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I've seen countless times how the 1955 Chrysler 300, the first postwar car to boast 300 hp, was such a powerhouse in the day. It ruled Nascar, moonshiners loved them and etc etc etc. They were screaming fast luxury cars; expensive, exclusive gentleman's hot rod.
So I thought I'd look to the archives and see how they were originally perceived, before the varnish of time added to their glory and legend.
Turns out, I found a nice article from 1955 in Popular Science. And wow, what an amazing car. For the 1955 audience. Not for what we're used to though. Let me copy a few lines from the article:
'The car seems well-behaved, even docile. The automatic drive takes hold smoothly. Engine noise is low.
The 300 digs in
Then the roof falls in on you. The engine roars. You are plastered against the seat. If you have passengers aboard, their heads snap back. Fleetingly, you get the impression that you are blasting off in one of those TV spaceships.'
Sounds pretty impressive, until you find out that he's describing a 9.9 second 0-60 run. And what did the author think of this 9.9 second time?
'That's fast. It's impressive in an automobile weighing more than two tons and equipped with a torque-convertor drive.'
I wonder what a modern 300 would have done to that writer's head?
Here's the whole magazine if you want to take a little peek:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=WyY...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
So I thought I'd look to the archives and see how they were originally perceived, before the varnish of time added to their glory and legend.
Turns out, I found a nice article from 1955 in Popular Science. And wow, what an amazing car. For the 1955 audience. Not for what we're used to though. Let me copy a few lines from the article:
'The car seems well-behaved, even docile. The automatic drive takes hold smoothly. Engine noise is low.
The 300 digs in
Then the roof falls in on you. The engine roars. You are plastered against the seat. If you have passengers aboard, their heads snap back. Fleetingly, you get the impression that you are blasting off in one of those TV spaceships.'
Sounds pretty impressive, until you find out that he's describing a 9.9 second 0-60 run. And what did the author think of this 9.9 second time?
'That's fast. It's impressive in an automobile weighing more than two tons and equipped with a torque-convertor drive.'
I wonder what a modern 300 would have done to that writer's head?
Here's the whole magazine if you want to take a little peek:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=WyY...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false