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1960 Chrysler 300F Convertible Took Nine Years to Restore, It's Breathtaking

When it comes to classic high-performance Mopars, we usually remember the Dodges and Plymouths from the 1960s and 1970s. But Chrysler joined the muscle car segment first with the C-300. Launched in 1955 with a V8 rated at 300 horsepower, it was advertised as "America's most powerful car."
1960 Chrysler 300F convertible 6 photos
Photo: Lou Costabile/YouTube
1960 Chrysler 300F Convertible1960 Chrysler 300F Convertible1960 Chrysler 300F Convertible1960 Chrysler 300F Convertible1960 Chrysler 300F Convertible
And it was more than just PR talk. But C-300 needed fewer than 10 seconds to hit 60 mph (97 kph) from a standing start and reached a top speed that exceeded 130 mph (209 kph). Both were mind-boggling numbers at the time. On top of that, it handled as well as a Corvette, despite being notably larger and heavier.

Introduced long before muscle cars became a thing, the C-300 was the first of many 300 "letter series" cars produced by Chrysler. It was followed by the equally iconic 300B in 1956, the 300C in 1957, and the 300D in 1958. Long story short, the lineage expanded to include seven more cars (300E to 300L) until 1965.

The 300F was one of them. Offered for the 1960 model year, it brought a massive change to the 300 "letter series," as Chrysler dropped the old body-on-frame design for a unibody architecture. The new layout and the redesigned body proved popular at the time and the 300F moved 1,217 units, almost as much as the 300D and 300E combined.

While not quite as fancy as the Imperial, the 300F was perhaps the most luxurious performance car available at the time. Notable features included four leather bucket seats, swiveling front seats, and the futuristic AstraDome instrument cluster with "panelescent lighting."

Come 2022 and the 300F is quite the rare classic, especially in convertible form. While coupe production reached 969 units, Chrysler sold only 248 drop-tops. How many of them are still around? Well, probably fewer than 150 are still in operation. The result of a nine-year restoration, the black car you see here has to be the finest 300Fs out there.

With a body as straight as an arrow and a tan interior that looks perfect from the dashboard to the rear seats, this 300F is pretty much a Concours-ready classic. On top of that, it's also the last 300F convertible ever built, as it rolled the assembly line right before Chrysler switched to the 1961 300G.

And yes, it still has the original, numbers-matching Golden Lion engine under the hood. Restored to a fabulous shine, the 413-cubic-inch (6.8-liter) cross-ram V8 runs like new and should send 375 horsepower and a whopping 525 pound-feet (712 Nm) of torque to the rear wheels.

Related to the drag-spec Max Wedge mill that turned early 1960s Mopars into the cars to beat at the race track, the 413 was first introduced in 1959 and remained in production until 1965. And as you'll hear in the video below, it's the kind of engine that runs smoothly at idle but roars like a beast as soon as you touch the gas pedal.

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About the author: Ciprian Florea
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Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.
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