144 was for the stock 375 HP 300F. This was a 300F Gran Turismo with the short rams, special cam, cast iron headers, and Pont-a-Mousson full synchro manual transmission. These 9 prototypes (factory engineer Paul Mallwitz called them prototypes) were capable of 165 mph on Chrysler's test track when equipped with the 2.93:1 differential. I have driven that car in excess of 140 mph.
Posted 2017-02-23 8:55 AM (#534568 - in reply to #534561) Subject: Re: 125 mph in a 1960 Chrysler 300F GT Special.
Location: Under the X in Texas
finsruskw - 2017-02-23 7:15 AM I have ridden in that car!! Remember Wayne?? I have it on video that John L. took that day What, back in the 80's?? I've had my F up a bit over the century mark a time or two.
Ha ha, I remember it well, right there on the side streets of Garden Grove, CA. Comment if I am wrong, but you got out of the ride and said your "knees were weak and shaking". And I thought that was a heckuva response from an over-the-road long haul truck driver!!!
Posted 2017-02-23 4:26 PM (#534584 - in reply to #534574) Subject: Re: 125 mph in a 1960 Chrysler 300F GT Special.
Expert
Posts: 1287
Wayne --
I have an advantage over you up here in Colorado. The state is not all mountainous and there are some long, flat, and straight stretches which can provide an opportunities to go "balls to the wall." One is a length of I-25 between Colorado Springs and Pueblo that particularly lends itself to such activity, although in recent years traffic has increased to the point where these chances are becoming more limited. I have been able to get my C to barely nudge the 150 mark, albeit down a very slight grade and with a faint breeze and an old speedometer. My '65 fuel-injected Vette got to that mark as well and on the same point on the highway. In either case, I don't think I was doing more than 140, or 145 at best.
However, in 1965, as a 23-year-old grad student, I did drive my '65 Sport Fury (426-S/4-speed) from Albuquerque, NM, to Pueblo via Santa Fe, and Taos (about 310 miles), in slightly less than three hours. There wasn't much traffic in those days, but I did have an encounter with gendarme on one occasion between San Luis and Ft. Garland, CO. When he told me that he would follow me back to the court house in San Luis to pay the fine, I said, "Officer, if I have to go all the way back there, why didn't you stop me sooner?" He just said, "Son, I tried." That 96.4 is the highest speed I've ever had an official record of as I never was able to do more than the low 95s with my '60 Fury on a drag strip.
Joe Godec
Posted 2017-02-23 5:03 PM (#534588 - in reply to #534535) Subject: Re: 125 mph in a 1960 Chrysler 300F GT Special.
Location: Under the X in Texas
Joe, I'm 65 miles west of San Antonio. and on IH-10. Its almost 500 miles from here to El Paso. Check the map, there are only a couple of cities of enough size you might recognize their names. There is not much reason for curves in the desert and the TX Hill Country I live in runs out as I leave my city. I sold the F a couple of years ago after 23 years of ownership because I know that my reaction time and my eyes are not what they were as I approach seven decades. And it was time to share that incredible car with another owner. Either reality sets in or the argument "Yes I can" can be ended all too negatively.
You mention a later car. I have a '69 Coronet R/T convertible, 440 and full "Hemi suspension" (std. with the R/T model). It is a better handler than the 300F, partly due to more wheel and tire. In the will for my older son. I never received "paper" to prove my speeds other than a magazine writer "witness" with me when the 300F GT topped 140 mph. Cover car, premier issue of Hill Country Car Culture about 4 years ago.
Posted 2017-02-24 6:58 AM (#534619 - in reply to #534535) Subject: Re: 125 mph in a 1960 Chrysler 300F GT Special.
Location: Under the X in Texas
"Number built" has been under conjecture for decades. I would tell you nine of the 300Fs with the GT equipment including the Pont-a-Mousson transmission were built. That's eight coupes and the one convertible. For the last thirty years, the number of these cars existing has remained at four.
The car now lives in northwestern Wisconsin and was in attendance at the Chrysler 300 Int'l meet at Road America road course last fall.
Now, besides the nine with manual transmission, there were also four or five 300F GT models built after they ran out of the manual gear boxes. They had Torqueflites of course. All were hardtops. None are known to exist.
125 mph in a 1960 Chrysler 300F GT Special.
