It’s great when a car is reported as a “barn find” and the seller includes actual photos of the car as-found. This 1962 Chrysler 300 was rescued from a barn after 30 years of storage. It is located in Cleveland, Ohio and there has been a ton of work done to it. You can find it here on Craigslist with an asking price of $15,000. The seller claims over $15,500 invested and the car is ready to be driven. Thanks to Adam C. for the tip on this special car.
You have to love the unique look of the angled headlights. These cars also feature unique tail light designs as well as integrated bumpers that follow the lines of the car really well. This specific car is said to have 36,000 original miles, the engine was rebuilt about 50 miles ago, so it is ready for many more miles for the new owner. The only apparent drawback to the car is the rust coming through on the underside of the body.
The seller also states there have been a ton of parts rebuilt and replaced including the following: carburetor, “frontend,” shocks, brakes, wheel cylinders, gas and brake lines, gas tank, radiator, generator, oil pump, water pump, hoses, belts, shift cables and tires. Also, the car features power windows, brakes and steering along with air conditioning! The interior features new carpet and headliner as well as working gauges. Unfortunately, there are no photos of the interior in the ad. Do you think this car is worth $15,000?
Already deleted advert…
Worth $15,000?
I guess it was. To somebody.
Why do people think that cars that have sat for long periods of time are worth mor than cars that have been cared for all their lives?
A: ‘Pickers’-style TV shows, Miguel…
Maybe that is it.
I know I won’t fall victim to that.
There was a family acquaintance who had the ragtop version of this car in
1982. And like this car, it too was a daily driver. And while it wasn’t a show car, it
looked good enough to make me want it.
It was light blue with a 2-tone blue interior
and had Cragar rims all ’round. And I can
tell you firsthand just how great that 413
sounded with dual exhausts and glass
pack mufflers. Man! that thing was
raucous! Wished I had the cash back
then to buy it!
Collector Car Price Guide lists a price of $18,000 for one in #1 condition. This one, if generously considered #3, lists at $8800.
The problem is this. Is it a letter series 300 or a poor man’s 300. In 1962 Chrysler started building two versions. The letter series cars were of course the true 300’s. If it is a letter series it’s worth about 12000.00. If it’s not a letter series it’s worth about at best 4000.00.
Good luck in finding a ’62 300 car for $4000 (at best in your words) or a letter car for $12000. Your numbers are from a different time and not at all close to 2018 numbers.
Absolutely beautiful car Pete !!
certainly were beloved when new – not enuff of a follower to know this “letter” stuff.
Didn’t they reuse the name (“300”) in the 90s or 21st century due to this?
It has come to the point that I no longer feel qualified to voice or write values upon todays barn finds or even everyday older street driven pieces of crap.
Who among responders can see 30K for this rig.
I have helped work on a total redo of a couple Chryser 300 letter series and know of two close by; one is as new with a complete maintenance record that has 4 reciepts for rust repair and two repaints necessary because of rustThe other is one owner barely over 24,000 miles and when not being driven was first gataged and last20+ years on Display in a well known collector museum.
It had to replace rugs due to moisture induced rust under them and upholstery refreshed because padding breaking down, original covers reused.
Both were valued at 25-30K for the non museum and 35-40for other as neither one actually require rotisserie, both by a well respected N.W. auto appraiser within last 3 years.
I would not try and do his valuation nor estimate repair cost of todays rust buckets, outside of my 100 mile radius.
Something is totally out of balance in pricing, and the old auto scene is bypassing most of younger peoples ability to enter.
Ain’t that the truth. Because the hobby has become an industry, many people are priced right out of the market. A person can’t get much for a thousand bucks or two. And forget having a classic car shop do the work on them. Some are absolutely crooked, and charge phenomenal rates while they jerk you around. Unless you have the time, skills and desire to do the work yourself, you’ll be upside down in a project in no time. You can find bargains in vehicles that get no love, but then what is it worth when you’re done. You have to love the hobby, and the work, and not care about the monetary value in the end.
There are still plenty of lower priced older cars around, but the cost to properly restore them is the same as a more desirable model. As we know the prices of desirable cars has skyrocketed. Thanks to “Picker” type shows, neglected, unrestored, severely deteriorated examples are trading for absurdly high prices. They even display them at Pebble Beach! There are still opportunities to enjoy the hobby at lower cost levels, especially for careful DIY ers.
I would think that at least to me, this car would be worth more than average for its condition due to the load of options. Power windows and A/C? Imagine cruising in this car with the windows up and cold air pouring out the dash vents like 55+ years ago. I see lots of old cars that are OK but crank window, no ‘toys’, no AC, they’re just ordinary cars. I like extras and goodies and toys, hard to fix or not.
Hide Behind, well done. With the costs of reconstruction accelerating (pardon the pun) rising acquisition costs make projects financially questionable. And of course make it virtually impossible for young ones with interest to get a start in the Hobby. This Chrysler is a $2000.00 car if it’s all there, I don’t care about market values, auction prices or anything else. We need some reality injected into this market.
The 300 non letter series has never been a popular car no matter what the current owners want to think.