Ron Knoll figured if he made a make in buying his 1963 Chrysler 300, he had a built-in excuse. He could just blame his grand kids.
“I bought this car back in 2001 when I was taking my granddaughters out for their birthday,” chuckles Knoll, of his dandy 1963 Indy Pace Setter. “They saw it parked on the side of the road and said ‘Grandpa, is that like your car?’ I have a ’63 Sport Fury, and I said ‘No but it’s the same year.’ They thought I should buy it.
“So I went back the next day, called the guy and took it for a ride. He said, ‘Do you like it?’ I said ‘Yeah, but it’s got some problems.’ He said. ‘Do you want to buy it? I said, ‘I do.’”
The Alonquin, Ill., resident had a price in mind, and when the seller agreed to the figure the deal was quickly made and Knoll had a running mate to his Sport Fury. And it’s a unique and collectible one at that. Knoll’s Chrysler is one of 33 that were used for actual track duty at the 1963 race. After the race track was done with it, the car was sold to a real estate developer from Arizona, and from there the ragtop bounced around to a series of owners. Knoll wound up buying the car from a youth minister in Illinois, and he’s been the happy caretaker for the past 15 years.
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