Re: [Chrysler300] Second cousins to the real deal

[John Lazenby <french_fryguy@xxxxxxxxx>]

Off the subject of Letter Cars but I can fill in some blanks.  The gray wagon mentioned in this link http://tinyurl.com/k52pctf was built by Jim Weston of the San Francisco area.  I saw this wagon at a WPC meet back in the late '80s and spoke with Jim regarding it.

The wagon was his pure creation and at that time did not have a 300 engine.  It was based from a NYer wagon with the front panel to accommodate the twin Imperial/300 grills.  The front bumper was a stock 1956 NYer.  Jim had removed the power steering as he didn't like the feel of it.  Personally I never understood that one but each to his own. 

I thought very seriously about purchasing that wagon and Jim would have sold it to me on the spot.  With other projects in the works I did not buy it.

Sometime later there were a couple of guys who did purchase it and also owned our '55 T&C wagon at the same time.  One or both of the wagons were supposedly used as background props for the movie "That Thing You Do" with Tom Hanks and much of the town scenes were shot in Orange, Calif. only about five miles from where I live.

Eventually both wagons were sold.  I ended up with the '55 as most of you know and the '56 creation was purchased by John Bradley who was the grandson of the founder of UPS.  Geez, no bucks there...

John Bradley had many cars including several Rolls Royce that were all impeccable.  He did a full remake on the wagon changing the color to a metallic burgundy with matching burgundy full leather interior.  To look at it was over the top for workmanship.

Not to long after that John Bradley died and the wagon along with other cars from his collection were sold off.  The last time I saw this wagon was a couple of years ago at Cars & Coffee in Irvine, Calif.  I thought it had deteriorated substantially and the engine compartment was not done very well and still had a standard NY engine of the era.

On Saturday, January 25, 2014 11:18 AM, Rich Barber <c300@xxxxxxx> wrote:

 

I Web-Googled "chrysler imperial wagon" and got a number of hits, including
a rather ratty black one with standard taillights, a dark blue one and a
nice red one with Imperial taillights and wire-spoke wheels-both with
'55-'56 Chrysler 300 grilles and the Imperial eagle between them. The black
and blue wagons have the Imperial front bumpers. I can't identify the
bumper on the red one-perhaps from a later Chrysler. See:
http://tinyurl.com/k52pctf

Just more "Phantoms", of course-but imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery. Exner's remarkable styling was unusual in that it worked well
across the entire De Soto-Chrysler-Imperial line of '55-'56 wagons, 2 and
4-door hardtops, convertibles and sedans.

Similarly, Googling "chrysler 300 wagon" pulled up a few shots of a finned
black 300 wagon and a red '63 "300J" wagon. Also, a shot of the
award-winning 300B custom wagon. The latter-day Dodge Magnum wagon was sold
as a Chrysler 300 wagon in Europe and Australia. See:
http://tinyurl.com/khncppz

Hopefully, no Chrysler 300's were injured in the creation of the wagons.
However, it is likely that some body parts of 300's and Imperials were
transplanted and who knows about the engines. Our registry indicates only
20.3% of the original 16,856 Chrysler 300 letter cars are known to have
survived, so over 13,000 may have been scrapped.

C300K'ly,

Rich Barber

Brentwood, CA (no rain in sight-67F @ 11 AM)

From: Jack Boyle [mailto:jackcboyle@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2014 6:29 AM
To: 'Rich Barber'; 'Chrysler 300 Club Int. Server'
Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] Second cousins to the real deal

I attended two WPC/300 meets at Reno & Lake Tahoe a long time ago and I did
not hear any stories about a 300 wagon at the time.

In the early 80's I saw a 55-56 imperial wagon at the Harrah's show. It even
had the gun sight tail lights. I waited a long time by the unattended car
parked on a side street near the show but I was not able to talk to the
owner. It was dark red with a black interior.

Jack Boyle

(913) 544 4650

Enjoying the same C-300 since 1967

From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Rich Barber
Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2014 1:09 AM
To: Chrysler 300 Club Int. Server
Subject: [Chrysler300] Second cousins to the real deal

Chrysler 300 and other MoPar historians may want to visit and follow this
e-Bay auction for a 1956 Chrysler Ghia Concept Car Plainsman Station Wagon
by Virgil Exner -with touches of 300's to come. http://tinyurl.com/l94skz8
The text presents an interesting history.

More discussing and cussing of the Plainsman at:
http://jalopnik.com/5695482/1956-chrysler-plainsman-concept-car

Can anyone speak to the old rumor of a 1955 Chrysler 300 station wagon
special ordered by a Nevada casino? Maybe just a 300 engine in a New Yorker
or Windsor wagon body???

I have seen pictures of the recent high-dollar orange 2-door wagon show car
roughly based on a 1956 300B-viewable at:

http://www.sportscardigest.com/2010-barrett-jackson-scottsdale-auction-previ
ew/

C300K'ly,

Rich Barber

Brentwood, CA

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

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