A Far Too Brief History of the Chrysler 300 - Goodbye to an Icon

the Chrysler 300 is a story nameplate of luxury and performance spread across three distinct eras and multiple Generations from its beginning in 1955 to its once again cancellation in 2023 it holds a special place in history and today as the bankers hot rod this is a far too brief history of the Chrysler 300. welcome back to old cars y'all I am John the first era of the Chrysler 300 is called the letter series and it begins in 1955 with the first generation as a sub-model of the series c68 Chrysler New Yorker the first 300 is the C300 named for its use of a 300 horsepower 5.4 liter Firepower Hemi V8 Chrysler's most powerful engine and the one used exclusively in the 300 the New Yorker and the Imperial Newport the car was intended for NASCAR and sold to the public to qualify 5 for racing available only in a two-door hardtop The Styling was a combination of Chrysler cars from the Imperial front end New Yorker midsection and the rear from a windsor it attracted a ton of interest but sales were only 1725 with a retail price of about forty one hundred dollars or about 44 000 in 2022 in 1956 the car was lightly revised with New Tail Fins and now with two engines a 5.8 liter V8 or a 354 cubic inch Hemi making either 340 or 355 horsepower from a higher compression ratio and also making the higher output engine the first American car to produce one horsepower per cubic inch beating Chevy by one year as the second generation the car was now named the 300b and both Dodge and DeSoto got versions of the car without all the luxuries while the Hemi stayed exclusive to the 300 the Imperial and The New Yorker as before one interesting option was the highway high five phonograph player for 1957 the now named 300C was heavily revised and adopted the new Chrysler forward look styling including a trapezoidal grill unique to the 300 now available in both two-door hardtop and convertible the fins were revised the colorless expanded dual headlights new torsion bar front suspension and optional air conditioning and the Hemi engine enlarged to 6.4 liters for 375 horsepower with 18 limited editions making 390 built Prices rose to around 5 000 for the hard top with about 1900 sold in 1958 the car was now the 300D and was the last year to use the Firepower Hemi this time still a 6.4 liter but now making 380 horsepower along with an extensive list of standard equipment from The New Yorker as well as updated exterior and interior color options there was also an option for the Hemi to have a Bendix fuel injection system that raised power to 390 horsepower these were extremely rare with only 35 built and terribly unreliable with a period of Economic downturn and competition from the Ford Thunderbird and new Mercury Park Lane it sold only about 800 with its 5173 dollar base price and in 1959 the 300E received Chrysler's Golden Lion wedge head V8 a 6.8 liter engine making approximately the same 380 horsepower as the previous engine while weighing about a hundred pounds less and was once again exclusive to the 300 and the Imperials well equipped with some beautiful touches this was the last body on frame chassis and with its slightly higher base price of about 5300 only 650 were sold the 196300 now designated the 300f was dramatically revised it moved to a unibody platform with sharper styling and outward tilting fins and a new corporate Grille inside the car now had four bucket seats divided by a full-length console from Dash to the rear seat and the front seat swiveled they also heavily revised the dash with the Astrodome instrument cluster positioning the gauges in three dimensions due to its size the push button controls for the transmission were mounted to the left of the steering wheel with a horizontal lever below that that controlled the turn signals the tachometer had to be installed in the center console below the radio under the hood there were two versions of the 6.8 liter wedge head V8 the standard cross ram made 375 horsepower hour and was tuned for low and mid range RPMs two carburetors and their air filters were mounted outboard of this engine at the fender Wells but there was also a special short ram version of the engine tuned for high RPMs made 400 horsepower and also got a four-speed French manual transmission from the facel Vega that was unfortunately unreliable only 15 of these were ever made overall sales increased to about 1200 for the year and then in 1961 the 300g got another restyle notably turning the Grille upside down and the quad headlights now slanted as well as accompanying changes at the rear the two engine options from the previous year remained with the Troublesome French manual transmission was replaced with a Chrysler sourced heavy duty three speed sales increased to around 1600. for 1962 Chrysler dropped the fins for a Sleek New Look moved to a shorter wheelbase and a five inch shorter body but most importantly introduced the 300 sport series as a two-door hardtop and eventually a four-door sedan and convertible to replace the Chrysler Windsor the convertible and two-door hardtop remained with the letter Series this time as the 300H on the exterior there was little difference between the sport and letter series but inside while the 300H kept the front and rear bucket seats in full length center console the sport series got standard bench seats front and rear with a lighter Body and Frame the 300H was faster than the previous model but the loss of exclusivity and ever Rising prices made this a poor seller with just around 570. for the 1963 model year Chrysler skipped the letter I and went straight to the 300j combined with a radical redesign of the car and moving the model to the C platform this was the last 300 styled by Virgil exner and it featured a cleaner look with wide C pillars inside the rear bucket seats disappeared the Astrodome instrument cluster was eliminated and shocking the industry Chrysler offered a five-year 50 000 mile warranty the sports series also continued with the convertible 300 being dropped into the sport and becoming The Unofficial pace car for the 1963 Indy 500 under the hood the 6.8 liter engine was massaged for more power and the on steering wheel from other Chrysler products was added and limited the exterior colors to just five sales were very poor with just 400 made in 1964 the 300K made a splash and was a sales success the engine was massaged to make 360 horsepower the push button auto transmission controls became a console mounted selector minor trim changes were made 17 exterior colors were now available but importantly the price dropped to by nearly 1 000. Sales surged to over 3 600 produced the 1965 300L was the final year of the letter series and it went out with a bang Chrysler restyled the body under new head of styling Elwood Engel and the results were good sales of over 2 800 for the year the panoramic windshield was abandoned the car grew three inches overall and two inches in the wheelbase and it continued with the hard top and convertible options the higher output cross ram engines were discontinued leaving the 360 horsepower 6.8 liter V8 with four barrel carbs as the only engine for this final year the three-speed torque flight automatic continued with a no-cost option of a four-speed manual with Hurst shifter sadly every option on the 300L could be ordered on the 300 so the only exclusivity was badging while the 300 letter series ended here development of the next generation named the 300M had begun the 300M was planned to make a cosmetic changes and potentially a more powerful engine but the development was canceled in November of 1964. in 1965 they revived the plan with a new 425 horsepower 426 Hemi But ultimately the whole project was just canceled the 300 non-letter series continued with the four-door and two-door hardtops and two-door convertibles and a 7.2 liter V8 in 1967 The Styling was revised in 1968 concealed headlamps were added between 1969 and 1970 styling was revised two engines the 440 and the 440 TNT were offered in 1979 the name returned briefly as a version of the Cordoba Coupe it was an over two thousand dollar package with special Grill and emblems and a 995 horsepower version of the available 5.9 liter V8 with a four barrel carb dual exhaust and performance cams other improvements came from the police spec Vehicles including heavy duty suspension and rear gear ratio less than 2 900 were ever built in 1999 the 300 name plate returned as the 300M a derivative of the LH platform Chrysler used with the Eagle Vision Chrysler Concorde Chrysler LHS Chrysler New Yorker and the Dodge Intrepid now as a unibody front-wheel drive car with a longitudinally mounted 3.5 liter V6 making 255 horsepower with a four-speed automatic with auto stick it was originally planned as the redesigned Eagle Vision until that brand was dropped it had gone so far that there were manuals and images developed showing the eagle nameplate the historic Crosshair Grill was dropped from the 300 as Dodge had adopted that look since the 1980s and the car was shortened about 10 inches primarily to meet European restrictions mild and ongoing changes occurred throughout its lifespan including a 300 amp special with a lightly tuned engine and a Pro-Am version in 2002 with upgraded audio and two-toned Interiors in 2004 optional satellite radio and GPS navigation became available and a Platinum Series to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the minivan the 2004 model was its last but in 2005 Chrysler totally revamped the 300 into a full-size car based on the LX platform styling direction of the new 300 was forecast with a concept car at the 2003 New York International Auto Show referencing a modern interpretation of the 1955 C300 and taking elements from the 1998 Chrysler Chronos concept at the time Chrysler was merged with Daimler and while the LX platform was us designed Engineers were sent to Germany to study the upcoming Mercedes E-Class elements such as the safety cage architecture were derived from the E-class and components such as the rear suspension were taken from it and the front suspension from an S-Class as well as multiple other Mercedes parts such as drive shaft ABS system engine modules five-speed transmission and more a 2.7 liter V6 with 190 horsepower a 3.5 liter V6 with 250 a 5.7 liter Hemi V8 and 340 horsepower the SRT8 model had a 6.1 liter Hemi with 425 horsepower and there was a 3.0 liter turbo diesel V6 in overseas markets on sale through the 2010 model year the car was well received and became an iconic throwback to large rear-wheel drive V8 powered American cars it's worth noting that while it was available only in a four-door body the platform was used for the Dodge Magnum wagon as well as the charger and Challenger with modifications and overseas as a Lancia and in 2011 the last generation of the 300 was released the LX platform was entirely redesigned and updated and now known as the LD platform exterior styling was revised and cleaned up to look somewhat sleeker the engine lineup was massage dropping the 2.7 and 3.5 liter engines and adding the new pentastar V6 with 292 horsepower the 5.7 liter remain now with 363 horsepower and notably the SRT engine was expanded to 6.4 liters and 470 horsepower inside the car got a new infotainment system standard leather on All trim level more airbags and generally better quality materials in 2015 the car got a facelift adding many new features such as adaptive cruise Lane departure electronic instrument cluster and an 8-speed automatic sales worldwide slowly eroded and in 2022 stilantis announced the 300 would be discontinued after the 2023 model year and replaced eventually with an all EV reminiscent of the Chrysler airflow EV concept I personally have a special place in my heart for this car although through its history its combined muscle car attitude with luxury was always seemed to me many Challengers to it were more luxury with a little bit of muscle the car was Innovative and in many years they were also painfully gorgeous it's sad to see the 300 cancel but it is a platform that's lived well past its time and it can't hide its age but I do expect to see it back soon with Chrysler having such a thin lineup and stellantis begins to create platforms and reinvigorate both Chrysler and Dodge with new product they'll need names and it makes a lot of sense to me for them to look back in the history of these companies and pick those names that can strike some emotional chords with buyers the Next Generation may be a 300 EV but I'll be shocked if we don't see the name again once more at the top of Chrysler's lineup thanks for being here a special thanks to my patreons if you support histories like this and independent news opinions please show the channel some love and be sure to check out this next video right here about a Chrysler 300 competitor I bet you're gonna like it thanks for being here guys

Channel: All Cars with Jon

Views: 5,352

Keywords: car, cars, automobiles, trucks, All Cars, All Cars with Jon, chrysler 300 story, chrysler 300 history, chrysler 300M, chrysler, chrysler 300c, chrysler 300B, chrysler 300D, chrysler 300E, chrysler 300F, chrysler 300G, chrysler 300 letter series, chrysler lx platform, chrysler 300 lh, is the chrysler 300 a mercedes, chrysler 300, chrysler 300 srt8, chrysler 300 cancelled

Id: DA_Ij7fyoRk

Length: 15min 25sec (925 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 29 2023