| For
1960, the Chrysler line got an entirely new look, inside and out. The Forward Look was on
the prowl, and fins were in. Chrysler had them, and the 300F showed them
to perfection with its beautiful new trunk design featuring a spare tire
look. Inside, the 300F featured a futuristic interior featuring four
individual tan leather bucket seats with a front-to-back console which
housed a tachometer. Each console had a storage compartment which doubled
as an armrest. You weren't going to get very far in the drive-in with this
baby, but it was certainly the first and only one of its kind.
Under the hood was a brand new 413 with a
plumbing nightmare called "ram injection." Described elsewhere,
ram injection gave a mild supercharging effect via
30" long intake manifold runners which made valve cover gasket changes a 2 day
affair. It had tremendous horsepower and torque, and could push the 300F
to incredible speeds right off the showroom floor. Also available (not
really) was a
400 hp version of the 413 with "short" rams and a hotter cam.
The French Pont-A-Mousson four
speed manual transmission, borrowed from Chrysler powered Facel
Vegas, came with the package. This was a racing only package, and
only a few were made, then the project was scrapped. 4 are known to
exist today. (See link below for more details on the 300F GT Special) If you have one
out behind the barn, it
could be worth almost 200 bucks. Hmmmm. Call me.
300F's were sufficiently different from
previous 300's to inspire aficionados (as well as desperados) to buy
around 1200 units. Not a record breaker, but it kept the doors open. One
more year existed for "real" 300's, then the game was basically
over.
|
