Before the Pontiac GTO brought muscle to the mid-size car scene, Chrysler stirred things up with bigger autos. They were the Letter Series Chryslers based on the New Yorker and they were in production from 1955 to 1965. The last Letter Series Chrysler was built in 1965 after which focus shifted to lighter cars to compete with those in the GTO’s circle. Only 440 convertibles were produced in the 300-L’s final outing, including this one that looks good until you peel back the onion. Located in Glastonbury, Connecticut, this rare running Mopar project is available here on craigslist for $14,500.
The 300-L was an all-new car in 1965 as the result of Chrysler’s full-size portfolio having been redesigned. It was a longer, sleeker cruiser developed by Elwood Engel, who had inherited Virgil Exner’s spot as head of styling. These beasts used a 413 cubic inch V8 that was rated at 360 hp to push these 4,200-lb. vehicles around (the Cross-Ram engine had been dropped). Most buyers went with the 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic as in the seller’s drop-top.
Final-year production numbers for these cars were 2,405 hardtops and 440 ragtops. So, there can’t be many of these 60-year-old machines left, regardless of which body style you prefer. This Chrysler appears to be numbers-matching at 74,000 miles. The engine compartment sports new paint, but we don’t know if any deep internal repairs were needed. New or refreshed parts include the radiator, carburetor, ignition (now electronic), power steering, water pump, timing chain, and more.
While the body and paint appear good in many of the photos, the floors in the passenger arena and the trunk need to be redone. The canvas top should be replaced, and the interior is at least fair but aging. Until you start on these projects, all you need for it to be a driver is some fiddling with the brakes. Thanks for the tip, Mitchell G.!
🎶 🎸 ⛱️
“The Stingray is fast, the slicks are startin to spin, but the 413 is really digging in ” 🎶 🏁
“Gotta keep cool now…. Powershift, here we go…..”
I know my Lyrics are wrong Driveinstile… but you brought it home lol
👏 Thanks 🎶 🎙
Cool car , especially with the bucket seats and console. Put a 392 Hemi in it for fun!!!!
Chrysler 300L Design and Styling Analysis
The 1965 rendition of the 300 series is unique among the letter car breed for many rea-sons. It is the only letter car to reflect the styling of designer Elwood Engle and is the only letter car year that does not have a twin or an adjoining model year with similar styling.
As the Chrysler marque was being repositioned in the 1960’s, the letter series cars, by design, were forced into the flagship role becoming bigger and heavier along the way. Most of us have had the opportunity to hang out in the parking lot, late at night talking with old timers, during a 300 Meet. The club was founded on the legend of Daytona Beach runs, Kiekhaefer’s NASCAR’s, hemi engines, cross ram Carters, and fins that ex-tended to the sky. The 300L has none of this. It has unibody construction and a single four barrel. Yet, as Chrysler’s best shot at a sports car in 1965 the 300L endures for the same reason it was successful in its day- its add-ed weight and power make it a well-balanced driver’s car. Of all the letter cars, this is the one to drive across the country.
It is also the 300 of choice for fans of the manual transmission. The rarely ordered four-speed completely changes the character of the car. It came from the factory equipped with Hurst shift linkage and a tachometer in the center console. The Hurst shifter (C/P) is the most precise ever put in an American car, smooth as silk yet can be power shifted all day long. The enormous torque of the 413 requires little downshifting.
Elwood Engle’s move from Ford to Chrysler was immediately evident with the 1963 Chrysler Turbine show car with its many design elements from the 1961-1963 Thunderbird. The 300L can be considered Engle’s street adaption of the Turbine show car.
Engle wanted to create a horizontal statement, following the trend of modern architecture. He pulled one of his Ford tricks on the 300L to ac-complish this. Round corners on the side profile are separated by peaked and chrome trimmed fender lines running front to back, very reminiscent of the 1961 Lincoln. Instead of the Lincoln’s slab sides, the 300L has re-verse concave crowning of the side panels; further peaking the edge of the car. Fender skirts (another 300L uniqueness) allow a continuous lower trim-strip, extenuating the horizontal line effect.
Some other unique features of the 300L include the center light in the front grill, covered headlights, fender mounted turn indicators for the driv-er, modern Mopar roof line/C-pillar, and two full length red strips.
While the L is not the one that started the legend, it is the last of the breed. It is Chrysler’s last gasp at a performance niche, but HQ had al-ready decided that Dodge and Plymouth would carry that torch forward. The muscle car war was escalating to a very high level. The “Street Hemi” was coming but not for Chryslers. Something more than a banker’s hot rod would be needed.
When Big Bill France “banned the hemi” in 1965, ChryCo public relations and Ronnie howled like stuck pigs. France said you misspoke, it’s not a ban, just install it in a full size chassis like the other manufacturers do. ChryCo got around the “ban” by offering the hemi in their intermediate, mid-size cars for ’66. In ’65, Neil Castles or Buck Baker, or some other independent racer did run a hemi in a Newport (cheap version of this 300).
You forgot about those tail lights copied many decades later by up and comers thinking they were the first…..
Lovely looking car. 1965 is my favourite year for the Chrysler 300. This looks like an original survivor, something I like in a car. I also appreciate a car that’s been carefully maintained. Given how rare this car is, I’d be willing to pay around the asking price.
The seller has done an honest job presenting an honest looking 65 Chrysler letter drop top. Sharp lines, no major rust, and some important mechanicals already done. Fair price from what I see. I love the 413s. Even though this one isn’t the cross ram induction. Mopar was ahead of its time in the 1960s.
If I lived through the late 50s and early 60s, and I was looking for a nice Mopar I’d look at I’d love a 1962-66 Chrysler Newport.
The interior in this ’65 300L looks almost exactly like the interior of my ’65 2 Dr Dodge Polara 500. The black tufted bucket seats with the center console is identical as well as the dash layout. The differences I see are the door panel design and the back seat on the ’65 Dodge did not have the center chrome radio grille. And my ’65 Dodge Polara had the 383 4brl with a 3 speed torqueflite tranny – not the bigger 413 ci engine as in this 300L.
This 300L looks great and after you take care of the rusted panels, it will be good to go for several more decades to come, and so I see the asking price as very reasonable.
After looking at what this kind of money is buying lately on vehicles featured on Barn Finds, this car seems to be bargain priced.
I agree. Compared to cars like the Imperial, I’d bet this would be a bargain.