The 1955 Chrysler C-300: The Beautiful Brute

If ever a nickname was appropriate, the only one writer Karl Ludvigsen came up with was perfect when he called the 1955 Chrysler C-300 the “Beautiful Brutes.” This car was truly a brute in both looks and power and it was the car that really started the horsepower race when it came out with the first 300 horsepower engine in a production car. The C-300 could be considered the first muscle car, but it did not fit the popular description of what was then called a supercar. To be a supercar, the engine had to be the largest in the smallest body. The engine was the largest by far, but the body was also one of the largest, so it was not a great car even though it worked like one.

In 1951, Chrysler introduced a hemispherical combustion chamber engine with 180 hp that caused quite a stir and gave an indication of the horsepower race that was going to heat up in the next 20 years. If people were surprised in 1951, they were stunned when the power was raised to 300 hp in just 4 years.

The 1955 C-300 was called the “Forward Look” style. Even though it was designed by Virgil Exner, people joked that it was designed by both Chrysler’s spare parts container and himself. The front clip along with the grille was taken from the 1955 Imperial with the New Yorker midsection and the Windsor contributed the rear quarter. Exner was able to put all of this together together with the base model Chrysler bumpers and ended up with a design that turned out to be one of the classic body styles of all time. While it was a scaled-down model with no backup lights or side mirrors, it came with tan leather upholstery and options included power windows and seats, tinted windows, radio and heater, and stylish Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels.

Chrysler had good success in NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Racing) races with its Hemi engines in the years leading up to 1955. They were second in NASCAR in 1953 and won the championship in 1954. It wasn’t until 1955 that it seems They decided to dominate NASCAR by basically building the C-300 especially for NASCAR racing. With a Firepower Hemi engine producing 300 horsepower at 331 cubic inches, it was America’s most popular production car. They won 22 of the 40 races in 1955 at one of the most dominant racing shows in history.

Although the Chrysler C-300 only sold 1,725 ​​cars in 1955, they filled the showrooms with people wanting to see the monster that was setting speed records from the race track to the Bonneville Salt Flats and all kinds of speed events in between. . Even though it was more than 50 years ago, I remember when the 1955 cars hit showrooms like it was yesterday. My friends and I were like kids in a candy store as we went from showroom to showroom. That was the year Chevrolet debuted their new V-8 and they also had the newly designed Corvette. Ford brought out its new Thunderbird that year. Both Oldsmobile and Buick were redesigned and their supercars got power increases.

All of these and several others were exciting, but the one that topped them all was the Chrysler C-300. It was the first American production car to have a 300-horsepower engine, and although it weighed over 4,000 pounds, the statistics were pretty amazing. It would do 0-60 MPH in under 10 seconds and had a top end of over 130 MPH depending on which of the 3 optional rear axle ratios was used.

Because it is an automotive icon and with low sales figures, the 1955 Chrysler C-300 brings in some jaw-dropping prices when they can be found. One sold earlier this year for $ 181,500. Not a bad increase from the $ 4,000 they cost new, which was quite expensive in 1955. If you’re a Mopar collector, this would be the crown jewel in your collection.