Wow. Talk about stunning. Check out this rare (1 of 522) 1959 Chrysler 300E hardtop coupe in all of its subdued but brutish glory. Nicknamed the “Banker’s Hot Rod,” the legendary Chrysler “Letter Cars” were full-sized muscle cars that were promoted as a luxury grand tourer. 1959 would represent the last year of the 2nd generation 300 that smoothly showed off Virgil Exner’s finned “Forward Look.” The car left the factory on May 5, 1959 and has had the same owner since 1988. The car comes with all the build and restoration receipts, manuals, literature, service records, and even handwritten historical notes. Thanks again to Curvette for spotting this rare Chrysler that is at Panther Road Classics in Edmonds, Washington, and featured here on craigslist. The asking price is $98,500.
It’s not mentioned when the 300 was restored, but it appears to have been a quality restoration. The Radiant Red paint looks perfect as does the chrome, glass, and trim. The cool, round red, white, and blue 300 badge can be seen on the modest side trim and wheel cover centers. I’ve always liked the understated ornamentation and trim on these 50’s-era 300’s. In a year of excess styling, there were no hood ornaments, sweeping side spears, or excess chrome trim to be found on the 300E. That’s what makes these beasts look so intimidating.
The 300’s gorgeous interior takes understated, tasteful luxury to another level. The natural tan leather seats are in great shape and the front seats have the adjustable swivel seat feature. The padded dash, instrument panel (with a speedometer that shows up to 150), and two-toned steering wheel all look very good. It has Constant-Control power steering and even the electric clock still works. If I were giving a grade, this 300’s interior would get an “A.”
For 1959, Chrysler replaced their legendary Hemi engine with their new Golden Lion wedge-head V8. This twin four-barrel carb, 413-cubic-inch engine could generate about 380 horsepower when new and it’s paired with a pushbutton 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission. The 300E was marketed as “America’s Most Powerful Car” and had no rivals here in the States. It was a pricey, prestigious car back in its day and only 627 total 1959 300E’s ever left the factory – 522 coupes and 125 convertibles. The seller states that an estimated 118 have survived, but I’m not sure where they got that information from. The 300 Letter Cars from the 1950’s have long been collectible and are usually in the $100,000+ price range in this kind of restored condition. This is the first ’59 300E featured here on Barn Finds and it’s a beauty.
Thank goodness I grew gills, as I am unable to draw a breath after seeing this work of art…wowzer.
Fahrv covers it. Wow. What a machine. Legendary Mopar, and they have a few. Thanks RD.
Major league car here.
With a major league price.
Boy it makes you feel like we’re back in 1959 looking at a brand new Chrysler 300. Stunning car. Go Mopar!
Pardon me while I pick my jaw up off the floor. What a beauty. And yes–it appears to be worth every cent! Anyone with the money that knows what this is should try to buy it. They will have THE largest crowd at any car show!!
GLWTA!
You’re right Will. No argument here. Anyone who knows anything about 50’s and 60’s cars will be drooling over this one. Beautiful restoration and very attractive, unique Chrysler. Love the leather interior. I love it when someone takes the time, effort and money to preserve a worthy automobile.
Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth really lost their way for several years after this car was styled. Now Chrysler only makes a minivan.
It’s a sour state of affairs for American made car enthusiasts nowadays. Chrysler nixed the 300. Buick does not even make a sedan, or coupe (better like crossovers!). Olds and Pontiac of course are in the dust bin of history. Chevy, Camaro gone (maybe returns as an E car?) Outside of the Vette, nothing nada. Cadillac, yep, for two more months at least, but kinda up in the air pending what they decide to do for the powerplant for the next gen CT5 – good news is that they said it will be an ICE. Dodge, Challenger, gonzo…at least they still make a good ol’ gas powered Charger with some pep in their step – but no V8. Ford, Mustang, awesome…but if you want a V8 RWD performance sedan, the pickins is slim.
Probably why I cannot envision a day that I decide to part with my daily driver ’16 SS sedan. Sadly, outside of Cadillac (?), I just don’t think GM will make another car like it.
Mike, I share your pain. Not only are the vintage nameplates gone, as you sadly listed above, but what’s left is pure slop. If I were younger and could afford it, I’d buy one of these pristine Barn Finds and make it a restomod: modern fuel injection, electronic ignition, Tremec 5-speed manual, updated steering, suspension and brakes. While many such examples exist, I’d rather do it to my spec rather than buy one that someone else has done.
It didn’t take me but a few seconds to get excited to gaze upon this gorgeous beauty. What a complete masterpiece here in a stunning color that will make my mouth drop. This would probably outshine a lot of Tri Five Chevys and a few muscle cars at a car show and it should! Oh I want this but the wallet and bank account said NO. This is worth every penny.
You would have to rob a bank to afford this bankers hot rod. Beautiful Ride!
✔️✔️✔️
Checks all the boxes 370 lol ✅️
Let the record show that I don’t like red cars. Let the record also show that I want it anyway.
Absolutely Breathtaking!
Having just returned from the Hershey meet I saw plenty of fine Chrysler cars, but this one, Wow! Stunning!
nice car but nobody is going to drop 100k on C/L. better load it up and take it to Scottsdale in January. i am sure with all the booze and the deep pockets this will pull more than 100k.
I came very close to buying a somewhat rough but complete running and driving 1959 300E out of Oakland California back in 1984 for $1500. I decided that owning it wouldn’t have been good enough, I would have wanted to restore it completely and I had to accept that I didn’t have the resources at that time to do it right.
This is a gorgeous car that I would love to own. But I don’t understand why the “gauge” right in front of the driver is the clock. The dash looks great and the way it is layed out gives it a nice balance, but still.
Would love to take it to Goodwood Revival in UK and give the Ferraris, Aston Martins, Jaguars and those odd Ford Galaxies a run for their money.
“The clocking is working” according to the seller. A gorgeous car but who ran the spark plug wires? I’ll bet they were much neater originally-
Being redundant, this car is an absolute stunner with the restoration to detail and the color combination.
At my first glance of the dash, I thought it had a/c, but they’re defroster vents.
Pricey, but might very well be worth it.
Wow.
This E is truly stunning. My close friend Robert Blake owns a 1960 300F convertible that will also knock your socks off. This car features the cross-ram manifold and the trunk lid that mimics a spare tire indented on it. Bob owns one of the largest Hudson car collections in the world. There is a snapshot of the 300F on the website: oldspokes.com if you want to take a look.
Did anyone else notice where the rearview mirror was? I’ve never seen one located down on the dash next to the steering wheel.
A lot of the cars from that era especially from Chrysler had that setup. My 1961 Plymouth Belvedere has the same.
Hate to tell the story of Herb’s 1969 white 300 one that sat in the corner back of the Enco station next to the 7/11..Herb was a GREAT mechinic and learned a few things from him…..even after it got the back window broke out – which are hard to find….he still wouldn’t sell it…..funny his words were ” son – that’s tooo much car for you” and he was right even as I got to 20yrs old.
Gorgeous car.
I thought that this body style was released with the new Delco Fuel Injection system that used glass type radio valves in its fuel control computer.
Do you mean the Bendix Electrojector fuel injection system that was available in 1958?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bendix_Electrojector
Does Jay Leno have one of these? It would look good in his collection.
It’d be great for Jay to have one, but he has so many cars, this 300 might get lost in the crowd. I think it would be cool for this car to join a collection of chronological Chrysler letter cars, holding the 1959, E spot.
’59 wasn’t the last year for Exners Forward Look styling, and it most assuredly wasn’t the smoothest representation of FL styling either!
’61 was technically the last year for pure Exner awesomeness, the ’62s were mostly still Exner, but they were phasing his works out by then..
As far as the smoothest example of an Exner Letter Car goes, there is just one correct answer –>> 1960..
The 300 F in 1960 was the best looking Chrysler car, pretty much of all time..