1965 Chrysler 300 – Grandpa’s Beauty Came Into Our Driveway
In 1965, my grandpa and grandma came to visit us in Omaha driving up in a brand new 1965 Chrysler 300 four-door hardtop. This car was an awesome beauty to behold. Outside it was deep wine burgundy. A color I have never seen on another car since then. It was metallic and shined deeply in the bright sun. My grandpa kept his cars with impeccable detail so you can imagine after driving 500 miles from Denver he had to have the car washed upon their arrival. I was so excited to get a ride in his car.
Huge changes occurred in 1965 for the American car. They had just designed almost every car with “curved” side glass rather than the traditional flat windows. This made cars much more sleek, and this car was no exception. It had lines that were drawn with an artist’s eye into a long sleek beauty.
So, the next day Grandpa asked if I wanted to go for a ride in his new 300. Oh, boy, you bet! I got inside and he immediately showed me the price sticker with all the options listed. The final price was $4995.00! That was a huge amount of money in 1965 and this car had everything on it. I looked around the interior and saw “pearl” white everywhere. The dash, the doors, and the seats were all so beautiful. Then I noticed the steering wheel: it was a crowning jewel. It was a swirled pearl white like nothing I had seen in a car before. I was mesmerized by the combination of the wine exterior with the pearl inside. He started up the car and put down all the windows. That was a cool feature of the hard top, and driving with the side windows down gave it an even sleeker look.
As it ran with smooth precision Grandpa explained to me that this car had a “muscle car” engine in it. With a four-barrel carburetor and a 413 cubic inch engine, he said this car would beat anyone on the street. We backed slowly out of the driveway for our test drive. As we moved onto the street, my very elderly looking grandpa, who was completely bald and wore tinted hexagon rimless glasses, stepped on the gas. It let out a growl and the car felt like it went out from under us. This was on a straight residential street where the speed limit was 25 miles per hour! It was a quick burst of speed but he just wanted to show me what “she” would do if you stepped on it. I was so excited!
Then he turned to me and said, “Do you want to drive it? Come over here and sit on my lap.” I didn’t even think about the illegalities of what was happening, but oh my gosh, the steering was so easy and it was so cool to see things from behind the driver’s seat. I think I got to drive about a block.
We got back into the driveway and talked further about his new car, going over the window sticker with a fine tooth comb. This was an amazing and beautiful car. I got into the back seat and found that the bucket seats in front were like a sculpture shaped with human hands to a fine form. And, by the way, in 1965 bucket seats in a four-door car were extremely rare: so this four-door was quite the sports car in every way.
I have looked over the years to see if I could find another one like it to no avail. But all I can think is that maybe this was a one-of-a-kind special order that would never be seen again.
As I think of all of the beautiful cars I’ve seen in my lifetime, my mind thinks of the elements of the earth. The steel, chemicals, and natural elements that have come from the earth have been subdued by creative human beings. The designers, mechanical workers, artists, and business management teams etc. have all worked together to make an automobile. Not a vehicle just to drive, but to enjoy, to look at, to appreciate and to make memories with.
Automobiles have always been a feat of creative art. Designed and sculpted, from inside the engine all the way through to the beautiful curves of the outer form, humans have utilized their intensive creativity to provide us with rolling beauty. Subjective as it is, everyone has their own eye for art. The same with the automobile, what some call beautiful, others consider ugly. But that’s the cool thing about it. The passion with which people see this art form creates a bond, one with another.
When I was a kid, my dad and I would go to the annual auto show at our local civic auditorium. We talked about what we liked and what we didn’t. This was a car show where we’d see vintage cars, customs, new cars and old. Some were proud of their undercarriage so they’s put a large mirror on the flow so we could see it. There were owners who would create story boards of their project cars to reveal their progress. Others would proudly display their trophies, even if they were quite old. But none-the-less it was all about the art, the design, the mechanical genius.
My memories of love and care connected me to cars as much as painful experiences. The passion I feel when I see a beautiful hunk of metal go down the street connects me with life, the heartbeat of living, and the bond of relationships. Art brings about emotions that tie us to the blood flowing through our veins. It also connects us to creation itself. Where did this come from? Who designed it? How was it made? Curiosity of the origins of the automobile are not any different that the curiosity of life itself.
Where did we come from? How did we come about? Is there an evolutionary process at work or not? Were our ancestors like us? What about repairs? Automobiles are always in need of some kind of maintenance, or repairs. Who can figure out how to fix it? Similarly, what happens when our bodies stop their natural process? We need to go in to a health professional to find out.
Art subjective? Yes. But just like medicine we call a practice, we need creativity to survive, to live, to enjoy, to feel. Life lives inside the creative heart of love itself. Love motivates us to keep going. Love helps us to feel alive. Love connects us one to another.
I love cars.
FaceBook Comment
John, Please know that your words are comforting and inspiring. The car pulled me in, the words kept me there. MC