Was The 1955 Chrysler C-300 The First Muscle Car?
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- Опубліковано 20 січ 2022
- There's no doubt that the 1955 Chrysler C-300 was the super car of its era however was it the first American Muscle Car? Watch this video to find out.
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We still have the old family car, a 1955 Chrysler Crown Imperial. Same grill, same 331 Hemi, but with only one 4-bbl. It has that great Chrysler air conditioner behind the back seat. Power everything. A truly luxurious car that feels like a tank when you drive it.
Thanks, wow: what a wonderful Car :1955 IMPERIAL !! Anyways, tell,us more: ?. Miles, maintenance, special stuff…
@@opera93 Mileage unknown. My uncle bought the car when it was app. 18 months old, and when he died my aunt sold it to us and the odometer wasn't working then. We drove it on vacations a few times and it was my mom's around town drive for years, so it has plenty of miles. The only modification is a Frantz oil filter that was put in early in its life. It is white over a light blue and has always been garaged. It needs some TLC, especially the wiring, as it is cloth and is deteriorating.
The 300 C also had a different hotter cam and solid lifters (not hydraulic) in it's 331 Hemi, that other Chryslers didn't.
I like vehicles that ride like a tank. The younger generation apparently does not. I like the heavy feel of the road below me.
One car that gets overlooked a lot is the Hudson Hornet. They had a straight six that made diesel like torque and could cleanly put away a lot of cars with V-8s. Hotrodders loved those things.
Another overlooked and possibly the first car to break the 400 horse power mark was the 1958 Mercury Monterey with the 430 Super Marauder with the 3 Deuces that weighed around 3900 lbs which was a bit lighter than the 300. Still a pretty cool car back in the day...
Indeed, the Hudson 'Super Hornet' was the first mass production post war car to 'break the ton', averaging over 100 mph both directions in timed trials in 1950. 'Twin H-Power', it was every teen age boy's dream. A fast Ford or Buick 'police interceptor' could touch 95 with a tailwind, GM had nothing that could top 90.
---Old timer.
I'm a Hudson Hornet fan, don't know where I'd park it but would love to have one.
My grandpa (RIP) had one in the 50's. It would run like the wind.
Yes, a big flathead 6 with dual carbs, like around 308 Cubic inches . Hot stock car for cornering also.
I maintained a c300 for a customer for about 25 years
I would agree this was a muscle car first and a luxury car second
It was clean and smooth and a one of a kind car
The 1955-56 Mopars had classic styling - very crisp, and almost continental in flavour...especially these Chryslers. In the context of the previous two generations of Mopar design at that time it looks timeless...even the Plaza looked expensive!
Virgil Exner’s forward look. The smart car!
@@midnightryder611 I was just about to mention him
The 300 was underrated big ..had a neighbor that had one back in the 60's it was a off white color not a dent in it anywhere..he kept it clean and it had that sound of power..wish i could've bought it from him eventhough i was too young to drive..still would have loved it as a first car..this channel is the greatest..Cheers y'all 🍺🍺🍺🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
maybe the first muscle car would be the 1932 ford with a flathead v8 ???..most cars back then were powered by a flathead 4 or 6 cylinder...yet the 32 ford was light weight and had v8 power for the common man
One of the 1st oldies I fell in love with.
What a beauty - would love to see one next to a ‘55 Studebaker Hawk!
In Red with those whitewalls and wire wheels that must have been stunning!
Nice piece thanks!
The '55 C-300 was a very classy car indeed, with the power to boot! I Miss my uncle's 1959 Chrysler 300-E , it was a fun and fast car while he had it!
don't discount the '55 Buick Century with the 322 Nailhead V8 and Triple Turbine Dynaflow. When you stepped on the gas, that car knew what to do.
@@adotintheshark4848 It was twin turbine Dynaflow (you could switch the pitch in the ads by flooring it off the line ) and from 0 to 60 only the Chrysler 300 came close at 9.9, to the Buick Century at 9.8, so about the same from 0 to 60, but for top speed the 1955 Chrysler 300 at a true 128 MPH was the fastest American car in 1955, however the Buick Century was a stock V8, used in the bigger Roadmaster model engine , but Chrysler 300's used a built up version of their 331 Hemi V8 with solid lifters, a different cam, two 4 barrel Carbs and dual exhausts, Buick went to factory duals later in 1956, I've had both a 54' and a 55' Buick, bought in late 1959 and in the early 1960's, start out in low and shift to drive, it would but rubber easily, so did a 55 Olds I had one with Hydra Matic, off the line it was very fast, but a 55 Century from 0 to 60 was slightly faster at 9.8, the Olds super 88 was just over 10 seconds in 1955.
@@shicoff1398 I wasn't saying the Buick was the fastest. I was only saying it certainly wouldn't embarrass itself. And I'm pretty sure it used a triple-turbine Dynaflow. The lesser models got the twin-turbine.
1953 to1956 Buick's got had twin turbine Dynaflow introduced in the 1953 but got as the ads said
"switch the pitch" by flooring it for a faster pick up, that was as big 1955 Buick ad slogan (I still have some original ads) talking about Dynaflow, you can look up in old Buick ad from back then, I had a 1954 Super nail head 322 V8, I had later in the late 1950's , that was our family car, originally bought new in 1954, I learned to drive on it, the 1953' and 1954's where advertised as "twin turbine Dynaflow", also starting in 1955 and 56 they used the switch the pitch ability, when you floored it the car roared off the line like it was in a very low gear, even in drive. They all used the that Dynaflow but the old 1953' Special model, that was the plain jane lower priced one, that one still had as the last year the old straight eight. My parents had new Buicks in the 1940's and 50's and I drove them all the time as a teenager, I'm now in my 80's and remember them new, and the ads very well, I still have some ads I saved, plus I owned a 1954 Super in 1959 and and a 1956 Special in the 1960's, both with the Dynaflow, but maybe triple turbine was mentioned later, when I wasn't as much Buick fan and so I had Mopars and Fords, but in the old 1954-56 Dynaflow's,
the 1954-56 models, I'm very familiar with..
Oh I'm not my friend, those early nailhead Buicks and rocket Oldsmobile's could fly pretty dang well too! I'm a Mopar guy to the core, but I definitely respect all kinds of classic American muscle!
My dad had a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker that was pink and had a white top but pretty much the same styling. I was with him when he got pulled over for speeding. Don 't worry dad, I never told mom. I still have a picture of me washing the whitewalls on that car. It was (is) a beautiful car.
it is a perfect car, beautiful design and vigorous motorization. what machine!
One of the best channels on UA-cam .
That’s a beauty. Cars had so much class and style back then.
Ohhh so beautiful, I love the 300 into the big classy 70s....I had a 56 New Yorker with the big Hemi....but only a one lunger,....was awesome to drive, all the power options,..very solid....couldnt even hear rumble strips if you ran over them.....wish I could have kept that.....
Love your channel man. I'm 42 but I find myself dreaming about the cars a lot the older guys I know about had as teens.
Beautiful car
There were numerous cars that can easily be considered muscle cars built before 1964. This Mopar legend was Chrysler's answer to Oldsmobile's Rocket 88.
Before 1964, look at the attitude of the Impala 409, Galaxie 500 427, Catalina 421, Polara 426, and supercharged Studebaker Larks.
I’d say the lark is the closest thing to a pre got muscle car. Light car with the big engine is the distinction between the gto and all the others that came before it.
Thanks, yes.. great cars! interestingly, we heard about these CHRYSLERS EARLY on I. The 1960s::: especially around Indiana ( INDY500 PACe Cars, etc), and: I was surprised by a real low**(pristine?) miles Florida Car : 1956**FORD Fairlane *4DOOR/*TBIRD ENGine/auto/, THAT I bought in 1965: extreme solid and “ fast”…….Unfortunately, totalled in wreck in few months later…Disclosure, I had been driving *a 1954 FIRD /V8/2DOOR/3 speed/ customized (fairly well )with *57:289: ENGINE/4 BBL / DUAL EXHAUSTS(;unfortunately probably, still 1954 Brakes, mostly suspensions; though 15 IN TIRES front/14;in Rears……..).
@@theeoddments960 1954 Buick again used the old Buick Century model that they had in the mid 1930's and early 1940's, it was their a big Roadmaster 322 Cubic inch V8 Nail head engine at 200 HP put into the smaller lower priced Buick special, so it was a factory hot performance car for 1954 and was from 0 to 60 fastest in 1954 for the time, Olds also did a similar thing, they had a super 88 with the 324 V8 Rocket 185 HP 4 barrel big series model 98 324 cubic engine in the smaller 88 Olds body, so the super 88, but the Buick Century was slightly faster from 0 to 60 with 200 HP and the same basic body and weight as the Olds super 88, for top speed you had Chrysler and Caddy, both really very fast for 1954
Actually, look at all the 300's from 55 on up. They blew away the competition, year after years, with cars that featured the 392 cross ram hemi, with short reach (drag race) and long reach (highway/road car), and then the ram induction 413 wedge motor. Chrysler was building 300's that produced 390 hp, and 405 hp in 62 and 63.
In 1958, The 300's top speed was 156 mph out of the 392 hemi. The last real high performance 300's were produced in 64 *short and long reach ram induction was still an option) or 66 (ho 440 with no a/c, dual exhaust option cars, were still keeping pace until all the trim was added in 67).
During the early 60's, Ford had enough! their one and only, true big block race engine, 427, was dropped into Galaxies to compete. By that time, in 63-64, Chrysler had taken their lessons learned in the 300 program to Dodge and Plymouth.... Thus the 426 project was born. If you look at the history, all of this occurred due to Exner's departure.
I take great issue with anyone who claims the GTO was the first muscle care. All you have to do is look at Dodge wedge 426 Polara, a midsize care with a big block engine, dual carbs, in 1964. Chrysler already did it and did it with 415 hp compared to the GTO's 350. If anything the GTO was a reaction to what Chrysler had done all along.
Muscle cars are considered to be the intermediate sized vehicles with big block engines, not the full sized cars you've mentioned.
A couple items.
1. Articles I've read from back in the day said the 'C' in the C300 stood for Cunningham as the racer, Briggs Cunningham used the 1st-gen hemi in his race cars.
2. As the presenter listed the engine's performance parts, he forgot to didn't the dual-point distributor with the special advance curve.
3. He also failed to mention that the dual carb, solid lift cam version of the 354 c.i.d. Hemi in the 300 (1956) was the first American car to produce more than 1 hp per cubic inch (355 hp) naturally aspirated.
4. It was also the first American Car to use the checkered racing flag in its logo.
1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was the first muscle car (the definition of which is a powerful engine from a full size car put into a smaller chassis).
For the mid 1950's the muscle car was the Rambler Rebel.
1936 Buick Century
@@andyleibrook6012 Good example I wasn't aware of!
That Rebel was second only to the solid-lifter Fueli Corvette. NOTHING else could beat it.
Studebaker Hawks (56, 57, 58) were considerably more powerful, and way way faster than any American made car until 1963
A very pretty car - but it cost the same amount as a house in that era - the same price as a brand new 1968 Dodge Dart GTS 383 4 spd :)
In 1961 a new Lincoln Continental cost $10,000, that was the same amount as a new Rolls-Royce at the time.
@@dukecraig2402 crazy to put in perspective
It was expensive but bare in mind that houses were much more affordable in the 50s:) So don't look for excuses... You shoud have bought this magnificent automobile at a time :)
Speaking of.....a buddy of mine bought a new 68Dart, 3404bbl, 4-speed....Supremely fast!..that 340 must have been underrated in the hp department!.
Certainly not a car that many people talk about. From that era, we always hear about the 1955-1957 Chevy Bel Air, or even the 1958 Plymouth Fury (Christine). The 1955 Chrysler C-300 was a great blend of luxury and performance. It's too bad they didn't continue with this type of car. It really was a few years ahead of its time.
They kept it through 65, but the 64 and 65 were watered down compared to the 55 - 63 models.
55 Chrysler imperial grandparents bought it brand new dad restored it in the '80s still around I love that car.
Beautiful car. Clean, like an Italian car of the period.
A good argument can be made that the late 30s early 40s Buick Century was the first production muscle car. It combined the Series 60 mid-sized body with the Series 90 larger engine.
Buicks mid-size model was still bigger and more expensive than the standard sized cars most people drove. I vote for the 1934 Hudson Terraplane 8, a standard sized car, with the straight 8 from the large Hudsons. A very fast car for it's day, and affordable, like a Chevy, or Plymouth.
You have that right!!! And, Buick offered a dual carb intake manifold, that is worth more than gold, if you can find one. The forerunner of what was to come if WWII hadn't come along. However, the hemi head, ram induction, and so many innovations wouldn't have occurred without WWII and auto makers innovating for the war machine. Fun fact: the hemi head and cross ram induction were developed by Chrysler's aviation R&D team, all things we'd see introduced into the 300 and trickle down to Dodge and Plymouth. The hemi head was originally designed as a 16 cylinder fighter plane engine. The cross ram manifold was designed to hold maximum efficiency at specific RPM. As a result, the long reach manifolds introduced on the mid 50's 392 hemi were designed for maximum power under load: driving between 45-70 mph and accelerating to passing. The rare short reach ram was strictly for drag applications and very few "bankers" were interested in that and/or hotrodders couldn't afford a new 300. Kind of sad but back in the day, the factory hotrods were the upper end cars.
In the 1960s that would be the Buick Wildcat. Lesabre with the 455 from the Electra.
I recall a spread on this car. Included was a warning sign on the passenger side, Do not lower windows in excess of 120 mph.
The 55 C-300 for me was the best of the mid nineteen fifties offerings from our domestic car manufacturers. Both it and the 1956 predate the excesses of the baroque styling era that ensued.
This car turned me onto 300 cars ! This is a genesis... Cheers from New Zealand 🇳🇿
My brother ordered a 1955 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe 2-door hardtop Hemi, white over black with a red interior. Absolutely beautiful!
I think there are many cars that were "muscle cars" long before the 64 gto. What about the Chevy impala ss 409, or the 413 wedge chryslers, olds had their rocket V8 with multiple carbs, ford had their 427 Fairlane thunderbolts, there were plenty of muscle cars long before 1964.
49 oldsmobile rocket 88
The GTO was the first "mid size" muscle car and made that type the most popular.
@@cj-fh4nx im pretty sure the thunderbolt was a mid size car. Wasnt it based on the fairlane? In the early 60s that was quite a bit smaller than it grew to be. There was also the chevy nova 396 in 64, it would have been considered mid size also. Dont get me wrong, I love the 64 goat I just dont buy into the notion that it started the muscle car era in any size designations. Great car....but just one in a popular category. Just my opinion...you know what opinions are like and everybody's got one.
@@elmerfudd1086 The GTO was the first Muscle Car - upper case - but hardly the first muscle car.
I remember my Dad telling me that the NJ State Police used Chrysler 300's on the Garden State Parkway in the 50's and early 60's,
Definitely one of Chrysler best ever looking cars. Sad about the junk they offer these days.
The current Dodge Challenger and Charger are not junk and are superior muscle cars when equipped with the modern Hemi V-8s. and the ZF designed 8 speed automatics.
@@robc8468 let the old timer sulk there’s no making these people happy
Chrysler ceased to making anything really decent starting in the 1980s
@@theeoddments960 They have great performance, but as is typical of the times, overly complicated. Better enjoy them while we can though. It is now Peugeot, and the french don't care about performance. Bland forward motion is good enough for them.
Chrysler had great vehicles up until the 80's. Unfortunately they went downhill quickly. The new Hemi cars are okay. But they're way too expensive and complicated. GM has the LS based engines that are so much easier to use. If you want to do an engine swap with a modern Hemi, you'd better have a lot of money.
It's a shame that so many people today are buying crossovers. Sedans and station wagons are so much better in almost every way.
Do a video on the Studebaker Golden Hawk. Almost as much money, almost as much power. Much lighter. Much faster. It was setting land speed records.
Almost bought a 56 Golden Hawk recently. Had the money to buy it but probably not to fix it. Had the Packard 352 engine. Had a faster 0-60 and a faster 1/4 mile time than the 300. 300 had a higher top speed by 5 miles so technically the fastest.
I’m not running down the 300… at all! Love that car!
@@dalekohler5269
I read that Packard took Studebaker down with them.
TighelanderII two sinking ships clinging to each other on the way down. It wasn’t that the cars were bad, they weren’t. Costs were higher than the cars could be sold for. Ended every time
@@trwsandford
I don't know about the costs, but what I read was that Packard hid a lot of debt from Studebaker before the merger. The two were then to merge with Nash/Hudson, but AMC got tired of Packard charging too much for their V8s and that killed that part of the deal.
In response, AMC brought out their 327 V8 that made their Rebel the fastest 4-door production car in 1957. It went 0-60 in 7.2 seconds.
I dont know the 49 Olds OHV Rocket engine was a few years ahead of it.
Oh yes. Rocket 88 was appropriately named. The OHV V8 in the small body Old's was rocket like. Especially when compared to the straight 8 it replaced.
Two years. The Olds and Cadillac V8s were released in 1949. The Chrysler FirePower was released in 1951.
My dad had a '55 Windsor 4-dr that he bought new. My grandfather had a '55 New Yorker 2-dr from '62-'67 that was a hand-me-down from one of his brothers. I remember the sheer weight and size of these cars as massive, and the leather interior of the NYer. To appreciate how evolutionary the '55s were, just look at the '54 lineup.
I have a 54 New Yorker wagon that I love, and I think one of the things wrong with its looks is that the grille shape reminds you of a 51 - 52 Chevy, and the taillights on the non-wagons remind of the 53 Chevy. Big mistake on Chrysler's part. The 53 actually looks better in front.
This car is definitely a masterpiece.
Well done on the informative, interesting videos.
I've always been a Chevy/GM guy. Some of the best looking American cars came out in 1955. In my opinion, the C300 was at the top. The Cadilacs, though very beautiful, were, and looked heavy. The 300 was so different. I also agree that it should be considered the first muscle car. I understand why they didn't consider it as one. I was born and raised in NASCAR country. The guys from that era raved about this car. The owner who dominated NASCAR back then, ran the 300. He was the reason why NASCAR limited the number of teams one owner could have. Price was a big factor as to why more owners did not run the 300. It was ahead of it's time, still a beautiful car. It's a?shame that Chrysler/Dodge could never hold it together. They would come out with extrodinary designed cars, then turn around and fall flat on their faces. Sadly, we went from, what, nearly 100 different American owned car companies, to today, only 2. America used to thrive from compitition. Now, in the auto industry, we conceed, and severly limit what is produced. For example, Ford, GM say that sedans don't sell, so they concentrate on suv's and pickups. Yet, every Japanese brands sell tons of sedans each year. The only sedan law enforcement uses these days, Dodge Charger. I no longer see Chrysler/Dodge as a true American car company. They turned the American icon-Jeep, into a Fiat. I wish that either GM, or Ford would buy Jeep. Heck, Ford helped build Jeeps during WW2. Old man Ford even put the name Ford on the heads of bolts on the Jeeps they built.
The best Jeep (actual military model) that I ever drove was a Ford.
Ford tried slapping his name on the tailgate too, until Uncle Sam told him to knock it off. The early "Ford script" Jeeps are probably the most desirable variant.
Of course the original Jeep design was from American Bantam, which had previously been American Austin, the US arm of the British company. They were too small to mass produce, though, so Willys got the contract and Bantam got stuck making utility trailers.
Renegades and the Compass are built on Fiat platforms. Cherokee and Grand Cherokees are still US built as real Jeeps.
@@uraswami8077 That may not last long. Chrysler, Ford, GM, Hyundai, Toyota and even major Boeing subcontractors announced moving entire platform manufacturing to Mexico, after the MCA agreement was ratified and executed by Trump. My bet is, in 20 years, our economy will be that of every third world country in the world: have's and have nots.
What did people thing would happen when wages were set so low compared to the US and Canada? People are just stupid.
The big reason our auto makers are shadows of their former selves is not because we can't compete, it is mainly because the Japanese massively subsidize their auto exports and do everything unwritten that they can think of to keep our cars OUT of THEIR country, and our government, regardless of which party is in power, stubbornly refuses to do much about it. Mainly because WE massively subsidize our AGRICULTURAL exports. That's why the Japanese farmers hit the streets whenever their government acts like it wants to let American farm products in.
I've often thought of the 300 being the first muscle car.
Had a '69 Charger.
For all I know about cars, this one I had never seen. I love your videos, but this one has got to be one of my favorites, because it fully told me something I didn’t know before. Super interesting, great video
Not a mid-size college car with a big engine, but in this era to get so much power out of a new design in a production car I say Yes. People may argue that this will fall today in the upscale ans sports car territory. And it's true but muscle cars were about packaging and selling your product as over the top powerful vehicules and they did that.
I love your channel! 🙂❤👍
The 1955 300C was the first muscle car!! The 1964 Pontiac GTO was the muscle car that kicked off the muscle car wars!!
FACTS!
VERY ENJOYABLE VIDEO...thanks.
The 300 missed the main criteria for being a muscle car (affordable)... The best example in Mopar history was the Road Runner (a bare bones striped down Satellite).
Good point, price was a key aspect on the establishment of a 'muscle car'.
1963 Plymouth ? 426 wedge and fast.
It may have missed the mark for being a Muscle Car - upper case - but it was one kool muscle car - lower case.
Affordable muscle cars came late in the era of muscle cars. Muscle cars began as the most expensive of the lineup.
Such a stunning car. Love the videos!
Let's face it...they were death traps!...horrible handling, poor brakes, no seat belts/airbags, steering wheels would crush the driver in a head-on, etc.....pretty, but dangerous!
@@curbozerboomer1773 Calling them "death traps" is overdoing it. The 300 and the Hudson Hornet both had GOOD handling. Just drive carefully and safely, instead of like a homicidal maniac, and you will be fine.
Great video! What about the Study Golden Hawk supercharged, which was quicker?
I think the 300s had the edge. The 56 Golden Hawk with the Packard engine was a stormer, but too nose heavy.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! GREAT VIDEO AND EDUCATION. THANKS FOR SHARING!!!
Glamour style and power. Unmistakeably necessary.
This is the first time I've seen the 55 Chry C-300. It is a true beauty!
The entire design look is just mouth watering. Buick so classy.
The C-300 may fit the definition of a muscle car but given the fact that it was a high end offering makes it more of a high powered for the time personal luxury car. there were several manufactures putting big engines in their cars like the 1964 Ford Thunder Bolt, a Fairlane with a side oiler 427 stuffed in it for drag racing but you could also get the same engine in a 1963 Galaxie XL and option it out with all the amenities. I rode in one with the dual quad 427 and it was very quick.
That is 10 years after this 300C however.
I don't always agree that all the old cars were beautiful, but compared to some (most?) of todays new cars that look like props from a Star Wars movie, with a grille that would look right at home on a Kenworth truck, this thing is gorgeous.
You might consider the 51-52 Chrysler Saratoga Club Coupe. The shorter lighter Windsor body with the 331 Hemi. The power is of course way lower than the 55, but it is also a smaller car.
This C-300 has one of the most gorgeous dashboards I have ever seen... is in vehicles like this that you can see just how well things used to be designed and manufactured before the widespread use of plastic.
It was and my 1960 300 F had an amazing dashboard with the gauges at night with the lights on appearing to be in 3D Look it up , just amazing.
the 1936 Buick Century came out with the big model motor (320 cubic inch straight 8) in the smaller model Buick body, so from 1936 to 1958 it was sold as their fastest car, and before Buick, Studebaker had a high performance car, but true Chrysler did use it's own special hot 300C engine in 1955, not used in other models in that form.
great video
Very collectable ...love understatement, statement, it makes
The current Challenger with a front end that resemble 55 c300 is needed
One thing that differed from other muscle cars was that most were intermediate. This was a full size car. In contrast the 1957 Rambler Rebel weighed a lot less due to its compact size and was the fastest stock sedan in 1957. The only car faster was the fuel injected Corvette.
The 1957 Dodge could be ordered in the base model 2 door sedan with the D-500 package that had 310 hp. The Rebel had 255 hp. There was a 288hp Rebel but it had a very troublesome EFI. Even still, the Hemi 325 Dodge had it beat. Understand, the Rebel was mid sized but it was also a top trim heavier 4 door hardtop which probable weighed as much as a base Coronet 2 door sedan.
The Dodge was probably the fastest factory 0~60 car in 1957…and assuredly would top out faster than the Rebel.
@@jamesaandf The Rebel was ADVERTISED at 255 horses, but it's engine was a little different than the Ambassador's 327 - dual valve springs vs single valve springs, solid lifters vs hydraulic lifters, 9.5 - 1 compression vs 9 - 1 compression, slightly rough and fast idle vs silky-smooth idle, so it probably had 275 horses in reality. That FI setup only gave Chrysler products that offered it 10 more horsepower, so it probably was the same for the Rebel.
Very pretty car. Great video! 👍👍
John DeLorean, Bill Collins, and Russ Gee disobeyed a edict from General Motors and slipped the GTO past the overlords. There were a slew of factory performance cars before that. But the GTO was born out of rebellion. That's the difference and why the '64 GTO was the first Muscle Car.
Actually, the 1936 Buick Century was considered the first muscle car.
Buick slipped the Roadmaster engine into the Special's lighter body. It was one of the first, if not the first production car to consistently break 100mph top speed.
These were considered "banker's hotrods."
@@jonathanmorrisey5771 Was this done against implicit orders not to do so?
That much is true. They got away with that because the GTO was considered an option package for the Tempest, not really a separate model, until 65, when GM realized that they had hit gold with the GTO.
You showed some muscle cars from the 1960’s, but don’t forget how Chrysler rebooted the 300 in the 1980’s and still sells a car that’s a 300 today.
Along with the 60’s vintage muscle cars you could’ve threw in a few pictures of the more recent 300’s.
Good video to watch….
That is a VERY good looking car! Never knew about these.
Great vid............ 👍👍
Beautiful '55 "300" indeed! I wonder why it had a base line cost of $4,110 Dollars. Was Chrysler aiming this car at a specific customer profile, can someone maybe enlighten me! Good video!!!
I understand the Hemi cost more to build than a conventional V8 plus it was loaded like a Caddy or Lincoln.
...the senior engineering execs at Chrysler wanted a car to cater to the former flying aces and their like from WW II and Korea.,.most of whom left the service to take high-paying jobs in the defense and aerospace industries...
...it was always a car designed by a sports/performance guy for others in that same group...pricing was well down the list of priorities...
...actually, Mark, the execs at Chrysler
@@gclarkbloomfield8848 Understood, and Thank You!
@@markg7030 Thank You!
Thanks Ben!
The first real musclecar was the Duesenberg. Straight 8, twin cams, a race engine for the road.....265 hp NA, 320 hp supercharged.....130 mph guaranteed in 1929.
Then there was the Hudson Hornet with Twin H Power. Killed everything in Nascar's early days. Plus the special package for the 308ci straight 6 ( I think it was called the A7 ). The Step Through chassis design ensured awesome handling. Bet if Hudson created a killer V8 for the Hornet it would have dominated well into the Hemi era of Chrysler
And that was mind-blowing performance back then. The Duesey will beat all but the fasted 70s cars as if they are tied to a post.
The 1957/1958 300C/D were maybe the best of the series. 392 engine, torsion bar suspension, Torqueflite trans, and not too heavy for their size.
1957 Rambler Rebel.
EXACTLY!!!!!!!
you cannot have a legitimate conversation about horsepower and speed without including the 1956 Packard 352 Powered Studebaker Golden Hawk, and the 57 and 58 Supercharged 289 Golden Hawks who held all the quarter mile, and 0 to 60 records well into the early 60 until the 63 Vette beat their numbers. All of the K bodied Hawks were luxurious, well appointed high performance luxury Gran Touring hardtop coupes.
1949 Oldsmobile 88.
I'm partial to the Stutz Bearcat as the first "muscle car." However, the 55 and 56 Chrysler hardtop coupes had, by my lights, the best stance of any cars of the Fifties.
. . . . and, yes, they were mighty powerful!
Stutz, Dusenberg, Auburn were the proto-muscle cars and the Hudson Hornet was the last of them.
Just go you for the great videos!
It is a perfect first muscle car achieved in the flying mile in 1955
Super cool classic.
Chrysler 300's from 1955 to 1962 all were muscle cars. So were cars from other manufacturers. From the late 1950's to 1962 or so. The Pontiac GTO was at best a copy of what had been done by other manufacturers before.
Love these cars. I met the son of the late owner of the first 55 C-300. The engine for that car, with the VIN of 10001, was purchased by Lee Petty, and may very well be still in the Petty's possession.
I'm waiting for a 78-79 Dodge Magnum [XE & GT] video.
So beautiful!
How come the 430 cu inch/400HP MEL engine, that was an option for the 1958 Mercury is not mentioned here. it was the first American stock engine to achieve 400HP, and would accelerate to 60MPH in 8 seconds or less.
That was one terrific car. I think that one is overlooked because that engine was a option, and the rest of the car was the same - nice and quiet, smooth riding, etc. The 300 was loud, raucous, and rough-riding, just like the original GTO, just bigger and more expensive.
If you are going to delve back into auto history you have to account for the first Ford V8 Coupes in 1932! The new Ford V8 coupe was small, light, and powerful, fastest machine on the road in the era perhaps First muscle car?
Indeed, if one discribes a mucle car as a cheap, hi-po (for it's era) performance car, the '32 V-8 Ford IMO is valid. It's said that Clyde Barrow wrote a letter to Henry Ford praising the fine performance of the Ford concluding that 'it is the reason that I am still alive'.
This was when 4 cyl Model T's ruled the road, and wealthy people owned 6 cyl Chevy's.
@@crankychris2 You have a point about the 32 Ford, but the wealthy never gravitated to Chevys. Those who were self-conscious because of the depression were buying Ford V8s, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, Dodges, DeSotos, and Chrysler 6 cylinders.
Cool car. I always think of the 55 Chevy or Fords for that year but didn't know much about the Chrysler.
Definitely it was the first muscle car - luxury version.
Chrysler was at its prime in the 1950s
I might add the 32 Ford V 8 was in the running for that title also.
I wish you would do a special video or videos on Everything Plymouth over Dodge for example instead of highlighting A Dodge Ramcharger show the Plymouth Trailduster 4x4 and so on Plymouth Voyager over Dodge Sport Wagon
Prof John commented on the Buick Century of the late 1930s & early '40s. Don't know if we would quite consider them in the muscle car category but they we're sometimes labeled the "Bankers hot-rod".
1955 saw a "re-boot" of the Buick Century using GMs medium "B" body as used for Buick Special but combining it with the larger V8 from the Roadmaster. And, in spite of considerably lower advertised HP could also get you to 60 MPH in the high 9 sec. range as is stated here for the C-300. In fact The folks at "Motor Trend" mag apparently got their hands on a new Century before they got to test the Chrysler because the '55 Century Was their 1st car to break the 10 sec Mark for 0-60. And that was with the Dynaflow automatic. (in all fairness, starting in "Low" rather than "Drive" which always gave you a better launch with a Dynaflow)
Perhaps some will recall, the Buicks actually wound up in a TV series because the California Highway Patrol special ordered a fleet of 55 Centurys. (Centurys were generally decked out on the order of the Roadmaster, just a bit smaller but the police fleet was ordered in rather unadorned fashion.)
Probably didn't match top speed of the Chryslers but don't think back then the cops needed to chase down many people at a hundred & thirty. The Buick was apparently plenty fast enough for them for a lot less $$ than a fleet of 300s would have been!
And those Century police cars were among the precious few that had 3 on the tree and were only 2 door sedans. Almost all the civilian Centurys had DynaSlow.
@@michaelbenardo5695 Never did quite figure out why 2dr sedans but yes they were definitely special order cars. They called them "Centurys" but in reality they were more like a Buick Special but equipped with the bigger engine from the Roadmaster. If I remember correctly it seems I read somewhere that half were 3spd manual but half actually were Dynaflow. The car that Motor Trend Mag broke the 10sec barrier for 0-60 had been a Dynaflow car but they did use low range from a standing start. Again from what I've read just leaving it in "D" would have gotten you to 60 in about 12sec. Remember, these were "2nd generation Dynaflow" (often referred to as Twin Turbine or "TT" Dynaflow) & were vastly different from the original gen 1 design. Only gen 1 was truly a "pure" torque converter trans with NO gear reduction except by means of manual "Low". Gen 2 or "TT" actually had built in gear reduction (only a 1.6 ratio but it helped) IN DRIVE from a standing start. AND from '55 on they used the variable pitch stator which gave about a 2800 rpm "stall speed" (normal was about 1800 rpm), that put you right about at peak torque for that engine, so it was was somewhat akin to having a racing converter in a stock automobile. NOW add to that the additional gear reduction with manual low & they had some pretty serious "get-up-and-go".
I never actually got to drive a newer "switch pitch" (& '56 added a 2nd fixed pitch stator which also increased the multiplication factor quite a bit) but I drove a '54 which was 2nd gen & was quite pleasantly surprised. Even though I did no actual acceleration "tests" it certainly blew most of my preconceived notions about Dynaflow. I expected a lot of slip & hi revs with not much action. I was truly surprised. Would hardly know it from a conventional automatic. About the only abnormality I noted was holding steady at about 30mph RPMs seemed a bit higher than modern trannys. (About like a 3spd auto held in 2nd gear) by the time you hit 40 RPMs held steady right about where you would expect in a normal "high gear". About all I could figure was the "TTs" transition between the 1.6 ratio & 1/1 ratio based on fluid flow in the converter which, ultimately, is determined by speed & load. The two turbines drove the planetary gearset in such a way that from a standing start the turbine getting the greatest power gave the 1.6 ratio. As speed went up & demand decreased the other turbine got most of the power & you were effectively in "high". I figured they engineered that transition point to be a little on the high side so you had a more responsive car up to 30mph in traffic since there were no actual "downshifts" for quick acceleration.
@@DejaView The CHP used mostly 2 door sedans back then, but wanted the Century for it's power. That is the reason for their Century 2 doors.
For me, I like both the 1955 and 1956 300's. 1957 was the year Virgil Exner poured on the gas with bigger tailfins and added chrome.
I miss the days when muscle cars were relatively affordable. I don’t know how there are so many $80,000 plus cars on the road.
The Muscle Cars, meaning the 64 and up in the mold of the GTO, were mostly affordable, but the muscle cars - lower case - were mostly fairly expensive. And full-sizers.
The reason this is the first muscle car after the war is that although a lot of cars offered dual carbs, but this car was built as a muscle car with special suspension and shocks, 150 speedometer, Goodyear made special blue streak tires for it, all this no one with their dual carbs did.
The first muscle car achieved the flying mile in Daytona the desendant of the legendary letter series since the most powerful car in its class known as the 300M before the present day Chrysler 300 is unveiled for future generations.
A person COULD argue that in fact the 1953 Oldsmobile 88 was the "first muscle car" because in 1953 Oldsmobile installed a V8 Rocket engine in the Olds 88 coupe and slapped a tri power set up on it with the J2 option. So to claim that the 1955 Chrysler was "the first muscle car" is kind of a stretch even for the early 1950s, ALSO you have to consider two other cars from that same time period!! FIRST while the car I am about to mention lacked any real "performance" you'd have to also consider the 1953 to 1954 Corvette and while the Corvette is technically looked upon as a "Sports Car" the idea behind the muscle car movement was basically "affordable sports cars, that normal people could own"!! This too brings me to another car to add to this list which would be the 1955 to 1957 Ford Thunderbird! Of course Chevy had realized their mistake in 1955 and included a V8 to the line up of engines in the Corvette after they had also began to realize the Thunderbird offered performance the inline six cylinder Chevy Corvette never actually delivered! Lastly the 1955 Chrysler 300 was an amazing car, don't get me wrong, but to be honest there was a horsepower arms race brewing and it wasn't just limited to these cars either!! Desoto, Packard, Hudson and even Studebaker, started upping the horsepower by 1955 as many of the engineers of World War II now hit the race tracks and motor companies!!
Sooo beautiful. So tastefully restrained. And then,.........
Yep, I agree,the 50s did put out the first muscle cars especially compared to the previous decade of inline sizes and flathead V8s that made less than 100HP.
Exner excellence!
Yeah, I always hear that the Hudson Hornet was the first muscle car. The "Cars" cartoon has one as the "old racer", right?
its funny that the 55 chrysler 300c was considered a heavy car at just over 4000 lb and today the modern challenger is a porker at 4400 lbs .
how bout the 1958 mercury turnpike cruiser?...it had 400 hp ..more then anything from chrysler or GM back then
Sorry, that should have said, "Just want to thank you for the great videos!"
It was probably the first HIGH PRODUCTION "Muscle Car", but there was the Muntz Jet a few years before it... That also was technically a "production car", albeit there were few of those built.
That Muntz was a beauty of a car.
nice car.