(first posted 7/30/2013) One of the reasons I love 1970s luxury cars is because not many have survived to the present day–and Mopars in particular. Why, you ask? Simple. From the late ’70s through today, many Imperials, New Yorkers, Fury IIIs and Monacos have had their big-block 440 CID mills unceremoniously yanked, and the rest crushed, just so some bozo can shoehorn one into his Slant Six-equipped Dart, Belvedere or Duster. Never once does it occur to these dim-witted individuals that perhaps that Polara Custom or Sport Fury might be enjoyable transportation in itself. But this survivor has beaten the odds. It was a joy to see!
Chrysler Corporation–to say the least–had its share of ups and downs throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The shrunken and bizarrely-styled 1962 full-sizers was the Airflow all over again, and only the clean, attractive new biggies of 1965, courtesy of Elwood Engel, saved Chrysler’s bacon. The 1965-68 Chryslers were well-made cars that brought back a fair share of luster to Chrysler’s once-proud engineering credibility.
In 1969, all full-size Dodges, Chryslers, Plymouths and Imperials were redesigned. Their “fuselage” C-bodies were meant to recall aircraft design–a road-going 747, if you will– and their big styling feature was a profile that was one consistent curve from the rocker panels to the roof. It was a big change, not only for Chrysler but for the industry, as the roofs of most contemporary domestic rolling stock appeared to be separate from the body, with a ridge between the tops of the fenders and the A, B and C-pillars.
In your author’s opinion, the curved sides were rather attractive but sadly, 95% of these cars had a vinyl roof, which effectively masked the fuselage look. Still, they were very cleanly styled in all their Mopar variants, although the Plymouths had a bit of an anonymous look from the front, at least in the plain-grille, non-Sport Fury versions. But let’s focus on Mopar’s namesake nameplate: the Chrysler Newport, Newport Custom, and that Electra 225 competitor, the lovely New Yorker. Today’s CC looks quite sharp in silver-blue paint, whitewalls, black top and a blue interior, but its attractive lines did not translate into big sales.
Unfortunately, the fuselage C-bodies were introduced at the beginning of yet another crisis in Highland Park. Today, we can look back at cool cars like the E-body Challenger and Barracuda, Charger Daytona, Superbird, GTX, et. al. and think, “Chrysler was at the top of its game.” That wasn’t the case, however, as Chrysler started to experience slipping sales–again–going into 1970. The fuselage cars were not horrible sellers, but still were not meeting expectations: 260,771 full-size 1969 Chryslers were built–less than 1968 production of 264,863. Not good, when you consider that the ’68 was a three-year-old design.
Things got much worse in 1970, as model year production dropped by 30 percent. Indeed, Chrysler was moving from the “fat” years of 1964-68 to yet another “lean” period. It didn’t help that Chrysler’s quality remained hit-or-miss despite the company’s efforts to shed the rusty tin can reputation that started with the rushed-into-production 1957 models. If you got a good one, you got a really good one–and if you got a bad one, you got a really, REALLY bad one. That wasn’t the case with the B- and C-body Oldsmobiles and Buicks, at least prior to the ’71 model year.
But enough of Chrysler’s corporate ups and downs; let’s focus on the car itself. There’s something about a Chrysler New Yorker that always catches my interest. Personally, I think “Chrysler New Yorker,” along with “Lincoln Continental” and “Buick Electra,” is among my top ten best-ever car names. They always were a cut above, unless you plumped for the pricey Imperial–actually just a fancier version of this car–at least after 1966.
Nineteen seventy-one was the last year for the original fuselage styling. Oh sure, the taillights, grilles and other trim minutiae changed year-to-year, but starting in ’72 they would get new sheet metal and a blockier roofline. Compared with the less-prestigious Newport and Newport Custom, the New Yorker received a fancier, prow-like grille; wide, chrome side moldings; plush Cairo cloth-and-vinyl upholstery; an electric clock; fender skirts, and more. The cheapest variant was the $5,555 four-door sedan, and the four-door hardtop, at $5,686, was dearest. In the middle was the two-door hardtop–the best of the bunch, style-wise. The 4,250-lb. coupe cost you a not-inconsiderable $4,250.
The coupe was also the least popular New Yorker, with only 4,485 built. No, even when new these cars didn’t exactly grow on trees! Indeed, any 1971 New Yorker is a find these days, since only 34,968 were made. Every one of them had standard power brakes, power steering, and a 440 CID, 335-hp V8.
That standard mill is the reason so few are seen today. The cars never were worth much (and really aren’t even today), so many people building fake Challenger R/Ts or ‘cudas would buy one for peanuts, rip out the heart of these once-proud luxury cars and then pop it into their former secretary-special Duster or Barracuda. A shame, as these cars are big, plush and comfy.
Yes, big! The ’71 New Yorker coupe was 224.6″ long, with an impressive 124″ wheelbase. Interior room was ample, as this large, comfy high-back bench seat shows. Our featured CC is an original car. Despite being the top non-Imperial Chrysler, plenty of options were available to those who wanted more, including factory air ($426; $501 with Automatic Temperature Control), AM/FM with cassette ($407) and a tilt/telescopic steering wheel ($91).
I was on my way to the library after work when I saw the nose of this car while at an intersection. I initially thought it was merely a four-door (there are a few sedans around here), but became much more interested when I saw it was a two-door. Immediate detour!
As I was taking my many, many pictures, the owner came over, wondering what I was up to. He was happy to open up the car for better interior pictures, and he even popped the hood and started it up for me! It sounded very healthy and very happy. He has had the car a few years, and other than a possible repaint in the original color (it looks good in the pictures, but is a bit more worn in person), he is keeping it just the way it is. I was happy to meet another C-body fan. I was beginning to think myself, JPCavanaugh and 73ImpCapn were the only ones!
didnt Marcus Welby drive one? a 4dr hardtop of this? those were the ole days gone by-
I rented a 2000 Durango and felt like that was what the modern version of the idea of what Chrysler had been; but feel today like Chrysler is an anacronysm, and what with Fiat cutting the Durango to limit the numbers of lines, consolidate, cut costs, bean counter stuff, put s.u.v. ideas into the Jeep line, Chrysler with 300 and T&C, 200 and smaller Dodges like it, just streamline to a point, and crew cab pickups with Dodge, seems like the ideas behind the type of cruiser this New Yorker used to be: a used-to-be idea; ah memories.
I did see a 70s car the other day, Malibu classic collonade wagon of like about ’75, but see stuff earlier and 60s almost never now; well did see a 442 hot rod restored super collector the other Sunday, out for a rare drive 😉 But a ’71 Yorker as a daily driver, today? No’f on yer Li’t. :O
In the early seasons, Welby drove a 300 4 door hardtop. I have a vague memory that it might have been replaced by an early 70s Newport or Newport Custom.
During my college years in Providence, my daily routine included stopping at Memorial Hall on Benefit Street to check on my mail or get “brunch”. I was on a dinner-only plan at RISD, so my one other meal often consisted of two Slim Jims and a Milky Way for dessert, bought at the bookstore inside. One chilly morning, perhaps in late Spring, a vehicle I will never forget appeared across the street, parked in front of Benson Hall. The image remains with me, not because the car was particularly exotic or beautiful, but because of its enormous presence. It was a newish Chrysler, maybe a Newport, and it was a plain as a Chrysler can get, with black wall tires and gun metal livery. But it was also immensely charismatic, masculine in an effortless way. Its body seemed too big for its wheels and the tiny glassed turret above, like a reinterpreted, expanded businessman’s coupe. Benson Hall housed the school’s photography department, run by the legendary Harry Callahan, and, never seeing anyone arrive or leave in the Chrysler, I was free to imagine Harry unloading all kinds of photo paraphernalia from that enormous trunk on the moors of Newport for a photo shoot at the Breakers. I began to look for the car on my daily mail stop, and was disappointed those times it didn’t show.
For those not in the know, the Breakers was the Newport, R.I. mansion, I mean, summer cottage, ahem, of Cornelius Vanderbilt. It is the most ornate of the Newport mansions.
I have a 1971 Chrysler Newport 2-dr hardtop that I’m trying to restore. Currently looking for interior door panels for both doors and the back seat panels. Dashpad too. All in green preferably. Other stuff too but those are my priority right now. If you’ve got em let me know! Thank you!
Looks almost exactly like the one I just sold. Mine was a 69 Newport 2door with a black interior. I had a hot rodded 440 motor.
Try legendaryautointeriors.com
Nice car, it seems to be in good shape. I see that this car has a “Bensonhurst Living Room Interior”. For those who don`t get the joke, it was called such because many residents of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn put clear plastic slip covers over their living room furniture to keep it looking like new. Many of the residents were Italian Americans, so this has become a joke among comedians of Italian American backgrounds. At one time Bensonhurst was a predominately Italian American working class-middle class enclave in Brooklyn, NY, but that has changed. Nothing offensive, just funny. All good humor has to have some basis in fact, right?
Very nice article, and nice find, thank you. Sales were drastically down in 1970 mainly as a result of an economic recession which hurt all auto manufacturers that year (GM additionally had to endure a UAW strike), but Chrysler Corp., being the smallest of the Big 3 could least afford it. They never recovered. To save money, the changes planned for the 1971 model year were put off until 1972. I’ve had a couple of these 1969-71 beautiful beasts, they are easy to work on, a dream to drive, quiet and elegant. Lower production numbers, would-be hotrodders – as your article eminently states – and demolition derbies (and rust) are the death of these unique machines. I seem to think, though, that the 4-door versions convey much more elegance and proper proportion; 2-door fuselage products look to me like Lulu Hogg in a pair of Daisy Duke-style shorts.
What a coincidence I should be writing in this forum tonight. Just last night I drove my ’71 New Yorker 4-door hardtop 300 miles from our farm to the city. Sure, the rear brakes lock up easily, it guzzles a gallon every 12 miles, and the front tires squeal through tight bends, but it just glides at 75mph with the old 440 rumbling ominously courtesy of the 2.76 rear. The soft torsion bars and 7-leaf rear springs soak up the bumps without wallowing. You can take your hands off the wheel and it runs dead straight. The front seat is better than any new car I’ve driven, and there is so much legroom that old arthritic fellas like me can stretch out that achy right knee. My son fell asleep in the passenger seat, some four feet away; you know, the passenger seat that reclines to almost 80 degrees. Then, arriving in the big smoke, the beautifully weighted power steering makes corners a joy, and the aforementioned 440 simple lifts the whole show away effortlessly at the traffic lights despite the 4600lbs and tall gearing.
I’ll tell you, for my application – turnpike cruising through the cool nights – nothing could be better. And get this, I paid less than $5000 for this car a few years ago!
its great to read the stories in this forum about the as I call my 71 new Yorker the LAND YACHT I agree with GREG who posted above my many 3 plus hr trips to PA what a cruise
Yes I am lucky enough to own this lady..she is a 71 NY with the buckets and console shifter…nothing drives like these big chryslers..the color on this one is called light gunmetal poly..rare color and really rare console find I have been researching on line trying to find the # NY coupes with the console were built in 71..any educated guess would be appreciated
The 69-73 fuselage cars are my favorite C-Bodys and I think the Plymouths were the best looking. I’m also one of the few that thinks the 4 door cars, especially the hardtops, look better than the 2 door cars, those quarter panels looks enormous. Id hate to have to hang one.
Count me as a fan. I read a cool article about a 69 Newport that was rescued and put back on the road. It’s worth a quick read here …
http://driving.ca/chrysler/auto-news/news/how-i-revived-this-dusty-forgotten-classic-for-super-cheap
I remember on the he Brady bunch they had these Chrysler cars. Magical cars that could transform. They would leave in a convertible and often it would transform into a station wagon.
Having owned a 1970 Chrysler New Yorker 4 Dr Hardtop I must comment. This was one of the most beautiful cars I ever owned in my opinion and I purely enjoyed driving it from 1972 to 1975 when I let it go for a Volkswagen Dasher in the first gas crisis. (Wish I hadn’t) I was a librarian in an academic library in Pittsburgh, PA at the time, newly married and owned a 1968 Pontiac Catalina two door hardtop purchased new in November 1968 after arriving home from the Army. My boss’s husband Ronald was a law book salesman who loved cars and loved buying new ones. The boss went out of town to a library convention and Ronald came to me in the library and said “How would you like to buy ——-‘s New Yorker?” He went on to explain that he was buying her a new Thunderbird and was ready to part with the New Yorker. He was driving a 1970 Imperial at the time. This New Yorker was cream with black fabric top and matching cream leather interior with every possible option including thermostatically controlled climate control. Ronald knew I loved cars and he picked an excellent prospect though he usually sold his cars to his attorney book customers. I was totally excited as only a 28 year old car nut could be. He offered the Chrysler to me for $2700 and it had just 27,000 around the town miles on the odometer. Ronald pointed out it was originally a car that cost over $6000. I had to convince my wife but gave him a tentative yes and we had to complete the deal in two days as his wife (my boss) would be returning from her trip and he wanted to surprise her. Besides convincing my wife (relatively easy) and I needed to get rid of the Pontiac and arrange financing. I called an old college friend who lived in Pittsburgh and offered him my Pontiac for $800 and arranged a loan from my hometown credit union. Later in 1972 we had a baby daughter and I was proud to drive my family home from the hospital in the Chrysler New Yorker. The photo shown is looking out over the hood of the 70 New Yorker on a snowy day in northwest PA. I chose another shot of the car exterior which did not appear so I shall try to post as a comment. I have some great shots of the car somewhere but they haven not been digitized as yet.
For some unknown reason I cannot get the exterior shot of the 70 New Yorker to post on here.
OK it did post but it looked like it wasn’t going to. Eventually I did have new rear springs installed as well as a missing rubber “jounce bumper” so the rear got lifted a bit. It was a very comfortable car on road trips, the HVAC system was flawless.
The lead picture in this article illustrates a memory of mine. The Chrysler New Yorker is the first car that I remember that spells out the brand and model in one sentence. Not saying it was the first, just the first that I can remember.
Good call on the brand and model name together. And who could forget how they used to spell out “I M P E R I A L” in big, block letters on the quarter panels?
Week ago, our classic club had a annual meeting to pass classic vehicle inspection for another year and some fuselage mopars show up.
There were even Imperial with powered front vent windows!
While I love the ’69-’72 loop bumper fuselage Chryslers as much as anyone (my fave are the 300 convertibles), if I were buying new back in the day, I’d have to go with a better-built Buick Centurion.
The fuselage era, along with the expensive failure of the E-body, spelled the beginning of the end. With the exception of the Cordoba and the Omnirizon (and maybe the Club Cab pickup), the seventies were about as bad as it could get for the old Chrysler Corporation.
A great many of these cars died in demolition derbies too 🙁 .
I would like to comment on the lack of sales success for these Chryslers.
The 1969 Chevrolet had a very handsome loop bumper design that was replaced the next year, while the more expensive Chrysler hung onto this for three more years. While it looks fresh and innovative now – it didn’t in 1971.
The fusilage design was not what the market was looking for. Clean, unadored big cars were a 1960s look. Chrysler evolving into this design was natural, but by 1969, boring. GM and Ford were already broughamifying their big cars, and Chysler needed a formal sedan look, not the fusilage.
This is why the 1969 Chyslers didn’t succeed in the market, in my opinion. I have fond memories of our 1970 NYer, but I was always aware that it didn’t match our neighbor’s new formal sedans.
I’ve liked those fuselage bodies since back in the day, and I cannot lie. Have never yet owned one, but would sure like to some day. There’s just something very right about them. Big, solid and rather massive really.
Here’s mine. 440 TNT. Dad bought new in 71. 67,000 miles. Saddle brown interior. Dealer made him put down deposit due to odd color combo. Have a letter from Chrysler saying they made 16 in this color combo. Car will run 120mph all day.
I’m a C-body fan, too; though my C-body may have been the least-fuselage variant, a 1972 Dodge Polara sedan.
“Interior room was ample, as this large, comfy high-back bench seat shows.”
I swore than my Dodge was roomier inside than my Dad’s 1971 Cadillac Sedan deVille. I never took a tape measure to them to find out for sure, though. The swept-away lower dash on the passenger side may have conveyed that impression.
I really took a liking to the 1974 C-bodies (yes, they did look like GM cars) but never owned one. My police chief’s department-issue car was a Plymouth Fury III, the year before the styling got cheapened with single headlights, with the A38 package and 440. I got to drive it a few times. It was sold after four years to one of the sergeants and the Chief got a Dodge Monaco 440, a plush, civilianized police package car added on to the order for patrol cars that year.
Even though “interior room was ample”, it seems from the pictures that whomever rides in one of the rear seats must greatly value their privacy, and not wish to view the outside, because there is almost zero visibility for a rear passenger – what about headroom? I would hate for the air-conditioning to be on the fritz and be imprisoned back there.
As a coupe, they are just poorly proportioned, IMHO, like the designers just gave up somewhere just past the doors.
They all needed a bigger greenhouse to balance the massive look of the rest of the body.
I rode in a neighbor’s NYer in the early 70s, and it had a lot more road noise than our ’68 Electra. Could have been the tires.
Yeah, it’s been said many times that the fuselage coupes were the worst looking models, on about the same level as the sedans. I preferred the convertibles (for the few first years they were available) then the 4-door hardtops, with the wagons somewhere in the middle.
And as the gist of the article suggests, it’s a shame many of the otherwise serviceable fuselage cars gave up their big-block drivetrains for some ill-conceived B-, E-, or A-body ‘tribute’ car. I can see it if the donor fuselage was a rusted or smashed hulk, but there was no need for that if it was in survivor condition.
While a C body fan I am not a fan of the fusie coupe at all. From the side the car just doesn’t look right at all. Give me a four door hdtp any day of the week. However, I will preface that by saying the 65-66 C body coupe was a beautiful car.
Nasty good deal on the coupé at one dollar per pound.
With all due respect, and thanks to the author for this writeup, I’ve got to question his premise about they’re current rareness. I just don’t see that many people buying these big cars, just to harvest the engine when the local junkyard probably had a couple engines in stock from rust or accidents or failing smog here in California. Probably less money and you don’t have it taking up lots of space in a driveway or garage, only to then have to dispose of it.
On the cars themselves all I can say is wow, what were they, 8, maybe 9 feet from the end of the front door to the end of the rear bumper? Wow, a statement.
I guess I was one of those “bozos” who yanked a 440/727 out of a 1971 NY’er with 90,000 miles that I bought for $125 in 1990 and shoehorned that combo into my 1973 Dart Swinger with Hooker fenderwell headers…lol
The only “bozos” were 5.0 Mustang guys who tested their power against my Dart at stoplights!