When the Chrysler 300K came to the market in 1964, a number of specification changes saw the car offered with a price drop of more than 20% when compared to the previous 300J. The result of this price reduction was that more people than ever decided to avail themselves of a 300 Letter Series. In the end, 3,022 people chose the 300K 2-door Hardtop, and our feature Chrysler is one of those cars. Barn Finder Pat L referred this 300K to us, so thank you for that Pat. It is located in Summerfield, Florida, and is listed for sale here on Craigslist. The owner is asking $19,500 for the Chrysler classic.
I can’t help but feel that we’ve actually seen this car here at Barn Finds once before, as it seems to show some very similar blemishes that were present on a 300K that was featured in this great article back in June of 2018 by David Frank. This car wears different plates, but the rust blemish on the left side of the trunk lid and the dent on the top of the fin on the passenger side appear to be the same. If this is the same car, then it does raise a few questions. In the previous article, the car was showing some rust developing in the bottom of the quarter panel on the passenger side, but this area now looks clean. It doesn’t look like there are any major rust issues, and if this is the case, then it also corresponds with the previous article. I would describe the appearance as being of clean driver quality, but I don’t see any real reason why it couldn’t be restored quite nicely.
It was this photo that really started my search and led to me believing that we’ve seen this car before. The interior looks to be in really nice condition, but I was pretty sure that the upholstery color combination wasn’t original. I certainly can’t find it on any options list for the 300K, so that’s when I did a bit of a search (thank you Google!). I have only been able to locate one car with this combination, and it is the car that I mentioned earlier. If this is the same car, then the owner has repaired the previously damaged upholstery on the driver’s seat, and the interior now presents really nicely. I’m not sold on the colors, but that is simply a matter of personal taste.
Peering under the hood of the 300K is where the mystery grows a bit deeper. The owner states that this is a 413ci Wedge engine, wearing the distinctive Cross-Ram intake and carburetors. If this is accurate, then it is also possible that this is the original engine that pumped out a healthy 390hp. However, if you compare this engine and a number of details around the engine bay itself, it all looks to be identical to the engine in the other feature car, and that owner claimed that his car featured a 440ci V8 with the Cross-Ram fitted to it. So, we have a mystery there, and I would be interested to know if any of our knowledgeable readers can enlighten me on that. Regardless of which engine it actually is, it is backed by a Torqueflite transmission, and the owner says that it drives really well. To further strengthen the case that this is the same car, the claimed mileages for both cars are very similar.
So, there we have a potential mystery, and personally, I believe that we have actually seen this car before. If we have seen it before, then it was being offered at a BIN of $15,800, which means that the price has risen significantly in the last 14-months. Take a look at this article and the car in the other one, and tell me if you think that it’s the same car. If it is, do you think that it’s worth the asking price?
This one also says it’s a real max wedge 413 (not the 440 on the previous ad) But check out the license plates! Neither appear have new plates but both pairs appear to be from the same state (but the numbers are different). Also the new ad says 64K on the odo but your older article said 65K. Close enough to be the same just slightly off but why less miles 1 1/2 years later? It’s close to my bed time so maybe I’m not paying close enough attention but it does look oddly similar, yet different. Buyer look closely! PS – 8 mpg but I still kind of want it!
It’s not a “Max Wedge”!! Simply a ’64 413 with the ‘short’ rams; 413 ci with a 390hp rating. The colors on the engine/parts are incorrect and there are MANY mis-statements and mis-perceptions obvious in these comments.
CHECK IT OUTB844222539 I HAVE THE ORIGINAL IBM CARD NOONE SAID IT HAS THE 413 MOTOR THAT CAME IN THE CAR THEY SAID THEY CAR IS REAL IT CAME WITH RED AND BLACK INT NOW HAS A 68 440 ci MOTOR IN IT AND IT IS FAST THANK YOU
So, are you saying the interior is factory? Since you have the IBM card, and the car, is it an 888 interior code car? If not, that’s not the factory interior. And if so, it’s the only 888 car I’ve ever seen with a two-tone, patterned interior.
I own a 1964 Chrysler 300 k my dad was the 2nd owner he purchased it in 1966. If you look under the AC compressor you will see the date and what car. Stamp in the block. Mine is stamped 12/23/63 300 K. Plus I have never sean around steering wheel on a 300 K cross ram they all have a square steering wheel. You can contact the Chrysler 300 Club of America. They can run the numbers ( vin ) and tell you everything about it.If it is original they will document it. My car is a number matching vehicle and registered with the club. Plus that car should have had a Manual choke which is a cable next to the E brake release. And the mirror adjustment. I don’t think it’s original the interior definitely is not. Door panels look correct but I thank they made this into a cross ram. Contact for 300 Chrysler they can verify it. I have my insurance is Hagerty $50,000 no problem then again mine is a second owner car number matching except for the wheels and the center Section on the rear end but I have all the original stuff. They also cannot factory cast-iron Heathers is another way you can tell that exhaust doesn’t look right
’63 & ’64 Chryslers with tilt columns had round steering wheels. If they didn’t have a tilt column, they had the ‘square’ steering wheel. Yes, ram cars had factory cast iron headers and manual chokes. I don’t know the Chrysler 300 Club of America; I do know the Chrysler 300 Club, Inc. and the Chrysler 300 Club International, Inc. Perhaps they merged at some time after I left them.
I think it is definitely the same car, look at the patterns of the undercoating on the firewall, and the battery cables.
The blue elctronic ignition controller on the inners fender looks to be in both pictures also.
Steve R
The styling was a bit odd for some, but my brother had a similar vintage Newport, and while it was no letter car, it was essentially the same car, and it was a fantastic road car. Roll like thunder, that big Chrysler would. I think the cross ram is more for oohs and ahhs today, I heard they were a pain and drivability wise, you’d be sorry, and a single carb would do just fine. Probably the nicest Chryslers made.
No 440 CI engines were offered in 1964, The 440s didn’t show up until MY 1966.
That is correct! The 300 came with a 383 CI standard or a 413 CI as an option. The 300 “K” came with either a single four barrel 413 CI engine or this optional 390 HP, dual quad 413 CI engine.
There was also a 426 CI “max wedge” in ’64 (same “RB” engine family as the 413 CI and later 440 CI) but I believe that resided over at Plymouth and Dodge but not at Chrysler.
Saw one of these at McConnell AFB in early 65. All I remember where these huge carbs set on the cross rams.
The K is not an option monikar on the car, it is the year it was built. They started with A in the mid fifties, skipped on year some time between and 1964 was the last model year for the letter designations on the 300 line. Also Tiberius is correct there was no 440 option in 1964, just the wedge with one or two carbs. I have a chance to get my grandparents 64K, it has not run since an old friend bought it in about 82, but it has been stored inside a shop. We used to run from Hermiston to Pendleton in that car at over 100 mph! I want the car because it brought so much joy to my granny beating everyone stupid enough to pass her! Yea, Gary knows the owner a bit better than me, but we all grew up in the same small town, the price is probably going to be about 2 grand, I want it real bad.
And I also highly doubt the cross-ram set-up from a 413 can blot up to a 440. Completely different engines. I think that owner has been
mis-informed.
Ok, not to sound snarky, but what is the difference other than displacement between the two engines? Both belong to the RB family, but I have read that the 440s valves are larger than the 413s. The crossram dual quads were set up for a specific RPM range and didn’t atomize gas well at all until they warmed up.
Dave – You are right, there is no difference externally between the 413 & the 440.
The 350, 361, 383 & 400 are “B” series engines and the 413, 426 wedge & 440 are “RB” (Raised Block) series or simply taller deck blocks.
There was a 383 “polysphere” but that is a different family.
A friend of mine bought a road runner clone that supposedly had the 426 hemi in it. The cross ram intake was correct. When the garage ran the numbers of the block forging, it was only a 440, so I would say yes they actually do bolt on. Stupidly, he did not go back to the eBay seller for money back or to return.
I was more upset than I think he was
@Mikey8, did your friend not notice the hemi heads?
Heads interchange on wedges. 361, 383, 413, 426, 440
Thank you. Was just about to say the same thing. And Will Fox is also correct that the cross ram setup was not available on the 440ci engine, just the 413ci. I’ve had a 61 300G and a 64 non-letter series 300 (and a rare “Spring Edition” to boot!). Both are awesome cars….the style can be polarizing (especially on the 1964).
I’m sure these are well-built cars (my 67 Newport is very solid), but I could never abide the body design of these Chrysers.
The 413 can be safely increased to 440 cubic inches with a 0.70 inch overbore. Perhaps this is what was done to this engine.
The writer is correct in saying the interior has been redone, and is not factory. The letter-series 300’s had solid-color interiors; not two-toned as this one is. Both red and black were offered, but not as a two-tone.
On raised block Chrysler, Plymouth, and Dodge motors next to the distributor is a raised boss stamped in the raised boss is the engine size and year. The year is usually a letter but it might be a number in the 60s
I don’t think these have reached the 20K mark yet. Yes it is a letter car, but not the most popular one out there.
I doubt it will sell at or near that price.
Agreed, I sold my ’61 300G about 6 years ago for $18k, and it was a project car (though the lowest mile unrestored 300G known to exist). When I went to sell my 64 300 (sans cross ram) a few months later, also a project but in better condition, I got $4,000 for it.
This is a car built for real nerds that likely wear horned rimed glasses & watch Lawrence Whathisface on VHS. I’ll class this modelling in the Edsel category.
F grade for fugly.
Bob
Sounds like you’re describing the many people who were taking part in America’s nascent space program. They liked things that went fast.
That said, is there any way to determine if the car was built before or after President Kennedy’s assassination?
Sure looks like the other 300K from before, maybe the owner swapped out the 440 for the older 413. Maybe not…might not be the same car at all but that would be a big coincidence considering the red/black interior.
Early experimental induction ideas didn’t always work out so well overall, but that’s what makes these unique…considering the smallish 4 barrel carbs that were around back then multiple carbs made more sense on a performance car. Cool ride.
Chrysler made 2 versions of those tube cross ram manifolds, one was long tubes (like the above) with short header tubes and one short tube cross ram with long headers. One was designed for NASCAR racing and the other was designed for 1/4 mile running. I had a very good friend that had both engines. One was in a Chrysler 300, and the other in a modified 63 Dodge. After 55+ years I don’t remember which combination was used for which applications and my tech bulletins on these have vanished unfortunately.
Correct John. The way you could tell which tubes were long tubes and which were short tubes (which i believe added 5hp or 10hp) was that the long tubes had a valley in them while shorty tubes were smooth.
In 1964 I was in the market for a late model hot rod. There was a new Chrysler 300 convertible sitting in a showroom at the South end of Roosevelt way in Seattle. It had a dual quad 413 and was priced at around 4000. I don’t remember the long tube intake runners but it could have been. I ended up getting a year old 1963 Chev Impala with a 425hp 409. Never felt like I should have bought the 300.
The K is not an option monikar on the car, it is the year it was built. They started with A in the mid fifties, skipped on year some time between and 1964 was the last model year for the letter designations on the 300 line. Also Tiberius is correct there was no 440 option in 1964, just the wedge with one or two carbs. I have a chance to get my grandparents 64K, it has not run since an old friend bought it in about 82, but it has been stored inside a shop. We used to run from Hermiston to Pendleton in that car at over 100 mph! I want the car because it brought so much joy to my granny beating everyone stupid enough to pass her! Yea, Gary knows the owner a bit better than me, but we all grew up in the same small town, the price is probably going to be about 2 grand, I want it real bad.
The ’55 Chrysler 300 was not an “A”. The ’56 300 was a B. Beginning in ’62 letters were an option, as one could get a 300 or a 300 Letter Car.