Chrysler 300 Letter Cars: Racing at Daytona Beach, 1955-1961
Good evening. My talk will be about the Chrysler 300 at Daytona Beach from 1955 to 1961. I was there in 1956, 1957, and 1960 - but my recollections are dimmed somewhat by more than 40 years. I was an observer in 1955, a consultant in 1957, and the man in charge of our Speed Week effort in 1960.
After graduating from Chrysler Institute with a Masters Degree in Automotive Engineering in 1951, my first job assignment was as the coordinating engineer on the development of the Dodge 241 cu. in. Red Ram hemi engine. My job was to schedule the prototype engine build and the test and development activities and maintain the records on about 25 prototype engines. For example, if we changed the metallurgy of the tappet face - which we did several times - my job was to see that all the prototype engines were updated.
After a year and a half the Dodge V8 went into production and my job assignment was over. I had an urge to see how cars were built so I asked management to send me to a manufacturing plant. They agreed and I ended up at the DeSoto Warren Avenue Plant helping this new engine plant build the 276 cu. in. DeSoto V8 hemi engine - called the Firedome. DeSoto manufacturing personnel had not built an engine before and neither had I. It was the “blind leading the blind” but I learned a lot about how to machine and assemble a good engine. I often think that I am probably one of the people that made DeSoto what it is today.
In 1954 the Resident Motor Engineering job opened up at the Chrysler Division Jefferson Plant and Bob Rodger offered me the position. I jumped at the chance to work with the “pro’s” at Jefferson in the manufacture of the 331 cu. in. Firepower engine. The “300” model was already in the pipeline so my first involvement with the Chrysler 300 was as the Chrysler Division technical contact to Carl Keikhaefer who had decided to race Chrysler 300’s in the AAA - later called USAC - and NASCAR oval racing circuits. Carl was a rich and capable tyrant and his drivers and cars dominated both circuits. Chrysler’s PR contact with Carl was Frank Hedge. One time Frank told me that he thought my initials were “G. D.” because he said Carl always referred to me as “that God Damn Bouwkamp.”
I could tell you a lot of stories about Carl but one story says it all. Carl had been lobbying - bullying would be more descriptive - USAC to let him use a manual transmission (ala NASCAR) on the track even though it was not a regular production option. The automatic transmission was presenting some durability problems on oval racing - probably due to transmission temperature because the torque converter and pumps absorbed more than 25 HP at racing speeds and acceleration off the turns. NASCAR finally said “OK” which Carl had anticipated because he already had the transmissions, clutches, linkage, etc. in Wisconsin for conversion of his NASCAR race cars. Carl got the OK while his Twin Beech was at Detroit City Airport He called me and said he wanted Gene Carr (my assistant) in Oshkosh that night to help them convert the race cars to manual transmissions. He said that Gene could ride back to Wisconsin on their company plane and they would buy Gene whatever clothing and toilet articles he needed in Oshkosh. Gene agreed to go with about five minutes notice. Carl then called his pilot at City Airport to tell him to bring Gene. We found out later that the pilot told Carl that he could not bring Gene on this trip because they had taken all the seats out of the plane to accomodate the parts. Carl’s response is classic Keikhaefer. Carl said, “send the co-pilot back on a bus because I want Gene Carr in Oshkosh tonight.” The rest of the story is that both Gene and the co-pilot ended up in Oshkosh that night because the pilot was able to borrow a Twin-Beech seat from General Motors Air Transportation which at that time was based at City Airport.
(#1). Carl’s decision to make Chrysler 300’s his rolling billboards for Mercury Outboard Motors was tremendously successful on the race track. He put lots of money and energy into the project and he demanded perfection of his drivers and mechanics. He instituted many arbitrary rules including that drivers couldn’t sleep with their wives - or girlfriends - the night before a race.
In 1955 and 1956 he won 62 out of 101 NASCAR races that he entered - 51 with a Chrysler and 11 with a Dodge. He was even more successful in AAA - later named USAC - circuits but I don’t have that data. Chrysler 300 drivers won the NASCAR and USAC chamnpionships in 1955 and 1956. Then Carl abruptly quit stock car racing! I don’t know exactly “why” but knowing Carl’s personality I think it was because he was mad at someone. Some say Carl quit because he sensed the resentment of the race fans to his success and was concerned that it might affect his outboard motor business. We are indebted to Carl Kiekhaefer. I doubt that you could hire talent as cabable and dedicated. Carl started car racing in the early ‘50s in the Mexican Road Race using specially prepared Chrysler Saratogas. That evolved to oval racing of Chrysler 300’s in 1955 and 1956. Oval racing is kind of off the subject tonight - but it is important to note that Carl Keikhaefer contributed significantly to the Chrysler 300’s performance image.
(#3) (Note: we are awaiting permission to use the photo.) This is a picture of Carl with the trophies that his cars won in 1956. The car in the foreground is the 300B that Tim Flock drove to win the Flying Mile at 139.37 MPH. The car in the background is an Imperial Ghia limousine which Carl thought he wanted to take his wife and his mother-in-law for Sunday drives. I arranged for him to get the car. It took some inside help because the limousines were built in Italy and were in short supply. After a few weeks Carl called me and told me to come and get the Ghia - he didn’t want it - because it did not have enough driver’s leg room. He hadn’t realized that the front seat travel of limousines was restricted because of the power operated window between the passenger and drivers compartments. Carl never paid for the car but when he returned it that was no longer an issue.
Here are the top speeds for the 300’s that competed in the Flying Mile in 1955 through 1961 which was the last year of the Beach Trials. Are any of these drivers in the audience tonight? Has anyone in the audience competed at Daytona? We were “top dog” in 4 of the 7 years and 2nd overall in 1957 - but in 1957 we were first in Class 7 (over 350 cu. in.) On this chart - “red” is first and “blue” is second.
There was also a Mile Acceleration competition each year but that did not get as much publicity as the Flying Mile so my information on those runs is somewhat sketchy. In seven years we finished first three times and second twice. We should have run 90 MPH in 1960 but the best we did was win Class 7 with Brewster Shaw at 88.2 MPH. Five more 300F’s were right behind Brewster. Tom McCahill wrote in Mechanics Illustrated magazine that the 300F’s did not run quicker because they ran with low rear tire pressure. I did advocate 20 psi rear tire pressure to get a bigger tire footprint for the driving wheels to launch the car. I knew that how rapidly the car accelerated in the first 500 ft was far more important than top speed in measuring elapsed time over one mile. The drivers were reluctant to accept my recommendation because it was an untested theory. So - Warren Koechling and I decided to test it by comparing acceleration times over 1/8 th mile with 60, 40, and 20 psi in the rear tires. Our test was interupted by the police. With the aid of the clip board and stop watch - and a lot of technical conversation - we convinced the officer that we were dedicated competitors and were not nuts and had not been drinking. He gave us a warning and let us go. So the theory was still untested. Gregg Ziegler lowered his rear tire pressure to 20 psi for the run but I don’t know who else - if anyone - did. Greg said the car was hard to handle - and that he almost went into the ocean.
Rear tire pressure might have cost us 2 MPH but even if we recorded 90 MPH it would not have beat the 93.8 MPH average turned in by Bob Pemberton in an Air Lift sponsored Class 6 Pontiac. This remarkable run is one of the mysteries of the Daytona Beach Trials because:
1. The next fastest Pontiac recorded 84.5 MPH - 9 MPH slower than Pemberton.
2. The next year (1961) Pemberton turned 87.8 MPH in a Pontiac - 6 MPH slower than 1960.
Let’s look at the 2-way Flying Mile results a year at a time. Chrysler 300’s placed first, second and third in 1955 with Warren Koechling - an Eastern Airlines pilot - fastest at 127.6 MPH which raised the record by 10 MPH. Brewster Shaw, owner of San Juan Motors - our Chrysler-Plymouth dealer in Daytona Beach - set the old record in a New Yorker and was second in 1955. Vicki Wood was third and was a hired driver. I don’t know who owned the car but I suspect that it was Brewster. These were automatic transmission cars. That’s significant because a manual transmission car is probably more than 5 MPH faster.
(#7) My involvement with the Daytona Beach speed trials started in 1956. Bob Rodger sent me to Daytona as an “observer” with no official duties except to help the Chrysler nameplate - with automotive writers for example - and help Chrysler drivers - like Brewster Shaw of San Juan Motors - in any way that I could. And also to serve in a liaison roll with Carl Kiekhaefer. We knew that Carl was going to run cars in the Sunday oval race but we did not know that he was preparing a car for the beach trials to be driven by Tim Flock the NASCAR Grand National Champion.
These are the results for the 1956 Flying Mile. Tim Flock raised the record by 12 MPH! The car had a manual transmission and was prepared to perfection by the Keikhaefer organization for the beach run. Carl had the car painted with the Mercury Outboard logo because he knew that he was going to win - and set a new record doing it. He wanted to showup the factory effort - and he did! I can’t explain Warren’s and Brewster’s speeds of 10 and 12 MPH slower because that‘s a difference of at least 100 HP at the rear wheels. I am tempted to say that they were standard production automatic transmission 300B’s but two automotive journalists road tested Brewster’s car and reported that it had a manual transmission. This remains one of Daytona’s mysteries.
Vickie Wood drove the Tim Flock car to a new ladies speed record of 136.1 MPH.
After Tim Flock’s two-way run of 139.4 MPH, Gene Carr and I went over to the Armory to observe the inspection. NASCAR specified removal of the intake manifold and one cylinder head so that they could measure carburetor and port sizes, bore, stroke, valve sizes, piston head height and cylinder head combustion chamber volume to assure that the vehicle was within specifications. Without completing this inspection successfully the results were not official. We waited - and waited - and waited but Tim Flock and the car did not show. NASCAR gave us a time deadline to produce the car at the Armory or else so Gene and I went over to the Keikhaefer rented facility and there was the 300B. Carl said he wasn’t interested in the inspection because he said that he proved what he wanted to prove. After some intense discussion Carl said “take the car”. We did and we made the deadline at the Armory - but we did not have any mechanics to disassemble the engine. Gene and I were capable of doing it but we didn’t have any tools. We borrowed tools from mechanics working next to us but it was obvious that that wasn’t going to work because we needed the same tools and were interfering with their work. So I called Carl and told him that we needed his help. He went through his standard dissertation that his efforts were not appreciated by Chrysler - but within a ten minutes Carl came marching in through the open Armory garage door carrying a tool box in each arm and with two mechanics trotting behind him. We were the last ones out of the Armory that evening but the engine met all specifications and we had the official record.
I was at San Juan Motors in 1957 to help 300C owners run on the beach.
Overall top speed honors went to John Zink in a Class 6 (305 to 350 cu. in.) Pontiac.Two 300C’s stood out in these trials because we built two cars with the limited production 390 HP package for Daytona. These cars had manual transmissions, manual steering, mechanical lifters, more aggressive camshaft, and limited slip rear axles. One car went to Brewster Shaw and one went to Red Byron (a semi-retired stock car racer). I can't remember who owned Red's car - he was just a "hired gun". We sent the 390 HP cars to Daytona but we were worried whether Norris Friehl (NASCAR Chief Inspector) would let us run these cars because they were limited (like 2 or 3 at that time) production. NASCAR approved the 390 HP optional package because it was a publicized 300C option - even if we had not built very many. Incidently, Brewster Shaw and Red Byron ran identical speeds (139.0 MPH) downwind but Brewster did not make the upwind run. I can’t remember - and I have not been able to find out - why Brewster was unable to make the return run. The automatic transmission equipped 300Cs driven by Warren Koechling and Vicky Wood were about 5 MPH slower than the manual transmission cars and finished 8th and 10th overall.
Brewster did come back to win the mile acceleration trial at an average speed of 86.9 MPH
To hype the 300C’s performance reputation we made and publicized a high speed run of the 390 HP package at the Proving Ground in November 1956. I remember that we were disappointed in the initial results so we removed the exhaust system, air cleaner, and then used clay, tape, and cardboard to reduce aerodynamic drag and ran again.
(#12) With these changes we recorded 145.7 MPH for one lap. I don’t remember the first speed but it was below 140 MPH. These pictures are from that run. I had two pictures in my file and discovered this picture - with me in it - while paging through a Chrysler 300 book at the Blackhawk Museum (California). My wife recognized me. That's a view she sees more than I do. (Photo hopefully to be provided soon - awaiting permisson from the publisher.)
We publicized this high speed run through our Public Relations agency (Ross Roy Inc.) to reinforce the 300’s performance image.
Here is Bob Rodger congratulating the driver. Another publicity event was planned for Daytona with the run of a 300C in the flying mile Experimental Class. It was a fuel injected engine of over 400HP prepared by our Research Office. This project was derailed by two unexpected events:
- We hired Buck Baker, a prominent NASCAR driver to drive the car on the beach. I remember that we agreed to pay him $1,000. On the day before the event Buck signed to drive for Chevrolet and he was a “no show“. While the car was waiting in line to make its official run - with no driver - we hired Vicky Wood to drive it.
- During the first run the clutch disc exploded and that was the end of this effort. Examination afterward showed the failure to be due to centrifical forces caused by high rotational speed of the clutch disk. We never blamed this failure on Vicky - it is probable that the clutch disk would have failed no matter who was in the driver’s seat.
Had the clutch held together we would have exceeded 150 MPH but it is unlikely that we would have topped Hot Rod Magazine’s 1960 Plymouth Savoy with a fuel injected and modified Chrysler hemi engine. That car driven by their editor Wally Parks recorded 159.9 MPH.
1958 was an all Pontiac show. They swept the first six places. This was the last year for the 392 cu. in. hemi engine. 300D’s came in 7th and 8th about 10 MPH slower than the first place car. These 300D’s were probably standard production automatic transmission models. We were not involved because of an industry agreement in 1957 - commonly called “the AMA agreement” - not to promote or support vehicle performance or racing.
The 1959 results as reported by the Daytona Beach Morning Journal were a little better for Chrysler - but only because the top five Pontiacs were disqualified. These runs were made on Feb 15th and reported on the 16th. A technical problem arose at the post race inspection and five Pontiac drivers were disqualified for verbal abuse of Norris Friehl, NASCAR’s Chief Inspector. Among those five were former Chrysler 300 drivers, Larry Rouse and Vicky Wood. Six hours after the incident Bill France confirmed their disqualification. So - an Oldsmobile was first, followed by two Pontiacs. Fourth place went to Gregg Ziegler in a 300E at 124.4 MPH. Two more 300E’s were 6th and 7th. These were undoubtedly standard production automatic transmission models.
There is confusion about the 1959 Flying Mile results because on Feb 28th NASCAR reported these results for runs made on February 23rd. The results are different and the date is eight days later. Since these Pontiac drivers were disqualified on the 15th, I wonder if NASCAR reran the event?
These three years set the stage for 1960. In the spring of 1960 my boss Bob Rodger assigned to me the job of planning, preparing, and executing a winning 1960 Daytona Beach effort. We had nearly a year to get ready for next February.
We planned a 400 HP model with a husky four speed manual transmission which we bought from Pont -A- Mausson, a French manufacturer who built this transmission for use with a Chrysler V-8 engine in the Facel Vega sports car. The transmission did not fit under our floor pan so we had to cut a hole in the floor pan and cut a floor reinforcement and then install a unique floor pan cover and reinforcement which were manufactured by prototype methods. We made these modifications in our engineering garage at the Chrysler Jefferson Plant after the car was built on the production assembly line.
We found out from our engine people that we could increase horsepower by tuning the long branch ram manifolds for power instead of mid-range torque. That took reducing the ram tubes from about 30” to 15”. We did that by an internal change to the casting. We removed 15” of an internal web between ports. By doing this we ended up with a 15” plenum chamber and a 15” ram manifold which increased power at 5000 RPM. The engine wouldn’t run this fast with hydraulic tappets so we built the engines with mechanical tappets which allowed us to go to a more aggressive camshaft profile. We got more power but to get it we sacrificed low speed torque and idle smoothness.
We also raised compression ratio to 10 to 1 - from 9.25 to 1.
For the 390 HP engine, we designed and built exhaust headers and a low back pressure exhaust system to further increase power. We also blocked carburetor heat to simplify the exhaust header design and to lower the carburetor temperature. These cars would not have run very well on a cold winter‘s day in Bemidgi, Minnesota.
We had the full cooperation of our Jefferson Plant engine building personnel and they built the engines with upper limit clearances for bearings and pistons to minimize friction.
Rear axle ratio was probably 2.93 or 3.07. The normal production ratio was 3.31.
Our suppliers also helped. Perfect Circle - our piston ring supplier - provided low tension piston rings and Goodyear supplied low power absorbing Bluestreak tires by reducing tread thickness and stiffer sidewalls. This was before radial ply tires. A bias plied tire at normal inflation pressures absorbed 15 HP at 100 MPH. Bluestreak tires absorbed about 10 HP. The special tires for our Daytona cars were better than that.
We prepared the cars in our Engineering Garage. We installed the Pont-A-Mousson transmission, exhaust system, special tires, etc. We built five cars for Daytona plus an Engineering prototype car.
Meanwhile, I had to decide who was going to buy and drive these cars? It was obvious that Brewster Shaw, the Chrysler dealer in Daytona, would get one - or two. Also, Co Monroe of Monroe-Zeder Motors in Miami would probably want one and have his friend Warren Koechling drive it. To find the other owners we scanned the Chrysler 300 entries from previous years and I called them to see if they would like to buy and drive a competitive car at Daytona. Gregg Zeigler says that he will never forget that phone call. To him - it was like winning the lottery.
After completing the cars, we - including me - tested and broke in the cars with about 500 miles of high speed driving. A lot of it at 100 MPH but we did not run them at top speed. Some drivers picked their cars up at the factory and Gene Carr aqnd Carl Pruehs drove two of the 300F’s to Daytona.
At Daytona we worked out of San Juan Motors. The cars were ready to run so we did not have a lot to do. We fixed any problems noted on the drive to Daytona and we changed the spark plugs and inflated the tires to 60 psi.
We swept the first seven places in Class 7 and the first six places overall. The front page headline on the February 8, 1960 Daytona Beach Morning Journal said “CLASS 7 BEACH RECORD FALLS”.
These are the Flying Mile results. Notice in the third column that I have also shown the downwind/upwind speed differentials. Gregg was fastest at 143.9 MPH and Brewster was second, 1 1/2 MPH slower. Bud Fauble finished third but was not in my overall plan. He was the Sales Manager for our dealer in Chambersburg, PA and drove to Florida with three friends to drive his 300F on the beach at Daytona and then go on to Miami and Cuba (before Castro) for some fun in the sun. Bud wanted us to prepare his car for the beach run. I tried to disuade him because I knew he would not average 130 MPH and I was afraid it would tarnish our effort. Bud was determined to run so I told him he could drive our engineering prototype car if he would promise to withdraw if he won. You withdraw by not showing up at the Armory for inspection after the run. I stipulated these conditions because if Bud won it would not have been fair to the drivers and owners that bought their cars. Bud agreed.
Fourth place went to Danny Eames, a professional driver but I can’t remember whether he drove a second car for Brewster Shaw or Dick Dice’s car from Birmingham, AL. Fifth place went to Warren Koechling who drove for Monroe-Zeder, a Chrysler dealer in Miami.
Larry Rouse was there every year - sometimes in a Pontiac but this time in a 300F.
R. C. Wooten drove a standard 375 HP automatic transmission 300F. Notice his south to north speed difference. Wooten went nearly as fast into the wind as he went down wind. It tells us that air resistance was not what was limiting his top speed. It’s probable that with the standard 3.31 axle ratio he was experiencing “hydraulic tappet pumpup” which acts like a governor and limits engine top speed.
Danny Eames’ south/north speed difference of 11.9 MPH is remarkable. I can’t explain this.
Gregg’s car was inspected at the Armory and passed. Gregg said that during the inspection they discovered that one cylinder bank had Champion spark plugs and the other had Autolite. Either is legal but it’s unusual to have two types of plugs in one motor. It is customary to put the same spark plugs in all cylinders. Gregg said that this happened because new spark plugs were plentiful and free at San Juan Motors because Autolite and Champion wanted to have their plugs in the fastest car. Gregg said he installed new plugs in his engine nearly every day and he and Carl Pruehs (the engineering garage head from my office) apparently selected different brand plugs when they were working on opposite sides of Gregg’s car. That’s Carl Pruehs in the background of this picture of Gregg.
I was not at Daytona Beach in 1961 which was the last year that Speed Trials were held on the beach. The Corporation made a major organization change in 1960 in which they removed Manufacturing from the carline divisions and centralized Manufacturing into CATAG (Car and Truck Assembly Group). With this change the car divisions became responsible for only merchandizing, selling, and servicing the product. A new centralized Product Planning function was formed and located at Highland Park. I had to choose whether to go to Product Planning or Manufacturing. When Bob Rodger asked me what I wanted to do, I said “I will go with you.” He was slated to be Chief Engineer of Chrysler and Imperial in the centralized Product Planning office. So I became manager of Chrysler Product Planning located at Highland Park with the responsibility of determining the Product Plan for the 1963 Chrysler (a reskin) and the 1965 Chrysler (an all new car). In 1968 I became Director of Product Planning for all carlines and Bob Rodger worked for me. I tried to be as good as boss as Bob Rodger was to me. In 1971 Bob Rodger died of Leukemia - a great loss to the Corporation and to me.
We used the same performance package in 1961 except that a Corporate three speed manual transmission replaced the four speed Pont-a-Mousson transmission. Pont-a-Mousson wanted to sell hundreds of transmissions to Chrysler each year - not just a handful. Gregg Ziegler finished first at 143 MPH but 300G’s would have finished 1, 2, 3 and 4 however windshield moldings blew off three of the cars and they were disqualified. You have to finish the run with all the parts. The 5th and 6th place cars were probably standard production automatic transmission 300G’s.
The Daytona Beach Speed Trials were fun and helped Chrysler establish the performance reputation for the cars that you own. We let the 300 image tarnish in 1958 and 1959 but we polished it bright and sparkling in 1960 and 1961.
Doing the research for this was therapeutic for me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the 1955 - 1961 newspapers now on microfilm at the Daytona Beach Public Library. It stimulated my mind into remembering things that I had forgotten. Merle Wolfer, Gregg Zeigler and Bob Graham were also helpful in providing information.