This 300F is owned by Nick Taylor, creator of this site.
My first car at age 16 was a 1964 Chrysler 300 sport coupe. After learning more about the 300 series of cars I found that they started out as a very special type of vehicle and not just a trim level. It didn't take long for me to find that the one I thought was the most special was the 1960 300F. I tried to buy a few over the years and actually bought a rusted out example in 1989 and ended up parting it out.
Click here to read about my previous 300F.
I got this 300F in March of 2016. It was originally sold off the lot at Roy Burnett Motors, Inc. in Portland, Oregon. I acquired it from the 4th owner in Oroville, Washington. Originally they told me they got it from the original owners who were family friends but it turns out the history was a bit more complex. The first owner lived in Winthrop, Washington and traded the car in around 1965. The second owner, from Twisp, Washington couldn't get a loan to buy the car so he got his son to buy it and then they apparently both drove it. Another son drove it hard and supposedly the car had quite a reputation in Eastern Washington. At some point the original motor was removed and replaced with a 4-barrel version. The car then ended up in a barn around 1980. The next owner was the sister of the younger second owner and she and her husband got it around 1992. By that time mice had taken over the interior.
These owners removed and cleaned the interior and replaced the carpet. They retrieved the original engine from the barn and had it rebuilt in 1997 in Spokane and had the transmission rebuilt in Twisp. Then they put the car back together and fixed various other things and started driving it. The owner passed away in 2010 and her husband didn't use the car and sold it to the next owner in 2012. That owner did not drive the car much as it now needed some repairs and he says he was afraid of damaging it. I was able to talk to the owner previous to get some of the history written down. He has provided me pictures of the car from when they had it.
The car is very original. Most of the paint is original and except for the carpet, the interior is original as well. The car has had various types of care over its life with a stint in the barn a couple of times as well as in a yard covered with tarps. There are a lot of dings and scratches in the paint but the body is very solid with no serious rust, just surface rust in places. As previously noted, the engine and transmission were rebuilt and have few miles on them since then. The tires are Coker Classic radials that were made for the 300 club and put on the car around 2006 and need to be replaced due to age, not wear. There are a lot of things that need to be done to make the car fully useable and will be done as funds and time allow.
Shortly after getting the car, it lost oil pressure due to a stuck valve causing a pushrod to get bent and the lifter falling out. While repairing the engine I found that the block is the original but that the cylinder heads are from 1964 and have adjustable rockers. Eventually I'll have the correct heads rebuilt and install them. But for now I'll just continue to drive and enjoy the car. It is running great.
|
