This week in 1955, a legacy of luxurious efficiency arrives in Chrysler introduces the C-300 hardtop coupe, the forerunner of at this time’s luxurious sport sedans such because the Cadillac CTS-V, the BMW M5 and, most significantly, the 2005 Chrysler 300C, which survives comparatively unchanged to this present day.
But the automotive itself is much extra of an missed milestone, one dubbed a lovely brute by writers of the time.
An engine begets a automotive
The automotive’s creation got here from Chrysler’s have to discover a place for its upgraded 5.4-liter Hemi engine, as there wasn’t an appropriate automotive within the Chrysler secure of autos. Vice President of Styling Virgil Exner and his workforce got here up with a cheap answer: Create the Chrysler 300 by combining the physique of the Chrysler Windsor with the entrance of a Chrysler Imperial, as there wasn’t sufficient cash to design a brand new car from scratch.
The automotive’s identify, C-300, got here from the truth that it was a Chrysler with a 300-horsepower 5.4-liter Hemi V-8 mated to Chrysler’s 2-speed Power Flite automated transmission.
But this engine was no unusual powerplant, as engineers modified it with a full racing stable lifter camshaft, bigger twin exhaust, and two 4-barrel carburetors. It was quick for its period, operating 0-60 mph in 9.8 seconds. Top pace was a powerful 130 mph. It was probably the most highly effective engine supplied because the 1937 Duesenberg SJ and boasted extra energy than even a Cadillac.
But it was greater than pace that made the C-300 so exceptional; it was its suspension, which was firmer to enhance dealing with. Dominating the inventory automotive circuit, it gained NASCAR and AAA championships in its mannequin yr.
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Due to the engine’s radical state of tune, air-con was not supplied, though energy home windows and energy seats had been.
The automotive was supplied in three colours: black, pink or platinum with a British tan inside. Advertised as “The New Million Dollar Look,” Chrysler bought 1,725 items in 1955, however solely about 260 are thought to outlive.
Among probably the most highly effective vehicles produced that yr, it value $4,110, or $45,687 adjusted for inflation.
What got here subsequent
Chrysler’s high-performance letter vehicles would run by means of the 1965 Chrysler 300L. The line was joined by non-letter Chrysler 300s in 1962, which changed the Chrysler Windsor within the line-up, and likewise crammed the opening available in the market left by the discontinued DeSoto. In 1969, the identify was modified, now being spelled out, and the mannequin was powered by a 350-hp 7.2-liter V-8. The Three-Hundred would run by means of 1971, after which its identify was dropped, though it was used as a trim line on the 1979 Chrysler Cordoba.
With the flip of the century, Chrysler’s letter vehicles had been revived with the arrival of the ninth-generation letter automotive, the 300M, which wore design boss Tom Gale’s cab-forward design and employed front-wheel drive, the one mannequin that did.
A return to kind
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But rear-wheel drive would return for the Chrysler 300’s 50th anniversary.
“That was a platform that I fought hard for because I just felt like we needed it to shade those segments and have a meaningful differentiation from our competitors,” stated Gale in an unique interview.
“I mean, the other guys were all going to do another front-wheel-drive sedan. And that’s what the engineers wanted to do because it’s easier. And I said, ‘What’s your reasoning for not wanting to do it?’ ‘Well, you know they’re heavier.’ I said, ‘Well, get out all of the parts and we’ll weigh them up.’ Then they said, ‘Well, they’re more costly.’ So we built the cars both ways, and OK, there was like a couple hundred dollars more in the rear-wheel-drive platform at the time. But then, I went out, did unbranded research on what the consumers’ impression of the value or the cost of the vehicle was. It always like $5-6,000 more than the anticipated purchase price. Well, that was the clincher.”
Chrysler, now a part of DaimlerChrysler, created the 2005 300’s LX platform utilizing a modified 1997 Mercedes E Class, together with its transmission.
“They used the whole rear suspension basically, and we did our own front and stuff, but basically the packaging was pretty good and I even made the car taller because I felt it enabled us to package it in a shorter and a different look,” Gale stated. “I don’t really disguise the fact that it just higher. It really was interesting and, more importantly, it was a new proportion.”
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To many on the time, the automotive resembled a Bentley. But its affordability made it a trend assertion, with Chrysler going as far as to market a model impressed by Detroit-born menswear designer John Varvatos. The automotive acquired a facelift in 2010, and has remained largely unchanged since.
The closing chapter
For 2023, the Chrysler 300 is dealing with its closing mannequin yr in its present kind, though Chrysler will supply a limited-edition Chrysler 300C powered by a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 and that produces 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque by means of an eight-speed automated transmission. That’s sufficient to propel the 300C to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds. Chrysler plans to restrict manufacturing to 2,000 items. Rear-wheel drive is customary.
But most 2023 Chrysler 300s will include a 292-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 with rear- or all-wheel drive, though consumers also can go for the rear-wheel-drive 300 S, which comes with a 363-horsepower 5.7-liter V8.
In all, it’s a becoming closing chapter to a legendary luxurious efficiency automotive line.
Source: www.thedetroitbureau.com