(first posted 1/14/2013) What’s in a name? When it comes to vintage Mopar land yachts, the name means a lot–in some cases, success or failure. Take the Imperial marque, for instance. Intended to move Chrysler more into Cadillac and Lincoln territory, it never really took off despite attractive design and plenty of luxury features. But for many, it was always a “Chrysler Imperial,” and thus not as prestigious as a Continental or Sedan de Ville. That was what ultimately brought the Imperial to a grinding halt in 1975–but the car lived on for 1976 under an assumed identity.
The chronic Mopar misfortune held steady through the ’70s. In 1974, all their new full-size C-bodies, from the Plymouth Fury to the Imperial LeBaron, were redone with more formal and Broughamier sheetmetal. Although not drastically different size-wise from their fuselage predecessors, they looked bigger. And when the gas crisis hit in late 1973, just as the ’74s were debuting, Chrysler got screwed–again. Despite the company’s continuing bad luck, all their new models were attractive despite styling cribbed directly from GM–something especially noticeable in the Plymouth Fury’s Oldsmobile 88 cues, and in the Dodge Monaco, which looked suspiciously like a 1973 Buick LeSabre.
At the top of the heap was the Imperial LeBaron, arguably the most attractive car of the bunch–as well it should have been, considering its premium $7,200-7,800 pricing. The Imperial’s 124″ wheelbase was the same as lesser New Yorkers and Newports, but the car itself was longer overall and featured exclusive hidden headlights; button-tufted upholstery, in velour or optional leather; and four-wheel disc brakes.
But it didn’t sell: After selling just 14,483 1974 models and a mere 8,830 ’75s, the Imperial finally left the building–well, at least in name…
For the car did reappear–prominently displayed on the cover of the 1976 Chrysler brochure–no longer as an Imperial, but a New Yorker Brougham. In reality, it was the plain-Jane Newport that had been discontinued for 1975. All the other Chrysler nameplates got either an upgrade or a downgrade depending on the model: The ’75 Newport Custom was now the ’76 Newport; the ’75 New Yorker Brougham became the ’76 Newport Custom; and the ’75 Imperial LeBaron was the ’76 New Yorker Brougham.
Confusing? You bet, but Chrysler was strapped for cash and this was the best they could do at the time. And don’t forget that the midsize ’74 Satellite became the 1975 “small Fury”, as biggie ’75 Plymouths all wore the Gran Fury moniker! With these changes added to the ’76 Coronet becoming the “new” midsize ’77 Monaco (all big Dodges became Royal Monacos in ’77; the RM moniker debuted as the top big Dodge in ’75), Mopar shoppers likely got a headache trying to figure out what was what.
Strangely, it worked, at least for the big Chrysler. The ’76 NYB, still available in coupe and sedan models, sold far better than the ’75 Imperial, and Chrysler likely laughed all the way to the bank. The Chrysler-ized Imperial was a bit less well-equipped than the Imperial had been–the four-wheel discs reverted to front discs/rear drums, for instance–but customers didn’t seem to care. In fact, despite the lower price of the NYB, many probably sold for Imperial money, since most buyers wanted all the power options that had been standard on the Imperial and now cost extra.
Chrysler did attempt to cheap out on the 1977 model. The super-deluxe “lawyer’s desk chair” upholstery that had been standard on all ’76s became an option in ’77. The standard ’77 interior, shown above, was just not as snazzy for a car with the New Yorker Brougham mantle. The Newport-like interior disappeared almost as fast as it came, and once again the ’78s were equipped with button-tufted goodness as standard equipment.
Nineteen seventy-eight was the last year for the big New Yorker. Chrysler’s lineup was shrinking–the Dodge Royal Monaco, Plymouth Gran Fury, and Chrysler Town & Country wagon had all disappeared at the end of 1977–but you could still get a big, “luxy” Chrysler, by golly!
You could still get white leather, too, as shown on this triple-white NYB shown on newyorkeronline.org. Sure, it sucked gas, but it was one of the last no-compromise full-size (and I mean FULL-SIZE!) cars on the market. Screw CAFE, I’m getting a Brougham, dagnabit!
Not too much was new in its final model year, but you could tell a ’78 by its revised waterfall grille and pinstriping along the lower swag line. It was also a milestone car of sorts, as it and its Newport sibling were the last pillarless hardtops made and, thanks to JPCavanaugh, I now know that this was also the last die-cast grille on an American car.
As you would expect, the top-tier Chrysler had many standard features. First and foremost were the 440 CID (7.2-liter) V8 engine with a four-barrel carburetor and TorqueFlite. Other expected amenities included power windows, power brakes, power steering, velour 50/50 bench seating and shag carpeting. The trunk was also carpeted, and each door save the driver’s got its own ash tray and lighter. It was a different time.
Plenty of chrome trim was in evidence with wheel moldings, drip rail moldings, a stand-up hood ornament and gold-tone New Yorker script on each front fender and the tail panel. The very handsome Road Wheels were optional, but whitewall tires were standard equipment.
A vinyl roof cover was also standard, at least on the NYB; on Newports, it was an option. I’ve always loved this little curve in the C-pillar of the Imperial/NYB sedans–just a little hint of Hooper-bodied Rolls Royce, and a nice touch of class. Indeed, the whole car was pretty classy. One of these in black with a black vinyl top, white leather upholstery and red carpets would be my dream car. Oh, and don’t forget the 15-inch Road Wheels!
I had noticed what appeared to be a 1974-75 Imperial in the parking lot of a local business but initially I didn’t stop, as I’d recently done the 1977 Newport CC. About a month ago, however, my curiosity got the better of me and I pulled over for a look-see. It was not an Imperial, but a ’78 NYB, in Golden Fawn with a beige top and beige velour–a very ’70s color combination, no?
Here’s the instrument panel. Unlike its Cadillac and Lincoln competitors, the instrumentation was not limited to just a gas gauge and speedometer; it also included engine temperature and alternator gauges. Although a far cry from its 1940s-1960s engineering heyday, Chrysler still had some thoughtful “right brain” touches, including the aforementioned gauges, the bullet-proof TorqueFlite transmission and torsion bar front suspension.
The full-size Chryslers were also among the last to offer vent windows, albeit optionally; the last of the C-body Royal Monacos and Gran Furys had them as well. All too soon though, they would be gone for good, save for the power vent windows found on Ford products well into the late ’80s. I remember that my grandmother’s Rose Quartz 1987 Continental had them. So did the 1977 Mark V before it.
Here’s that Broughamtastic front seat. Not only was the seat split 50/50, but each passenger got their own fold-down armrest. This car also appears to have an optional CB radio, though I don’t recall if it was the AM/CB or AM/FM/CB system. Considering all the options on this not-inexpensive car, I would guess it’s the AM/FM version with four speakers.
Here’s the back seat. This is a 100% Brougham Society-approved interior, the kind of seat where you could lose not only pocket change but your entire wallet. Four-door models included lavaliere straps (seen above), and both the coupe and sedan had pillows–yes, pillows–built into the C-pillar.
Yes, the NYB was a whole lotta car for the money, but times were changing. Big Benzes were becoming the status symbols of choice, and increasing government meddling spelled the end for the uncompromising full-size luxury car. Cadillac had already shrunk their Fleetwood and de Ville models in 1977; in 1979, Chrysler did the same with the New Yorker and Newport; and Lincoln was last to the small-big-car party, with their 1980 Panther-based Connie. It was truly the end of an era.
As for the New Yorker, although it reinvented itself many times over the next two decades–from downsized R-body to mid-sized M-body to shrunken K-car Broughamette to luxury LH–it always had at least a modicum of style and comfort. It lives on even today, in a fashion, as the premium 300 sedan. Considering the 300 series was originally a sportier replacement for the Saratoga, I can’t help but wonder why a LWB New Yorker variant hasn’t come out. After all, nothing says big American luxury car like “Chrysler New Yorker.” Its reputation was built on yachts like this ’78.
The absolute dream boat ! I really love this car and you can’t beat that interior !
… except if it had leather.
The leather is very nice, but slippery. That particular velour, strange as it looks to us today, was surprisingly cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Even with the loose pillow design, it was also surprisingly supportive–and shaped to fit the human back, in an age when Cadillac, Lincoln and Buick seats made you stoop-shouldered, and seemed designed to induce osteoporosis.
The velour also had more grip than the leather. Unimportant, in a car like this? Think again. These cars handled very well. Good enough for police duty. Better, in fact–give me this and try to follow me down a winding road in a 2000 police-spec Crown Vic, I dare you!
As for those pillows on the rear roof pillars, look closely and you’ll notice something even better. Those little reading lamps were blessed with optical-quality, precision-ground ellipsoidal lenses. Try one, if you ever get the chance at night, and hold up a piece of paper. You’ll find they do not shine on the windshield at all. The light cuts off at about the top of the front seat back like a stage spotlight, so they do not reflect on the windscreen and make it hard for the driver to see. This was an Imperial innovation from the early seventies, and I think it’s insane that every car with rear reading lights don’t use that design.
The warning light/gauge combination is another Imperial innovation, dating back to a ‘check gauges’ idiot light from the mid-sixties. Other innovations that appeared on Imperial before any other American car (in some cases, before any other car in the world) include cruise control, power steering, electric windows, driver’s side electric window lockout switches, lighted power window switches, disc brakes, antilock brakes, four wheel antilock disc brakes, computer-controlled fuel injection (Chrysler sold that patent to Bosch when Americans didn’t seem to care) and aerodynamics.
I believe the name “Royal Monaco” was applied to the big Dodges in 1976. My dad had one. High point of Chrysler design and assembly mediocrity.
The Royal Monaco name was first used in ’75, but in 1975-76 it wasn’t a distinct model from the “regular” Monaco. In those years, it simply denoted the top trim level of Monaco. For 1977 the “regular” Monaco and the Royal Monaco became two different vehicles. The Monaco name was moved to the smaller B-body (formerly the Coronet), and all C-bodies were called Royal Monacos (similar to what Plymouth had done with the Fury/Gran Fury names a few years before). This was presumably done to better market the B-body as a rival to the downsized ’77 GM fullsizes, which were similar in size externally to Chrysler’s B-body, even though the latter had always been considered midsizes. Like the similar-in-concept Ford LTD II, the ’77 B-body Monaco was “kind of a midsize, kind of a fullsize” — Chrysler’s rivals had cars in both classes that were similar in size; it all depended on what you were cross-shopping it with.
1977 was the last year for the Royal Monaco name. For 1978 the C-body Royal Monaco was dropped and not replaced, with the B-body Monaco positioned as Dodge’s sole entry in the fullsize market; again, Plymouth did something similar. Dodge and Plymouth C-body sales apparently weren’t high enough to justify continuing to build them, and with the success of the downsized GMs, the center of gravity in the fullsize market was shifting to cars their size. meanwhile, Chrysler wanted to position the new LeBaron and Diplomat as midsizes — much as Ford was doing with its similarly compact-derived Granada and Monarch — and GM had also downsized its midsizes, so the center of gravity in the midsize market was clearly shifting to cars the size of the Diplomat and Granada.
Then, for ’79, the Monaco name disappaeared completely, as it was replaced by the new R-body St. Regis. As others have commented, it was hard to keep Chrysler’s model lineups straight during the late ’70s and early ’80s.
Damn you, Tom Klockau, you keep finding these and waving them in my face! Even though I suffered a bit of abuse at the hands of my 77 NYB, these still make me go weak in the knees.
The velour upholstery as shown in your brochure shot was actually quite attractive – I always liked it better than the button-tufting, but I am probably in the minority here. I also preferred the 76-77 grille treatment.
Another interesting tidbit – not only did the car come with an ammeter and a temp gauge, each gauge (including fuel) also contained a little red LED that would glow when the gauge got into an unhappy place (and yes, I saw all three of them glowing at one time or other). All of the advantage of both gauges and idiot lights.Also, I don’t think anyone ever did a better job of integrating a 5 mph bumper into an attractively styled car than Chrysler did on these.
These sold extremely well for a big Chrysler of that time, and I would see these cruising interstates for years, well into the late 80s. Like the Town Cars of that time, I think that a pretty good proportion of these survived a long time in the garages of owners who knew that they would never be able to buy anything even remotely like it.
Other than damning Tom, I agree with you on all your points 🙂 The warning light AND gauge combo was always an excellent idea: I’m a gauge-watcher but sometimes I’m preoccupied & don’t do my every-20-second scan of them. I definitely want a light on my oil pressure.
My wife on the other hand could care less about gauges & what they normally read. She gets gas “when the light comes on”. Cars like this would make both of us happy.
The central glove-compartment was also a great idea. Compare this with say… a ’69 or ’70 LTD!
These cars looked so good with their hidden headlights, teardrop taillights, and smooth bumper integrations. I’m a sucker for the two door & the white leather interior. I’ve seen one of these so-equipped in the flesh and it was divine, just divine!
+2 on the gauges/lights. Personally, I wish every car had – at the very least – a coolant temp and oil pressure gauge. A full set with some kind of light/buzzer for both of those would be best, though. I don’t like not having a tach either, but I guess it’s not too important on a car like this. I think this dash is probably the best of any Broughamy car from this era, and very functional as well.
With the C-bodies I prefer the sedan bodystyle on the Imperials/Chryslers – but that Monaco 2-door HT looks awesome. Those were pretty much extinct by the time I was old enough to notice them. I’m with you 100% on the hidden headlights, though – and that’s a feature I normally despise on land barges. I think I could even get into the white leather on a New Yorker!
My ’86 Pontiac 6000-STE had the gaues+Lights+buzzer. I never saw it in action, unless I turned off the engine and back on, as the oil pressure fell off and the voltage dropped.
By far the coolest instrument cluster of the ’80s. The more problems the car had, the more colorful the dash became. I always wished there had been a ‘test button’ that would light everything up at once.
The hidden headlights did it for me in 1976. I never thought I’d still have the car 37 years later.
Still decent but getting ragged.
I was hoping you’d chime in, Mr. C. When are you contributing a story on the royal ride? 🙂
All Hail the Keeper of the Flame!
Thanks for the photo Dave. I must second ImpCapn’s request for a CC on your cool old boat.
Me too…an account from an original owner ought to be very interesting (wow).
wow what a rarely seen car, please write a story for everyone everyone will love it
I always wondered, though, what Chrysler had against oil pressure gauges. A lot of Mopars of the ’60s and ’70s had an ammeter and many (though not all) had a water temperature gauge, but whence the oil pressure?
My 64 Imperial had an oil pressure gauge, but none of my other Mopars of that era did. Truthfully, I always thought the best thing with oil pressure was both a light and a gauge. You get used to looking at a gauge that never moves and you kind of stop paying attention to it at some point (at least I do). The light draws your eye in an emergency, but the gauge would be nice just to monitor your engine’s health. To answer your question, Lynn Townsend was an accountant. 🙂
When I ordered the Royal Monaco in ’76, oil pressure and temp gauges were optional, they fit into the clock area. I can’t recall for the life of me, how much those 2 gauges cost me extra, but I’m glad I ordered them.
Back around twenty years ago or so, the Dodge had around 14K on the clock. I barely used it, was garaged, and literally was a new car. One day, I was driving home up a steep hill, and the car started to knock violently. Looking at the oil gauge, the oil pressure was very low. I was a mile or so from home, so I drove home. On level, no knock. When I got home, I was horrified to see no oil on the dipstick. I added a quart at a time, and found that it was over 3 quarts down. Where that oil went is still a mystery to me. After that, I religiously checked oil along with occasional glancing at the temp/oil gauge.
Fortunately, there were no permanent ill effects on the car, but the car has used a quart every 1K, since. It now has 62K, and still drives nicely. I need to get another carb kit to replace the 10 cent accelerator pump, one of my Spring projects.
I’m going to have to do a write up on the car at some point.
Count me in among the CCers looking forward to reading more about your Dodge! 🙂
Sorry, but an oil pressure gauge without a warning light is pretty stupid. Seriously, if pressure suddenly failed, how many drivers would notice it on the gauge? And frankly, the same applies to all the gauges. Let’s face it, there’s a reason they call them “warning” lights (as well as idiot lights). It just seems to obvious to combine the two, at the least.
You would think…
My ’94 Mazda Navajo (Explorer) had a full set of gauges, if IIRC, which was nice, along with the tachometer.
For just about all FAR 135/121 approved airplanes, the crew has a set of Master Warning Flashers and Master Caution Flashers that illuminate whenever a warning or caution annunciator illuminates on the flight deck. The flashers also have corresponding chimes that sound, just in case a bright blinking light doesn’t get the crew’s attention. Even though the flying pilot is scanning gauges, whether steam or electronic, the flashing lights can save your bacon (Ex: Low Oil Pressure, Engine vibration, etc.).
Agreed, warning lights in combination with gauges is ideal. My parents’ old ’96 Subaru Outback burst the bottom radiator hose on the highway. They didn’t notice the sudden rise on the temp guage for only a very short time, but by then the engine had suffered irreversible damage. They had it reconditioned, but the car had done well over 300,000km, and with too many other things starting to go wrong it was sold shortly therafter (at a loss…). Mum still gets upset that she didn’t notice the temp guage flying up. A light would have saved them a lot of money.
If I had a choice, I’d take an oil pressure light over a gauge every time (if I couldn’t have both). For example, I used to have a ’77 El Camino SS that leaked a good bit of oil. I always knew when it was time to add oil when I’d see the red light flicker on moderately hard braking. The loss of pressure immediately closed the switch for just a split-second, causing the light to flicker: catching my attention.
On the other hand, my ’73 Grand Prix SJ, also a heavy leaker, offered nearly no warning under the same circumstance. Despite the fact that the GM gauges were dampened very little, a momentary loss of pressure would at most make the needle twitch a few times. Unless I was physically watching the gauge when it happened, I never had a clue I was running dangerously low on oil. I about blew it up one day but thankfully had the windows down & heard excessive rattling up-front after accelerating in heavy stop-and-go traffic. By the time I checked the gauge, enough oil drained back to the pan to restore pressure.
If you knew how slowly the Ford gauges responded (can’t speak for Chrysler), you’d definitely want a warning light!
Our ’96 Mustang GT’s oil pressure gauge is actually NOT a gauge at all. The oil sending unit is actually a normally open ON/OFF warning switch that is wired to the gauge with an inline resistor. The resistor puts the needle just past the midway point on the gauge when the engine is started and there’s pressure. The stupid dampening of the needle cleverly hides this asinine design. The gauge will only read zero and midway. I can crank the car up when it’s 20 degrees outside and it will register at the “R” (on the “noRmal” range of the gauge). I can be sitting at a drive-thru window in July with the A/C on and the needle will be right on “R”. I’m not sure what other Fords had this ‘feature’: hopefully few.
Ugh, ’95 Grand Marquis had that same stupid fakeout on/off “gauge”, with no light. One of the only things I really disliked about that car – and it shared a cluster with a legit temperature gauge too… how does that make any sense? Very blatant cheap-out that probably saved several senseless fractions of a cent. I’m pretty sure most mid-90’s FoMoCo’s had this “feature”.
If I had to choose between only one or the other, I think I’d still actually prefer the gauge… BUT that’s only because I’ve owned lots of cars that were barely roadworthy heaps and driving them meant always staring death in the face. I got in the habit of paying extremely close attention to whatever gauges I was working with early on, and I still usually glance down at least every red light out of habit. Often times you can pick something up on them, some strange fluctuation that clues you in to a potential problem before it actually becomes one. On good gauges at least, with crappy/unresponsive ones you may as well have nothing.
I do get what you mean and agree we’re all generally better served with lights. They’re much better at grabbing your attention, no doubt. I know some of the newer cars with digital readouts will actually instruct the driver to shut off the car immediately when something goes seriously wrong and beep at them until they do – that’s the best possible thing to have for most of the driving population.
I don’t know – my ’94 Mazda Navajo (Ford Explorer) had the oil gauge, which I used to think was a fake on/off needle, until I overheated the engine one fine 115 F summer day pulling the hills in the desert between Phoenix and Payson, AZ at 75 mph with the A/C blasting (stupid, I know). The engine started to overheat and spark knock pretty badly, and then the oil pressure gauge started bouncing around at the lower end of the scale. Normally, the needle just planted itself at about the 2/3rds range when on and running normally. After that little incident, I kept driving and the needle stayed on the lower half of the scale, still oscillating somewhat. When I finally made it home in New Mexico, I changed the oil and the gauge went back to where it normally sat. Whatever damage I did to my engine, it wasn’t evident for the rest of the time that I owned it.
Not really sure about the Explorer, but when the engine in that Mercury was overheated – badly – while being driven several miles, which finally caused some kind of catastrophic bottom end failure, the needle just bounced between it’s normal position and zero psi intermittently. I wasn’t there while the actual damage took place, I only got to do the diagnosis that led to pulling my poor car off life support – so it was still running (horribly), but with essentially no oil pressure. As the needle bounced back and forth between the two positions I could hear a relay clicking behind the dash somewhere that matched it’s movements. There was no oscillation, only on or off – just like a light.
I figured this was exactly how it worked long before the engine finally gave up and I got to see it in action. I had never seen another pressure “gauge” that shot up to the same exact point, every time, the second the engine started running and then stayed there without even moving the slightest bit until it was shut down.
1994-’96 civilian Caprices and ’94-’95 Impala SSes also have fake oil pressure gauges. Only the police cars (9C1s) have the real gauge. Funny, because the temperature gauges on those cars move all the time; the fan doesn’t come on until the needle is almost on the H.
This does quicken my pulse. As I have opined before, we are all products of our childhood environment and that does help enhance our natural quirks. That said…
As a product of MY 72, I must say I really view cars like this Chrysler (and the big Lincoln’s and Cadillac’s) as being the ultimate vehicles for their time. Mercedes? For then, not so much. Those were for those folks on the left coast or conniving oil barons in Dallas. Us here in fly-over country wanted a car with poise and presence to announce we have pulled into the driveway. There is simply nothing like this around today…maybe that’s why so many people are driving the big-honking 1/2 ton pickups nowadays???
As a product of MY83 and the arrogant coastal namesake of this Chrysler, I think this looks totally silly compared to a W116 Benz… and as long as they could get over the name, the Chrysler is much closer to what I imagine Texan oil tycoons tooling around in!
I do like these, though – much more than most of their GM/Ford contemporaries. The black Imperial sedan in that ad is the epitome of badass.
I was born in 1970, but not until late in the year. So I guess I’m a product of MY71?
Yes, and it does make one appear a year younger! I thought about claiming MY73 as I was born in September, but a guy has to draw the line somewhere.
Jim Lahey wants his car back. Wait, his was a 77 and it accidentally became a convertible.
It doesn’t matter, he’s just drunk again.
That was also my first thought! I guess we know at least one Chrysler survived the show, they must have destroyed half a dozen.
I was in Cub Scouts in the mid-’70s and our Den Mother had what I remember to be a *huge* (to me) New Yorker (or maybe it was an Imperial?) parked in the driveway alongside what had to have been a 30′ Airstream camper trailer. We kids were suitably impressed. Never got to ride in it, though…
That jogs my memory of a girl I knew in junior high who was involved in a school club that I was in. This would have been around the 1982-84 period. Her parents had a Grand Marquis from the 1975-78 era. At the time, in the downsizing frenzy of the early ’80s, it struck me as a huge car, especially for a Mercury (I once referred to it as “the biggest Mercury I’ve ever seen”). I did get to ride in it, once.
I’m a ’73 model and can relate to Mr. Shafer’s sentiments.
I admit to interior envy for these final “formal” C-bodies. I’m glad my car is Lean Burn-free, and it has the million lighters and full gauges and c-pillar pillows, but the later cars were more sumptuously upholstered. They also have proper roof-mounted shoulder belts, replacing a chintzy add-on strap. When did shoulder belts become mandatory?
“Road Wheels” look good, but their name cracks me up. “Yeh, yeh, dese are da special optional road wheels, as opposed to da standard wheels which are made for, ehhh…didja notice dis here pillow?”
If there’s really a Brougham Society, and this is the Society’s preferred Brougham, then sign me right up.
In these years, products across the entire C/P/D line were a muddled, jumbled mess — but this car stood right out and was impossible to miss.
And I’m right with you on that curved C-pillar line. It is a distinguishing touch.
There most certainly is a Brougham Society! And I’m not just a fan, I’m the President!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheBroughamSociety/
The Brougham Society. I love it! I’ll join if it’s open to new members.
It’s open to anyone that wants to join. Just click the link above and join, I’ll add you in as soon as I can!
Oh, and brings lots of Broughamalicious goodness with you to share!
I do love these cars, proving that BOF was NOT a requirement to be a big, RWD, American luxury car. And Chrysler held on to the big block longer than anyone else in cars.
Surely this is the car the B-52s were referring to when they sang, “I got me a Chrysler, it’s as big as a whale, and it’s about to set sail!” in Love Shack. It’s a shame Chrysler’s timing was so bad. Iacocca did what he had to do to save the company by downsizing everything to the K-car platform, but these are the final, full-size cars that the Chrysler faithful really love.
Interestingly, the grille on the last 1978 version is not technically a ‘water fall’ with its solid chrome on the top.
Likewise, in typical Chrysler fashion, although you could still get vent windows, they weren’t operated via a little window crank in the door panel like Cadillac and Lincoln. You just flipped the latch on the vent and manually adusted it be pushing/pulling, which seemed rather crude in comparison.
Yeah these were the cars I always thought of with “LOVE SHACK” although in the video they have a convertible.
The Chrysler in the B-52’s Love Shack video is a 1965 Chrysler convertible, I forget if it was a Newport or a 300.
When this came up once before, the consensus seemed to be that the car in the B-52’s video was a Newport:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/1977-chrysler-new-yorker-i-once-had-a-car-it-was-as-big-as-a-whale/
“Chrysler New Yorker” seems to have always been: a. A very underrated marque, b. A marque that quietly held a lot more status than its price tag would indicate. There was a quiet classiness to any car bearing that moniker, and despite Chrysler’s best efforts it always seemed out outrank “Imperial”.
Even after all this time, Chrysler as a marque seems to indicate a quiet, not-showing-off, level of luxury. And all the years of disasters, bankruptcy, moving downmarket, and whatever other problems the company could self-inflict, the Chrysler 300 is still a good, quiet indication of entry-level luxury today.
Retrospect is a luxury, but I too would have chosen a loaded ’65 Engle era unibody New Yorker over a lesser-equipped Imperial at a similar price point. It was simply a tighter, lighter and all-around more capable car than an Imperial.
Oversized, inefficient and hopelessly out of date…I love it!!!
Excellent find Tom!
And yes, The Brougham Society approves 🙂
Oh, and please tell me that you got some pics of the Custom Cruiser and Fleetwood in the background too!
Sadly, no. I was too overwhelmed by the Chrysler’s presence. I do have another 1993-96 Fleetwood shot; I’ll get to it one of these days 🙂
I loved these back in the day and I love the color combo of exhibit A! I’m sure the sedan versions were more solid-feeling, but I’ll take mine pillarless, thank you.
Too bad the bodies and many components were made out of paper mache’…
Actually, all 1976-78 New Yorker 4 doors were pillarless hardtops. You would be amazed at how rigid these things were from a structural standpoint. I once later drove a 74 Newport sedan and the body shook like Jello, but the hardtops were solid as a rock. Maybe the engineers overcompensated for the lack of a B pillar. Mine was even a HD suspension car from the factory, and even then, nary a squeak, rattle or quiver was ever heard or felt. This is one of the reasons I still love these so much.
I felt at the time that these were more substantial feeling cars than were the fuselage cars that preceded them. However, as they got older, I think that the fuseys may have aged better.
I’ll add again that my 1977 Gran Fury sedan had excellent structural integrity. Solid as a rock and no water leaks.
Thanks for setting me straight on the structural integrity on these. Who’da thunk it, compared to SOME earlier Chryslers!
I used to see lots of these in the Florissant, MO area, as we were well-represented by a Chrysler/Plymouth and Dodge dealer. I wanted one…badly!
I too will verify the solidity of the ’70s C-body sedans over the 4 dr hardtop, we used ours to pull both a horse and boat trailer and that’s the ultimate test. Both our ’76 and ’77 GF 4 dr pillared sedans felt more solid than the ’77 Newport 4 dr hardtop we owned when pressed into use for that duty, as you would expect, an observtion made over 200,000+ miles of driving them. I’d adore a clean one now, if only one could be found!
Good find Tom, and it appears to be in great condition too. While I’m mostly partial to pre-fuselage C-body Mopars, these are pretty nice too, aside from the engines being hobbled by the emissions controls.
One of my best friends in high school lived on a very nice dairy farm, and her parents drove a light creme 1978 New Yorker Brougham four-door hardtop with a brown vinyl roof. They were a Chrysler family, as their other car was a heavily optioned 1966 New Yorker four-door hardtop in very good condition. They kept both New Yorkers when they bought their next car…a heavily optioned 1981 Plymouth Reliant sedan (maroon with a white vinyl top).
These were sharp cars – better looking, in my opinion, than contemporary Cadillacs and even Lincolns. They really did have a “presence” that was lost by the Chrysler marque in the K-car era, and not recovered until the debut of the modern 300. The interior, with its plush seats, puts most contemporary Cadillacs to shame!
It’s interesting that, after the Arab Oil Embargo, sales collapsed for the full-size Dodge and Plymouth, and never recovered, but the full-size Chryslers sold very well. It was almost as though everyone who wanted a full-size car from Chrysler Corporation simply decided to pay the extra money for a Chrysler.
It didn’t help that the Plymouth and Dodge looked like two-year-old Buick LeSabres when they debuted (or looked so similar to each other). Chrysler under Lynn Townsend had been following GM’s styling lead since the mid-1960s, but with the 1974 Fury and Monaco, it looked as though Chrysler stylists had simply taken tracing paper to a 1972 Buick LeSabre. At least, that is what I thought at the time when I saw these cars in Motor Trend’s 1974 new car issue!
I wouldn’t be surprised if many buyers figured that, if they wanted a full-size car that looked like a two-year-old Buick, they’d buy the real thing as a used car and save money. Chrysler’s attempt at “name games” that started in 1975 didn’t help much, nor did the awkward, single-headlight front-end used on the upper-level Gran Fury in 1975.
GM’s full-size cars came roaring back in 1976 (although Pontiac was relatively weak), as did the full-size Fords, Mercurys and Lincolns, but only the full-size Chryslers sold well during these years.
The 1974-77 Plymouth Fury is certainly as good-looking as a contemporary LTD or Impala/Caprice, but it was recording sales figures usually associated with AMC products by that time period. One wonders whether it was the too-obvious resemblance to previous Buicks, overlap between the Monaco and Fury, or a reputation for bad quality killed the Fury in the marketplace…or perhaps a combination of all three.
Meanwhile, Chrysler was selling every Newport and New Yorker Brougham it could make! Strange times indeed for Chrysler Corporation. (Then again, given how my friend’s New Yorker Brougham still turned heads whenever she pulled up in it, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised.)
It has taken me way too long to figure this out, but I have decided that nothing sells a car like good looks. As I recall it, the basic Newports did not sell in huge numbers in 76-78, but the big spurts in volume was with the Newport Custom (with the front and rear ends of the 74-75 New Yorker) and the NYB as seen here. The Newport Custom was very good looking, and the NYB was drop-dead gorgeous.
I suspect that Plymouth’s problem was that every one of them shared the showroom with these Chryslers. Anyone looking on a budget bought a Volare, and everyone who could handle a decent monthly payment splurged on a NYB, or at least a Newport Custom.
My car-mentor Howard bought a new 77 Newport Custom 4 door hardtop. Solid deep brown with fender skirts and no vinyl roof. It was a beautiful car and was the one that made me a fan of these. The interiors were nice, but nowhere near as nice as the New Yorker.
I’m sure that the styling of the 1974 Plymouth Fury didn’t help. The car looked generic when it was introduced, and seemed to become even more plain as the decade progresssed. Compared to a 1975-78 Ford LTD Landau, it looks clean today, but buyers in that segment at that time were not necessarily interested in “clean” when it came to styling. Most people associated full-size Plymouths with police cars, and the association wasn’t necessarily favorable from a style/prestige viewpoint.
The Chryslers simply have a more “upscale” appearance, which buyers at that time wanted.
Same with the Dodge Monaco, although there wasn’t a comparable Chrysler on the lot to serve as a point of comparison/competition. Did the Monaco outsell the Fury in those years? If I recall correctly, prior to the fuel crunch, the full-size Plymouth handily outsold the full-size Dodge, even though the Plymouth had to share showroom space with the full-size Chryslers.
There has been a really clean original 74 Fury 2 door hardtop on my local CL. It was down to $2900 last I recall. But it is just an awkward looking car. The 4 door hardtop was not bad, in a cleanly-bland kind of way. But that 2 door – it is just lacking something.
When those came out, I was entering the early stages of Mopar-love, and I was disappointed with the Fury, both inside and out. The 72-73, although strange looking outside, had that “Mopar vibe” inside that was somehow appealing with its big thin-rimmed steering wheel and the high-back seats. But the inside of the 74 was not nice like the LTDs, nor did it seem familiar to the Mopar faithful. It was just a disappointment. When those cars didn’t appeal to me (who really wanted to like them), I should have known that they would be in trouble.
Even the New Yorker looks best as a 4-door than as a 2-door to me, much better proportions…
Sales of fullsize Plymouths and Dodges had been lagging for years before this, never really recovering from the 1962 downsizing debacle. They seemed to tail off further in the early ’70s, either due to the fuselage design not meshing with the public, or to a growing perception that Chrysler had quality issues. In a weakened state to begin with, the 1973 oil crisis and the recession that followed knocked them into irrelevance.
The fullsize Chryslers obviously weren’t affected by the 1962 downsizing, and for whatever reason, the fuselage era Chryslers didn’t seem to be afflicted by the sales issues that hit their Plymouth and Dodge counterparts. So they came into the first oil crisis in much better shape. IINM, the fullsize Chryslers did have a couple of lean years circa 1974-75 (the Corboda arrived just in the nick of time), though they may have bounced back after that. By all appearances they certainly did better through this era than the fullsize Plymouths and Dodges.
If I follow the article correctly, Chrysler completely dropped what had been the base Newport in the model shuffle that took place for the ’76 model year — it didn’t continue under another name, it just went away. (The article actually states that both the ’75 base Newport and the ’75 New Yorker Brougham became the ’76 Newport Custom, but I think the first statement has the model years transposed. As I understand it, the ’75 Newport Custom became the ’76 base Newport, and the ’75 New Yorker Brougham became the ’76 Newport Custom, and the ’75 Imperial became the ’76 New Yorker Brougham.) I was initially surprised to see that the base Newport had been dropped, given the tendency over time for the Chrysler brand to push downmarket. Maybe the base Newport hadn’t been selling well to begin with, or Chrysler felt that the presence of the Cordoba had eliminated any need for it, or they were concerned about overlap/too much similarity between the top-end full-size Plymouths and the low-end fullsize Chryslers (given that the two brands shared the same dealer network), or maybe they just figured they could upsell anyone who would have wanted one to the new-and-improved base Newport.
What had been the ’75 Newport Custom became the ’76 “regular” Newport. There was always a base Newport. Chrysler’s name game was pretty confusing.
I personally think the name “Imperial” is one of the most wonderful names for a car ever. It’s a shame Chrysler doesn’t resurrect it for a flagship model. Are they still afraid of the 1981 “Imperial fiasco”…??
Cant be that, they did bring it back once after 1981-83, in 1990, they slapped the Imperial emblem on a stretched K-car New Yorker.
I actually passed one of those K-car Imperials on the highway a couple weekends ago. I was pretty surprised.
That’s a rare bird! I haven’t seen one of those in years. The 1981-83 Imperials, on the other hand, do periodically appear at car shows.
I spotted a white 81-83 Imperial a month ago in the parking lot of a big car parts swap meet. Posted pics of that one in the cohort.
Gratuitous eye candy dept.
Fabulous picture! I’m thinking framed prints at $14.99 each. 🙂
Of course!! How could I have forgotten about the early-nineties Imperial? A very handsome car indeed. Other than a concept a few years ago (which looked like a small Rolls Royce) that’s been it.
The 1991 Chrysler Imperial:
The Imperial concept vehicle from 2006:
Yikes. That concept makes the K-Imperial look good! Although I prefer the facelifted 1992-93 Fifth Avenues over the Imperial.
I got to see this concept car at the NYC auto show…Very Impressive!!
Here’s a better look at the built-in CB radio, good buddy (from oldcarbrochures.com). But how long is the “retractable tri-band power antenna”? At the right length for CB (102″) it’s the longest power antenna ever seen, otherwise at the normal AM radio length it’s more a dummy load than a skyhook. At least Smokey can’t tell you’ve got your ears on.
Crystal-controlled digital “chronometer” available too…look out, here come the chips!
10-4.
POWER !!!
Trailer Park Boys!
What about that Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser. I’d love to see that one.
Tom,
I am late to the Brougham Party but just love your find. A friends Grandparents bought one and said it had the French Whore House interior package! Anyway I always wanted one and thought the NYB was better looking than the 77 Town Car I eventually had. I did have a 77 Newport Custom for about a year. Remember it getting 17 to 18 mpg on the Hwy which was not bad for that big of a car. A lot better than the Town Car I kind of replaced it with. Unfortunately the Lean Burn was a pain to deal with and I was commuting 50 miles a day and traded it for a Dodge Omni.
I bought my 66 Chrysler 2-door hardtop from a used car dealer. Some kid got it from a relative, owned it for 6 months, then traded it for a Dodge Colt, if I remember correctly. It must’ve gotten pretty lousy mileage while he had it. Just about every system related to the engine was either broken or failing.
“I suspect that Plymouth’s problem was that every one of them shared the showroom with these Chryslers.”
After 1973, the big Fury’s tanked, they were once big sellers. But local C-P dealers were pushing Plymouth Dusters and for big car buyers “for a few bucks more a month, get a Cordoba or NY’er!”
What also hurt was making Fury and Monaco virtual twins as the Dart/Valiant. No more unique looks, just grilles/tailights. Why bother with them when a real Chrysler car is attainable?
Not to mention the fact that no one ever mistakenly thought of a Newport or New Yorker Brougham of this vintage as a taxi cab or a police car.
May I offer the CC staff my ’76 New Yorker for a road test review?
In what part of the country does your New Yorker reside?
I’m down here in Florida, Paul. A rather fitting location for an old man’s car, don’t you think?
It’s awfully cold in Indiana, and I could use a trip to Florida to road test that great New Yorker. What about it, Paul? Just send me the CC expense account form and I’m all over it. 🙂
It’s 8o and sunny today…
Now where have I seen that car before? 😉
A 74-75 New Yorker has turned up in the neighborhood here. I keep driving by in my Dart, but haven’t seen anybody outside to wave at.
Ooooo – Love It! I am being serious – my insides start getting squishy when I see a really sweet one like this.
Some trivia to go with your car – the badges and ornamentation on your car were done by a Chrysler stylist named Don Butler. He retired from Chrysler soon after. I know this because he was distantly related to my mother and I met him a couple of times. I would like to do a CC profile piece on him some time
Gorgeous. That red interior is perfect with the silver.
A two tone like that was on Ebay some months? or year ago. It was sweet. By any chance was it yours?
What a great car!
Yes, I was fishing for rich Germans. LOL!!
Seriously. It’s a keeper. I was just trying to get a valuation.
Another vote for a Stan the Commando CC. 🙂
Glad you didn’t sell that handsome beast. I did enjoy how thorough your listing was, pointing out all the places where they like to rust, but yours hadn’t.
cool is this a factory colored car?
No, the 2-tone paint was Stan’s doing, and it looks pretty sharp.
I had a ’77 New Yorker Brougham in Golden Fawn with the gold Corinthian Leather. The one in this article is actually not Golden Fawn, which was a yellow/tan, non-metallic color. Mine had all the options for ’77, including “Auto Temp II,” lighted vanity mirrors, 8-track, etc. I imagine the original cost of the car was above five digits, which was Lincoln / Caddy territory then.
Mine was over 20 years-old when I acquired it, and probably had over 100k miles. It was not reliable, but I loved it, anyway. There were electrical issues — the headlight doors had a mind of their own. Just turning the ignition on, the headlight doors would open half-way, sometimes open and close on their own, even when the headlights were not activated. Sometimes the doors would not open when the lights were on. The Lean Burn system was problematic. The transmission leaked fluid like crazy. After I sold the car to an old man who put thousands of dollars in it restoring it, apparently there was an electrical fire that caused the engine to catch fire and all of the doors to lock while passengers were in it! These cars were not especially rust-prone, compared to other cars of the era, however the quality of materials and plastics used in the interior was not the best. These were quite understated and tasteful for a luxury car of the ’70s. The styling never seemed gimmicky or flashy to me. It was a car that had style and class without being obnoxious or fake.
I’ve never seen one of these up close but I’ve always really liked the looks of these for some time. I agree with others they do look better than Cadillacs and Lincolns of the same era, and certainly seem more luxurious. One of the things I like is how well integrated the bumpers are to the body even for being crash absorbing, the rear one you could almost never tell. I still hope to get one of these in the future and see what they’re like behind the wheel. I can’t imagine any car that’d be comparable with those seats!
Another pic of the sofa-like interior..
When I was in 6th grade a buddy’s grandparents had just purchased a ’77 NYB and, as a 12 year old kid who routinely rode home in it, I felt like a KING!
It was green…with a green button-tufted leather interior. I’d never ridden in anything quite like it before…and simply couldn’t believe seats like this could exist in a CAR!
Often the memory is fonder than the reality. But something tells me that with this awesome machine, such is NOT the case!
I know I’m a little late to the party but I also posted something on the Ford Econoline CC. The ’69 post which actually has a ’71-74 grille. However,I’m always buying and selling cars just because I like to bring things back to the original luster I never saw because I was too young(February 1975 kid right here). I went to go look at a ’69 Corona 2 door I did like and on the way home…ran across this. 1976 New Yorker Brougham,53,000 miles,1 owner since new,all paperwork since new and virtually pristine. 400 bucks. Unbelievable. I plan on buying the car. Whitewall tires,dual exhaust and a nice detail. Boom. The fender skirts are in the trunk.
Nice. These cars just don’t look right without their fender skirts!
Jason,
Did you end up buying this New Yorker Brougham? If so, do you live anywhere near New York City? If the answer to both questions is yes, then I would like to know whether you would be interested in re-creating my Manhattan skyline shot with the Volare, only using your New Yorker.
Robert
I did buy that New Yorker but it’s already gone. I put a few thousand into it and sold it on eBay. It went to Germany for weddings! 🙂 I live in Washington state so pretty far from NYC but I do plan on going out there soon hopefully. At the moment,I have a ’71 Lincoln Mark III,a ’72 K5 Blazer(stock) and just picked up a ’73 Plymouth Scamp for 600 bucks.
I have a 1978 Chrysler New Yorker that I would like to sell. It has original paint and 95,000 kms. I am from Canada, and can transport across US border to International Falls. email to fixdent@mail.com for pictures.
My best friend in high school had one of these, a 78 NYer in triple black. It was 10 years old by then, but felt solid, like a luxury car should. Well, other than what the Wisconsin road salt dissolved…
His had a 400 (NOT a 440!) it sucked gas like a pig and was kind of hard to start when it was cold, but that was mostly the “Lean Burn” carburetor. We had planned on getting a Holley or something, but our priorities (and budget) never got around to actually doing. It would light up one rear tire at will though, no lack of torque. THe seats in that car were THE most comfortable ones I’ve ever ridden in, soft leather. There was a button on the floor (just like the old high beam floor button) to change the radio station, step on the button and it seeks out the next station. COol. I had a Pontiac Sunbird (’80, RWD, Monza clone) and it felt like the complete opposite of the NYer, small, cheap and kind of tinny. It easily got more than twice the MPG though, duh.
My friend had gotten into an accident in it, he got rear ended by a TOyota, that car crumpled up like a tin can. The NYer had a bent bumper and broken taillight. Unfortunately, it was so rusty back there that the spare fell thru the trunk floor and took the muffler with it. A short time later my friend joined the Marines and as soon as he went off to basic, his dad sent the NYer to the junkyard before I could buy it. SO every time I see a New Yorker of this era, I think of my friend Ron and all the good times we had in his boat. No other car was as perfect for double dating, or just cruising around our Midwestern town, as long as we had lots of gas money.
Like Jack Jones sang in the commercial “what a beautifrul New Yorker, its the talk of the town”. The four door is nice, but the coupe -ooooooh baby! Always wanted one, triple white with the unique vinyl roof treatment. Car was plusher than a Caddy, especially with the leather interior. This baby probably drank gas like an alcoholic, but if you could afford one, who cared? So slick, low and elegant. Us car guys always loved these and in that era of non performance vehicles, luxury was king..Once, when a friend asked me if I liked it, I said yes, and I refered to it as “the Electric Razor”. The name stuck and even today f we see one, we say “look, theres an Electric Razor in all its glory”.
Just got myself one of these yachts. Very nice, and very thirsty. Only had 18K miles on it when I picked it up.
I’m surprised that nobody commented upon the cheap-looking dashboard… to the right of the gauges. It’s so “cookie-cutter”, extruded foam, “chintzy”….
BUT, where else can one get a FOUR-door HARDTOP… with the desirable VENT windows….. and often a good leather upholstery??? IF you buy one cheap enough, and not very rusty or rotten, then you’ll have enough dough to “de-leanburn it”.
Still, here in early 2016, I find it easier and CHEAPER to find a nice late-1980s Lincoln Town Car….. which are very reliable and not near as thirsty. Sure, it’s not as desirable a car a a NYer Brghm…. but today’s gas prices likely won’t stay so low.
The ONE big mid-1970s RWD Mopar that I’ve found…. can’t be pried from its owner. All the others that are any good cost upwards of $3500 in So. New England. To compare, I’ve bought two nice 80s Town Cars [and their A/C systems both work!] for only $1200… each. I’ve never seen a nice big RWD Mopar for less than $2900 or so. I buy good-but-cheap RWD cars, figuring a worst-case scenario of total and unrecoverable loss… only means the low purchase price, plus a few small extra $$. Thus, I “self-insure”. LOL
But, yes, I DO want a late RWD NYer….. but it MUST be a four-door hardtop WITH vent windows…. and NOT in a dark color! This is not easy to find, here in early 2016… at least in New England.
Jerry Chase
Beverly Hills, California…..summer of 1977. An afternoon stroll down the sidewalk in one of the most famous and wealthiest neighborhoods in the country….walking past myriad driveways, one saw a Rolls Corniche, a Porsche 911 or two, a generous smattering of Benzes, and the household that bought a Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, and another that had a 1976 Dove Gray Lincoln Mark IV Cartier Edition parked conspicuously in front of their entrance, knowing full well it was there to be looked at and admired.
There was no new Chrysler Imperial/New Yorkers anywhere to be found. Was there a West Coast prejudice in the upper classes against Mopar product?( Or was it just the “New Yorker” badge?)
I have a nice 1978 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham 7.2L 440Cu V8 getting the engine rebuilt now should be back in by December 15th. 2020. I willing to sell it for a mere $11,000. only because of all the work I put into it. New brakes all around, new suspension, engine, fixing the top of the back seat leather dry rot, and still looking to have it painted by February 2021 if not sold. Price goes up then. Oh also have a set of new tires. Email me for photo’s.
Just picked up this 78 New Yorker. I always loved this body style and when the opportunity came up to add this to my stable, I couldn’t resist. I didn’t pay a lot for the car, and it definitely has some quirks and some issues, but the body is solid and I love the black/gray color scheme – very “formal.”
I took my granddaughter to homecoming in this car tonight. A lot of young bucks were suitably impressed, and a few girls looked appropriately envious LOL
I had one. It defined the difference between a car and an automobile.
The big Chrysler Imperial just couldn’t catch a break, with a prime example being how the 1976 NYB that effectively replaced the last 1975 Imperial had a significant increase in sales, despite that, when equipped the same, the NYB cost ‘more’ than the virtually identical previous year’s Imp.
The catch was how the base price of the NYB started out cheaper, and the Imperial equipment could be added a la carte.
I owned and put 200,000+ miles on 3 ’76 and ’77 C-body sedans: 2 Gran Furys and 1 Newport. All were excellent family and tow cars, they pulled our 2 horse-trailers to shows; we’d always be the only ones there with a car and not a truck of some kind. Had to add Monroe air-shocks to do pull a heavy trailer, but when deflated it rode just like stock. They C-body Mopars of those years were unsung heros in my book.
We bought our present house from the father of a Chrysler service manager who had bought new a ’78 NYB in triple gray color scheme. It was incredibly elegant looking in the US luxury vein, and while it had the weaknesses of many ’70s cars, it was without doubt the best combination of comfort, power (440) and decent big US luxury car handling (better than our ’75 DeVille) that I’ve ever driven and ridden in to this day. Long live that Broughamtastic look and ride!
Meanwhile, somewhere in the UK:
Original export turn signals! Those have gotta be rare.
Great article Tom! Count me in on loving that 1977 interior, even though it was considered a downgrade from ‘76. Perhaps it was that great Green color combo, but it looks so comfy by comparison to our choices these days.
Did anyone else have trouble figuring what the pretty model had in her hand? At first I thought it was her phone, but realizing it was way to long ago for that I figured it a gun. Took me a while before I realized it was the subway strap.
A Newport or Fury sedan from this group would do me fine!!
Just don’t let any Kia jump out in front of me for I will not be able to stop in time and crush the little critter with just a scratch on my fender. 🙂
I mean, these are interesting, but I have to think they are worse in every respect from their 1965-1968 predecessors.
No they rode much better, were quieter, much safer, and more comfortable. Having owned both a ’65 Newport, ’66 NYer, ’71 and ’73 Fury IIIs, and 3 ’76/77 C-bodies the latter, as far as quality, were also at least as well assembled/painted as the earlier cars. And as daily driver the ’76 and ’77s were much more satisfying cars, with the right (no LB) engines.
These were, as mentioned in the article, the last American 4-door hardtops and indeed the last ones (domestic or foreign) ever offered on the US market.
Not only that, all of the final ’78 4-doors were hardtops. The post sedan was discontinued after 1977 along with station wagons and all Dodge and Plymouth models, leaving only Chrysler Newport and New Yorker Brougham 2- and 4-door hardtops and a fixed-opera-window coupe which likely had a nonstructural B pillar and came from the same stamping presses as the 2dr HT.
Nice enough looking car if anybody cared about these by 1978. The premium sales years for big ol’ Chrylers was long past by this time. A buddy of mine picked one up for a song when it was just a couple of years old. Then another. And all that model name confusion was just off – putting.
These cars did have personality about them, but not the cache of the competition.
Who ever decided to put pin striping along the character line along the bottom of the car ended up only making this long car look even longer. Not in a good way.
I agree with JM Solbrg above, the sixties models of these were much better.
According to posts in a C body forum, the decision to cancel the C’s was made in spring 1975, less than two years after brought out. First to go was Dodge/Plymouth for ’78.
I remember seeing rows of unsold C bodies at the Belvedere IL plant in winter 1975, and wonder how long it took to sell them?
I remember these years. My dad was driving Chryslers and my brother was driving a Plymouth. So after their 1974 crash – we were all wondering how Chrysler was going to survive. So, by the time the beautiful Imperial was dropped and then renamed the New Yorker, it may have sold well – but it looked like another blow to Highland Park to us.
These years Chrysler was renaming cars instead of making new ones. It was pretty pathetic. GM had the perfectly new 1977 full lines, Ford was looking like it was going to follow, but Chrysler looked like it would fall apart before 1979. AMC was the small car experts and it seemed that everyone wanted a small car.
I always liked this car, but it was demoted where it found a nice niche. It was definately a Hail Mary play by a company that was going downhill fast.