The younger petrolhead crowd associates the Chrysler 300 moniker with the (relatively) modern sedan that shares its construction with the old Mercedes E- and S-Class. However, the American car brand has had long ties with this nameplate dating back to the 1950s.
That is when the original C-300 was born, followed by its successors, the 300B, 300C, 300D, 300E, etc. It was a clever naming scheme, with one letter representing each model year and the 300 being a reference to the 300-horsepower engine powering the first one.
Chrysler's 300 series stopped after the 1966 model year, which comprised the 300M, and there was a short hiatus until 1970, when the Hurst 300 came out. Show them pictures of each iteration, and chances are most car enthusiasts will pick one and stick to it. Yours truly is a fan of the 1965 300L, which basically looks like a mafia car, especially dressed in black like the pictured example.
Believed to be one of just 95 cars made in this specification, it is an all-black copy with a red interior sprinkled with the correct shiny accents that rides on 15-inch wheels wrapped in 235/70 tires. It has a heavy-duty suspension, a rear differential, power steering, and power brakes.
Photo: Mecum
Based on the same platform as the era's Chrysler New Yorker and Imperial Crown, it packs a V8 engine under the hood, the original 413 cu-in with a 6.8-liter displacement. The mill was good for 360 horses back in the day, directed to the wheels through a four-speed manual transmission, in this case, offered as an alternative to the three-speed TorqueFlite.
You may not know this, but the Chrysler 300L is longer than a modern-day BMW 7 Series. It measures 218.2 inches (5,542 mm) from bumper to bumper, 6 in (151 mm) more than the luxury sedan, and has a 124-inch (3,150 mm) long wheelbase.
According to the ad and backed up by an image of the odometer, this elegant old-timer has 59,806 miles (96,248 km) on the clock. It has received some work over the years, though not to the extent that it is no longer appealing. Quite the opposite, as it is an awarded example with several medals under its belt, accompanied by the original build sheet, window sticker, fender tag, and so on.
The 300 series used to be offered with an in-car vinyl player, a feature that hasn't caught on, obviously. This one is going to hit the auction block at Mecum's Kissimmee event in Florida on January 2-14 and should fetch a pretty penny. After all, it's one of the stars at the event. How much would you be ready to cough out for it if you were shopping for such a model?
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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