CHAPTER FIFTEEN 1957 CHRYSLER 300-C

By Randy Guyer

A LONG WAY HOME

Former garage companions wind up together again
thanks to Minnesota man

Randy Guyer’s love for “Letter Car” Chryslers started with this
1960 300-F convertible.

Old Cars Weekly reader Randy Guyer of Minnesota fell out of the old car hobby as he concentrated on work and family. He jumped back in full-bore when he made an impulse bid on a finned 1958 Dodge Regal Lancer at a 2007 Barrett-Jackson auction. Since then, he’s been hot for Chrysler 300 “Letter Cars,” especially black models. Since 2007, he’s added a 1957 Chrysler 300-C hardtop and a special 300-F convertible to his collection, each following his “the blacker the better” mantra.

Guyer’s newfound affinity for ebony Chrysler 300s has been shared by collectors on the East Coast and in Texas. In fact, he can say he’s shared titles with one of these collectors, because his 1957 and 1960 Chrysler 300s have shared garage space at least twice as these cars skipped across the country since the 1960s, leapfrogging one another from Connecticut to Texas before rejoining in Minnesota.

Built only as coupes starting in 1955 and
as convertibles from 1957 to 1965, the “
Letter Cars” were supposed to offer
performance to the executive class.

The following is the story of these star-crossed Chrysler 300s in Guyer’s words.

1960 Chrysler 300-F convertible

This rare Chrysler was the last 300-F convertible produced for the 1960 model year. After Chrysler made four more 300-F coupes, 300-F production ended to make way for the 1961 300-G models. Built only as coupes starting in 1955 and as convertibles from 1957 to 1965, the “Letter Cars” were supposed to offer performance to the executive class. The competition grew to include such automobiles as the Ford Thunderbird and Buick Riviera in the sports/luxury class. Only 248 convertibles and 964 coupes in the 300 series were built for the 1960 model year.

This final 300-F was built June 7, 1960, and was shipped on July 5 to Plaza Motors, Inc. in New Haven, Conn., where Wallace Lines of Milford, Conn., was awaiting delivery of this special custom-ordered vehicle. This car may have been the most highly optioned 300-F convertible produced that year. Two of the rarest options on this car are its power vacuum door locks and two-zone air conditioning. Other options include six-way power seats, power antenna, remote control outside mirror, Golden Touch radio and tinted glass.

The Chrysler’s body type is No. 845, the designation for a Chrysler 300-F convertible, with a BB-1 paint code for Formal Black. Its trim code is No. 353 for beige leather. The engine is the standard Chrysler 300-F powerplant — the 413-cid “wedge head” V-8 with dual long-ram intake manifolds, each hoisting a four-barrel carburetor. This performance package provided 375 hp. The transmission is the standard push-button, three-speed TorqueFlite automatic.

In December 1965, Lines sold the 300-F convertible to Harry DeSiena of nearby Stratford, just one town away. DeSiena was an early finned car collector who appreciated the styling, beauty, luxury, power and performance of these cars, often referred to as “beautiful brutes.” His enthusiasm led DeSiena and his eldest son Tommy to collect cars to the point of near bankruptcy. Stashed away in garages and sheds near his home, DiSiena’s collection would stay hidden away for 40 years. All the while, there had been rumors circulating around Connecticut of this car’s existence. No one knew for sure that it was still there, because it had been decades since anyone had last seen it. The 300-F had become a bit of a legend — a faint and distant memory.

The 300-F is pictured here before it began its comprehensive restoration. This 300-F is the last
“Letter Car” convertible built for 1960.

Guyer’s 1957 Chrysler 300-C hardtop shared a Connecticut owner with his 300-F convertible
from the 1960s until the early 2000s. Unlike the 300-F convertible, this 300-C hardtop has
relatively few options.

In 2001, DeSiena died and his son, Tommy, assumed custody of the car collection. When Tommy’s health began to fail in 2003, he started selling some of the cars. He began with some of the least rare and collectible ones while hanging onto the most precious ones as long as possible. Tommy died in 2005.

In 2006, DeSiena’s youngest son, Richard “Rick” DiSiena, took charge of the estate and continued selling the collection. Eventually, Rick pulled the 300-F convertible from the shed and sold it to a local automobile broker, who immediately sold the car to a Mr. Schibley, another car collector in Texas.

In May 2007, after owning the car for less than one year, Schibley tried to sell the car at auction in Houston. The auction company had a projected sell price of $125,000-150,000, but the car did not sell.

Later in 2007, Schibley sold the car to Andy Bernbaum, a MoPar parts dealer and car collector of note in Boston, Mass. Bernbaum planned to restore it at some point.

In June of 2008, I had a phone conversation with Jerry Kopecky, a car restorer in Iola, Wis. I told Kopecky that if he ever ran across one of these “banker’s hot rods” that was for sale, I might be interested. Furthermore, I wanted an original black car with lots of options, including air conditioning. Since there were only 248 built 50 years ago and only 60 or so are known to exist today, I imagine my wishes made Kopecky chuckle on the inside. However, about two weeks later, Kopecky called me to say Bernbaum’s black 300-F convertible was available in Boston.

We were invited to see the car in person, and so off we went in early July. The car ran rough, was very complete and the metal was in relatively rust-free condition. It was clear the car was unrestored and very original, except for one repaint many years ago.

In a nod to its originality, the original “Blue Streak” spare tire is still in the car’s trunk, and while it has been used, it still holds air. The car also retains its AstraDome gauge cluster with a speedometer that goes up to 150 mph for a reason — it has 375 hp on tap! The AstraDome gauge cluster is a space-age-looking unit that gives off a beautiful glow to reduce eye strain and glare at night, due to its electro-luminescent illumination. On the inside, this Chrysler is pure early-’60s.

After striking a deal with Bernbaum for its purchase, I took delivery of this 300-F convertible, the last one built, in August 2008. Along with it came an old title dating back to December 1965, when Lines sold the car to DeSiena.

1957 Chrysler 300-C coupe

The 300-C was the fastest and most powerful American production automobile for ’57.

The 300-C in this story was built on May 20, 1957, and shipped to A. Coppola Motor Sales of New Haven, Conn. It is one of 1,767 coupes and 484 convertibles produced that model year.

The body type is No. 566 for a Chrysler 300-C coupe with paint code A for Jet Black and trim code 60 for beige leather trim. The engine is the 392-cid Hemi V-8 with dual quads providing 375 hp and backed by a three-speed, push-button TorqueFlite automatic.

The original titles for
Harry DeSiena’s Chrysler
300-C and 300-F.

Factory options on this car include power steering, Music Master Radio, heater and Solex (tinted) glass. Dealer A. Coppola Motor Sales installed the 48-spoke Chrysler wire wheels before the buyer took delivery.

In January 2010, a friend called to tell me that he saw an ad for a 300-C offered for sale in Celina, Texas. He knew that I collected late-’50s and early-’60s finned cars and that I would perhaps be interested in the car. I ended up buying the unrestored 48,000-mile original black 300-C sight unseen over the phone a couple days later from Ryan Poulos of Celina. The 300-C was a good, rust-free car that was complete, but it was not running. These cars are among the most desirable “Letter Cars” that Chrysler ever built, though, so I felt it was a good find.

It wasn’t until I agreed to purchase the car from Poulos that I learned the 300-C came with a title showing the DiSiena family had owned it since the 1960s. In fact, it had been owned by the same collectors for four decades, and those collectors had owned my 300-F convertible from 1965 to the 2000s.

The 300-C’s Connecticut title dated to June 1962 when Harry DiSiena bought the car from the State National Bank of Stamford, Conn. I do not know why the bank owned the car, nor do I know the car’s ownership history from 1957 until 1962. However, much of the car’s subsequent history is well known.

I learned that in March 2009, Poulos found the 300-C offered for sale by Richard “Rick” DeSiena in Stratford, Conn. Poulos called DiSiena and worked out a deal to purchase the car. Poulos found the 300-C inside a dilapidated shed where it had been sitting since 1969 when it was last driven. Like the 300-F convertible, the 300-C had been owned by Harry DiSiena, Rick’s father, and had been driven in the early 1960s by Tommy DiSiena, Rick’s bother.

The 300-C was dirty but relatively unscathed after slumbering in the Connecticut garage for 40 years. It’s possible that my 300-F convertible had sat right next to the 300-C all those years until they met the same fate — joining my car collection.

I also found out that, in 1964, Tommy DiSienna took Rick to the New York World’s Fair in this car, and Rick (then 8 years old) stuck a souvenir world’s fair sticker on the rear window, where it remains. It became one of the last cars to be sold from the DiSiena estate, probably for sentimental reasons.

Restoring the 1960 300-F

The restoration goal is to put the 300-F convertible back to the same or better condition than it left the factory. It was too far gone to avoid restoration, and so the work began in January 2009 at Kopecky’s Klassics. The odometer read 83,922 miles and remained at that setting through restoration. Due to the rarity, uniqueness and provenance of this car, Kopecky and I agreed that it deserves a complete body-off-frame, every-nut-and-bolt rotisserie restoration. I want the highest-quality car that we can achieve in regards to craftsmanship and authenticity.

We anticipate the restoration to be complete in 2012, thus taking 3-1/2 years. This is typical for a car such as this, with its complex mechanical systems and hard-to-find parts. Nevertheless, these old cars are a perfect timeline of American history that should be preserved and displayed.

Refreshing the 1957 300-C

The first order of business in restoring this car was to get it running. Once we proved that the engine would run, and the transmission and brakes worked, we could then determine what to do with the body and interior.

Since much of an old car’s value comes from retaining its original engine and drive train, we needed to be cautious not to ruin anything. It was not as simple as we thought to get it running. Everything seemed to be in place to make it run, but it refused. After a lot of head scratching, we discovered that under the dash, Tommy DiSiena had wired a pair of red lamps to the ignition wire when he was a teenager. These lamps were supposed to turn on when the car was running and make a cool red glow into the car’s interior. Surely, the chicks would dig that! Unfortunately, the lamps put too much current draw on the ignition wire and it became hot, melted the insulation and shorted out on the dash. Then the car wouldn’t run, so into the shed it went. I am sure Tommy figured he would get it going again someday, but as often happens, life got in the way, and it sat for the next 40 years with the rest of the collection.

Although the car was running in the summer of 2010, I decided to have Kopecky pull the engine and transmission in the winter of 2010-2011 and completely rebuild them. We also decided to install new exhaust, brakes, gas tank, re-chromed bumpers and new wheels and tires. To get the car into safe driving condition, all of the lamps underwent repair as necessary. Body and interior restoration will commence in the next few years.

While the 300-F convertible is highly optioned for a car if its kind and time, this ’57 300-C has very few options. It is a very basic, high-end car. It makes a person wonder why someone would order such an expensive car without the creature comforts of air-conditioning, power seats and windows and the like. Being the fastest production car in America in 1957, perhaps the original owner intended to go racing.