Automotive Reminder

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind) 07/23/2016 at 17:20 • Filed to: Automotive Reminder

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Some of you may not remember that prior to the Ralph Gilles’ styled Chrysler 300 cars (2003-2010, 2011-present) there was an intrepid little FWD, sub-300 hp sedan that, err...revived the 300 nameplate. The vehicle was the 300M. Unlike the current 300S and 300C, the “M” in 300M was not a trim level but the model designation and continuation of a series that ran for decade before fading away.

Back in 1955, Chrysler decided to make a luxury sports sedan known as the C-300. The “300" stood for Chrysler’s top shelf 300 hp, 5.4 L “FirePower” HEMI V8 inside of it. Also worth noting, in 1956 this became the first American production car to hit 355 hp from a 354ci engine (first to exceed 1 hp per cubic inch), so the 300 can be seen as one of the many stepping stones to the muscle car era nearly ten years later. It was also advertised as the “World’s Fastest Stock Car” during its time in NASCAR.

I mention these things because it’s silly that we don’t have an SRT or SRT Hellcat of this model due to those variants “not fitting the personality of the current car” even though they fit the heritage perfectly .

Well anywho, Chrysler decided to begin a “Letter Series” where they bump up the letter every year in order to denote the performance increase on the top models, and honesly, every freaking year from 1955 to 1965 the thing got some type of boost in power, displacement, or engine tech. The general summary is like so:

1955 C-300 ( retroactively named 300A ), 300 hp 5.4L

1956 300B, 340-355 hp 5.8L

1957 300C, 375-390 hp 6.4L

1958 300D, 380-390 hp 6.4L

1959 300E, 380 hp 6.8L

1960 300F, 375 hp 6.8L

1961 300G, 375 hp 6.8L

1962 300H, this is the point where a Sport-Series was added and wasn’t much different from the “H” badged car. Very much like the current 300S vs 300C.

1963 300J, ( skipped “I” since it looks like “1" )

1964 300K, 385 hp

1965 300L

... ( there’s a Hurst in here for 1970 ) ...

1999-2004 300M, 253 hp 3.5L

2005-2010 “300N,” 250 hp 3.5L / 340 hp 5.7L / 425 hp 6.1L

2011-present “300P,” ( skip “O” because it looks like “0" ) - 292 hp 3.6L / 363 hp 5.7L / 475 hp 6.4L

When it comes to the upcoming “300Q,” I’m very doubtful it will be RWD. My bets are on a large sedan based on the Pacifica platform that will be in line with the next gen RLX, new Continental, and S90L (because we all know it’s coming). But it will probably be mostly AWD and have 300 hp standard, almost a reset of the 1955 Chrysler C-300 with a focus on luxury with big power options like those original cars. The next gen Charger will be the go to.

MarqCars > Wobbles the Mind 07/23/2016 at 17:22

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Teeny tiny niggle: don’t forget the 2.7L V6 in the 2005-2010 LX (190hp, revised to 178hp in 2009), not a proud engine at all, really not worth mentioning but I figured I’d throw it in. :D

Wobbles the Mind > MarqCars 07/23/2016 at 17:25

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I thought about mentioning it, but it completely killed the vibe. Thank you for keeping me honest!

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > Wobbles the Mind 07/23/2016 at 17:27

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I’ve always kinda liked these, I hardly ever see them anymore.

jimz > Wobbles the Mind 07/23/2016 at 17:29

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also the 300M happened largely by accident. It was originally supposed to be the next Eagle Vision, as the LH family was all entering its second generation. But when they decided to kill the Eagle brand, they had to do something with the car since development was already nearly done. So they called it “300M” and slotted it above the Concorde.

MarqCars > Wobbles the Mind 07/23/2016 at 17:36

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No problem! Only reason why it even sprang to mind is due to the fact that I had a Charger with the 2.7 as my first car. Surprisingly it was dead reliable for 150K mi and is still running strong (don’t tell anyone I’m praising a gutless, anaemic engine.)

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Wobbles the Mind 07/23/2016 at 18:01

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My dad had a 300 “N” and just got a “P”. Really nice cars, particularly the new one...I was wondering how much nicer it could be than the previous car, but it's really night and day better.

dogisbadob > jimz 07/23/2016 at 18:10

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they also used the 300M as the export version

dogisbadob > Wobbles the Mind 07/23/2016 at 18:11

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Yeah, they should’ve used the N/P/Q lettering on the new generations.

At least those big LH cars had longitudinal engines that are easier to work on. Of course, it dates back to an old Renault/AMC platform.

Birddog > Wobbles the Mind 07/23/2016 at 18:29

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Funny thing, the 300M. I remember when they were new and thought “that’s a beautiful car. I wonder what it’ll look like on its third owner.”

Now I know.

jimz > MarqCars 07/23/2016 at 19:10

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by the time the 2.7 made it into the LX cars, the sludging problem had mostly been addressed.

ranwhenparked > Wobbles the Mind 07/23/2016 at 20:42

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I’ve always been ticked that Chrysler didn’t continue the letter sequence with the LX cars - I would have preferred calling the V8 cars “300N” and selling the V6 models as the New Yorker - which, I think, was actually discussed internally, before they decided that “300" had more cachet and that numbers worked better than names for premium clientele.

To me, its as irritating as BMW no longer using Roman numerals on Rolls-Royces.

ranwhenparked > dogisbadob 07/23/2016 at 20:45

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It was the shortest of all of them, so it fit within Germany’s 5 meter classification, which made it the most marketable of the LH variants overseas. That’s also why the LX 300 has always been so short and stubby for what’s supposed to be a full-size flagship - Chrysler, and now Fiat Chrysler, have opted to stick with the 5 meter size, even though export sales are now virtually nil.

dogisbadob > ranwhenparked 07/23/2016 at 20:58

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5 meters is plenty of car, so nothing wrong with that :)

ranwhenparked > dogisbadob 07/23/2016 at 21:02

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Maybe for a midsize, but big cars are supposed to be big.