The Chrysler 300 "letter series" are high-performance personal luxury cars that were built by Chrysler in the U.S. from 1955 to 1965 and were a sub-model from the Chrysler New Yorker. After the initial year, which was named C-300 for its standard FirePower V8, the 1956 cars were designated 300B. Successive model years were given the next letter of the alphabet as a suffix (skipping "i"), reaching the 300L by 1965, after which the model sequence was discontinued while the "300" remained. At its introduction it was advertised as "America's Most Powerful Car".
The 300 "letter series" cars were among the vehicles built by Chrysler after World War II that focused on performance, and thus can be considered the beginning of the muscle car, though full-sized and more expensive. Chrysler had a long history of producing race car products going back to the Chrysler Six that was entered in the 1925 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1928 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Chrysler Imperial Eight roadster in the 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 1955 C-300 and the 1956 300B were raced with very little modification at NASCAR races to include Watkins Glen International where it won races multiple times.
The automaker reintroduced the 300 designations again for performance-luxury sedans in 1999, using the 300M nameplate from 1999 to 2004, and expanding the 300 series with a reintroduction of a new Hemi-engineered V8 installed in the 300C, the top model of a new Chrysler 300 line, a new rear-wheel drive car launched in 2004 for the 2005 model year. __TOC__
First generation
1955 C-300
This first of the letter series cars did not bear a letter, but can retroactively be considered the '300A'. The 'C-' designation was applied to all Chrysler models and the coupe was built on the C-68 New Yorker Series. For marketing purposes the car was called the "300" in order to further reinforce the engine installed. The C-300 was a racecar aimed at the NASCAR circuits that was sold for private ownership to qualify for homologation purposes, with Chrysler's most powerful engine, the OHV FirePower "Hemi" V8, due to the hemispheric shape of the cylinder head, fitted with dual four barrel carburetors, two overhead valves per cylinder with solid valve lifters, a race-profiled camshaft installed inside the engine cylinder block, stiffer front and rear suspension, and a low restriction performance exhaust system. This engine was exclusive to the 300, the New Yorker and the all-new Imperial Newport. By 1956, this would be the first American production car to top , and the letter series was for many years the most powerful car produced in the United States. The engine and transmission were shared with the French automaker Facel Vega in the Facel Vega Excellence and the Cunningham C-4R which was entered at the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished the race. With the growing popularity of European sports cars during the late 1940s, Chrysler sought to create a "drivers car" with sports car performance but with greater attention to comfort. in the growing post-WWII tradition of grand tourers.
The car's "100-Million Dollar Look" styling can be attributed as much to the Chrysler parts bin as designer Virgil Exner. The front clip, including the grille, was taken from the Imperial of the same year, but the rest of the car did not look like an Imperial. The midsection was from a New Yorker hardtop, with a Windsor rear quarter. Exner also included base-model Chrysler bumpers and removed many exterior elements such as back-up lights, hood ornament, side trim, and exterior mirrors. An electric clock and two-speed windshield wipers were standard. There were few options available including selection of three exterior colors of Black, Tango Red or Platinum White and only one color of tan leather interior. Power windows and power front seat adjustment were available but air conditioning was not available in 1955.
Measured at in the Flying Mile, and doing well in NASCAR, the C-300 aroused interest that was not reflected in its modest sales figure of 1,725, and the listed retail price of US$4,100 ($ in dollars ).
When the C-300 competed in NASCAR, it was painted to advertise that it was the "world's fastest stock car". In February 1954 the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL was introduced and sold in North America and was labeled the fastest production car of its time. The Chrysler C-300 was also introduced at the same time the BMW 503 was introduced and sold in North America. The Bentley Continental with a similar approach to driving experience was introduced in 1952.
1956 300B
The 1956 300B was fairly similar externally, distinguished by a new tailfin treatment, but with larger engines, and a choice of two versions of the Hemi V8 producing either , with a 10:1 compression ratio used to achieve the higher horsepower rating. A companion of this generation was introduced as the DeSoto Adventurer and the Dodge D-500 that were less luxurious, while still sharing much of the mechanicals, giving DeSoto and Dodge a performance enhanced model, while the 354 CID engine was exclusive to the 300, New Yorker and Imperials. The TorqueFlite transmission controls were to the left of the steering wheel and a total of 1,102 were sold. Performance was better than the previous year's by its top speed at almost at the Daytona Flying Mile. A 6.17 ratio rear differential was also added to the options. Front leg room was 44.6 inches. New was the Highway Hi-Fi phonograph player. This was the last year that coil springs were used for the front suspension.
With the optional 10:1 compression ratio, brake horsepower became from the same engine, and the 300B became the first American car to produce 1 horsepower per cubic inch, besting Chevrolet with their fuel-injected by one year. Colors were updated to Regimental Red, Cloud White and Black while the tan leather interior remained.
NASCAR team owner Carl Kiekhaefer's raced the 300B, among other cars, and won 22 out of 41 races, including 16 races consecutively; One of his racers was famous racer Buck Baker, who drove 300B's. Kiekhaefer would purchase cars from Chrysler and modify a few appearance features but essentially raced the cars as they were, with leather interior and other standard features, on the racetrack. The listed retail price was $4,242 ($ in dollars ).
Second generation 1957 300C
The 1957 model year 300C was corporately shared with an all new appearance for Chrysler products called the "Forward Look" and featuring a "yawning" wide trapezoid-shaped front grille which was unique to the 300C, "Vista-Dome" windshield, dual headlights, and gradually rising tailfins starting from the doors similar to Chrysler-branded products. It was first exhibited to the public on 8 December 1956 at the New York Automobile Show."Will Display New Chrysler On Saturday." The Southwest Wave, 6 December 1956, 11. The wheel diameter changed from to while continuing to use drum brakes for all wheels, and to keep the front brakes cool a cooling duct was installed with the air intake located just below the headlights that fed air directly to the front brakes. The exterior color list was expanded to offer Jet Black, Parade Green metallic, Copper Brown metallic, Gauguin Red and Cloud White while the interior was tan leather standard and optional interior choices were available from the New Yorker list of which the 300 was based.
The Hemi engine was upgraded to with , or as a limited edition version (18 built). The 392 CID engine was exclusive to the 300, New Yorker and Imperials, while the dual four barrel carburetors was standard on the 300C and continued with an improved air induction system that gave each carburetor its own air cleaner to improve efficiency. A convertible model was available for the first time and was listed at US$5,359 ($ in dollars ) while the two-door hardtop was listed at US$4,929 ($ in dollars ). In comparison, a 1957 Imperial Crown Convertible was listed at US$5,598 ($ in dollars ). GM's Pontiac Division introduced the Pontiac Bonneville as a convertible only, offering fuel injection and a similar price tag but offered lower luxury content and a reduced price for 1958, and Mercury offered the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser for 1957 with the optional Super Marauder V8.
The car introduced red, white, and blue '300C' circular medallions on the sides, hood, trunk, and interior and was the first model to use the color scheme, and despite the late-1950s design trends that added ever increasing amounts of chrome, styling flourishes, intricate grilles and interior appearance features the styling of the 300C and subsequent generations remained minimal. A total of 1,918 coupes and 484 convertibles were built. All Chrysler products introduced the all-new torsion bar front suspension, called Torsion-Aire, which replaced the previous coil spring front suspension and the new Airtemp air-conditioner, a $495 option, was offered ($ in dollars ).
1958 300D
The 1958 model year was to be the last use of the FirePower Hemi in the 300. The engine was still , but tuned to as standard, while the 392 CID engine was exclusive to the 300 and Imperials. Thirty-five cars were built with an extremely rare option called the Bendix "Electrojector" fuel injection,Bendix Electrojector Brochure, dated 12-56, Title: "Electronic Fuel Injection For Passenger Cars" with which the V8 was rated at . Due to reliability problems with the primitive onboard computer which controlled the injection system, however, vehicles installed with the fuel injection option were recalled and retrofitted with dual four barrel carburetors. Cars that were originally installed with the fuel injection had a special "300D" badge attached to the rear fender with additional "fuel injection" script included.
Due to the 300D continuing to be a sub-model of the New Yorker, luxury amenities were included. Standard items were leather upholstery, power assist steering, power assist brakes, power window lifts, dual remote adjustable side view mirrors, power adjustable driver seat, "Air-Temp" air-conditioning, power deploying radio antenna, tinted glass, rear window defroster, windshield washer, Limited-slip differential, Hi-Fi Phonograph, and "Auto-Pilot" cruise control. The exterior color list was updated to offer Raven Black, Aztec Turquoise, Mesa Tan, Tahitian Coral, Matador Red and Ermine White while the interior was tan leather standard and optional interior choices were available from the New Yorker list of which the 300 was based.
A 300D was driven to at the Bonneville Salt Flats that year, and another was driven at the Daytona Flying Mile, producing a quarter-mile time of 16 seconds at . A total of 618 hardtops and 191 convertibles were produced, in part due to a recession, competition from the Ford Thunderbird and the listed retail price of US$5,173 ($ in dollars ) for the hardtop and US$5,603 ($ in dollars ) for the convertible. The 300D saw a new luxurious competitor from Mercury called the Park Lane.
1959 300E