RE: [Chrysler300] Hemmings Daily 300G stick coupe

["'John Grady' jkg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [Chrysler300]" <Chrysler300-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Tom,

 

Seems like yesterday, but long ago…More to it, ---on Route 2 East at Bowling alley, we had stripe across road , Cambridge . Mass State Cop got both of us that night , had been behind us at light. …he was a car guy in 406 Ford cruiser, 421 Poncho parked behind me (proof I won ) , cop behind him, lights on  --he gives him a ticket (600$ for racing) . Cop comes up to me and goes “what you got in this thing, it goes pretty good? ‘300D 392 stick, Packard OD, 3:70 ”  Wow “ would it take my cruiser? “  What , are you kidding me?” we both start laughing…Fords were dogs..BAD wheel hop off the line.  Mopar really good at that, nice take off, easy . Bucrons. ( I used to yell at Chevies ’Bog or Burn?” as light went green; they would,  too). He says “go on home; I hate Pontiacs !” no ticket,(!!!!)  he became a good friend , waved at me from cruiser. Need friends like that..

 

That Pontiac Ventura had that thin coupe roof, ?8 bolt aluminum wheels , Honduras Maroon , 4 speed,  white leather inside , buckets. Gorgeous car. Only Pontiac I ever liked. Much better looking and smaller than GTO

 

For Ford camp there was a guy there, name was I think Jim Boring (?) never talked to him, but he had about a 500” full house 430 Lincoln in a 55 bird. Quite a handful..fast car. Vaguely remembering him racing in 3rd gear only..trans problems  . I think it was a T 85 trans; 

 

few Mopars,  hundreds of 55-63 chev. Mopars included chopped pink 34 Ford coupe with 331 , 58 Dodge D500 regal lancer B block( nice car too, bronze and white) 61 Sonoramic 383 Plymouth wagon stick, 59 sport fury 361 stick, 300B . Later on, a Plymouth 426 max wedge, but I was out of this by then..On to Triumph 650 bike.. 1” stroker Harley could beat all the cars.

 

Old (?40’s) red rusty International pick up, brooms standing up in back , single 1.5 “ exhaust with holes , rusted, hanging down, loose. (all fake) Those brooms bolted down ! Had full house 401 Buick in it, went like hell. T bucket with 322 Buick, 6 carbs too.

 

Another guy had two identical 56 Plymouth converts , green and grey two tone. ( never saw even one since) One a rat,  smoke pouring out we called him old smokey. Stock 270 Plymouth?  Other one had a full house 413 in it, he had copper pipes into exhaust manifold of 413 to make it smoke too, hand pump under dash. He would act stupid, make bets for 25-100 $ , meet you at light, get other car, and win. All this centered on Big Burger ranch, a twin to American Graffiti place..and chev guys at Donuts Please across the street. 

 

That 62 dodge max wedge was from Springfield mass..some kind of special package, tan color, thin windows,  no back seat, ?fiberglass bumpers, no radio, 3 speed had a handle as tall as dash, but moved about 3”  , 3;55---- he was still at top of second gear, when 409 blew up in 3rd, he was about 3 feet in front of 425 409 with 4:11,  about 100 feet from end of quarter when it blew. 409 guy knew if he grabbed 4th he was toast. Guy talked to me , he had window sticker; so cool. It said “WARNING: Maximum performance vehicle: No warrantee ; for race use only”. Big,  about a foot square. 

 

This went on every night..for a few years…We called it Route 2 Timing Association. Or, “Lake St lights”… Wish I could go there tonight ! ~10 Pm till 2AM ..Fastest car I ever built though was 55 Healey Lemans,  with way set back ?63 300Hp 327 chev, .aluminum T 10 4 spd.  Driveshaft 6” between U joints. Almost killed me. Jag XK 120 rear end, wire wheels . Healy rear lasted one take off.

 

300 C,D,F nice an peaceful..Later, on  new Challenger RT 383 in 68 and 440 magnum Challenger convert RT in 70 , not as much fun as the old stuff. Times change…..

 

PS, in 62 Mass State cops had green and white cross ram 426 Chrysler ? Newport? wagons ,on mass pike only. They caught a cobra, “150 mph” made the papers ; wonder what that engine was? 400hp H ? They rattled and shook, headlights bouncing up and down at idle. Need that anti rattle spring!

 

From: thomas r denkler [mailto:tdenkler3853@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2015 9:36 AM
To: John Grady
Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] Hemmings Daily 300G stick coupe

 

Great info! You need to write a book about your escapades!

Would love to hear about.

I am a Chrysler C body 4 speed freak. Also love to hear/read about Galaxie, Wildcat,Bonnieville/Catalina,Marauder 4 speeds.

These are the rare ones!

Thanks,

Tom Denkler

-----Original Message----- 
From: "John Grady jkg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [Chrysler300]" 
Sent: Jan 8, 2015 8:00 AM 
To: Andy Mikonis 
Cc: Bob Jasinski , RICK AND DEBBIE CLAPHAM , "" 
Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] Hemmings Daily 300G stick coupe 






Hi Andy, 

Very interested it was NP transmission ? Reason being i was there at the time , street racing my 392 powered 57 d500 , which ate about 15 mopar pre 61 stick shift transmissions . They were , without reservation pure junk .. Probably in B and C D sticks. They had pin syncros , pins break off on fast shift fall into gear mesh , plus392 would relocate all the first gear teeth to bottom of case without touching clutch    . On a 300 would be top gear only deal , unless driven like a toyota .  I changed it to Packard od w 3:70,s . That worked, although 6-8 of those blew before I learned how to build right . Velvetouch disc 3800 lb Dodge oil truck clutch B&B. 

But Story OfThe Day was the 61 Mopar stick was a T 85 . excellent trans used in big Ford cop cars, Ford trucks  . Also rumor, it was  in 62 max wedges ; Chrysler tested T 10 4 spd , broke them. Correct --as 421 poncho frequently stripped T10 input gear. Not debating parts list or info . .. Just contradicts old story . Street rumor may have been wrong .. Or maybe both ? Was NP around  in 61? first i heard of them was mopar 4 spd . 

Best GM i ever got with that 57 dodge (convert d500 stick/392--wish i had it stock today --100k?)  was brand new 61  421 pontiac tri power ventura coupe 4 speed . Beautiful car . What a night.  !!

425 409 could get me though , so end of homebuilt era . 25 of those around . But saw 62 max wedge 3spd kill fastest one  . One 327 300 hp almost as fast , held C gas at about 13.1 , note that is 3seconds faster than most 300's (sigh) 1000  $ bet on the max wedge, loved collecting from chev guys , plus409 blew up top of third  . 62 was an unreal year .. Even in that era, a 300B held top end , but not good at dragging

"you should see that big white chrysler step out at 100 !"
John

By the way , fastest car then around Boston was a 50 olds coupe 450 " 394 olds, hydrostick , tri power J2, center carb on gas , end carbs on alcohol . How about   those apples ! 50 olds has a great rear suspension ; 4:1 first in hydro stick , he was gone. 
On Jan 8, 2015, at 1:38 AM, "Andy Mikonis r41hp@xxxxxxxxx [Chrysler300]"<Chrysler300-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Yes, the AMA specs for 300G confirm the 3-speed manual was standard with the 400-hp engine and optional with the 375-hp engine.

 

I don't know where the figure of 14 came from, but I've seen it before and it's not verified. Gil told me in 2006 he estimated 39 to 48 stick Gs. Don't know if that has changed.

 

We can infer from the results that four 400-hp Gs ran Flying Mile at Daytona, plus a couple 375-hp Gs - perhaps Torqueflite cars (per Burt Bouwkamp.) And yes one G ran faster than the F in 1960 and would have broken the record but was disqualified for losing a chrome strip.

 

So the rest of the 3-speed Gs were predominantly standard 375-hp engine cars.

 

You can see in the photo that the G at auction is a 375-hp. This is corroborated in its build record. It is a known car. So, it's not a NASCAR spec, etc. The "281 code" does not indicate anything more than the transmission. There is indeed evidence that it was some sort of press car, but not the (also red 3-speed) car pictured in Motor Trend and Motor Life as was once claimed years ago.

To that point, I don't know why they are saying it is a Borg Warner transmission. The parts book shows 300Gs had the Chrysler-made New Process A-745 which was an all-new for 1961 heavy-duty 3-speed manual transmission that was used perhaps up to 1971. As a press car, I'm sure Chrysler wanted the press to drive the all-new transmission, not some obscure one-off B-W fitment.  

 

300ly,

Andy M.

 


On Jan 7, 2015, at 4:19 PM, 'Bob Jasinski' rpjasin@xxxxxxxxxxx [Chrysler300] <Chrysler300-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

  

According to the Motor Trend 6/1961 review of the stick shift G,  "The stick shift is mandatory with this powerhouse  (300G 400 HP option) replacing an imported four-speed box used in the 400 HP 300F"  The standard 375 HP 300G, could be had with either torqueflite or 3 speed manual (at extra cost).

Bob J

From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of RICK AND DEBBIE CLAPHAM rixpac@xxxxxxx [Chrysler300]
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2015 5:57 PM
To: Bob Jasinski; chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] Hemmings Daily 300G stick coupe

  

I thought the stick G's were short ram/high performance 400 HP, Like the F four speed? and both used alternator charging systems.
 


  _____  


To: chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From: Chrysler300-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2015 09:30:15 -0800
Subject: [Chrysler300] Hemmings Daily 300G stick coupe

  

For those that don't get Hemmings Daily, the top story is of a red G coupe with a stick transmission option code 281 going up for auction at Barrett Jackson:.

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/01/07/gentlemans-express-rare-option-code-281-chrysler-300g-to-cross-the-block/?refer=news

The copy indicates there were only 14 made.  Has this been documented within the Club?  I thought that was the 300F number with manual trans. built.

Bob J










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



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Posted by: "John Grady" <jkg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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