The Chrysler Letter Series is considered to be the muscle car behind the muscle car, having come nearly a decade before the Pontiac GTO. It was a luxurious performance car with connections to Chrysler’s New Yorker. By 1965 the muscle car market had quickly shifted to mid-size automobiles, so Chrysler retired the Letter Series after the 300L. This beautiful example has had a lot of recent mechanical work done and sounds like a potential bargain. Located in Aledo, Texas, this Mopar is available here on craigslist for $15,800 OBO. Another great tip from T.J.!
1955 was the first model year for what would become known as the Letter Series. The first one was the C-300, then the naming logic changed to 300B in 1956, 300C in 1957, and so forth. Chrysler didn’t skip a beat through 1965, offering one of these fancy performance machines every annum. In its final year, the 300L had the same crisp styling the rest of the full-size Chryslers received over the bulky, boxy 1964 models. Elwood Engel had taken over from Virgin Exner as head designer, so these cars featured his influence. The 390 hp cross-ram 413 cubic inch V8 had been discontinued in favor of a single 4-barrel that was good for 360 horses.
Some 2,845 300Ls were produced in 1965, of which all but 400 were 2-door hardtops like this one. This car has the standard 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission instead of the no-extra-cost 4-speed manual that was available. The odometer is said to read 78,000 miles which could be legit. We suspect the car has been sitting for a while given the list of things the seller says have been done to it.
New to this Chrysler is the fuel system from front to back, the fuel pump, tires, battery, partial brakes, and a rebuilt radiator. Everything seems to be in order and ready to go, though the factory A/C could use a recharge. All the lights are said to work, including the cool “L” in the grille that lights up a night. The seller needs to move this 300 because other projects are pressing, so this could be a great survivor-quality car for weekend outings. The only thing key missing in the seller’s listing is any under-the-hood photos.
The only way this car could be any better is for it to have the factory four speed and a convertible top. Really like these and the New Yorker it’s based on from that year. Definitely worth what they’re asking for if the engine passes muster.
Chrysler may not have skipped a beat but in 1963 they skipped a letter, going from 300H to 300J. It’s said “I” was skipped because it was thought it might be confused with a “1” (ie the numeral “one”), the same reasoning explaining why there are so few “I cup” bras, some manufacturers filling the gap in the market between “H cup” & “J cup” with a “HH cup” but there’s no evidence Chrysler ever pondered a “300HH”.
ACB lol. That may be the first bra metaphor on Barnfinds (.)(.) 🤝
Oh yes, and talk about one cool Mopar 😎