We have 678 records but sources say 690 E's were made; we are short 12 cars. We show 137 convertibles and 541 coupes while the other sources have 140 converts and 550 coupes. All things considered, missing 12 out of 690 isn’t bad. News-Flite issue 172 says 137 Es survive (110 coupes, 27 convertibles.)

The standard colors for the E were: AAA Formal Black, KKK Turquoise Grey, RRR Radiant Red, WWW Cameo Tan, XXX Ivory White, ZZZ Copper Spice.

Other colors available from Chrysler in 1959 include BBB Normandy Blue, CCC Nocturne Blue, DDD Empress Blue, EEE Ballad Green, FFF Highland Green, HHH Silverpine, JJJ Aqua Mist, LLL Spanish Silver, MMM Storm Gray, NNN Persian Pink, SSS Gray Rose, TTT Deep Ruby, UUU Sandstone, YYY Spun Yellow.

In 1959 Chrysler used 999 as the code for cars with special order paints and 888 as the code for special order interiors. 13 Es have 999 paint, 4 of these are convertibles and at least one of the 999 cars survived. 19 cars are 888 interior (6 are converts). The first 999 car was a coupe built 11/11/58. The first 999 convertible was built just a few days later, 11/18/58. The last 999 E was a convertible built 5/20/59.

There were 137 convertibles: 71 were ivory white. 18 were radiant red, 17 were formal black. 12 were cameo tan, 6 were copper spice, 5 were turquoise gray. 2 were Normandy blue, 1 was Empress blue, 1 was Spanish silver (this car survives). There were 17 convertibles with AC and there were 12 with the gasoline Instant Heater. 7 were heater delete and 13 were manual window cars. 51 had Suregrip, 68 had power antennas, 109 had power seats. 38 had the automatic headlight dimmer, 51 had AutoPilot. 12 had a manual left fender mirror, 105 had the remote fender mirror, 38 had the right fender mirror, 28 had the Mirror Matic. 56 had the Music Master radio, 67 had the Electro Touch tuner radio, 13 were radio delete. 68 had Solex glass.

The code for normal tires on the E is 77. 654 records have code 77. Two have code 7, sixteen have no tire code. 6 cars have tire code 99. Code 99 means special tires and may mean Captive Air tires.

There were 541 Coupes: 283 in ivory white, 79 in formal black. 42 in cameo tan, 38 in radiant red, 35 in copper spice, 33 in turquoise gray. 9 in sandstone, 3 in Normandy blue, 3 in Spanish silver. 2 in storm gray, 2 in Empress blue, 1 in WUW (*), 1 in deep ruby, 1 in Silverpine and 9 in 999. One of the sandstone coupes survives. One of the Spanish silver coupes is gone, the others unknown. One of the two storm gray coupes and the Silverpine coupe survive.

There were 138 coupes with AC and 25 with dual AC. There were 35 with the gasoline Instant Heater and 4 cars were heater delete. 242 had Suregrip. 421 had power windows. 223 had power antennas. 3 cars had dual rear antennas although that option is not available on the 300. 381 cars had power seats. 121 had the automatic headlight dimmer, 154 had AutoPilot, 184 had the rear defogger. 64 had a manual left fender mirror, 483 had the remote fender mirror, 139 had the right fender mirror, 110 had the Mirror Matic. 210 had the Music Master radio, 233 had the Electro Touch tuner radio, 57 were radio delete. 322 had Solex glass.

Production started in August, 1958. The first 6 records were convertibles, all in radiant red, all with the same options. Several times throughout the production year you can see groups of identical cars going through.

We don’t have the record for the last E so we estimate the last E came off the line sometime after July 1, 1959.

150 Es were built the automatic beam changer.
204 with Auto Pilot.
481 with manual left fender mirror.
169 with remote left fender mirror.
65 with right fender mirror.
131 with Mirrormatic.
300 had the Music Master radio.
311 had the Electro touch tune radio.
71 had no radio.
441 had tinted glass Solex.

To me, the most interesting option was the True-Level Torsion Aire. 1959 was the only year it was offered and only 30 Es had it (11 convertibles, 19 coupes). It consisted of a 200 PSI compressor driven off the engine. It ran air bags on the rear springs. You can read more about it here. I’ve never seen an E with it. My guess is this option was in response to air suspensions being offered by Ford and GM. None of these systems worked well.

There were 48 cars with Add or Delete notes on the records. Two were adds; one for the Autopilot, and one for the automatic beam changer. There were 46 cases for deletions; 6 had the automatic beam changer deleted, two cases where the Autopilot was deleted. The Mirror Matic was deleted 5 times, the Electro Touch tuner radio was deleted 6 times, Solex glass deleted 26 times. These Add or Delete notes first appeared on the records in 1958.

(*) One WUW coupe was built 02/05/59. The WUW code means tan-sandstone-tan however the record also shows WUW delete so it is likely this car was never built in this color.

We estimate that 110 coupes and 27 convertibles survive.