Re: [Chrysler300] The OTHER 300-F 4-speed convertible . . . a can of wor

i'm a bit embarrassed to admit that back in the day (2001?) when the two clubs had a joint meet in Scottsdale at the same time as B-J was taking place, I went out to Phoenix and attended the auction, the 300 Club joint meet, and also visited local junkyards, including Don's. I also wound up at his house one afternoon, and am pleased to have a photo of myself sitting in a 4-speed 300F. Actually a couple photos, as I wanted a close up of the engine bay, as well as a picture of my right hand gripping that gear shift lever of the Pont-a-mousson transmission. looking back at the photos, I can't tell, and can't remember, the car being a convertible. I thought for sure it was a hardtop, but since I can't remember for sure, maybe it was indeed a convertible. From the angles of the photos I had taken of me behind the wheel I can't see the top, nor can I see the convertible top switch on the dash. I was so drawn to the water cooled cross rams and that gear shift lever (that was silky smooth in operation- i remember moving it through the gear positions at Don's insistence) that the top of the car was no big deal. It was a great trip. A car guy's dream. Went to Desert Valley and got some chrome at reasonable prices. Went to an Imperial guys house and saw a bunch of cars and had free range chicken eggs and bought more reasonably priced chrome, also went to some great cruise nights and met some wacky Canadians who liked to sit around their hotel room in their undies until it was time to go look at cars. "A big cruise night at the mall? Maybe we should put our pants on and go?" I've never been back, as I don't believe a second trip could possibly live up to that week long car guy experience. I bought 3 T-Shirts from that meet, as they have a Hurst on the front, and a black 55 C300, a Cinnamon G convert, and a 58D on the back.

At the time of the purchase of those shirts, I had a black C300, White G convertible, a Hurst, and a 57C (which looked close enough to the 58 on the shirt). It was almost as if the shirt was made for my collection!.

I wore one of those shirts to Macungie last summer and had Vicki Wood sign it.

High quality shirts that are holding up well. As you can tell from this post, that trip left quite an impression. Many more fun things happened. Probably could make a movie out of it- or at least a reality show! ;-)

On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 11:25 AM, John spiers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [Chrysler300] <Chrysler300-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Group,

I know Val Jeffers just inquired about the Turner 300-F 4 speed convertible, but this is about the other one . . .

I was in Phoenix a few years ago and met Don Petty, close cousin and longtime friend of Richard Petty, and well-known on the Forwardlook List as a dependable vendor of Mopar and other parts. He has been the owner of a wrecking yard, now a classic car wrecking yard, for many years. He has dozens of Mopars, including Letter Car convertibles and hardtops.

Don Petty has a 4-speed 300-F convertible he has owned for many years.

What is the background of his car? He makes some convincing claims about the authenticity of his car - the water-cooled exhaust manifolds, the carbs, the Pont-A-Mousson transmission, the special console bezel & shift lever, etc., items that would have taken quite a bit of effort to obtain, even in 1960. He said he bought the car without the block, but with all the bolt-on parts in the trunk and the transmission and bellhousing in place, and did a complete restoration years ago. He has no doubt whatsoever that his car is an authentic, factory-built 4-speed car.

I've never seen or heard of this car being discussed anywhere, and Don told me that there are Mopar people who doubt that his car is authentic.

Discuss!

John

Re: [Chrysler300] The OTHER 300-F 4-speed convertible . . . a can of worms, I'm sure.