For much of its history, Chrysler was a frontrunner in building some of the most interesting and exciting high-performance cars Detroit had to offer.

Foremost among them are the formidable early Hemi-powered Chrysler 300 “letter cars” of the 1950s which, by virtue of their cost and long list of standard and optional features, were reserved for the wealthiest, most discerning buyers.

Cloaked in handsome Virgil Exner-designed bodies and carefully engineered, the 300 series offered the ultimate in American luxury and performance.

For 1957, Chrysler enlarged its already legendary hemispherical-combustion V-8 engine to 392 cubic inches.

Thanks to this increase and other refinements, output had reached 380 horsepower in the 300D by 1958.

Performance was stunning right off the showroom floor, with the large and relatively heavy cars easily capable of accelerating to 60 mph in under 9 seconds en route to a reported top speed over 130 mph.

Due to production complexity and high costs, only...