Details of Cars

Chrysler 300 letter series: America’s most powerful car

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1955 Chrysler 300
1955 Chrysler C-300, the first of the letter series. Photo by Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The Chrysler 300 letter series was a line of high-performance personal luxury cars built from 1955 to 1965. Starting with the C-300 and its 300 hp FirePower Hemi V8, each model year took the next letter of the alphabet up to the 1965 300L. The cars were advertised as “America’s Most Powerful Car” and are often treated as the beginning of the muscle car.

Chrysler 300 letter series at a glance

Chrysler 300 letter series key facts
Production 1955–1965
Models C-300, then 300B to 300L (letter I skipped)
Parent model a sub-model of the Chrysler New Yorker
1955 C-300 engine 331 cu in (5.4 L) FirePower Hemi V8, 300 hp
1956 300B engines 354 cu in (5.8 L) Hemi V8, 340 or 355 hp
C-300 built 1,725
300B built 1,102
C-300 price US$4,100
Styling Virgil Exner’s “100-Million Dollar Look”
Racing C-300 and 300B campaigned in NASCAR
Name revived 300M in 1999, Chrysler 300 in 2005

History of the Chrysler 300 letter series

The 1955 C-300

The first of the line did not carry a letter and is now usually called the 300A. The “C-” prefix applied to all Chrysler models of the year, and the coupé was built on the C-68 New Yorker series, but the car was marketed simply as the “300” to underline its 300 hp engine. That engine was Chrysler’s 331 cu in FirePower Hemi V8 with dual four-barrel carburettors, solid valve lifters and a race-profile camshaft, fitted with stiffer suspension and a low-restriction exhaust; it was exclusive to the 300, the New Yorker and the new Imperial Newport. The car was aimed at NASCAR, sold to private owners to satisfy homologation, and measured 127.58 mph in the Flying Mile. Sales were modest at 1,725 cars, at a list price of US$4,100. Styling drew on the Chrysler parts bin as much as on Virgil Exner: the front clip came from the Imperial, the midsection from a New Yorker hardtop and the rear quarters from a Windsor, with bumpers from the base Chrysler and many exterior ornaments deleted. An electric clock and two-speed wipers were standard, and buyers could have power windows and a power front seat, but no air conditioning in 1955.

Chrysler 300 letter series cars at a concours
Letter-series cars gathered at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance. Photo by Charles from Port Chester, New York, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The 300B and the letters

The 1956 300B looked similar apart from a new tailfin treatment but offered a choice of two versions of the 354 cu in Hemi V8, with 340 or 355 hp, the higher figure reached with a 10:1 compression ratio. It was the first American car to produce one horsepower per cubic inch, and with a top speed of almost 140 mph at the Daytona Flying Mile it was quicker than the car it replaced. The TorqueFlite controls sat to the left of the steering wheel, front leg room was 44.6 inches, a 6.17 ratio rear axle was optional and a Highway Hi-Fi record player was new. For 1956 coil springs were still used at the front, the last year they were. Each following model year took the next letter, skipping I, through the 1965 300L, after which the letter sequence was dropped although the 300 name continued.

Racing and legacy

The C-300 and 300B were raced with very little modification in NASCAR, including at Watkins Glen, where they won several times, and the letter series was for many years the most powerful car produced in the United States. Its engine and transmission were also used by Facel Vega in the Excellence and by the Cunningham C-4R that finished the 1954 Le Mans. Chrysler revived the 300 designation in 1999 with the 300M and returned to a V8 300C with the rear-wheel-drive Chrysler 300 launched for 2005.

Design and features

  • Hemi V8 power: 300 hp from 331 cu in in 1955, rising to 355 hp from 354 cu in in 1956.
  • Race-bred specification: dual four-barrel carburettors, solid lifters, a race camshaft and a low-restriction exhaust.
  • Exner styling: Imperial front, New Yorker hardtop centre and Windsor rear quarters, with ornaments deleted.
  • NASCAR homologation: sold to private owners so that the car could be raced.
  • Luxury equipment: electric clock, two-speed wipers and optional power windows and seat.

Chrysler 300 letter series versions

  • C-300 (1955): the original 300 hp coupé, 1,725 built.
  • 300B (1956): 354 cu in Hemi with 340 or 355 hp, 1,102 built.
  • 300C to 300L (1957–1965): one letter per model year, ending the sequence.
  • 300M (1999–2004): the front-wheel-drive revival of the name.
  • Chrysler 300 (2005–2023): the modern rear-wheel-drive V8 successor.

The letter series began the line that leads to the modern Chrysler 300 through the 300M, and its Hemi engines also powered the Chrysler Imperial. More cars are in the Chrysler collection.

Sources

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