Happy 75th Anniversary Mopar – 1955 Chrysler 300

1955-chrysler-300

The Chrysler 300 represents the first production car to hit 300 HP. The early age of performance took shape in this blending of style and performance in one production vehicle. These cars captured the fascination of their engineers challenging them to find aftermarket components that could take the vehicles to even another level. And so the first group of motorsports engineering was born. These cars attained fame in early NASCAR races with Chrysler winning 51 out of 101 races entered in 1955 and 1956. Based on their success, the engineering team was inspired to conceive an entire performance division and what better brand to use to go to market than the Mopar parts division.

1955-chrysler-300

Key Events

• Gen 1 331 c.i. Hemi Firepower V8 terrorizes competition in racing
• Due to the Hemi engine being an efficient race design, it required more air to run at full speed. As a result of this, more dirt was entering the engine and causing damage during a race. To counter this problem, pleated paper element air filters were designed versus the existing wire mesh design. This design proved more efficient for both track and street, with production car usage beginning in 1957.
• Heavy duty parts from Chrysler light truck and taxi cab parts bins were used to win races, setting the stage for the growth of Mopar designed and produced performance parts