1. How did you come to the decision of buying this car?
Few reasons for this car. The main one was a need for cheap (under 4K) transportation. The next consideration was fond memories of when these cars came out, while I was in high school. I was really a truck guy, the only cars I liked were older (muscle cars) or unobtainable (I had Porsche 911 Turbo posters on the wall) . The 300M was the first new somewhat obtainable car I really wanted. I remember driving to the local Chrysler Plymouth dealer in my Ramcharger, grabbing the brochure and looking at a black one in the showroom, pretty sure there was a Prowler in there at the time too. Black really is my favorite color for these. I really love the look of the seats and interior (analog clock!) .
2. What has your ownership experience been like?
Ownership has been pretty good. Bought from the son of a little old lady with 42k miles and 13 years old. Had the timing belt and water pump changed after a couple months as a precaution due to age. a cam sensor went out around 50k mile and had a couple leaking fuel fittings. Mine is a Platinum package which I think basically got you chrome wheels which I have found seem tough to seal as I seem to consistently have one of the four with a slow leak. Other than that it's been pretty standard maintenance over the past two and a half years and almost 50k miles.
It's a pretty good car to drive. Handles and rides better than my previous Outback and out accelerates my former XC70. Most of the time it feels pretty quick unless I compare it against more modern cars. It's hard to describe how it drives. It seems to be a mix of big three highway cruiser (floaty) and euro autobahn ripper (sporty). It rides very well but there is a little float when cruising over the highways around NYC for instance. But it runs around corners with little body roll much flatter than the 80s and 90s Cadillacs I have experienced.
3. What is your fondest memory with this car?
I have two pretty fond memories so far. The first was taking my son to his first concert at the Oakdale in CT. After we left we grabbed some ice cream at the Sonic. As we got back on the parkway to head home I decided to have some on ramp fun and hit it hard until the merge with 91. Lots of fun.
The other is running the car on the sawmill parkway at dusk with little traffic after being in Long Island for work. The car did very well and was lots of fun even, if I generally prefer smaller cars for those kinds of things.
4. Why do you love cars?
Good question. I'm pretty sure it came from my dad, but I also had a thing for anything mechanical. Cars are unique in that they can be an object of our mechanical obsession and still be something we need in our daily lives.
My father owned and still does own a TR3 and typically has a few extra cars in the stable. I remember being pretty young helping him do brake jobs, and installing a stereo in his Datsun.
I think that's what makes this questions hard, lots of little things go into making a car guy/girl.
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If you would like to participate, just answer the above four questions and submit one to three photos of your daily driver to milhousevanh at geemail. Thanks and have fun!
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