1955 Chrysler C-300 | conceptcarz.com

The Chrysler Corporation introduced drastically styled all-new types for 1955 with designs originating from Virgil Exner. The fresh new new physical appearance was dubbed, ‘The $100 Million Seem,’ and it served set up every Chrysler Corp. product, such as the cheap Plymouth and the extremely-exclusive Imperial, on a solid competitive footing for 1955.

The Chrysler C-300 of 1955 was the first of the marque’s legendary ‘Letter Serie’s and lots of consider it to be the incredibly initially American muscle mass car or truck. It was the initial postwar output car or truck to make 300 horsepower, a figure that represented the ‘300’ in its product name, and the most impressive motor accessible to the general public considering the fact that the supercharged Duesenberg Product SJ. It was an distinctive and high priced car when new, with a base cost of $4,100, and just 1,725 illustrations have been constructed.

The Chrysler C-300 was powered by the company’s to start with HEMI motor and utilized the details received from Briggs Cunningham’s Chrysler-run Le Mans racing software. It experienced Twin Carter WCBF 4-barrel carburetors mounted on unique ingestion manifolds built to improve breathing, a 331 cubic-inch displacement, bigger compression, adjustable rocker shafts, strong valve lifters, and a complete-race camshaft with extensive-duration valves that served make it 18 NASCAR victories in 1955. Other overall performance-oriented attributes provided the large-responsibility suspension, decreased experience top, an enhanced PowerFlite automatic transmission, and a 3.54:1 rear axle. Tim Flock drove a C-300 at Daytona Beach to a 127.580-mph two-way average in the flying mile, more than seven mph speedier than its nearest competitor, and he went on to earn that year’s NASCAR Grand Countrywide Championship with a C-300.

At the time, Chrysler lacked the fiscal resources of GM and Ford, so instead, they borrowed from its current item line to produce the C-300. The New York bodyshell was selected and fitted with an Imperial entrance clip, Windsor rear flanks, a 300 badge inspired by Cunningham sports activities automobiles, and a New Yorker interior and sprint. The exterior styling blended the Ghia studio suggestions with individuals of Virgil Exner. The thoroughly clean and crisp traces ended up accented by chrome outlines, particular exhaust guidelines, 300-special emblems with checkered-flag motif, wire wheels with chrome facilities and vast whitewall tires, and twin grille openings. The dual exhaust pipes ended up a single-quarter-inch a lot more in diameter than individuals applied on the New Yorker.

the C-300 went further than just brute toughness – it was a refined, entire-size car that had ample luxury functions and lavish interiors showcasing leather upholstery and the top-line Chrysler dashboard (albeit, the speedometer was changed to read through up to 150 mph).

The C-300 was the very first of the legendary Chrysler 300 ‘Letter Series’ autos to observe by way of the subsequent ten years, ending with the 300L of 1965. It took the automotive world by storm when new and its influence continues to be profound in fashionable moments. Chrysler described it as ‘America’s finest undertaking motor car’ and it can be 300 horsepower Hemi was surely far more highly effective than the Corvette and Thunderbird V-8s. The 300hp figure exceeded all those of the extra expensive Cadillac V8s, which experienced 270 horsepower. At the time, this level of efficiency was reserved for the huge and significant luxury cars or the 2-seater sporting activities autos. The 300 offered relatives space with ideal-in-class acceleration and effectiveness. It was adopted a year later on by the 300B, which had 340-355 horsepower. Subsequent 300s carried the letters C by way of L, except the ‘I’ designation was skipped to stay clear of confusion with the range ‘1.’

by Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2020