U.S. #4357
Fins and Chrome
1957 Chrysler 300C
America on the Move Series

Issue Date: October 3, 2008
City: Carlisle, PA

Ancestor to future American muscle cars, the Chrysler 300 was a race car as well as a luxury road vehicle.  For the first time, an American car offered over 300 horsepower, and this number was prominently featured in its name.  With its powerful engine, the 300 won NASCAR’s overall championship the first two years of its production. Available from 1955 until 1965, a new letter was added to the 300’s name each successive year.  

First introduced to the public at the New York Auto Show in December 1956, the Chrysler 300C featured designer Virgil Exner’s sleek, low-slung “Forward Look.”  Marketed as the “gentleman’s fast car,” the 300 had no outside mirrors, reducing drag on the road and at the track.  Tail fins, or rear stabilizers, as Chrysler called them, reportedly helped the car handle better at high speeds.  A new “Hemi” V-8 engine with increased horsepower meant that the 1957 Chrysler 300C would remain America’s most powerful production car.  Leather seats, an oversized front grille, and a push-button automatic transmission completed 300s luxury look.

The 42¢ stamp is part of the second set in the America on the Move series, issued in 2008.