"Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon

This is when Chrysler made real cars.

Still a beautiful classy car 60+ years later. Thanks for sharing.

Hey Jay, back in 1980, I had a friend, Who's mother bought him a '62 Chrysler 300, He took me for a ride in it. He explained to me some of the HISTORY of it..... (I honestly thought it was B/S) some damned old assed DODGE.......Wow, now years later I see this car, > WOW: Some HISTORY! Some POWER, for the age. Understanding NOW, how back in '80, the V-8's were only putting out some 140HP,,,,, and this "BIG/HUGE", car having all of that power........wow!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much Jay, My friend is Frank Orra,,,,, he's Still alive!

One of the most beautiful interiors of all time, and the exterior styling for '62 was a huge improvement, IMHO. Ditching the fins and the other, subtler changes made for a more elegant appearance to my mind. I love everything about this car.

I always loved the bold, yet unpretentious, styling of that car but never realized what a jewel it was! A gorgeous work of art, inside and out. I bet the workers who crafted the interiors took real pride in their work. Went home from the factory each night, tired but feeling good about what they did. That's a good thing for all of us to aim for.

20:50 Getting into the back seat ... really _space-age._ When I was a kid I LOVED this kind of interior. It's probably hard for modern people to imagine how MUCH influence everything "space age" had to us in the early '60s.

Love those old Chryslers

I have always liked this automobile. One of Exner's best.

Beautiful cars!!

The lucky owner of this dream car was proud of his new chariot. 300 was in a class by itself. Someone was happy to buy this winner of a car.❤❤

Clearly a dream car. Lowered, black rims, and the Dark Side plays Metal.

A jewel of a engine.

All 8 are absolute classics. Guess I'm dating myself.

Got to restore paint and body on a 62 300, car is immense! Fabulous car when finished. This is a gorgeous car here. Such style is unknown now, gorgeous, all over!

GREAT, GREAT JOB on the presentariin. Simply a stellar automobile. Love the instrument panel. WYR (1) AND (2): Chrysler 300 H

This is like a dream car. Love big, heavy American cars with big powerful engines. Not the newer finely tuned, computer controlled ones, but the big, old brute power ones. There is no better feeling than launching 2+ tons off the line with 4 barrels just pouring gas into 8 thirsty cylinders... that V8 grumble n growl... ohhhhh, child! My olde pharte is peeping out... lol... cars from "my day"... Thanx, J... beautiful example of a gorgeous classic! WYR: 1) '62 Chrysler! 2) '62 Chrysler... none of those other cars compare... and 3 outta 8 are.... ich... GM 🙂

Loved those speedometers, the lighting is so LED like, can't beat the style of the 4 bucket seats and slanted lights like the old Lincolns. The old high school principal had a 62 New Yorker 4 door hardtop in coral. First pick the 62 Avanti ,second the 62 300H.

I owned a 62 chrysler 300. It was the nicest driving big car I have ever owned. The dash is unbelieveable to drive at night the lighting was near perfect. The greenish blue lighting was so easy on the eyes. This was proven latter does not disturb night vision. The one I had was a 3 spd standard. The handling was very good and the ride was excellent. I miss it but not the gas mileage. Which was not bad for the time at .32 cents a gallon.

T-bird and Caddy. That Caddy is gorgeous. I have to agree 100 percent on that 300s interior, very sweet.

I dated a girl (in like 1976) who used to RAVE about her dad's Chrysler 300 ... I'm still good friends with her sister(!), and I'm recommending this vid to her.

Love the classic Chrysler 300 Letter Series cars of 1955-1965. This one, the 300-H is no exception. The interior was unchanged on these classic Letter Series Chryslers for 3 model years 1960-62. Design by Virgil M. Exner Sr. The interior was only one color, Camel Tan, and has the awesome bulbous Astro-Dome instrument cluster and a style that makes this car look like it's a spaceship ready to blast off into orbit. The major change from 1961 to 1962 was losing the fins, with the same frame and body otherwise, which was also shared with the ill-fated 1961 DeSoto. I saw an Exner sketch for the 1962 DeSoto which was very similar to this 300-H. There were several proposals for early 1960s DeSotos, which only made it to production as the 1962-64 Dodge Custom 880. The early 1959 proposal which was rejected in 1960, looked like a 1962-63 Dodge or Plymouth.

I loved the 62 Ford Thunderbird as a kid and I never grew up. Still my favorite along with the first Mustang.

WYR: first round - I simply can't decide. second round - ooops, can't decide again. Those 300s are incredible, and the interior on this one harkens back to the 30s and 40s interiors, opulent in the best way. Thank you as always, well done ~ Chuck

22:06 I really enjoy how HUGE that open area is for the front and rear window. Just WOW, how OPEN that looked.

I believe that the alternator and a/c compressor should share a pair of belts since they have double pulleys.

62 300H in both scenarios, the style is so unique inside and out. Then there is that monster 413ci engine, along with low production numbers make it s no brainer to me.

I remember as a kid seeing the dashboard on one of these cars, totally different frome all the other cars id seen..BTW, your videos just get better, and you are doing the car community a great service!

the 1962 "300 Series", the cheap knock-off mid-line replacement of the Windsor nameplate was genius. It was a hit, outselling the previous year's Windsor by far. The previous 300s had made a name for themselves so the Chrysler salesman had an easy in. $3300 gets you a 4 door with a $5000 dashboard and 300 badges on the side.

My favourite instrument cluster.

So with some companies, when you'd order the dual carb option, you might not be able to get other convenience accessories you'd ordinarily be able to order. But with Chrysler, you can order up your dual quad 413 setup AND order your pace-setting Auto-Pilot AND Chrysler's exceptional Airtemp air conditioning with not just a front unit BUT with a secondary trunk mounted unit for rear seat passenger comfort. With Chrysler, it's more of everything!

I agree Jay 100%! Very Special inside,and out! The only thing on the interior that cheapens it for me is the inside arm rests in the rear and drivers doors looks the same as on the plymouths of the era. Other than that, what a Ride!

The dash on this car is over the top. Last days before Elwood Engel got his pen out and began re-designing things. I think the '65 Imperial has a more refined interior with the 100 year old Claro walnut dash and trim. The four bucket seats were definitely the pre-curser to the '66 Charger with it's four bucket seats with the back buckets folding down to add cargo space. This is an exceptional car.

SUPER NICE! I love the styling.

Gorgeous and real high performance car - Back in the 60s when my friends wanted muscle cars, this was the top of my wish list. Although Buick captured the "Banker's Hot Rod" nickname in the early fifties with its Skylark and Century models, the Chrysler letter series 300s were the best combination of performance and style. Great video and styling analysis, Jay. Andy

4:30 As a kid, I _loved_ that "astrodome" dash.

This Chrysler is qualified, with out any shadow of any doubt, to be called a work of art. It's lines all around are simply marvelous to look at and that dash is amazing. I believe this style was a 1 year wonder since they adjusted the headlights and front end the next year, I think. Such a beautiful vehicle. Those choices at the end are impossible for me to pick just one. Impossible - I want them all. Great vid here, I'm so glad I found your channel. Keep up the great work. 💯

This is something to look forward to...

Wonderful motor car.

Hi jay. It's been a minute since I've seen one of your videos. They are getting better, and the camera you have takes excellent video. My parents bought a brand new 1962 Chrysler Newport 2 door hardtop back in May 1962. That car was everything and more. As far as quality. You couldn't have said it better. Chryslers back then were very high-quality cars. Just look ten years later to 1972 and see how far the quality dropped. If you think the dash is beautiful where you were. At night, that dash is beyond beautiful. I remember as a kid sitting in the back seat of our Chrysler just staring at that instrument cluster. The Golden Tone radio sounded better than any AM radio I've ever heard in any car. The car handled exceptionally well for a large car. Ours had the 361 V-8 which was pretty quick for a large car and the mileage was in the mid teens on the highway. If you rewatch your video, you will see the Chrysler ad that reads No junior editions. At 45 seconds, you see the Chrysler Cordoba. In 1975, Chrysler decided that they could have junior editions. A few notes. I believe that the 1962 300 H was the last letter series Chrysler to have a complete leather interior. Door panels included. The red light on the cluster is the high beam light, not a brake idiot light. Those stainless strips on the ceiling are head liner bows. I was surprised you fit the camera in the glove box. That was one of my parents'' peeves about the car was the small glove box. The cup holders did come in handy at the drive in though. Great memories with a great car. I remember when the car turned over to 100,000 miles. My dad and mom went on a drive just for that. Listening to Ventura Highway going towards Santa Cruz back in 1972 as it rolled over to 100,000 miles. Back then cars only had a five digit odometer so it would go from 99999.9 back to 00000.0. Those certainly were the days. Keep the grest video's comimg. I look forward to seeing them.

This is one that I used to overlook myself, but over time began to appreciate the uniqueness that was Chrysler of that era. The interior is absolutely incredible! The first scenario is tough, they are all so desirable, but in the second, I'd go with the Cadillac 💯 😎

A very weirdly designed yet exciting car! Glad you featured it, Jay. And I'd take the 300, of course!

WYR 300H WYR 300H The 300H interior is just amazing.This would be a great weekend cruiser. Davis Divan Sedan looks interesting . If you have the chance to give it the once over that would be great.Thx Jay

Wow, Jay, that's a spectacular 300H. Love the interior with the 4 bucket seats and the AstraDome dashboard. Good for 140+ mph.

Good feature on the Chrysler 300. Choices are all great, the 300 would be my choice, with the Pontiac right there also. But all fantastic cars.

I like every one of your videos! You do a great job going over each car, pointing things out and really both broadly and in detail. I must confess however that there's one thing i never liked about your show. I feel the same way after each viewing. You put me through the agony of trying to decide which of those cars i would choose. That makes me start arguing with MYSELF! So... i solve that personal dilemma by agreeing with myself NOT to choose! Leaves me feeling much happier after each episode. 😁😆😄

Thanks for sharing this beauty Jay, I’m literally thinking about spending some of my kids inheritance on this one so definitely for the WYR i would definitely rather have the 300H !

Hey Jay, what an awesome car!! You've done the most in depth video of the 300H - i'm sure!! That interior has to be the most stunning ever made in an American car!!

The 62 Thunderbird, 63 Riviera and the 62 300... Avanti, Hawk, Grand Prix and Cadillac...thanks!

This car had an off the hook MSRP for 1962. And yet, although the interior is awesome in an over stylized way, it didn’t keep pace with interior car layouts of 1962. The air conditioning vents look like add ons not being integrated….especially on the rear shelf. It’s just all over the place. If I could…..I would head over to Classic Cars and snatch it up!

Jay getting back to you, The 300 standard had bucket seats I don't think it had a console. The shift was a floor shift. The transmission was a truck trans. Not really high performance. You could not put a colleum shift on it with dome instruments. I got the from my great uncle he was in his 80's. He ordered cars like large engines standard trans. He was road commissioner for the town of Falmouth Maine. His foot fell off the clutch and the car went over a stone wall. The rear seat was a bench but all had extra foam. The vinyl was red and good quality. The exterior was white.

I own a '62 Chrysler 300 2 door coupe, in turquoise with a black interior, 413 engine.

I had one of these back in the 1990's. That electroluminescent lighting is no joke! Never attempt to tinker with it unless the battery is disconnected. Don't ask me how I know. Closest thing to being struck by lightning I could imagine.

Dude, that impish grin at 24:08 tells it all! Yep, you love that car and you're not alone! Gotta admit though, my all time ever ever ever car is the 1960 300 F! I would give multiple body parts for one of them!!! The 62 is definitely a class act but the canted headlights put me off a bit and I agree with Exner about the "plucked chicken" back end. Compare it to the GORGEOUS boomerang taillights of the 60! I could go on all night about several things you mentioned here but I will limit it to my big gripe about modern A-B-C pillars that are so stinking thick! Yeah, I get it, rollover protection and all that, but cars from that era seldom rolled because the center of gravity was very low, contrast that to the abominations they are building today that roll at the drop of a hat because they are so tall and top heavy! I'm no engineer, so it's possible that I am over-simplifying, but you will have a helluva time convincing me! Okay, WYR: 1. Dude, you're just being plain-ass unfair with this one! You need smacked for doing it! WYR: 2. I'll go with the Rivy! One of your best ever vids Jay!😁

I have to pick the 300H as am a Mopar fan, a little biased, yeah, lol

The 300-H had a 3-speed manual standard. This was also the first year for the legendary 727 Torqueflite, which should have had a Park engagement lever. My suspicion is that this might be an early 1962, using the original cast-iron Torqueflite. Top speed was more like 130 mph. This was about the same as the original 1955 Chrysler 300 would go. Growing up, a family friend had a 1955 300. He took it up to 125 mph and it was still gradually accelerating. It would have been nice to see inside the trunk. With those a/c vents on the rear shelf, I would be that there was an auxiliary a/c unit back there. If not then they had ducts going through that long console, but the air coming out of those rear vents might not be so cold. The 1961 300 will always be more popular than the 1962 300. There's something about the tail fins. Now, if this car had the cross-ram 413, it might be worth the listed price. I'd go for the '63 Avanti, if it had an R2 supercharged engine. It would leave any of these other cars in the dust and have a much higher top speed.

When I was a wee little one, my grandparents had a 62 Chrysler. I always called the astro-dome the bubble, but I was mesmerized by it all and especially at night. It seemed like it had more button switches and knobs then most cars. Anyway, I would take the Chrysler on both of the options. OBTW....I'm stll chuckling about your "baked" comment. 😆🤣

Nice 😊

63 Studebaker GT Hawk Pontiac or Chrysler if I have money for gas 😂😮 Great Episode beautiful styling on this one 😍❤️❤️❤️ Happy Motoring ✌️🤠

I prefer the 61" because of the rear deck, and fins make it look smaller.

AWESOME STUNNING CHRYSLER 300-H, FANTASTIC VIDEO REVIEW AS EVER JAY, I'LL JUST TINT THE "BACK GLASS". LOL, RETROFIT IT WITH AIR CONDITIONING, THANKS FOR AN AMAZING VIDEO. FORTUNATELY, I CAN AFFORD THEM ALL-& I LOVE THEM ALL, LOL.

This might be my most desired car. I had a 1970 300, but it was never Amazing like the 1962 300. The H 300 is just beyond anything.

thats a beauty Jay, I'll take it every day 👍

A beautiful restyling of the 62, over the 61. The deletion of the tall fins has really enhanced an already attractive vehicle. (I had no problems with the fins on the earlier models) It is understated, which brings out the cars length at the rear. The instrument binnacle is still classic, with the Lucite wheel setting it all off in the 62. Don't you find it amazing how long it took for side mirrors to be placed on the doors universally?

6:00 I actually like _both_ the '61 and '62 versions, each in their own way.

Hi Jay! Another STUNNING black car! I really like that model, where they finally got rid of the fins. I wonder what the 1961 DeSoto would have looked like without the fins? Anyway, that car IS beautiful inside and out! Can you imagine, though, what that car would be like if it had the RED leather interior?! Would for sure be like driving a jewel box! The only thing about that car that would worry me if I had one (besides the fuel bill!) is how the car would stop with those big old drum brakes. Would be neat to drive one and see how it stops. The WYR's are SUPER TOUGH today! #1 Going to go Chrysler here, but the Bird and the Avanti are super tempting! #2 GT Hawk! That is such a cool ride!! Those Davis' are quite cool! I don't know if you have seen it, but on the later version of American Restoration, they did one. It belongs to the Peterson Automotive Museum and is said to be the prototype! They did it in the green color that is supposed to be the original color. It was in season 7 episode 6, I believe. The title of the episode is Three Wheel Thunder.

Be careful not to scouge that red T-Bird.

1963 Studebaker Avanti for me. Cuz I've always wanted one....

Between the 1961 and 1962 Chrysler that 1961 was the last year for tail fins while 1962 does not.

I've never been a fan of these slant-eyed Chryslers, but I have to admit this car has PRESENCE, and a very impressive interior. The "bullet-bird" Thunderbird is my favorite of that marque, but I'm going to go with the Avanti as my favorite in the first group. The Riviera for the second group. Did you skip the 300M in your review of 300 cars? A Davis sedan was featured in Wayne Carini's Chasing Classic Cars; interesting car.

In the likes. It is a mind jerker 62 chrysler 63 pontiac that is my second car I would love to own and the buick riveria is a dream car. How could one choose.

The 62 (and 63) Chryslers were extremely good looking cars. I would not mind having that 300H! I would just LOVE to hear that 413 at full throttle with those 2 4bbl carbs pulling in lots of air! (And gas) WYR= All of them, but the Avanti would be best. Jay Leno has a Davis 3 wheeler. It seats 4 across the front (and only) seat. I did not know about the jeep type Davis, tho.

1962 Chrysler 300 and 1962 Cadillac Coupe Deville for my choices. You mad it hard to choose. This is a wonderfully optioned vehicle. I have always thought they were stunning as well. The instrument cluster is the best with the 64 - 66 Thunderbird coming in second. What a car! The only thing that would bug me is the way the turn signals work. I don't believe they cancel so you would have to shut them off after each turn. Did I say this is a stunning car?

I would like to have the Avanti in the first WYR, but I would like to have a picture of the 300H also. In the second WYR, I would like either the Chrysler 300H or the GT Hawk.

If I recall correctly the 300 letter series during the time was advertised by Chrysler as the beautiful brute. These cars weren't necessarily underappreciated but expensive back in the day and still so today. Short of the Imperial these cars were well engineered. The '62 still had the Exner extreme styling especially the front end treatment. The interior styling was outstanding, especially the instrument cluster layout. It was space age for the time.

That 300 is fantastic but my choices are the 62 t bird and the 63 riv

the alternator/ac belt is missing it's twin, those run with two belts going around them.

Eagles "the Long Run" (it is definitely Joe Walsh's guitar)

8:12 Just think EIGHT barrels opening ... _that's_ a LOT of air movement!

Not fair! You want me to choose between a Thunderbird, the Grand Prix, the 300, and the Avanti, and then the Gran Turismo, and the Riviera? I can’t! The only one I might not necessarily want is the Cadillac but even that is questionable. So, I’ll take them all. At any rate, these were nice cars. The only reason they may have been underappreciated in 1962 is because the styling was getting a little dated by then. Hence the major overhaul for ‘63. Still, this one has a great interior, especially the dash. I found myself wondering why there was no shifter in the center console but then remembered Chrysler was still into pushbutton transmissions.

@Andrea Yes!

"EIGHT DAY A WEEK" - The Beatles? "DANDELIONS" - The Rolling Stones? "DOES YOUR CHEWING GUM LOSE ITS FLAVOR ON THE BEDPOST OVERNIGHT" - Lonnie Donegan? Am I too late?

Nice review and a perfect video of the intricacy of design features. I believe the headlights are canted and towards the rear of the 300 H emblem would be concave to be more exact in description truly truly gorgeous how it all just flows and the bumpers are as well as the whole is magnificent the door handles inside and out just exude performance and set it apart only the Thunderbird can compare and this engine set up is what makes this just a bit more muscular and the speedometer set up and front and rear consoles give the Thunderbird a real run for the money and is its only competition in this point in time but Ford had the answer to this in its two seater-esque and I believe Thunderbird outsold the 300 series overall but being rarer and the more handsome boy its a tough call I love them both and this is one fine Automobile and not a blemish to be found probably the finest in existence I believe the Thunderbird sport Landau if that’s the correct term was probably around eight or $9000 so for value this still couldnt be beat for the price and boy they sure dont make them like they used to as far as styling goes and Thank you for all you do

The back of the 61 looks much better than the 62

In the mid 70's I worked with a mechanic that had 300-H. He sold it when he needed money after getting married but he talked about it all the time. This is a cool car but I think it's ugly. I never knew these were so rare. I'd choose the 1963 Grand Prix and the 1963 Riviera.

WYR: All of them. I'd love to see an episode on a 15 Window VW Bus. The only difference between the 15 Window and the 23 Window is that the 15 Window doesn't have the roof windows, which means it's less prone to leaks.

I like all but the Avanti.

Bell Bottom Blues? Derek and the Dominoes I'll take the Avanti and the 300H

The interior is indeed stunning but Exner went a bit weird on the outside. Losing the fins was a good idea in the back as fins had become passe' by now, and all the trim details do look good; it's just the shape up front where I have issues. Hot rodders of the day had learned to not take on 300's as these cars were powerfully fast usually fielding Chrysler's biggest engines. The 413 had become the top dog among US carmakers with nobody else being able to match it's power.These were the cars for "jet-set" executives who wanted to show their up-to-date tastes and automotive acumen, as the average Joe could never afford them. They also had a great ride, not as plushy as later Caddy's but not wallowy like them either; for a big car they handled well. WYR#1 is tough. These T-birds aren't my fave generation but it takes a slight win over the Gran Prix. The Avanti with a supercharged 289 would be sportier. #2 goes to the Riveria with the Stude being a close runnber-up. Love that Davis sedan!

You didn't mention the 300 was brought back in 1999 as a front wheel drive model, & in production til 2004. It went back to rear wheel drive 2005 til final year 2023. My favorite cars shown here would be the Avanti and the Gran Turismo.

24:00 Jay, this is a car I *WISH* you could take us for a ride in .. I bet it'd be TERRIFIC.

I’ll take the Avanti and the Cadillac. 👍😄

if you're in a 1962 300H and you don't feel special, you're sitting in the wrong seat.

Make video on Studebaker Avanti with manual gearbox and Paxton supercharger

I had a 4 dr 62 Newport with a 361engine with a/c one of the best cars that owned gave a true 20mpg at 70mph on the highway. Traded car in 1966 for a Dodge Monaco was a mistake 383 engine very poor gas mileage poor a/c unit . kept Dodge for 2.5 yrs ordered a new 1969 Pontiac Catalina with "economy 389" great a/c but 7mpg in city and 12 on road (gas was 26 cents per gallon x 28 gallon gas tank = $7.28 to fill tank)😎

There was also the '98,'99,'00 300M models

My '63 Imperial LeBaron had the dual quad 413 and got 15mpg in city driving. The top end was over 130mph so I don't know what they did to the 300 H to make it so bad on mileage and top end.

If you hold a gun to my head? 62' (M) code Grace Kelly Edition Thunderbird, convertible or Landau. Come to think of it, I know the Bird is wicked heavy, but a 113" wheelbase with not much overhang sounds really good to me at this time. Put 15's on it and it's an absolute superstar.

Jay, I didn't get to hear the "chit" of music , to guess?

as much as I like the thunderbird I have to choose the 62 studebaker hawk