I purchased this Persian White 1964 Chrysler 300K ram induction coupe in April of 2024. The seller got it the previous winter and was going to do a simple recommissioning of the car and just drive it. I first saw the car when he offered to give away the wheel covers from it and I picked them up for a friend. By January of 2024, he had taken the car apart and then wanted to sell it. I tried to find a buyer for it at that time but nobody stepped up. He contacted me in April to tell me that he was going to part the car out, but was keeping many of the parts, mainly the drivetrain, for another project. I had a couple of car friends visiting from Australia at the time and one of them owns two 1964 Chrysler 300Ks, so we arranged to go and see what he could get for his cars. My friend bought much of the excellent original interior chrome trim and other parts. I asked the owner what was going on with the rest of the car and he said he had somebody that wanted to buy the floors out of it. I told him I would try and find someone to buy the whole remainder of the car so it wouldn't get cut up, not knowing what he wanted for it. When I finally got a price out of him, it was so low, I had to buy it myself. I got the body and most of the interior. Parts missing from the car included the complete drivetrain, front suspension, rear axle, driveshaft, radiator, wiring, heater box, inner fenders (ram only), power window regulators and motors, and the rear power antenna.
The car did not have its original transmission or rear axle and also had a disc brake conversion on it. The ram induction cars use a remote brake booster and that was not on the car per the last two owners. The car had its original engine, which had been rebuilt by a previous owner, the ram intakes and air cleaners had been modified for larger carburetors, but a previous owner had sourced the correct ram carburetors. The ram cast iron headers were there and in good shape. In order to get the car home, we had to install a rear axle in the car, install the front subframe and other front end parts and then support the front on casters to load it on the trailer. Since buying the car, I've gotten the inner fenders back, minus the access panels, the original engine and exhaust manifolds. I've also bought a complete ram intake setup with carburetors along with the 1965 transmission that was with the car but has now been rebuilt along with new shift cables. Later on I was able to buy back the wiring, power window parts, heater box and various other small parts. Still no fenderwell access panels or torsion bars.
My plans for the car are to collect the missing parts, including many trim and drivetrain parts. I'll have the seats and door panels redone and install new carpet and headliner and get the car back on the road. Other projects are ahead of this one though. I did buy a 1963 Chrysler 300 sport coupe for parts if needed.
The car was sold new at Danny McGroo Incorporated, Chrysler Plymouth in Culver City, CA, and shipped from the factory on February 7th, 1964. I don't know who the original owner was, but it was owned by a 300 Club member in Arizona for about 10 years. He had health problems and his son, who I've spoken to, sold his father's cars and parts before his father passed away in 2013. He had sold the collection to a buyer in Kingman, AZ. In 2017, the next owner bought it and had the engine rebuilt by Dale Reed soon after. In 2023, he traded the car to the guy I got it from.
There were 3647 300Ks for the 1964 model year. Of those, only about 346 were equipped with the Firepower 390 ram induction engine option. The standard 300K engine is the Firepower 360, with single 4-bbl carburetor. The Firepower 390 package included the 390 horsepower 413 cubic inch engine with ram induction manifolds and dual Carter 3505s carburetors. The suspension had special extra heavy duty torsion bars and rear leaf springs as well as larger rear brakes, wheels and tires. Because of the ram induction manifolds, a remote brake booster had to be used and it was installed in the left inner fender area.
The story will continue...
