By the time the 300L debuted, purists had dug the grave and were just waiting for the corpse to fall in so they could shovel in the dirt and end the agony. Nobody was surprised when the newly designed slab sided body appeared in 300L form and couldn't be distinguished from the slab sided body in Newport form, New Yorker form, or Sport 300 form. Medallions? Sure. Floor shifter? You betcha. 390 hp ram injected option? "Sorry, no optional engines this time, but we have a grille medallion that lights up. Does that do it for you?" It was obvious what was going on. 

The 300L was basically a 300K driveline in a bigger, heavier, slower body. The convertible was continued, and the L sold around 2800 units, second best of all time. It had virtually no performance reputation, and it was pretty obvious that there should not be another letter car. Chrysler was moving toward Nascar, drag racing, and the muscle car business with the incredible new 426 hemi leading the way. The fact that the hemi  would be an utter dog in street trim didn't matter. Chrysler was back on top in racing, but the 300 was not part of it. In another two years names  like GTX, R/T, Super Bee, Road Runner, 440 Magnum, and Six Pack were all anybody talked about. You mentioned 300s to anybody under 30 and they'd say "yeah, my dad had one of those. Too big."

300L's have their fans, as do all letter cars. I like the styling and the interior, and the dash is reminiscent of the 60-62 Astradome in appearance. Some came with 4 speeds, but most opted for the Torqueflite. The 300L has the distinction of being the last letter car; it's better that they discontinued it rather than to continue to produce what had become a rather snappy luxury car. The letter car marque  has been sort of resurrected by Chrysler with the new 300C, but I think they should stick to building Mercedes. I just can't get into it. They've tried this before, like in 1979, and it never works. There's nothing like the original. Put your new 300C in a parking lot, then let a real 300C pull in and see what draws the crowd. Sorry, I guess I've become a "purist." hey, that's not so bad now, is it?