mind-
Rubber
trunk mats are almost always the death of the metal
underneath. I bought a very clean Hurst out of dry Colorado
and the trunk floor was still an orange tinged color of
surface rust when I lifted the trunk mat. Cars from wetter
climates are usually swiss cheese at best.
AACA events
have a 25 year cutoff date for entry, so starting this year,
theoretically a 2000 model year car can be entered.
That got me
thinking, as I remember some club news issues that were
devoted to the 'latest letter car' back in 1999 when the 4
door, front wheel drive, V-6, 253 hp 300m and 300m Special
(lower case m on purpose) was introduced. Maybe it should
have been called the Chrysler 253, or perhaps at best a
non-letter 300? The club did give the car a fair amount of
attention when it first arrived on the scene. It's now an
antique and eligible for AACA events. Does the club
recognize this car, even tangentially? I do not own one,
and have no plans to own one, just asking. A neighbor had
one and loved it, but it got totaled in an accident as a 10
year old car in 2009.
It may have
done better in the Sebring platform. At least it could have
been a 2 door and a convertible (still as a non-letter).
Before we
know it, the 'retro' 300 from 2005 will be an antique. Sure
wish they made an SRT-8, 2-door convertible version of
it, too. At least it had a 300+ HP 'Hemi' engine in it.
My first
300 acquisition was a 62 non-letter, purchased in 1983 as a
not-yet-antique 21 year old used car for $300. Used as a
daily driver.
My first
letter car was a G coupe purchased in 1986 as a
just-eligible-for-antique-plates 25 year old 'collector
car'. I now know how some of the guys who collected pre-war
and Model A cars felt in 1990 when their cars turned 60+
years old.