I love this car! By John Benjamin
The first car I ever bought was a seven year old 1964 Plymouth Fury convertible with a 426 Max Wedge engine. My first brand new car was a 1973 Plymouth ‘Cuda 340 four-barrel. Two cars I wish I still had. But this car, my 300M Special, is far and away the best automobile I have ever owned. I can think of nothing that I don’t like about it. Pretty bold accolades, but I think they are well deserved.
When I first saw a commercial for the 300M I wanted one. In November of 2002 I finally found myself in a position financially to get one. As I began shopping, I discovered that there was a limited edition called 300M Special. The Special won me over immediately with the lowered front facia, 18 inch wheels and the dual exhaust. As well as being just a little different from the norm. You might see a lot of 300Ms in a day, but not too many Specials.
I visited several dealers in town but tried hard not to get in a hurry. I wanted to find just the right one. During lunch one Friday I stopped at Eastgate Chrysler, a 5 Star dealer near my work, and asked if they had any Specials. I was directed to a fenced lot where the only 3 Specials they had were parked side by side. In the middle was exactly what I was after, a Graphite Metallic / Dark Slate 300M Special. There were only 5 miles showing on the odometer. It couldn’t have been more right if I had ordered it. When I returned from the test drive the salesman suggested that I take it home overnight and really get a feel for it. I was stunned. I’m thinking, “You’re going to trust me with this car overnight?” But there was no way I was going to turn down that offer. As it turned out he knew what he was doing. I returned on Saturday and said, “Sold!”
When it comes to driving this car, the Chrysler slogan is right on the mark, “Drive = Love”. I love driving it. It corners like it is on rails and handles like a much smaller car. I find myself volunteering for errands just so I can go out and drive. Much like I did when I was sixteen and first got my license.
To date, the only modifications I’ve done is to add the visor plaques to cover up the air bag warning stickers. I don’t know if I’ll add any more mods to this car. I think it is darn close to perfect now.
Nearly one year and 15 thousand miles later, I think I know why they called it ‘Special’. It’s the special feeling you get when you look at it while you walk toward it in the parking lot, or when you gas it a little on the freeway and it jumps so easy, or you notice someone turning their head to watch you drive by.
