grille and fins; the Hemi engine was
upgraded to 392 cu in
(6.4 L) with 375 hp, or as a very limited edition
390 hp version (18 built). A
convertible model was available for the first time.
The car had a number of
red, white, and blue ‘300-C’ medallions on the
sides, hood, trunk and interior.
With the introduction of the 1957
300-C, 300
Letter Cars became known as the
“Beautiful Brutes.”
The 1957 300-C did not compete in
NASCAR track
events, but with its 375HP hemi engine, again won
the Daytona Beach flying
mile, making the Chrysler 300 the fastest American
car for the third straight
year.
1958 300-D Overview
|
Production
|
618 Coup;
191 Conv Produced
|
|
Body and
Chassis
|
|
Body
Style
|
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible
|
|
Powertrain
|
|
Engine
|
392 cu in
(6.4 L) 380 hp V8
|
|
Transmission
|
3-Speed
TorqueFlite A488 Auto
|
|
Dimensions
|
|
Wheelbase
|
126 in
|
|
Length
|
220.0 in
|
|
Width
|
78.8 in
|
The 1958 model year was to be the
last use of
the old Fire Power Hemi in the 300. The engine was
still 392 cu in (6.4 L), but
tuned to 380 hp as standard.
Thirty-five cars were built with fuel
injection and delivered 390 hp, but the fuel
injection system was troublesome and most cars soon
had it replaced with the
standard twin-quad carburetor setup.
A
300-D was driven to 156.387 mph (251.680 km/h) at
the Bonneville Salt Flats
that year, and at Daytona, one was driven to an et
of 16 seconds with a 94mph
trap speed.
1959 300-E Overview
|
Production
|
550 Coup;
140 Conv Produced
|
|
Body and
Chassis
|
|
Body
Style
|
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible
|
|
Powertrain
|
|
Engine
|
413 cu in
380 hp (6.8 L) V8
|
|
Transmission
|
3-Speed
TorqueFlite A488 Auto
|
|
Dimensions
|
|
Wheelbase
|
126 in
|
|
Length
|
220.0 in
|
|
Width
|
79.5 in
|
The big news for 1959 was the new
Golden Lion
V8 that replaced the heavy and
expensive Hemi V8. The new Golden Lion V8 sported
Chrysler’s new wedge-shaped
combustion chamber design. The new 413 “Wedge” V8
continued to use dual
four-barrel carburetors. Acceleration was fast at a
claimed 8.3 second 0-60
time.
The
appearance of the 300-E was similar to the previous
model. The most significant
change was the use of narrow horizontal red bars
highlighted by four chrome
bars in place of the older egg crate grille. Red
bars were also used in the
narrow air scoops for the front brakes that were
positioned below the
headlights. Also new were the “300” letters located
on the lower, driver side
portion of the hood. At the rear were new taillights
and a larger bumper with
recessed back-up lights.
1960 300-F Overview
|
Production
|
964 Coup;
248 Conv Produced
|
|
Body and
Chassis
|
|
Body
Style
|
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible
|
|
Powertrain
|
|
Engine
|
413 cu in
375 hp (Opt 400 hp) V8
|
|
Transmission
|
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/Racing 4 Sp Man
|
|
Dimensions
|
|
Wheelbase
|
126 in
|
|
Length
|
218.8 in
|
|
Width
|
79.4 in
|
The bodywork was also redone for
1960, using
Chrysler’s new lightweight unibody construction and
given sharper-edged styling
with outward-tilting fins that were visually
separated from sides.
The 300-F introduced a new; higher
power 413
cu in (6.8 L) Wedge engine delivering 375 hp (280
kW) in standard form. A new,
and completely unique “Cross Ram” manifold was used,
placing the carbs on each
side of the engine. The design was to have a
“supercharging” effect in the
heart of the rpm range. Low range performance was
helped with the design, but
at the cost of performance over 4,000 RPM. To solve
that problem, engineers
removed a section of the inner walls to create the
400 HP versions. The “short”
rams looked just like the longer version, but were
in effect half the length.
Only 15 of these “short ram” cars were built, mostly
for Daytona or Flying Mile
racecars and were dubbed “Specials”. Six of them
captured the first 6 places at
the Flying Mile event, with speeds ranging from
140mph-145mph. The short ram
option also included the French made Pont-a-Mousson
4 speed manual
transmission, which was made for the Facel Vega, a
Chrysler powered French
luxury car.
1961 300-G Overview
|
Production
|
1,280
Coup; 337 Conv Produced
|
|
Body and
Chassis
|
|
Body
Style
|
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible
|
|
Powertrain
|
|
Engine
|
413 cu in
375 hp (Opt 400 hp) V8
|
|
Transmission
|
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/Racing 3 Sp Man
|
|
Dimensions
|
|
Wheelbase
|
126 in
|
|
Length
|
219.8 in
|
|
Width
|
79.4 in
|
The 1961 300-G saw another restyle.
The
grille, formerly wider at the bottom than the top,
was inverted; the quad
headlights, formerly side-by-side, were arranged in
angled fashion, inward at
the bottom, in a manner reminiscent of 1958-1960
Lincolns.
Small parking lamps below the
headlights were
likewise slanted and V-shaped, and the front bumper
was canted up at each end,
scoop-like. At the rear, the taillights were moved
from the fins to the tail
below them and the fins were made sharper pointed.
Power windows were standard.
Mechanically, the cross-ram “short ram” and “long
ram” engines remained the
same, although the expensive French manual
transmission was dropped, and
replaced by a more reliable and still expensive
Chrysler racing
manual transmission (referred to as ‘option code
281’).
1962 300-H Overview
|
Production
|
435 Coup;
123 Conv Produced
|
|
Body and
Chassis
|
|
Body
Style
|
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible
|
|
Powertrain
|
|
Engine
|
413 cu in
380 hp (Opt 405 hp) V8
|
|
Transmission
|
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/Racing 3 Sp Man
|
|
Dimensions
|
|
Wheelbase
|
122 in
|
|
Length
|
214.9 in
|
|
Width
|
79.4 in
|
From 1962s 300-H, the fins were gone.
New
management at Chrysler decided that it was time to
remove Virgil Exner’s
styling cues from the lineup.
The 300-H also now shared the smaller
platform
of the Newport line.
Both 413’s received a 5HP boost, and
the
300-pound weight savings of the smaller wheelbase
gave the 300-H the best power
to weight ratio of any of the letter cars.
Under the hood of the 300-H the
standard cross
ram intake was gone, and there was a return to the
inline dual 4-barrel carb
setup of the 300-E. With a slight power boost and a
300 lb (140 kg) lighter
body, the 300-H was faster than the 300-G.
1963 300-J Overview
|
Production
|
400
Produced
|
|
Body and
Chassis
|
|
Body
Style
|
2-Door
Hardtop
|
|
Powertrain
|
|
Engine
|
413 cu in
390 hp (6.8 L) V8
|
|
Transmission
|
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/Racing 3 Sp Man
|
|
Dimensions
|
|
Wheelbase
|
122 in
|
|
Length
|
215.3 in
|
|
Width
|
79.1 in
|
Further restyling for the 1963 300-J
(the
letter “I” was skipped because people would confuse
it for the numeral “1”.)
left the car with a smoother, more angular 1960s
look. (Shared with the Newport
and New Yorker series, this body design was the last
one styled during Virgil
Exner’s term as Chrysler’s styling chief.)
The
letter-series convertible was dropped, leaving the
hardtop. The only engine
available was the 413 cu in (6.8 L) ram-induction
V8, with an increase of 10 hp
from 1962. A redesigned and more sumptuous interior
featured an oddly squared
steering wheel. The 300-J was faster than the
standard 300-H of the year before,
with a 142 mph (229 km/h) top speed, 8.0 seconds
0-60 mph, and a standing
quarter mile time of 15.8 seconds with a terminal
velocity of 89 mph.
1964 300-K Overview
|
Production
|
3,022
Coup; 625 Conv Produced
|
|
Body and
Chassis
|
|
Body
Style
|
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible
|
|
Powertrain
|
|
Engine
|
413 cu in
360 hp (Opt 390 hp) V8
|
|
Transmission
|
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/4 Sp Manual
|
|
Dimensions
|
|
Wheelbase
|
122 in
|
|
Length
|
214.9 in
|
|
Width
|
79.4 in
|
The convertible returned for the 1964
300-K.
The “cross-ram” engine became an
extra-cost
option available on the 300-K only. A 413 cu in (6.8
L) Wedge with a single
Carter AFB 3614S 4-barrel carburetor, a regular
intake manifold, and 360 hp was the new standard
engine.
Leather upholstery was no longer
standard
either.
All
this reduced the baseline price by over a thousand
dollars, and sales responded
with the largest total ever.
1965 300-L Overview
|
Production
|
2,405
Coup; 440 Conv Produced
|
|
Body and
Chassis
|
|
Body
Style
|
2-Door
Hardtop & 2-Dr Convertible
|
|
Powertrain
|
|
Engine
|
413 cu in
360 hp (6.8 L) V8
|
|
Transmission
|
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/4 Sp Manual
|
|
Dimensions
|
|
Wheelbase
|
122 in
|
|
Length
|
215.3 in
|
|
Width
|
79.1 in
|
The 1965 300-L was the final year of
the
traditional letter series. A complete restyle, with
crisp lines, slab sides and
a tall “greenhouse”—styling cues introduced by
Elwood Engel when he succeeded
Virgil Exner as Chrysler’s styling boss—brought a
sleek mid-1960s linear look
to the cars.
Dropped was the panoramic windshield
that had
disappeared from other Chrysler models in 1961.
The
cross-ram engine was no longer available; the 413 cu
in (6.8 L) engine with
regular carburetion and inlet manifold was the only
one supplied.
1970 Hurst 300 Overview
|
Production
|
501Produced
|
|
Body and
Chassis
|
|
Body
Style
|
2-Door
Hardtop & One Convertible
|
|
Powertrain
|
|
Engine
|
440 cu in
375 hp (7.2 L) V8
|
|
Transmission
|
3-Sp
TorqueFlite/4 Sp Manual
|
|
Dimensions
|
|
Wheelbase
|
124 in
|
|
Length
|
224.7 in
|
|
Width
|
79.1 in
|
The 1970 Hurst 300 lacks the
single-letter
suffix of its forbears and appeared five years after
the last Letter Series
Chrysler, the 300-L. It was a high-performance
variant of the luxury 300, built
with the input of aftermarket parts manufacturer
Hurst Performance. Only 501
units are believed to have been built.
The Hurst 300s were
all 2-door and shared a white and gold paint scheme
similar to the Oldsmobile
and Pontiac Hurst models of the day. The scooped
hood and trunklid (with a
molded spoiler) are both fiberglass. All Hurst 300s
had satin tan leather
interiors that were straight out of the Imperial and
could be had with column-
or
console-mounted 727 Torqueflite automatics. All came
with the 375 hp 440 cu in
(7.2 L) 4-barrel TNT V8 engine.
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