Hemmings Classic Car – October 2019

Production of the 1962
models expanded wildly: no less
than 25,578 300s were built. That’s
a 15-fold increase in a single
year. And yet comparing apples
to apples, Letter Car production
softened to 558 units for the 1962
model year—a 70 percent drop
from the previous season’s Letter
Car. The alarm bells that would
ordinarily go off when a high-
profi le model slows up by more
than two-thirds were muted in the
face of the expanded line’s sales
success, and everything was due
for a style refresh in 1963 anyway.
The newly styled 1963 300J
had the most powerful standard
engine ever fi tted to a Letter Car:
the 390-hp 413-cu.in. V-8 with dualfour-
barrel carbs on those dramatic longcross-
ram intakes. The crisp folds of the body
panels avoided any memory of thetailfins
that were so fi ve years ago. And Chrysler
sold just 400 of them, between coupeand
convertible versions.
The 300K for 1964 was essentiallya
carryover year, with the 390-hp cross-ram
engine an option atop the 360-hp four-
barrel 413 V-8. A further redesign in1965,

followingdesignerVirgilExner’sdeparture

fromChrysler,formalizedtheone-year-

only300L’sbody.Horsepowerdropped

to360,withthecross-ramoptionexcised

fromtheoptionsheet:salesjumpedinto

the2,000+range,butitwastoolate.After

the 1965 modelyearwrapped,theLetter

Carseries 300 wasnomore.

Just16,857werebuiltfrom 1955

to1965,withnomorethan2,700sold

initsbestyear.Evenso,fewcanargue

theimportanceoftheoriginalChrysler

300 LetterCarsontheautomotive

landscape.Theydidn’tstartthepostwar

high-performancecarmovement,but

thebarwascertainlyset.Ifyouwanted

acarthatcoulddoitall—scoot,stop,

corner,andcossetyourtenderbum

inpoweroptions,leatherseating,and

tastefulopulenceallthewhile—then

ontheAmericanroad,from 1955 to’65,

Chrysler’s 300 wasthewaytogo.

1963 300J

1962 300H

SPECIAL SECTION: CHRYSLER CLASSICS 59