Have you ever read an ad for a classic automobile and thought that it was good you were too poor to afford it? That is the case with this 1956 Chrysler 300 for sale on Craigslist in Carlsbad, California for me. On my bucket list of automobiles I would like to own before I die, a 1955 or 1956 Chrysler 300 is pretty high up there. These cars were the perfect mix of body parts from different lines mixed with some subtle visual changes and packing a powerful hemi under the hood. This resulted in a stylish early muscle car with both horsepower and luxurious accommodations. Does this brawny fifties classic appeal to you enough to earn a spot on your bucket list too? Thanks to T.J. for finding this black beauty for us to peruse.
While I am certainly not a member of the clergy in any form or fashion, I also don’t remember taking a vow of poverty. Yet here I am, poor as a church mouse. Well, maybe not that bad, but I still don’t have the bucket list of cars I would like to own and a building large enough to store them in. At least not yet. What is on my list? First and foremost would be a Duesenberg SSJ, followed closely by a race-prepped 427 Cobra. The Cobra would have to be last because it would probably be the vehicle in which I met my maker. Rounding out the list would be a 12-cylinder Auburn Boattail Speedster, a Chrysler Airflow, and an authentic big block-powered GT40. I am not hard to please at all.
There are also a few cars on the second tier of that list. These don’t require Robert Johnson levels of soul-selling. I’ve always wanted a good MGB GT or an MGC (I came close to the GT early in my automotive sickness). Add to that a 1949 Cadillac Series 62 Club Coupe, a 1973 Coupe deVille like my grandparents had, and a 1956 or 1957 Corvette. There is one other car that I would like to have though that is somewhat attainable if I apply myself and sell a lot of blood and maybe an organ or two. I think a 1955 or 1956 Chrysler 300 coupe is as close to perfect as a fifties-era automobile can get. It is also at the top of the list for a car that can serve as the perfect mount for tours and other automotive adventures.
Why? Chrysler, in a stroke of rare genius, felt that combining their New Yorker coupe body, Imperial front clip, Windsor rear clip, and their most powerful Hemi engine was a recipe for success. Who doesn’t want a handsome 300+ horsepower cruise missile with a leather interior? The company was primarily interested in producing the required number of 300s to qualify for NASCAR competition. These luxurious hot rods dominated NASCAR in 1956 thanks to Carl Kiekhaefer’s quasi-factory team. It also doesn’t hurt that they are not flashy like the next generation 300s or a 300 in name only as some later models turned out to be. The automotive concept of an iron fist in a velvet glove should always be available when looking for a new car.
The car featured here is a 1956 version of Chrysler’s 300B decked out in a sinister black finish with a red leather interior. Looking like the preferred ride of a villainous banker, this 300 is described as not being a trailer queen. While it is said to look and run good, we are given the warning that it needs some tender loving care. What that exactly means is not articulated. We can see that there are a few blemishes and scratches in the black paint. The undercarriage also doesn’t appear to have been restored. Yet all of the valuable parts and pieces are there and the car would certainly be among the most admired at any car show.
Under the hood is a 354 cubic inch V-8 that put out either 340 or 355 horsepower depending on if the original owner ponied up for more power. No matter the overall horsepower level, every 300 came with solid lifters, a high lift cam, dual four-barrel carburetors, a distinctive air cleaner setup, a less restrictive exhaust, and a stiffened-up suspension. Weighting in the neighborhood of 4,100 pounds, a 1956 300B was no slouch in the speed department. An example set up for Daytona Speed Weeks was clocked at just under 140 MPH in the flying mile.
The seller tells us that the 300 Registry lists just 232 surviving cars out of the 1,102 produced in 1956. While there are surely more cars out there, it stands to reason that a good example like this one can be seen as an investment. The 300 was a milestone car, and collectors in the know have always sought them. It could be said that it was one of the most important Chryslers ever built. None of that matters to me. I want a big, powerful Chrysler 300 with subtle good looks, a quasi-NASCAR mill under the hood, and some comfy leather seats to plop my rear into on a drive across the country. The fact that the car is black with a red interior and sports a set of Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels just makes this car all the more appealing. Thank God my banker will not entertain the notion of a loan for this car. Otherwise, I’d be out on the next flight to San Diego.
What cars are on your bucket list? Do you plan to purchase one, or is it more fun to dream? Please share your list and the dreams you have for the cars on it in the comments.
Jeff, Jeff, wake up, the garage needs painting. I’d like to thank the author for mentioning Carl Kiekhaefer with this car. Believe it or not, his race cars were not much different than regular cars, hence the name “STOCK CARS”. His “Full Jewelled” race cars had a lot of success in ’56, but credit for that also goes to, he had the best drivers in the business.He had his marine mechanics work magic with the hemi, and drew attention from race officials.( for the 1st time) He had 4 of the new ’57 300 Cs with the new 392 hemi ready, when officials called him out for cheating. He told them, in true Kiekhaefer form, to cram it with walnuts, and put his attention towards racing boats.
I read, this car base cost was $4419 new. With an option list a mile long, I highly doubt many remained “base”, and again, wasn’t for Joe Lunchpail grappling with the cost of a 4 door Belvedere for half the price.Sure is amazing what’s coming out in the open lately.
A pretty solid 300B if I do say so myself. However, a couple details to note. First, Chrysler NEVER DID outfit 300B’s in `56 with red leather. Until `57, ONLY beige was available on these. But I have to admit, I love it! Second, I think it’s missing the chrome dip rails above the doors. No matter; small nits to pick and nothing that can’t be corrected. GLWTA!
Did you miss the disk brakes ?
Nice write up! Not having a spare $50K doesn’t mean you are poor, just that you are careful with how you spend your money.
I didn’t see a price listed. Did I miss it?
Some days this site is full of beautiful cars. Today’s one of those days.
Beautiful car….beautifully proportioned. Some cars have it, some don’t.
Loved the Robert Johnson reference…
Truthfully, 50K seems like a steal. I didn’t look at the price guides, but I would have guessed somewhere in six figures. Except for investment grade stuff, the antique car market is for guys in their 40s-60s who want the cool cars of their youth. How about we do a round of everyone’s dream garage? For me:
1967 Solar Cavalier coupe (a Corvair tuner from the 70s)
1966 Jeep Commando Convertible.
2009 Mitsubishi Raider. My current daily driver actually. I’d rebadge it as a Fargo for the hell of it.
2004 Chrysler 300M. I’d rebadge it as an Eagle Vision.
My first car was a 56 black Newyorker in 1969 with a 331. I got it from my best buds old man who charged me some rediculously low amount just to have a dollar amount to put on the bill of sale. I was about 16 or 17 and would load this Mopar tank with my buds and head off to where ever a couple bucks worth of gas would take us there and back. I had to have at least a couple more people in the car cuz it had no reverse. But what a monster to learn how to drive in.
In 1956 I was five years old. My grandfather had just purchased a new Chrysler. I remember it was two tone, red and white, and had the same tail lights as the featured car today. Maybe a similar, or more or less close model, it’s hard to conjure up all the particular details… No air conditioning… White leather seats… It was rumored to have the most powerful engine one could buy. All very impressive to a little kid. Well, it’s still impressive. What a car!
’41 Caddy 60 Special, ’49 Caddy fastback, ’57 Caddy with the stainless steer top and suicide rear doors, ’59 Caddy Eldorado covertible, ’23 Caddy Blackwing, ’84 Seville bustle back, ’93 Allante – whoops I already have that one.
I love it and agree it’s one of the most beautiful cars ever. The one very appropriate and smart upgrade I see for a car with this much horsepower is the front disc brakes – don’t know what they are from but having driven lots of ’50s 4000 pound beasts, the drum brakes were always a weak point when they got hot. I think the 50k price is reasonable for this ideal driver, just wish I had that much to spend.
Although I only admired them from afar, I always thought this and their predecessor ’55s were right up there among the prettiest cars ever built (which is also what I think about my black ’73 Javelin and my gold & black ’66 Riviera).
In later life, one of my college roommates and one of my at-work pals each had one of the red and white ’55s in maroony-red over beigy-white. The pal had three little kids and ended up trading the ’55 on a Beetle… go figure… ;-)
The problem is, when cars are new, how do you predict what will be worth a lot 30 or 50 years down the line? You might have put your money on a Cadillac Allante, a Buick Reatta, a Chrysler/Marseratti, a Pontiac Fiero, or any Jaguar, but would have done a lot better with any Corvette, or 1st round of Mustangs, which I hate to remind you, was a Ford Falcon with a different body, or a Dow Jones or S&P indexed fund, for example. But then, you can’t drive an indexed fund. Or you could have just lost with a Chrysler convertible from the ’90’s or any of the wonderful disappering hardtop convertibles from Cadillac – the KXR, Pontiac, BMW, VW, Volvo, all of which appear to use the same sheet metal and mechanical parts, but probably don’t.
What a beauty!
I saw adverts for these in old National Geographics that my granny had and thought that they were nice looking cars. Very European in appearance, apart – perhaps – from the fins. They reminded me of Volvo Amazons.
In the dream garage? Hmm…
Lotus XI
Jaguar D-Type
Aston DBR2 Zagato
FIAT 500
Mk 1 Escort Twin Cam
Bonnet Djet Le Mans car
Kawasaki H1
Opel Kadett GT/E 1.9 coupe
Skoda S110R
BSA M20
And I’d keep the Citroen 2CV that I already have, ‘cos they’re dead good.
If I had to have a supercar, it’d be a Muira.
If I had to have a Cobra, it’d be a 289 with body-coloured wire wheels. I don’t like the fat-arch 427s.
It’d all be slightly different if you asked me tomorrow…
*Miura. Tsk.
I’m with you, Jeff. This has been a “would love to have” vehicle for me for forty years. I would have to dig into the retirement fund to swing this so I can only imagine what it would be like to own it. The dream garage is a game that I think a lot of us with the car disease play. I’ve always wanted to have at least one car from each decade from the bras era to the seventies. Something like a small museum. But the most collector cars I ever had at one time was two. And the reality for me was that was probably enough. Now about that Dusey……
I’m so glad this 56 Chrysler 300B is on the west coast. She is just stunning and worth every dime of $50K IMO. What’s not to love, other than you can’t afford it? Dammit!
Jeff, I have had the good fortune to own a number of cool classic cars, but tops on my list would be a forward look Mopar from 57-60…something with fins!
For the time being I’ll just have to make do with my $6000 ’63 Riviera.
Rex, you are a car guy after my own heart!
I am fortunate enough to have owned a ’57 DeSoto–orange and white, of course, with mighty fins–as well as a gold/black ’66 Riviera.
Both were beautiful machines, but you know that as well as anybody…thanks for the memories…
BTW, Rex, my daily driver is a 2003 Mustang GT Convertible in True Blue, naturally…IMHO, it’s a noble successor to the rest of the glorious autos I’ve been privileged to own and drive…and it has less than 50K on it, so it will probably be fully functional longer than I will… ;-)
Jeff – one of my buckets as well that’s why I’m building a clone….