The 1955 Chrysler C 300

At its introduction in 1955 the first Chrysler 300 "Letter Car" was also the most powerful production car in the US firmly establishing Chrysler as the king of performance cars. What is largely considered as the first "muscle car", it was presented as an expensive, fast luxury coupe. The C-300 "C" stood for coupe, "300" stood for the 300 bhp engine) was only available as a hardtop coupe and came in only three colors: black, red, and white. Standard power was MOPAR's top engine, a 331 cid Hemi V8 with two four barrel carburetors, a full-race cam, solid lifters, special manifolds, large dual exhausts, and 300 bhp. The Hemi engine got its name from its hemispherical combustion chambers. These chambers required a pair of rocker arm shafts on each cylinder head, with the spark plugs fitting between the valves.