The 1957 Chrysler 300-C was one of the pinnacles of U.S. car design of the 1950s: the flagship of the “Forward Look,” a big, brash American supercar with serious performance to match its style and luxury. This particular car is also one of only a handful special-ordered in non-standard colors.
Formidable. Whether you’re talking about styling or performance, that’s the word that best captures the essence of the early Chrysler “Letter Series” cars, which began in 1955 with the C-300 and continued into the 1960s. The looks of this 1957 300-C commanded attention; its performance demanded respect.
The 300-C was heavier than the 1956 300-B, and its swoopy styling was less pleasing to the air than to the eye, but this was still a genuine supercar by 1950s standards. With the standard TorqueFlite automatic and 3.36 axle, a stock 300-C was capable of 0 to 60 in 7.7 seconds and a top speed of well over 140 mph. Tom McCahill of Mechanix Illustrated called it “the most hairy-chested, fire-eating land bomb ever conceived in Detroit.” A lighter dual-quad or fuelie Corvette was quicker, but lost out on the top end. Like I said, formidable.
In concept, the 300-C was essentially a Chrysler New Yorker hardtop coupe or convertible with unique trim, a considerably stiffer suspension, Goodyear Blue Streak racing-type tires, and a hotter version of the FirePower Hemi V-8 with an advertised 375 gross horsepower. TorqueFlite and power brakes were standard, and most cars were ordered with power steering, optional for about $108 extra.
In character, the 300-C wasn’t quite as hardcore as the original C-300 or the 1956 300-B, which had felt rather brutish — street-going road racers in expensive suits. The 300-C, which, like all 1957 Chrysler cars, had the new Torsion-Aire suspension, was still over 40 percent stiffer than a New Yorker, but to drivers familiar with its immediate predecessors, it felt like a bit of a cream puff.
No matter. In the words of writer Allan Girdler, who owned a 300-C for some years, “the handling was still two big jumps better than the normal sedan,” marred only by the numbness of the Chrysler full-time power steering and by the car’s sheer size. This was a full-size American luxury car, 219.2 inches long on a 126-inch wheelbase, so it wasn’t really at home on narrow winding roads, although it had plenty of cornering power.
There was also the matter of brakes. Chrysler tried: The 300-C had big 12-inch drums with about 20 percent more lining area than a contemporary Cadillac or Buick Roadmaster, and there was a functional scoop under each headlight ducting air to the front brakes. However, the brakes still had their limits. Joseph Lowrey of the British magazine The Motor found that they “simply disappeared for a ten-minute holiday” after slowing repeatedly from 0 to 70 mph acceleration runs.
Some European sports cars had adopted disc brakes by this time, but the 300-C was a half-ton heavier, and there were as yet no production ventilated discs that were up to the task. Chrysler might also have benefited from sticking with 15-inch wheels to allow more air circulation around the brakes, but wider 14-inch wheels with lower-pressure tires were part of the Torsion-Aire concept, so that’s what the 300-C got.
The vaunted FirePower V-8 engine was now 392 cid (6,425 cc). In the 300-C, it had dual four-barrel carburetors (each with its own mushroom-shaped gold air cleaner), a “full race” camshaft with mechanical lifters, a new lower intake manifold, double valve springs, a heavy-duty crankshaft, Trimetal bearings, and a “Silent-Flite” variable-ratio cooling fan that cut out at engine speeds over 2,500 rpm. A hotter 390 hp high-compression version was available as part of a $550 “Optional Chassis Package” for racers (which also included a 3-speed manual transmission), but only 18 cars were built with it.
Dual exhausts were standard, and 300-C hardtops could have an optional low-back-pressure system with bigger (2.50- versus 2.25-inch) pipes. The latter was standard with the 390 hp engine.
Only one interior combination was offered on the 1957 300-C: natural tan leather with black carpets and dashboard pad.
You got a full set of gauges and a clock, although some contemporary testers would have appreciated a tachometer, since the TorqueFlite transmission offered a fair measure of manual control once you got the hang of the pushbutons.
On the outside, the 300-C was the purest expression of Chrysler’s dramatic new “Flight-Sweep” 1957 styling, the latest iteration of what Chrysler ad writers had dubbed “the Forward Look.” Although it was based on the New Yorker body shell, the 300-C actually had a good deal less brightwork than the New Yorker, achieving its show-stopping visual impact through bold shapes rather than chrome frosting and gewgaws.
Earlier, I mentioned this car is a nonstandard color. Chrysler press materials and brochures indicated that the 1957 300-C was offered only in five colors: Gauguin Red, Parade Green, Copper Brown, Jet Black, and Cloud White. (The latter was by far the most popular; 61.5 percent of production was white.) However, you could get other colors by special order, and production records obtained by the Chrysler 300 Club reveal that 40 cars were so ordered.
Only five of those 40 cars were ordered in Champagne Gold (code T), a 1957 Chrysler color not normally offered on the 300-C. Four of those cars were hardtops and one was a convertible that no longer survives, which is why this car’s license plates proclaim it “1 of 4.” Any 300-C was rare — 1957 production totaled only 1,767 hardtops and 484 convertibles — and this color made it unusual as well.
This particular car was formerly part of the McCandless Collection in Burlington, North Carolina, founded by Mike McCandless, son of ’60s drag racer Herb McCandless, to celebrate the Chrysler Forward Look era. The 300-C was still a driver, retrofitted with an alternator, an electric fuel pump, and a dual USB charger outlet under the radio. McCandless sold the car on Bring a Trailer in April 2023, fetching $55,000. The rest of the collection, which includes clocks, signs, and other automobilia as well as other Forward Look cars, can be visited by appointment. See the McCandless website for details.
Related Reading
Vintage Sports Cars Illustrated Review: 1957 Chrysler 300C – The Duesenberg SJ of the 1950s (by Paul N)
CC For Sale: 1957 Chrysler Windsor Hardtop – Peak Forward Look? (by Stephen Pellegrino)
Curbside Classic: 1957 Chrysler New Yorker–Clara And The New Yorker That Never Was (by Laurence Jones)
Concept Classic: The 1957 Chrysler 300 Almost Did End Up Looking Like That Wild Styling Clay (by Paul N)
CC Tech: Riding On Torsion-Aire – Chrysler’s Famous 1957 Torsion Bar Suspension (by me)
How can such a ugly car be so beautiful? I don’t get it’s appeal to me.
It has the dual headlights in 1957. Weren’t the extra headlights parking lights or some such that year as they weren’t street legal yet?
Only for states that didn’t permit quad headlights in 1957.
Pete the 300-C was available with only two headlamps for those states, but no ‘inner’ high beam or parking light was in the housing. (Parking lights were at lower corners of front bumper.) I was told after 1/1/57 all 300C’s had quad headlamps but how true that is I’m unsure.
Among many styling features that I would have changed on these include, moving the rear view mirror to the roof where it belongs, and making the front bumper flat all the way across, running below the bottom of the grille. It would give it less of a smiling robot face. I do love the instrument panel with all its binnacles, but would have converted the gear shift to a lever not push buttons.
Suddenly it’s 1960.
Yes. The rear looks so good, but that front end could look so much better.
Wow. Unburdened by excessive brightwork and Detroit clutter, this car looks great. The custom color works well, too.
I’m more of a fan of the 55s and 56s, but as an overall cohesive package that includes the TorqueFlite, torsion bars and wound up FirePower this car is killer and tough to beat.
I wonder if it could pull my similarly fantasy Baby Gar? Oh heck. I’m not putting a hitch on this. I’ll buy an appropriate rig…
Pulling a Baby Gar might be a little much and stopping it with those brakes would be a challenge. It would sure make a nice picture though! Maybe a 331/354 Hemi powered Chris Craft 21′ Cobra or a Century Coronado might be a better match.
The BG was offered in 28′ and 33′ I think. Either is as you said a little much. I can’t shake the impressive visuals, but the Chris Craft would look great. Stuffed with a firedome makes it all the better. Excellent suggestion!
FWIW, Allan Girdler (quoted in the text) used his 300-C as a tow car and said it did very well as one.
I’ve never been a fan of Chrysler products. But, wow – this car is strikingly beautiful, with great engineering and performance (for the period) to match.
It’s sad to see how far Chrysler has sunk in recent years,
That is one sweet car! What a beautiful automobile !
Oh yes!
An electric oil pump? I could see adding an electric fuel pump.
Oops! I’m not sure how I managed to do that, but it’s fixed now.
This is one of those car colors that seemed to have about a 5 year attempt at popularity. I have seen a number of 56 Studebakers in a similar nonmetallic yellowish gold (or goldish yellow). Then I recall that a similar color was available (though not very popular) on 61 Thunderbirds. It is not a favorite color of mine, but it is fascinating to contemplate a familiar car’s lines when it is painted an uncommon color.
Ford had a Inca Gold, they all had something similar but to me they are shades of yellow. True gold needs to be metallic.
Interested in the other 40 cars and their colors. I like this one here. I think the first time I ever saw one was in a magazine retrospective in the early 70s.
Allan Girdler was an excellent motorcycle journalist and author.
It reminds me of my 1972 Maverick LDO in Medium Yellow Gold. Ford had a run with similar colors in the 1970’s.
One of the great and timeless US classics. Still regret not finishing my Cloud White 300C convertible before trading it away in the mid ’80s. Rare but the ’58 DeSoto Adventurer convert I sought was 4 times rarer. Found a black ’59, but never a ’58, sadly.
“making the front bumper flat all the way across, running below the bottom of the grille. It would give it less of a smiling robot face”
Anthropomorphizing here, grills that are wider at the bottom generally have a distorted, disgusted, disinterested affect. Not pretty.
What a bomber of a car.
The AC Ace and various Ferrari’s had the fishmouth front grille prior to this 300.
What a splendid beast =8-) .
i remember some fast and eye opening rides in early Forward Look MoPars, one like this must be a real hoot .
-Nate
What a car! That grille would not be out of place on some recent BMWs, Mercedes, & Toyotas, but I prefer it on the Chrysler.
I think 15″ wheels would have given a more substantial look as well as helping with the brakes, they could have used ventilated wheel covers as well.
This must have been NUTS in 1957 when half the cars on the road were six cylinder/3 on the tree. I had a 1995 Cadillac Fleetwood with 260 net hp, similar performance to this barge. But only after you reprogrammed the ECU would you unlock the 140mph top speed in that car.
Also that yellow is um interesting. Looks like what Dick Tracy would have picked out. I would have gone for navy since you were forced into that brown leather interior. A fun aqua or turquoise would clash with that interior
I think the ’60 (300F) was the prettiest of the letter series. 1960 was the only year thar the entire Chysler lineup had that distinctive grill. I think ’60 was the year that the the Hemi was replaced by the 413 wedge.
1958 was the last year for the 1st gen hemi.
And, yeah, the 1960 Chryslers were the best looking of the ‘Forward Look’ cars.