1956 Chrysler 300 - Majestic

It shouldn't be too difficult for most readers of STREET RODDER to imagine a time when they dreamt about owning a particular car, be it an old hot rod or even something new off the showroom floor. Car guys are, after all, car guys, and have been through the ages.

In the late '50s, one young man of 14, who had only recently gotten his first car (a Mopar that was only a few years old at the time), had bought a poster for his wall that illustrated what he really wanted. But, growing up in a small town in Northern California, there wasn't much of a chance that the local dealership would ever get one of these fast and stylish cars into its showroom because, well, Dinuba just wasn't that sort of town.

The car pictured in the poster was a Chrysler 300, and the kid with a dream was Gary Meadors. Most folks know him nowadays as Gary "Goodguys" Meadors, as he is the founding father of the street rod organization that carries his nickname. But, as those who have known Gary for a long time know, he is, and has always been, a diehard Dodge-Mopar-Chrysler fanatic.

With the success Gary has had in the 30 years building up his car show events across the country, he has been able to afford some of the finest cars ever offered for sale; but, rather than go off the deep end of exotica, he has stuck to his roots with the Dodge Brothers, and even welcomed them as a corporate sponsor for the 20-plus shows Goodguys produces annually.

So, when a friend of Gary's drove into the Scottsdale Goodguys show a few years back with a slightly ratty '56 Chrysler 300, he did a double take. The 300, the first vehicle to be able to deliver on the "one horsepower per cubic inch" formula with its 355-horse 354 Hemis, was the top of the line for Chrysler products in the mid-'50s. They were raced on asphalt, and found some great success in the NASCAR category too.

The car Gary saw before him was a fairly rare stick-shift model-only 31 300s were produced with a stick shift in '56, according to Gary-and it had a bit of rust showing through the faded black paint. But, what's more, the car's linage could be traced back to the Petty racing family, albeit a bit distant from being in King Richard's home garage!

Gary made an offer and was soon the new owner of the old car. But, having a few cars in his garage himself, there was no rush to get this car refurbished to show-car standards. Quite the contrary, Gary is the quintessential "driver guy," putting tens of thousands of miles on each of his cars every year by traveling to nearly all of the Goodguys shows around the country. With his wife, Marilyn, riding shotgun, the couple began to drive the 300, but it soon became apparent that an upgrade was needed.

While at the West Coast Nationals a few years back, Gary was telling his friend, Boyd Coddington, about the car and what he'd like to do with it. Boyd thought it was an interesting project, and the two agreed on price and principle. There was no show deadline by which the car needed to be finished or any particular time schedule, so the build was slower than most of the cars that roll out of Coddington's shop, but it didn't matter to Gary.

Due to the aforementioned Chrysler sponsorship of the Goodguys shows, Gary was able to locate a Viper that had its motor removed for another project, so a complete donor chassis was available. Gary wanted to keep the stock 354 Hemi in the car, but an upgraded suspension system seemed like a good idea, so the work began on a new chassis for the 300.