Another 300 letter car

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The owner of one of the local Chrysler dealerships is an avid car collector. A couple of years ago when the new 300s came out he put his fully restored 300G convertible on the showroom floor. There wasn't enough space in the showroom for me to get a full photo of the car, but here are some of the shots of it that I got.

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Ahhh . . . chrome, a big steering wheel, and two-tone upholstery . . . That's what Ford, GM, and Chrysler need to appeal to American buyers, instead of dull grey plastic, matte finishes, and the entire interior one boring color!

-- Paul
 
That car is absolutely gorgeous. I love stockers.

For the longest time, I've been trying to talk somebody in Detroit to pick a car from the 50s (55-57 Chevy?) and build it brand new, not retro. I'm sure there's a market for it.
 
This is a 61 300G. The engine is a 413 CID, which was the largest big block available in Chrysler models until the 440 came out in 66. (The 426 wedge and 426 Hemi were not put in Chryslers.)

IMO there are two and only two classic American V8 engines: the small block Chevy and the big block Chrysler. Your opinion may vary. hehe
 
That's a beatiful car!!! It brings back memories; when I was a child in the late 70's, my Dad had a '66 Chrysler 300 identical to the one in the picture below.

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We took many family trips to the beach in that car. It had a big 440 V8 with a "6-pack". I remember my Dad saying it would pass anything on the road except a gas station.
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Wow, that thing is sweet! And I'm not a Mopar guy....

I can't imagine anyone who likes cars not finding several things to really like about that specimen.
 
quote:

Originally posted by wavinwayne:
It had a big 440 V8 with a "6-pack". I remember my Dad saying it would pass anything on the road except a gas station.
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If it indeed had a "Six Pack," i.e., three Holly two barrel carbs, someone put that setup on there. The Six Pack was never offered on any Chrysler cars. The standard engine in a 66 300 was the 383 and you could get an optional 440. Both came with Carter AFB 4 bbl carbs.

My family had a 66 New Yorker hardtop when I was growing up. It was copper with a white leather interior (bucket seats). The New Yorker came standard with the 440, and it would haul butt. We were driving on the Interstate between Atlanta and Chatanooga one time and some jackazz in a 68 Impala kept passing us and then slowing down so that my dad would then have to pass him. This went on for several mile until my dad finally had enough. He floored it. That was the only time I ever saw the speedometer needle go past 120. The guy in the Impala tried to keep up but my dad just kept it floored. Of course, my mother was fussing the whole time. We must have gone four of five miles flat out when my dad started laughing. I turned around and big clouds of smoke or steam were coming from under the Impala which was way behind us by then.
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I may be wrong, but I seem to remember rumors Chrysler-Plymouth and Dodge dealerships of the time had a special Mopar "goodies" catalog from which quasi-sanctioned performance parts could be ordered. Ordering from that under-the-counter book took the mystery out of what would go and what would blow.
 
I had all but forgotten about the push button transmissions! Thanks for the trip back to yesteryear.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Ray H:
I may be wrong, but I seem to remember rumors Chrysler-Plymouth and Dodge dealerships of the time had a special Mopar "goodies" catalog from which quasi-sanctioned performance parts could be ordered. Ordering from that under-the-counter book took the mystery out of what would go and what would blow.

Quite true. And Chrysler itself wasn't above building a special order for which there was no RPO listed.* But since the Six Pack wasn't available on ANY 440 in 1966, this particular configuration would have to be a total aftermarket mod that took place two or three years after the car was built.

*The police package with the cross ram 383 wasn't a RPO item for a Chrysler Windsor, but the dentist who owned the one my dad bought in 1963 ordered it that way.
 
Chrysler started sourcing 4 bbl carbs from Holley in 67 or 68. Prior to that I think it was all Carters.

The 69 New Yorker my dad had came with a Holley 4 bbl. My dad wound up putting a Carter AVS on it because the vacuum secondaries on the Holley would always stick partially open everytime they opened. He didn't like Holleys. I remember when we were going through the parts catalog there was a Carter part # and a Holley part # for 68 models and 69 models.
 
quote:

Originally posted by G-Man II:
My dad wound up putting a Carter AVS on it because the vacuum secondaries on the Holley would always stick partially open everytime they opened.

Yep. That's the reason he asked me to work on it. He was having problems with the Holley.

For a 4000lbs plus car, it hauled butt.
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Oh my, oh my. I think I'm in pain.... Always wanted a 300. My first, (and only), Chrysler was a Windsor 4 door hard top. Had a high compression 383 with a 2BBL carb. A rather odd configuration. It would cruise all day at 70 MPH and get 18 MPG. Required the best Hi test gas or else it would knock like crazy. Great old land yacht.
 
Looks exactly like the car my friend sold at Barrett-Jackson in January. It brought $185K which was good, but two others last year brought over $200K.
The 413 engine is the basis for the 426 Hemi which is the basis for every top fuel and funny car engine in drag racing today. It is by far the easiest V8 engine to work on from that era. Distributor in front and angled toards the passenger side. External oil pump, not under the oil pan, that can be removed with four bolts. Dry intake that can be removed and installed with only eight bolts without draining the coolant. I could go on, but it's the reason I still drive one. One look at today's engines and I have trouble finding the spark plugs!
 
First production car with over 300 HP
Thought of me getting a new one.
I like the idea it has the rear drive.
 
Honkin' (literally!) resonance ram manifold - Chrysler was first out with one in a production car. What model year is this example - 1960 or 1961? Chrysler big block - 361 or 383? (the 440 wasn't available yet was it?) Chrysler's signature cable actuated push-button controls for the Torqueflyte trannie, too. Boldly styled, but crafted largely out of "unobtainium" for the crowd that could truly appreciate them. (When I was in high school, one of my town's prominent physicians bought his wife a 1960 300-whatever to do her shopping and social climbing activities in. I doubt that car ever saw more than 70 mph.) The good news was that the ram-manifold big-block V8s were available in the Dodge Dart and Plymouth two-door hardtops, too.
 
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