1955-1965 Chrysler 300 Letter Series
Building the First Muscle Car Platform
The Chrysler Letter Series were specifically deigned and marketed as performance vehicles. This was the first post WWII effort to build a car directly oriented toward the performance enthusiast.
It was the first “Muscle Car”.
Check out this companion article by Martyn Schorr: “CHRYSLER 300: LETTER SERIES SUPERCARS – Car Guy Chronicles“
Did You Know that Chrysler “Invented” the Muscle Car?
The idea of a car that was designed around, built – and marketed as a true performance car was initiated in 1955, during what is now known as the “Horsepower Wars” – by Chrysler Corporation with the first Chrysler 300. Most significantly, which was later imprinted in our minds by Pontiac , with the 1964 GTO, Chrysler marketed the car purely as a performance car.
Prior to that, many makers touted the horsepower of their particular engine, but little else. The Chrysler 300 – and all the letter series cars were designed and marketed to grasp the buyer who wanted power, performance, and handling that few others could touch.
Why don’t you sit back and take a tour through our Chrysler Fact Sheets and see how far above their competition these cars were – SEE https://over-drive-magazine.com/category/fact-sheets/fs-chrysler/
The biggest clue to Chrysler’s marketing of a specific car for the performance enthusiast was that they created a specific brochure for each letter series car from 1955-1963. With the launch of the Pontiac GTO, Chrysler moved their focus to their own mid-sized muscle cars – at Dodge and Plymouth. To catch the real excitement of Chrysler’s marketing of the 300 Letter Series – Check Out These Chrysler 300 Specific Brochures!
1955 300 – https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/1955-C-300-FO-Brochure-1-4.pdf
1956 300B – https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1956-Chrysler-300B-Brochure-1-4C.pdf
1957 300C – https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1957-Chrysler-300C-Brochure-1-4C.pdf
1958 300D – https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1958-Chrysler-300D-Brochure-1-8C.pdf
1959 300E – https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/1959-Chrysler-300E-Brochure-1-8C.pdf
1960 300F – https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1960-Chrysler-300F-Brochure-1-12.pdf
1961 300G – https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/1961-Chrysler-300G-Brochure-1-12C.pdf
1962 300H – https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1962-Chrysler-300H-FO-Brochure-1-6.pdf
1963 300J – https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1963-Chrysler-300-J-Brochure-1-8.pdf
If you are interested in performance cars – check them out!