From ESPN TV commentator

C. Van Tune’s

private collection:

1970 Chrysler 300 Hurst Edition

Limited-production Luxury Muscle Car: Only 503 built!

Original 440 cid/375 hp Engine

Three Owner car from CA, AZ and TX

Excellent Documentation!

THREE Factory Broadcast Sheets

One Factory Shop Sheet

One Jefferson Assembly Plant Inspection Report showing build date of 4-10-70

Original owner’s manual

Original Dealer Data Book

Steering column lock instructions plastic sleeve

Engine Starting instructions hang-tag

Chrysler Airtemp A/C brochure

Chrysler Warranty booklet

Chrysler watercraft booklet

Copy of letter from Hurst Corp, dated 6-10-71, noting the 503 cars built.

Best of All: SUPER RARE Hurst 300H owner’s manual & envelope!!

Original Equipment:

440/375 hp TNT V8 with dual exhaust & special factory camshaft

Factory-raised shift-point on Torqueflite automatic; 3.23 rear axle

Special factory suspension tuning (larger torsion bars & HD springs)

Leather seats from Imperial LeBaron, power–adjustable on both driver & passenger sides

Hurst fiberglass hood with scoop & dual twist-latches

Hurst fiberglass trunk lid with integral spoiler

Hurst-specific Spinnaker White & Sauterne Mist Gold paint

Hurst emblems

Hurst-specific paint on wheels (an extra set of wheels comes with this car)

Original AM/FM Stereo with 8-track!

Factory A/C

Power windows, brakes, steering

Hide-away headlights

Remote-release trunk lid

Very nice driver-quality restoration

A fast, fun and rare muscle car with room for six!

THE SELLER: My name is C. Van Tune, and I’ve tested thousands of cars during my career as the Editor-in-Chief of Motor Trend magazine, and as the host of ESPN’s TV series “DRIVE!” I’ve written more than two thousand automotive articles and appeared on hundreds of TV programs as an automotive expert during my 27 year career. Magazines I’ve written for include: Motor Trend, Car Craft, Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding, Super Chevy, Chevy High Performance, Corvette Fever, Muscle Car Classics, Muscle Car Review, Mopar Muscle, Mustang & Fords, Super Ford, High Performance Pontiac, Sport Truck, and many others. I know and love American classics, and have carefully built my collection over the past 15 years.

Why I am selling: I am downsizing my collection due to not having the time to enjoy them all. Therefore I had to make the tough decision and sell few of my machines. My loss is your gain.

Cars I recently sold on eBay include my 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, 1969 Chevrolet Kingswood Estate 427, 1967 Cadillac Eldorado, 1970 Corvette 454 and 2006 Corvette Z06. All transactions went very smoothly.

The Chrysler 300 Hurst History: When Chrysler got together with Hurst to produce a special limited-edition version of the 300 coupe in 1970, they wanted to entice muscle car lovers who were a bit older, and more affluent, than the typical street-brawlin’ Charger or ‘Cuda driver. The factory instigators of this special model were die-hard drag racers Dick Maxwell (originally of the Ramchargers racing team)and Jim Wangers (the marketing whiz behind the original GTO.)What they concocted was the Chrysler 300 Hurst, a special sort of luxury muscle car with all the best Chrysler performance parts that’d fit, accented by a special paint job, big comfortable leatherseats, and 300-H hood emblems. A total of only 503 were ever produced. Back in the day,sticker prices on many of these 300 Hursts hovered around $7000, which was Cadillac territory.

Today, the 300 Hurst is an even more rare machine, and should prove an excellent investment.

This Car: I bought this car in May 2006 from the seller in Arizona. The odometer read 83,669 miles. Today, it is at 84,320 miles. The previous owner said he was the car’s second owner, and that he bought it from the original California owner in 2000. He said it is “numbers matching” and that it won the “Best Non-Letter 300” at the Chrysler 300 Club Inc. national event in Phoenix the one time it was shown, but I have only his word on that. To make it back into a show contender today would require only fixing the paint chips and blemishes on the right rear fender, (described in more detail below), painting on the pin stripes (they are tape, currently) and doing some very minor touch-ups. According to the previous owner, the car was painted in 2004. At that time, he pulled the engine and installed a new timing chain, water pump and gaskets and did a general detailing. The original radiator was re-cored and the engine runs very cool.

Other NOS equipment he said was installed includes: Wheels, wheel centers, trim rings, taillight bezel, center front grille, “Chrysler” lettering on deck lid, hood hold-down locks, wheel opening moldings, battery hold-own, windshield washer reservoir, and other small items. He also said reproduction and/or replacement items installed by him were the alternator, starter, Mopar hoses & belts, dual exhaust, shock absorbers and carpet. (Not sure why he chose Autolite spark plug wires, instead of Mopar wires.)

The car comes with a second set of five Chrysler 300 rally wheels shod with original-style Goodyear Polyglas bias play tires. (The car currently has BFG Radial T/As on its installed set of wheels.)

This car is a really great driving, fast and rare, piece of Mopar history. If you like to drive your investment, this may be the perfect collectible performance car for you.

This Car’s VIN Plate Decoding

The VIN of CM23U0C217851 decodes as follows:

C = Car Line, Chrysler Full Size

M = Price Class, Medium

23 = Body Type, 2-Door Hardtop

U = Engine 440/375 hp RB “High Performance”

0 = Year 1970

C = Assembly Plant, Jefferson, Michigan

217851 = Sequential Build Number

This Car’s Body Plate Decoding

Using the car’s three Broadcast Sheets, I have decoded the Body Plate info as follows:

Y39 Special Order

A12 Combination Group

B41 Front Disc Brakes

G11 Window Glass

V78 Stripe

L31 Fender-Mounted Turn Indicators

P45 Deck Lid Release

C21 Fold-Down Center Arm Rest, Front

P28 Power Seats

EW1 Body Paint Color, Spinnaker White

H51 Air Conditioning

R22 AM/FM Radio

R31 Rear Speaker

P31 Power Windows

EW1 Roof Paint, Spinnaker White

M6T5 Trim Code

FT6 Upper Door Frame Color, Spinnaker White

125: Vehicle Order Number Prefix

J99702: Vehicle Order Number Suffix

E86: Engine, 440 V8/375 hp

D32: Transmission, Torqueflite Automatic

CM23: Car Line, Chrysler Full-Size/Body Type, Coupe

U0C: U = 440 V8; 0 = 1970 Model Year; C = Assembly Plant

217851: Sequential Build Number

This Car’s Engine Pad Decoding

The alpha-numeric code embossed into the engine padreads as follows:

F440 = 1970, 440 V8

319 = March 19

HP2 = High Performance

Seeing as this car was built on 4-10-70, this engine is definitely of the correct vintage.

How This Car Drives: I have fixed a bunch of little things and it really drives great. It has a ton of power, revs out strong, and will easily smoke the tires. A new exhaust system had been installed before I got the car, and it looks and sounds great. It has the perfect muscle car note, but is quiet enough to allow you to take the car on a long trip and have conversations at a normal level. It also runs cool even on the hot Texas summer days. The Torqueflite transmission shift crisply and perfectly.

The suspension is tight and squeak-free. Despite its big size and heft, this classic Chrysler can handle the turns surprisingly well. The BFG T/As are in great shape. The brakes and steering perform as they should, with no problems. I just had the A/C system recharged and it works great.

Interior: It’s big inside and out, with room for six in the leather lap of luxury thanks to the original front and rear seats taken from the top-of-the-line Chrysler Imperial LeBaron. These were part of the original 300 Hurst package and are in excellent shape. The carpet has been replaced. The rest of the interior is original and mostly in excellent condition. The dash top is free from cracks, but there is one area on the driver’s side where someone tried to fix a blemish and didn’t match the color too well. The door panels are in very good condition. The headliner is free of tears, but has a few very small blemish markings near the interior light. The light itself works, but needs a replacement lens. The area under the dashboard is clean, dry and looks excellent with no signs I’ve seen of aftermarket wiring. The instrument panel night lighting looks really cool, and I can send a photo of it to anyone who’s interested. The original AM/FM Stereo operates well but I have not been able to check the 8-track player’s operation. The 8-track’s metal flap (where you load the tape) needs refinishing where the paint is worn away. All the power windows work as they should, from both their individual switches as well as the driver’s master panel. The hide-away headlights open and close quickly. The trunk floor looks great and is covered by a correct type mat with a Chrysler part number. The vacuum-released trunk lid operates perfectly; there’s a pull handle under the dashboard as well as a pushbutton inside the glovebox, to operate it.

Chassis & Body: The car’s underside is nicely detailed. I can’t find any evidence of the floors or trunk panels ever being replaced. It appears as this car has never been wrecked, but I am not an expert in bodywork and therefore suggest an inspection. (This car reportedly spent all of its life in California and Arizona before coming to Texas.) The bodylines are generally very good, but in the right light you can see where each side has had some work. The car had been repainted before I got it. It’s a very nice driver-condition paint job, but there are a few blemishes: Most notably, the right-rear fender has several chips in the paint and nicks taken out of the pin striping tape. It was like that when I bought it. If I were to keep the car, I’d have that fixed and paint on the pin stripes. Whoever put these stripes on wasn’t the best at it. But, it’s a relatively easy repair to have them painted on. There are a couple of small nicks and chips on the hood and trunk lid but they are mostly unnoticeable from a few feet away.

What it Needs to be Perfect: The perfectionist owner may want to do the following: Repair paint chips on right-rear fender. Remove tape pinstripes on car and paint them on. Fix minor paint blemishes on hood and decklid. Detail engine compartment to show condition (it is in nice driver condition currently.) Install replacement dome light lens.

I have written in detail everything I know about this car. But in case I missed something and you have questions, please email me through eBay or call me at 325/998-3398.

HONEST DESCRIPTION: I strive to represent this car in the most honest and detailed manner possible. I will disclose everything I know, but I strongly encourage a physical inspection to avoid any misunderstandings. I value my eBay feedback, which is 100% positive on over 535 total items, including nine collector cars I have purchased and eight I have sold.

QUESTIONS? If you want photos of anything else, just ask. Email works great, or call me at 325/998-3398. Thanks, and good luck bidding.

Please read the following Terms and Conditions before bidding:

By placing a bid on this vehicle you are entering into a legal and binding contract to purchase the above-described vehicle if you are the highest bidder. Seller reserves the right to cancel all existing bids and end the auction early should the item no longer be available for sale. Vehicle is subject to availability.

This car is being sold in as-is, where-is condition, without warranty of any kind. No warranties are expressed or implied.

Please make time to inspect the vehicle. Winning the auction subjects you to purchase of this vehicle. Those who try to break the contract will be subjected to collections and eBay sanctions! This is a contract, not a game!

Please ask all important questions prior to the end of the auction so you will be knowledgeable about what you are buying. Seller is happy to answer any questions.

PAYMENT TERMS: The successful high bidder will submit a $2000 non-refundable deposit (PayPal, certified check, bank wire transfer) within two (2) days of the close of the auction to secure the vehicle. Buyer agrees to pay remaining balance due within seven (7) days of the close of the auction. The vehicle will not be released until the total sales amount has been received and verified by seller. This is not a game, so please do not bid unless you can afford to buy the vehicle.

PAYMENT METHODS: Certified check, bank transfers. Buyers are responsible for all state, county, city taxes and fees, as well as title/registration fees in the state that the vehicle will be registered.

SHIPPING: Seller will assist in shipping logistics to domestic locations only. International bidders are welcome, but they must have a certified American agent handle all the customs, etc., details. (Int'l bidders contact me BEFORE bidding, please.) Cost of shipping is 100% the responsibility of the buyer.

This limited-edition Chrysler 300 Hurst is being listed

at a very reasonable reserve price.

The Bottom Line: Contact me through eBay, or call,if you want a collectible Mopar luxury muscle car that has been very well cared for, comes with a stack of rare original documents, and is being honestly represented about all of its features. I will be happy to answer any questions you have, and will send additional photos on request.

Thanks for your interest,

Van

C. Van Tune

325/998-3398