For most initiates the 300G is the last Letter Car worthy of praise, or just the last Letter Car, period. The AACA shares that opinion, ending its list of "milestone" 300-series Chryslers with the G. The car was at a crossroads. Virgil Exner was leaving, at least as chief designer, and Tex Colbert would soon depart as Chrysler’s president. The 300H of 1962 shed its tailfins and had to compete with a letterless 300, which was offered at a 30% price reduction and in a sedan body.
In 1961 Chrysler oriented its advertising toward Grand Tourism. A market study had persuaded the company that 300-series purchasers were interested first in looks, second in performance. Successful businessmen who bought Letter Cars were found to put twice as many miles on them as average americans (15,000 miles per year for them).

In appearance the changes are not great. The trapezoidal grille is inverted with respect to its ’60 orientation and the four headlights are tilted diagonally to follow the side lines of the grille. In the rear, the tailfins have lost those boomerang-shaped tail lights, and the bumper is furnished with two rubber guards. The controversial "spare wheel" decoration on the trunk lid is gone. There aren’t many mechanical changes. Ram Induction is as it was in 1960, but the 400-hp optional engine is now attached to an unfortunate three-speed stick shift transmission of Chrysler’s own making that compares poorly to the Pont-à-Mousson gearbox of the year before. This is demonstrated when a 375-hp 300G with automatic transmission finishes a car-length ahead of a 400-hp manual-shift car in a 1/4 mile trial. To achieve better braking, the 300s, like other Chrysler cars, are given bigger brake drums and 15-inch rims. An alternator replaces the generator on all ’61 Chrysler cars.

Performance figures are modest. Greg Ziegler won the flying mile at Daytona with 143 mph. Motor Trend tested a 375-hp 300G and went from 0 to 60 mph in 8.3 seconds. The 1/4 mile run was completed in 16.2 seconds, with top speed of 87 mph.

Nonetheless the public likes the 300G and sales surpass 1500, a mark only cleared once before, in 1957. It’s not a sign of better things, though, for 1962 will prove to be a bleak year, the beginning of the end …