Curbside Find: 1990-1991 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue – Playing To The Established Crowd

Photos from the Cohort by Slant Six.

In recent years, I’ve developed a habit of checking on old rock bands to see what they’re up to, especially those I never cared much for and yet were awfully popular. This often occurs after listening to playlists with my wife.

Hey… what happened to those guys? 

And more often than not, I’m always surprised when they’re still around. Not only touring but with a bunch of releases I never heard of. Not that I’m gonna check out their new tracks (or old ones), but I always find it nice to see how there’s a space in this world obsessed with newness for an old act playing to an established crowd.

And if there’s an equivalent in the automotive world to an old band playing the old hits, were the Broughamized Pentastar products of the late ’80s and ’90s. Aero and aerodynamics were the new languages of the era, and yet, Chrysler managed to be the provider of products that soothed those souls for which such tendencies were too much.

So, were those 1980s offerings looking too cold and rational for you? Here was Chrysler, providing safe cocoons of cushiony Broughamy resistance for you!

When these New Yorkers/Fifth Avenues (plus Imperials and LeBarons) came out in my late teens, I felt they were a holdover of resistance playing to a different crowd than mine. And if we’re to stick to musical references, in an age infused with bombastic pop-oriented rock tunes and dance tracks saturated with synth-based beats, these were perfect AOR antidotes.

Dodge Aries photo from the Cohort by William Oliver.

I’ll admit that Chrysler had started the decade looking more 1980s than other products of the Big 3, especially those from GM. Those early K-cars were the equivalent of cold rational computer work turned into automotive form. However, no dance beats on those. Instead, the cold modernist melodies of Kraftwerk –if that.

Chrysler LeBaron photo from the Cohort by Davo_

But change is so hard to take, isn’t it? How about adding some old-style fashions and comforting touches for those who can’t accept the new world? Et voilá, Iacocca’s mastery of the Brougham came to the rescue in the form of the E-body LeBaron! With more to come!

And since we’re talking ’80s music here, how about some remixes? It actually became a Chrysler specialty: splice, add-on, and mix to your liking. With the K-car platform turning into the master of the remix.

From danceable hits like the ’84 Daytona to endless Broughamy variations. The latter, like asking Kraftwerk to do a synth cover of Petula Clark’s Downtown. (An idea that now that I say, I would like to hear).

And the ‘luxury’ Chryslers of the late ’80s were the perfect example of cold-rational Broughams. Vehicles that to my teenage self looked awfully incongruous, but that spoke to a devoted fan base. And looking at sales figures, sang the right tune to them.

So here we have this surviving ’90-’91 New Yorker Fifth Avenue, perhaps the apex of cold ’80s aerodynamics masquerading as Brougham. However, that might also apply to the not too imperial ’90-’93 Imperial. Or just the plain New Yorker Salon… There was honestly, no end to these Broughamy remixes of K-derived origin.

The idea of remixes and reinterpretations also applies to the New Yorker nameplate. A moniker that had shifted through platforms and appearances at a pace that echoes those of a revolving band’s lineup.

What had ten years done to the New Yorker name? From its final days during Detroit’s dinosaur age riding the R-body platform, to a “don’t blink you’ll miss it” one year on the M-platform in ’82. Then, from ’83-’85 in diminished 1980s form on the FWD K-derived E-body. Finally, looking to regain some dignity from ’88-’93, adding some neo-classic gingerbread on a design that shared much with the Dodge Dynasty.

For former youth like me, it was like looking at Jefferson Airplane and trying to make sense of how it ended up as Starship.

And by the way, the Fifth Avenue moniker had also done some jumping around too. However, we’ll skip that and just say that mother Chrysler ended up joining the two after much relocating (the unintended parenting abuse of households in trouble). As such, the Fifth Avenue arrived in 1990, as a more upscale version of the New Yorker.

Now, technically speaking, today’s Fifth Avenue rides on the Y-body. The last stretch of the K-platform, providing a 109.6in. wheelbase and an additional 5″ rear legroom over the lower New Yorker Salon.

All details and history better covered at CC in a previous post. And in case you’re curious, the difficult to follow K-car family tree has also been covered.

By all accounts, while these cars didn’t speak to my generation (or those living on the West Coast), they played to their known crowd to their satisfaction. Though, being a Chrysler, if I go by the comments section, part of the resulting experience depended on whether you got a trusty one or a lemon. If luck was on your side, these New Yorkers played the part in offering reasonable fuel consumption, and a soft ride with decent handling.

Interiors offered the neo-classic Brougham touches followers of the segment loved. Their button-tuffed sofa-like seats and neo-classical touches providing a late ’80s interpretation of the 1970s. Or 1960s?

Still, the kind of interior that people who had grown up with Sinatra and Streisand would have felt at ease with.

Those hubcaps! Another piece of anachronism passed through the filter of 1980s aerodynamics.

Those secluded Landau back seats to shield you from the sun were “Crafted with pride” at Chrysler’s Belvidere Assembly Plant.

Now, one thing is for an aging rock act to keep playing to an –equally aging– fan base. A few folks playing around together can make a decent living running around the world thanks to a few sold-out gigs. A car company is an entirely different case, however, and playing to an aging crowd only brings demise. The next New Yorker/LHS act that arrived in ’94 finally embraced the modern times, looking quite sharp. One last shining moment for the nameplate before fading away for good in ’97.

But before all that, the ’90-’93 New Yorker Fifth Avenue played to a fading genre. One whose time was coming to an end just as grunge was taking over. Which is just as fine. I just can’t picture Brougham trying to adapt those discordant and angst-driven tunes.

 

Related CC reading:

Curbside Classic: 1992 Chrysler Fifth Avenue – The End Of  Mopar’s Broughamance

Automotive History: The Curbside Classic Comprehensive Chronology Of The Chrysler K-Car Family Tree