West Coast Classics are proud to present an exceptionally straight and rust free and great daily driving survivor of this very rare 'Mopar Big Fin' 1959 Chrysler 300E Letter Series 2 door Hardtop Coupe with its original and highly desirable and legendary High Performance 413 CID 390 HP V8 Golden Lion 'Wedge-Type' engine with dual Carter 4 bbl carburetors and which was extremely powerful for its day and which would become the basis for a successful racing engine in Chrysler's future and cemented Chrysler's reputation for engineering great engines that would serve Chrysler well in various forms for the next 20 years.
This particular car is a superbly straight, rare and virtually completely stock surviving example with a completely straight and honest body with absolutely no rust although with the start of some minor oxidation on the lower passenger side of the chrome rear bumper. One of only 550 300E Letter Series coupes built in 1959 and marketed by Chrysler as a 6 passenger vehicle and quite simply as 'America's most powerful car' and a car that the prestigious 'Motor Trend' magazine selected not only as the seasons 'Best Looking Hardtop', quite an achievement in Detroit's fabled 1959 year, but also reported that 'the 1959 'E' series moves even faster than the 1958 'D' series' which started arguments that continue to this day!
This was the last year Chrysler would carry the body-on-frame construction before going over to a unit-body construction for the 1960 model. This was also the first year for the 'Wedge-Type' V8 engine making the 1959 cars the only body-on-frame cars to carry the 'Wedge' type V8 engine from the factory. Also, another first this year to the option list was the swivel-type front seats which could be specially ordered in the form of a bench seat (as with his particular model) or as a bucket seat in certain models. An absolutely stunning car with its original wrap around front and rear picture window windshields and finished in this striking color combination of 'Normandy Blue' color paint with incredibly rare original leather seats in 'Natural' color and embossed with Chrysler emblems with original perforations to allow breathing and with its original and matching plain natural leather headliner with headliner bows and the car is fully loaded with factory options including the very desirable swivel seat option ($101 option), full floor carpeting, Push-button 'Torqueflite' transmission, Power steering, Power brakes, Dual exhaust, original AM radio ($124.10 option), Custom heater ($136.30), Six Way Power Front Seat, Power Windows ($108 option), Tilt-Type electric eye, Prismatic rear view mirror, undercoating, automatic headlamp beam changer, Electric clock, cruise control, full gauges and original Deluxe 300E hubcaps mounted on brand new whitewall correct BF Goodrich radials.
The car is a true survivor which was obviously always garaged and which recently come out of dry storage from where it had been driven only sparingly. Since purchasing the car we ourselves have recently had the car fully serviced, including replacing the tires with period correct BF Goodrich radials and servicing the car with the complete brake system being overhauled, with new rear brake linings, machine rear drums, replaced rear wheel cylinders, replaced rear brake hose, replaced inner & outer rear wheel seals and shim rear wheel bearings, replaced front brake shoes & front wheel cylinders, replaced front brake hoses, machined front drums, repack bearings, replaced the brake master cylinder, replaced power brake booster, we also replaced the fuel pump, the timing and carburetors were adjusted, all fluids were replaced, rubber hoses at fuel tank & fuel pump replaced and new fuel filter installed, and consequently the car is now running & driving beautifully (see our video on our You Tube page).
The flagship model for the Chrysler lineup in the late fifties was the Letter Series convertibles and coupes and were called the 'Beautiful Brutes' by the renown writer Karl Ludvigsen and produced two of the most memorable performance cars ever made. Unabashadely created for NASCAR which they dominated until 1957 when US manufacturers shied away from competition support. Originally powered by the most potent V8 Hemis yet, the 1955 C-300 (1,725 built) and the 1956 300-B (1,102 built) had a New Yorker Newport fine body styling with an Imperial eggcrate grille. Off the track the 300 proved to be about more than just performance with a luxurious leather interior and all modern factory options. In 1957 the 300-C and in 1958 the 300-D were even more potent extensions of Chrysler's hotrod and were the last of the Hemi powered Letter Series cars and sold in both coupe (618 built) and the new convertible form (191 built). The '57 Hemi produced around 375HP and the '58 optional 'Hi-Po' engine was a fuel injected 392 conservatively rated at 390HP. In 1959 the fifth edition of the Letter Series 300, the 300E was released and was a very low and limited production run with only 550 coupes (of which 16 were reportedly exported) and 140 convertibles built (of which 9 were reportedly exported). From the Chysler300country website statistics from 6/2009 only some 130 cars have survived with 104 of them coupes and 26 convertibles and 11 parts cars. Basically the same car as the 300-D but with a new horizontal bar grille instead of the previous eggcrate and a new 413 cid Wedgehead V8 instead of the fabled Hemi. Neverthless the new 413 was a true High Performance engine with 390 HP and a good second quicker than the D up to 60mph and 3 seconds faster to 90 mph. A difficult sales year for the industry as a whole led to such low production figures for this model makes it the rarer of the 300's and truly a rare find today, how many are now left surviving?!
Under the hood of this particular 1959 Chrysler 300E example is found the cars original 413 'MR' engine boasting 390HP and equipped with its original inline dual 4 barrel carburetors, desirable power steering, power windows and power brakes and with the body in very solid and original condition and with the chrome and bright trim all complete including the 300E emblems. Survivors from this era are rare making this car an asset to any dedicated Chrysler or MOPAR collection. The original 413 V8 engine runs strong and sounds absolutely magnificent and this particular car drives really well - must be driven to be appreciated - does not miss a beat and purrs like a kitten - drives straight as an arrow with no strange road wobbles, shakes or rattles - a truly remarkable daily driver that will give any modern day car a run for it's money!
Simply put, the 300E was one of the most exciting American cars ever produced, combining iconic styling, performance and luxury, or as some would say 'the total package', and with very few remaining Chrysler 300E's remaining on the road, this is an extremely unusual opportunity to own a very correct, honest and stock great daily driving example of this extraordinarily rare and very desirable original 1959 Chrysler 300E 2 door Hardtop coupe in very fine daily driving condition ready and for any classic American car or Mopar enthusiast to enjoy or collect today!
