1958 Chrysler 300D

The Chrysler 300 wore cutting-edge Virgil Exner's 'Forward Look' styling and was endowed with luxury and performance. The 392 'Hemi' engine breathed through two four-barrel carburetors helping to deliver 380 horsepower. When introduced in 1955, the 300 series was the most powerful automobile on the market. The Chrysler Letter Cars continued the following year, in 1956, with the 300B available with two high-performance Hemi engines, delivering between 340 and 355 horsepower. Transmission options included an automatic or standard shift. The push-button control for the PowerFlite cars was located on the left side of the dashboard. Examples produced later in the year used a TorqueFlite transmission.

The 1957 Chrysler 300C was once again the fastest and most powerful automobile in the country, with the Hemi engine now delivering 375 horsepower at 5,200 RPM. A convertible body style joined the 2-door hardtop and prices began at $4,900, an increase of approximately $700 over the previous year.

The 1958 model year version was known as the 300D. It was similar to the 300C but with minor aesthetic changes. These included red finished hubcaps, a 'D' letter replaced the 'C', and the windshield on hardtop bodies were now the same domed styles found on the convertible. The hardtop had a base price of $5,175 while the convertible listed for $5,600. 618 examples of the hardtop and 191 convertibles were built in 1958. The overhead-valve engine with hemispherical combustion chambers displaced 392 cubic inches and delivered 380 horsepower at 5,200 RPM. A few engines were equipped with an electronic fuel injection system called the Bendix Electrojector, with most later being recalled and refitted with the conventional carburetor setup.

The 300D engine had a similar appearance to the FirePower engine found in the Chrysler New Yorker and Imperial but with dual carburetors, a modified intake and exhaust manifold and air cleaners, and a camshaft with both longer duration and higher lift than on the standard engine.

Standard equipment included the Torquelite transmission, power-assisted hydraulic drum brakes, independent front suspension with torsion bars, live rear axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs, six-way power front seats, power steering, power windows, and an Electro-Touch Tuner AM radio. They had a padded dash, plush seating, and a two-tone steering wheel. On the outside were dual chrome mirrors, rear quarter side spears with integral '300D' emblems, turned-down exhaust, and a set of chrome wire wheels and whitewall tires.

The Hemi engine was powerful but it was also expensive to produce, and due to the low production numbers, 1959 would be the final year that the company offered its Hemi in a full-size Chrysler; it was followed by the 300E, which only came equipped with the less expensive 413 cubic inch wedge head V-8 engine.

In 1958, a 300D was driven to 156.387 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2020