So long as you aren’t asking for my choices, Mopar fans are set in their ways. They like Cudas and Challengers, Coronet R/Ts and Chargers, Darts, Demons and Dusters. Everything else fits a bill that spans from “mildly weird” to full-on “WTF?”, with little room in between. Some versions get a pass, like cop-spec vehicles and the winged wonders that might have done actual track work but on the street looked like the Elephant Man trying to juggle while balancing on a rubber ball. But that’s the charm of seeing a car that nobody bothers with. When you see a well-done Camaro, you see another well-done Camaro. There are tons of them out there to look at. But when you see something like a 1960 Edsel or an AMC Matador coupe done up right, you stop for a minute and take it in, because when was the last time you saw one at all, let alone in any kind of condition worth mentioning?
That’s where this 1962 Chrysler 300 fits in. Notice, no letter…while there was a 1962 Chrysler 300H, corporate also released the 300 as a non-letter model. That means that it’s highly unlikely that what you are looking at is one of the 570 300H models produced. But that’s not all bad…while losing the cross-rammed 413 is a hit, the regular car still packed big-cube Mopar power as the standard mill, with a 383ci being the “base” engine. The underpinnings dated to 1960 and certain cues, like the absolutely beautiful Astra Dome gauge cluster and the pushbutton controls for the TorqueFlite automatic, remained.
So to this particular 1962. Finless, kind of awkward, kind of ratty, yet kind of good, this car is a project that needs those finishing touches to really make it jump out at people. Some tweaking here, some cleanup there, and this would be a rocking good Mopar that would leave tons of people asking, “What is that, again?” The early 1960s were a bit of a weird time for Chrysler in general, but there is a surprisingly decent crossover between the muscular lines of the later 1960s cars and some of the Exner flair of the 1950s in this car. It needs fatter rolling stock everywhere and I’m not sold on the scoops for the hood, but overall? I’d rock this sucker in a heartbeat.
California Highway Patrol used these TOP END Mopars back in the Day out the Freeways and Interstates mostly equiped with the Bullit Proof 383 . A select few did have the NASCAR proven 413 with Tall 2.90 Rear End Ratios for those 100 MPH Plus Persuits with Hilo Spotters in the Air !! Those would make BROADRICK CRAWFORD PROUD !!
If Joe Dirt had a Chrysler 300, this would be it, notice the goofy foot gas pedal installed ( a reference in the movie).
A great old Mopar spoilt by the vast hood scoop and flat black hood….