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Location: North Australia | Cool car. Looking at the brake pedal rubber the odo has clocked over! Steve.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-Chrysler-300-Series-Convertible/123650... |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
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Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | This is a very rare car - only 140 were built, 131 for domestic sales and 9 for export. |
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Location: Northen Virginia | This car is a lesson for the guys looking for rusted hulks with the hope of get 6 figures after restoration. Keep hopping.. |
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Location: The Mile High City | For an E convertible, the rarest of the finned letter cars (second rarest letter car to the H convertible - unless you count the one convertible Hurst), $130 seems pretty reasonalbe.
Edited by Lancer Mike 2019-02-18 4:11 PM
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Posts: 2002
Location: Branson, MO | Notice the 300E uses the front fenders from the 57/58 year models. |
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Posts: 1886
| Lancer Mike - 2019-02-18 4:01 PM
For an E convertible, the rarest of the finned letter cars (second rarest letter car to the H convertible - unless you count the one convertible Hurst), $130 seems pretty reasonalbe.
I disagree. It's a car that is going to need a redo at some point sooner rather than later. If body work is coming out, it's not going to stop. You'd have a significant amount into that redo. I think this is an 80-90k car. |
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Location: The Mile High City | Point well taken. I guess if you have always wanted a 300E convertible, this is a rare opportunity - at nearly any price. If you have no emotional attachment to the particular car (that $$$ will get you as good or better 300Cs), it may be too much. |
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Expert 5K+
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Location: So. Cal | The '59 Chrysler backend does look better in convertible form. Could be a top notch car. |
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Location: North Australia | I think it's a top notch car now, but that's just me! Steve |
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Posts: 1886
| It is a really nice car. Once you get to 6 figures, there is restoration expectation. Only a few forward look cars can get into that area of value. Do I think it's possible that it sells for close to 130, sure. If you find the right buyer who has always wanted one, doesn't want a fully restored model and wants it right now. People who can spend 100k+ on a car, don't want projects, unless those projects are going to net some sort of return or limited loss. |
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Location: Lower Mainland BC | Just a question/observation:
It seems like they installed the steering wheel upside down. I always thought that the lighter part of the wheel was at the top (because it would not heat up in the sun as much as the darker part (think the CHP police car steering wheel requirements). So there is that and the fact that typically the hand grips are typically supposed to be at 10 and 2 (think driver training) not 8 and 4 like this car.
The horn ring seems to be in the correct position (???)
Other than that, nice car. Very surprised that the engine doesn't have cross-rams for the 2 x 4 bbls.
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Location: Eastern Iowa | I would be surprised if it did have, as they are not correct for the E. |
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Location: So. Cal | 56D500boy - 2019-02-21 9:12 AM
It seems like they installed the steering wheel upside down. I always thought that the lighter part of the wheel was at the top (because it would not heat up in the sun as much as the darker part (think the CHP police car steering wheel requirements). So there is that and the fact that typically the hand grips are typically supposed to be at 10 and 2 (think driver training) not 8 and 4 like this car.
:)
Dave, you are just not familiar with the '58-'59 Chrysler. The '57 models did have the lighter color on top as you expected, but they reversed it for 1958 and kept it that way in '59. What you see on this car is correct. |
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Location: Northen Virginia | this car lack of the 392, so it should always worth less in my opinion. Rare not always mean more expensive, rare in my dictionary mean "good luck finding parts for it" |
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Location: Eastern Iowa | I was referring to the engine comp't and the 413
Edited by finsruskw 2019-02-21 6:06 PM
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Location: NY & VT | 300E may lack the 392, but the B wedge 413 was a superior engine in every way except looks. There's a reason why, in basic form, it lasted for decades. The E was faster AND more durable than the '58 300D,.. a win-win. |
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Location: Houston | The 413 is hard to argue as a 'superior' engine. Less costly to produce, yes. As an RB engine, there is no question as to its standing as a good engine, a great engine even. But a lot of that came later with the bigger inch RB and lower deck 'B' engines. The late 50's/early 60's 413 - in stock form - was not the barn burner that a 3-2 440 was.
The early Hemi is a very tough engine to consider inferior. There are a lot of people who would consider it much more of a 'hand built' type engine; the sort of product that died off because of cost/size/weight and not because of inherent worth. I'll say this - I've never seen an RB run as smooth as a 392. That extra iron and generally understressed internals create an engine that has very good manners. And I routinely see guys digging up 60 year old 392's that still run well. Durability is not an issue.
The problem with 'faster' is that it's a pursuit that pretty quickly falls out of bed when it comes to big cars like a 300. After all, if faster is the yardstick then we should just roll out a plain 340 Dart. |
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Expert 5K+
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Location: So. Cal | You might expect that the 300E would kill the 300C with reduced engine weight and more cubic inches, but that just wasn't the case. The fact is, the 300E wasn't faster than the 300C. The weight/HP ratio for both cars were both at 11.29 lbs/hp, a dead heat. Whereas, give the 300C better breathing exhaust and higher compression like the 300E had, and its weight/HP ratio reduces to 10.86. The 392 hemi was and is a formidable motor. It's not by chance that the 392 continued to dominate the drag circuit up until the 426 became more readily available. But I agree that the big block wedge is a great design too, especially in the bottom end. And with modern head port design techniques, the wedge motor has the ability to out-perform the old hemi.
I have noticed how smooth the 392 runs as well. I think that is attributed to it's extra-long rod length and thick cylinder walls. At least, I can't figure out why else it would behave as it does. Maybe the centrally located combustion plays a roll too? |
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Location: Northen Virginia | With a few modifications the 392 will kill any 413. As said above the 392 was a long drag racers favorite for a long time, which took a toll in the amount of 392 available today. It is also no coincidence that Chrysler revived the 392 almost 60 years after it was originally build.
Like or not to the 413 owners, the 392 is the king of the V8 Chrysler engines except for the 426. |
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Location: Parts Unknown | On looks alone, the 59 Chrysler/DeSoto rear bumper adds 900lbs of
visual drag to the car.
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Location: The Mile High City | should the engine block be painted black?
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
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Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | Yes, satin black. |
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Location: Upplands Väsby, Sweden | Doctor DeSoto - 2019-02-22 11:41 PM
On looks alone, the 59 Chrysler/DeSoto rear bumper adds 900lbs of
visual drag to the car.
Firstly, I think the bumper of 59 Chrysler is good looking and the weight is good for bringing down the abnormal power from the 413 engine |
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