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

[Russ Vaughan <russ@xxxx>]

Hi Kelly & Joe;

First, you're working for the wrong town!
Patrolmen in my town make up to six figure + incomes
with overtime. That's more than the Chief and Town
Manager, both about $80K. Second, with so little money
how do you outbid me so badly on eBay items??? :->

Seriously, I have been a club member slightly
longer than you (1982) and have yet to bring my "H" to
a meet. I bought it just over 11 years ago and
immediately got over my head. Thanks to the sale of
some real estate, I have recently invested a lot of
money in the car and see about 2 years to go. My dream
is to host a meet in my about to be home state, Maine
and have that be the premier outing of my letter car.
Now there's an invitation for you to cinch Long
Distance Award as our perpetual winner comes from
South Dakota! 

To get to the nuts and bolts of your question the
answer in a word is NUMBERS. In my opinion due to the
styling being a mix of Engel and Exner inputs, the
result is controversial. That with the lowered level
of standard equipment ( no standard rams or leather in
particular)gives the "K" a value about 1/2 that of an
"H" or older in comparable condition. My '63 sport
cvt. has the same engine as a "K" (360/413) and the
same interior as a "J" sans tach and 150 mph speedo.
So there wasn't as much "special" about the "K". A
"K" shares very little with other year letter cars,
so almost everything made for a "K" would be only for
a "K". Many items for an "H" also fit the "F" and
"G". The seat project for instance, one design fit
three years with only a minor modification for the
center inserts on the "G". Seats for your car are
available through Legendary for not a lot. Gary Goers
has the F,G,H seats, but at close to $2000!
Relating to your example, I bet it would cost the
club way over $20,000 to just make the dies for the
chrome trim between the tail lights. To compare, dies
for plastic emblems are about $5,000 so even that
might be conservative. At that rate the club would
need about 100 members shelling out $500-$600 each for
the trim to break even. I don't think there are 100
members who own "K"'s that would do that. If you see a
treasurer' s report, it would also deplete club funds
to a level not seen since the '70's. It doesn't make
the project likely. Don't quote me on this, but I
think sill plates are in the works that will fit a "K"
along with others. Hubcap inserts, again only for the
non ram "K", $5,000 setup, how many does the club
sell? How much is the average owner willing to put
into a part for a car that is worth only so much? Not
that restoration of any of these cars is a profit
making venture! I'll bet if the "K" trim mentioned
above were for F,G, and H the club would have a hard
time selling the necessary amount to break even. 
There is to be no rerun of "H" carpet because there
can't be enough demand based on the number of cars in
the club. Trust me, there are also many items owners
of older letter cars are asking for that have to be
justified based on numbers, so it's not only the "K".

A last thought. Even if I had to rent a car, I
would come to the meets. Don't wait for your "K" to be
finished. The meets are great, the people are
wonderful and once you go to one, you won't want to
miss any more!!

300ly

Russ Vaughan

--- Kelly Pierce <jkrestor300@xxxx> wrote:
> 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]
> 
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