1963 Chrysler Resources

Equipment or products directly related to this car. Click to view:

Need New Springs or Shocks?
Get the Exact Springs for your Chrysler

Click Here for

• Chrysler 300J
• New Yorker
• 300 Sport
• Newport
• Newport Town & Country

1963 Chrysler Facts – Body Paint Color Mix Codes

NOTE: The 300J model was limited in available colors as follows: Formal Black, Claret Red, Oyster White, Alabaster, and Madison Grey metallic. Regular Chrysler models could choose from the entire list below.

Click on the Paint Code Name to See the Mix Codes for the appropriate color:

1963 Chrysler

1963 Chrysler Facts and Specifications

General Year Information – 1963 Chrysler Facts

All New Styling
In 1963, a redesign of all Chrysler cars resulted in a body that had a more modern, formal, and angular, semi-slab side look”, with a minimal use of trim. This would be called the Chrysler Corporation’s new “C” platform. The new body design featured wide C-pillars, minimized bright trim. Headlamps reverted back to a more normal, horizontal style and the grille theme continued the 300 Letter Series look pioneered in 1957. Rear taillamps were mounted on pods on each side of the rear fascia. This was the last body styled during Virgil Exner’s term as Chrysler’s styling chief.

An addition was made to the Torqueflite control panel where a “Park” lever was added alongside the control buttons so that when the transmission was placed in neutral the park lever was moved to the bottom to engage the function. A major. For the first time since its inception in the 1961 model year, the closed crankcase venting system was standard equipment across the board.

Chrysler Newport
The Newport remained the entry level Chrysler with a more utilitarian interior more attuned to buyers of Pontiac Catalinas. Even so, the Newport line received the convertible body style, outselling the 300 Sport version. Engine choices were limited to the 361 CID 265 HP V-8.

Chrysler 300 Sport
The 300 convertible was now demoted to the Sport Series. As such, it was selected for the official pace car for the 1963 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, not the letter series 300. The Pace Car could be provided with the exterior markings on cars sold to the public, where it was marketed as the “300 Pacesetter”, an approach previously used on the 1956 DeSoto Fireflite Pacesetter. 306 Pacesetter coupes were also produced.

The remainder of the line continued as the 2- and 4- door hardtop models as in 1962. Engine choices ran from the 305 HP 383 CID to the 360 HP 413 CID V-8s, with the 390 HP 413 exclusive to the 300J. Later, a 365 HP 413 with 11:1 forged pistons and mechanical camshaft was offered, as well as the 426 CID with 373, 415 and 425 HP.

Chrysler 300 Letter Series
To avoid confusion with the number one, the letter “I” was skipped, and the new iteration became the “300J”. As before, the coupe was shared with the 300 Sport, Newport, and New Yorker. Unlike the Newport and the 300 Sport, and like the New Yorker, no convertible was offered. For identification, medallions featuring “Chrysler Three Hundred” in block letters lettering surrounding a large J were mounted on the rear deck and the same emblem on the c pillars. The standard leather-upholstered interior did away with the swivel bucket seat feature, and the previous full-length center console was now limited to the front, with the rear compartment reverting to a bench seat. The “Astradome” dashboard, glitzy but not favored by customers was dropped. The redesigned interior featured an oddly squared steering wheel, shared as an option with all Chrysler products for that year.

The standard engine was the 413 CID short-ram induction V-8, now unique to the 300J. A more aggressive mechanical camshaft was standard and coupled with the short rams added 10 Hp over 1962 version. This re-established the practice of the top-spec engine being standard on the letter series. It was the stated intention of Chrysler engineers to return the 300J to a performance machine. They did not offer a convertible, thinking its additional weight would hinder overall performance. Later in the year, a more aggressive series of 426 CID V-8s would be added to the J and the 300 Sport line as options, though evidence indicates that these were “over-the-counter” options. The 300J was faster than the standard 300H of the year before, with a 142 MPH top speed, 8.0 seconds 0-60 MPH, and a standing quarter mile time of 15.8 seconds with a terminal velocity of 89 MPH.

Sales were especially poor, with only 400 cars produced, some said because no convertible was offered. The exterior color list was updated to Formal Black, Claret Red, Oyster White, Alabaster, and Madison Grey metallic. The only interior color choice was Claret Red leather.

Chrysler New Yorker
As in all models in this new body design, chrome ornamentation was minimal. A thin beltline bright molding ran from front to rear. The usual New Yorker trim bars, now reduced to six, were moved to the front fender, behind the wheel opening and below the New Yorker nameplate. The grille was divided into two halves and egg-crate style inserts, reminiscent of the earlier 1955 and 1956 Imperials, added to the look. The wheelbase matched the other lines at 122 inches. Interiors featured deeply quilted, luxurious jacquard fabrics and soft durable vinyl trim. A four-door hardtop with the Salon option was offered. It featured a luxurious interior, vinyl roof, special side trim, plus “Salon” nameplates. Engine output remained at 340 HP.

Chrysler Turbine Car User Program
(NOTE – The Turbine Car will be covered in a separate Fact Sheet)
The Turbine Car, for Chrysler, began as early as the late 1930s. After WW II, Chrysler began a program to develop the turbine as a powerplant for automobiles because of its fewer moving parts and ability to run on cheaper alternative fuels. In 1956, Chrysler unveiled a turbine car, a 1956 Plymouth, that was driven 3,020 miles on a four-day trip from New York City to Los Angeles. A 1959 Plymouth was later developed which averaged 19.4 miles per gallon on a trip from Detroit to Woodbridge, New Jersey. Refined CR2A turbine was installed in a 1962 Dodge Dart and Plymouth Fury. The Dart was driven from New York City to Los Angeles in December 1961, and the Fury completed a journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco in January 1962. This engine was considered usable in a commercially produced car. Chrysler then chose to create a “User Program” launched, along with a specially designed and styled car

A total of 50 identical Turbine Cars were built between October 1963 and October 1964. They were all two-door hardtop coupes, with air-over-oil power brakes and power steering. The cars had independent front suspension with a coil spring at each front wheel, instead of Chrysler’s contemporary front torsion bar system, while the rear suspension utilized Chrysler product leaf springs. All four wheels were equipped with power-assisted drum brakes.

The exterior car body was finished in a metallic, root beer-colored paint known as “turbine bronze”. The cars had black vinyl covered hardtop roofs. The headlights, deeply-recessed taillights, turn signals, and pod-shaped backup lights were mounted in chrome bezels. The turbine-inspired style carried through to the center console design of the interior, that had bronze-colored leather upholstery, deep-pile bronze carpet, and brushed aluminum accents. along with leather-upholstered bucket seats for front and rear passengers, and whitewall tires.

The dashboard was dominated by three large gauges: a speedometer, a tachometer, and pyrometer, which monitored the temperature of the turbine inlet (the engine’s hottest component). The dials appeared mostly standard, although the tachometer and pyrometer displayed abnormally high readings compared to piston-engine cars – 46,000 RPM and 1,700 °F. In a strange twist, all 55 turbine cars had identical ignition keys.

While the program was successful, the cost to produce turbine engines was never competitive with the existing piston engine, so the idea slowly faded away.

Historical Notes
To address quality and reliability concerns, Chrysler in 1963 introduced a five-year/50,000-mile warranty, a business practice that was unheard of by its competitors in the 1960s.

1963 Chrysler Facts – Significant Options

• • Air conditioning, dual in Newport and Sport 300 ($612).
  • Air conditioning, includes heater ($150).
  • Auto pilot ($86).
  • Bucket seats, leather in 300 Sport four-door hardtop ($201).
  • Bucket seats, vinyl in 300 Sport four-door hardtop ($108).
  • Bucket seats, vinyl in New Yorker ($86).
  • Console in 300 Sport ($165).
  • Heater, Custom Condition Aire ($102).
  • Leather interior trim in 300 Sport hardtop and convertible ($93).
  • Outside remote control mirror, left side ($18).
  • Power antenna, except station wagons ($26).
  • Power bench seat ($101).
  • Power brakes in Newport and 300 Sport ($48) Standard 300J and New Yorker.
  • Power bucket seat, Left or right each ($93).
  • Power door locks in four-door ($56).
  • Power steering in Newport and 300 Sport ($108) Standard 300J and New Yorker.
  • Power windows ($108).
  • Radio, Golden Tone ($93).
  • Radio, Golden Touch Tune ($13).
  • Rear speaker ($17) N/A convertible and station wagon.
  • Rear window defogger ($21).
  • Seat belts, front ($24).
  • Tailgate assist handle ($17).
  • Tinted glass, all windows ($43).
  • Tinted windshield ($29).
  • Two-tone paint on station wagon ($20).
  • Undercoating ($18).