Sporting Life

With a sales eye out for the sports-car buff, Chrysler last week brought out four souped-up models of its regular lines:

The 300B, a new version of last year's 300, which won the 1955 national stock-car association championship averaging 127 m.p.h. With two four-barrel carburetors and a 9:1 compression ratio, the 300B engine is rated at 340 h.p., 40 h.p. more than last year, making it the highest-powered production-line model in the industry. Price: $3,997. The Fury, which uses basically the same shell as the two-door Plymouth hardtop, but is an inch lower and has a 240 h.p. V-8 engine, instead of the regular 200 h.p. engine.

The Dodge "500", with heavier springs and shock absorbers than standard models, plus a lower body and an engine developing 260 h.p. (v. 200 in standard models). Price: $2,599 for the hardtop; $2,276 for the sedan.

The De Soto Adventurer, a low-slung two-door hardtop which will develop 320 h.p. against the standard 255 h.p. Chrysler's other entry of the week: an experimental two-door station wagon, the Plainsman, featuring a rear "observation car" seat, facing backwards, so that its two passengers see not where the car is going, but where it has been.

Chevrolet this week brought out a new model of its Corvette in an attempt to overtake Ford's Thunderbird, which outdistanced all competitors with 16,000 units in 1955. The 1956 Corvette still sports a plastic body, but boosted horsepower 15% to 225 h.p. Optional: a power-operated top and a floor-mounted manual shift (instead of Powerglide).

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