Back when Chrysler did properly luxurious cars, the American outfit made incredibly lavish machines like the 300 letter series. For what the industry calls a personal luxury car, the 300 letter series was the bee’s knees. And thanks to powerful engines, 300s were adequately fast for the era and for that vehicle segment.
The car featured in the adjacent photos and video is from model year 1963, which means that it’s a 300J. Only it isn’t. As the official name of this car is 300 Pace Setter, it qualifies as a non-letter 300 series. Confused? Me too, but still, it’s very similar to the 300J. For all intents and purposes, the 300J was a departure from the 1962 300H due to its more angular motifs. My favorite cue about it is the not-exactly-square-nor-perfectly-circular steering wheel.
Other than this quirky detail, the 300J and 300 Pace Setter are gifted with a much posher cabin than the 300H and its predecessors. They're also faster than their foregoers, but then again, the 300J didn’t sell as well as the 300 Pace Setter. There’s is no exact tally regarding production, but most sources suggest that Chrysler had made about 300 hardtops and 1,861 ragtops.
This Indy 500 Pace Setter special edition model is one of those 1,861 ragtops and, for what it’s worth, it’s a real cherry. Delivered in July 1963 by Stevens Motors in Tacoma, Washington, this car has been in the current owner’s keep for the past 23 years. The paint, dubbed Pace Car Blue, is 100% original and appears to be in surprisingly good nick considering this vehicle’s age.
All the chromework presents itself in fair condition, as does the convertible roof and matching boot. On the downside, there is something wrong with this car: the fuel gauge. To be honest, that needs to be fixed because the B series 383 cu. in. V8 powerhouse under the hood drinks gasoline by the bucketload.
MotoeXotica, the classic car specialist who’s selling the vehicle, has listed the 1963 Chrysler 300 Indy 500 Pace Car on eBay in the hope that someone will give this blast from the past a new home. At the time of writing, highest bid stands at $8,099.99 and, as expected, the reserve hasn’t been met. To put that trickle of money into perspective, the Barrett-Jackson auction house had recently auctioned off a 1963 Chrysler 300 Pace Setter for $31,900.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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