Introduced in 1955, the Chrysler 300 “letter series” is one of the greatest production cars from the era. Gorgeous, luxurious, and motivated by V8 engines that put it into muscle car territory, the “letter series” cars are also rare classics, regardless of whether we’re talking about the C-300, 300B, or the 300C. But there’s one that tops them all.
One of two Chrysler 300-based concept cars built by Ghia, the Super Dart 400 followed the Dart, which was unveiled in 1956. An evolution of the latter, the Super Dart 400 was one of the most flamboyant designs of the era.
A notable departure from 300C it was based on, it arrived with massive rear fins (yes, they were larger than the already oversized fins of the era) and a stylish razor-type grille. More importantly, it had an intriguing wraparound chrome trim.
While the latter was available with 375 or 390 horsepower, the concept car came with 400 horses on tap. That’s only 25 horsepower less than the mighty 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) HEMI V8 that Chrysler launched in production cars almost 10 years later.
An in-car vinyl player, Highway Hi-Fi was introduced by Chrysler in 1956 and found its way into various Mopars. Developed by Peter Goldmark, it played at half the speed of a regular player, and the discs featured twice as many grooves.
However, Highway Hi-Fi was very expensive and record availability was limited to what Columbia Records was willing to print at the time. The players weren’t very reliable either, so Highway Hi-Fi was discontinued after only a couple of years.
But while the player was a revolutionary flop, it’s quite outstanding that the concept still sports its original unit, which is 63 years old as of 2023. The car itself is just as impressive though, looking spotless inside and out and showing only 50,000 miles on the odometer.
Oh, and this stunning concept car is also scheduled to go under the hammer on January 27, 2023, and it’s estimated to fetch up to $950,000.
