Here's how the New Yorker lost its way as Chrysler's once-premiere luxury car

from advanced technology comes a new kind of luxury car the first front-wheel drive Chrysler New Yorker back in 1939 Chrysler introduced what would become its longest running model the New Yorker lasting for 14 Generations it took over as Chrysler's Flagship luxury model in 1976 following the end of the Imperial brand and struggled to compete against Rivals at Cadillac in Lincoln thanks to the gas crisis and impending bankruptcy the New Yorker evolved into yet another k-car variant in the 1980s its final form is one of Chrysler's cab forward LH cars was short-lived and the name quietly retired after 57 years in 1996. this is a story of the Chrysler New Yorker this is my old cars lose quiet ride and so reliable it's protective for five years or 50 000 miles all monitoring sister are functioning before I get started a quick shout out to Martin a 19 year old viewer from Slovakia who reached out to me via Instagram with a link to a quiz he created in kahoot an online learning game platform with trivia questions about my channel I'll include a link in the description below this is very clever and I truly appreciate the effort for those of you who have been hoping for an episode about the New Yorker you can all thank this particular viewer as his many repeated requests definitely got him noticed when it came time for me to do my next Chrysler episode although technically I included the New Yorker in a previous episode that was my episode on the Dodge Intrepid which was among my first six episodes that inspired my Channel's name since I owned two intrepids in the 1990s the New Yorker was a variation of the intrepids LH platform in 1994 and today that version may be the last one that some of you have ever seen the name New Yorker originally evolved for the 1938 Chrysler New York Special series which was a sub-series of the Chrysler Imperial this somewhat long name was often shortened to just New Yorker which selected the model name officially changing to that for the following year the Chrysler Imperial which started in 1926 remained the flagship with the New Yorker still being a luxury theme model but a bit less expensive option making it more of a competitor to Buick Oldsmobile and Mercury whereas the Imperial competed with Cadillac Lincoln and Packard Chrysler back then didn't have its own luxury brand resulting in the eventual spin-off of the Imperial name to be its own brand in 1955 which allowed the New Yorker to become the Chrysler Brand's top end model during those early years the New Yorker was available in five different body styles including two and four-door hardtop models a popular option in the 1950s which eliminated the b-pillar for a more open and sportier feel Mr Bascom can't drive it doesn't have a license as was common back in the 50s and 60s as automakers often use the tactic of planned obsolescence to get more repeat buyers the New Yorker went through several Generations that follow the typical trends of the day see all the controls are on your left away from the children danger Will Robinson including big tail fins in the late 50s to quickly eliminating them starting in 1962 as fans had fallen out of favor across the big three automakers but the one consistency they had over these years was size maintaining a length of at least 18 feet long through the 1960s the 65 is the most beautiful Chrysler ever built 18 feet of comfort two tons of security and of course big V8s with big displacement was par for the course in an era where gas was cheap and plentiful in this New Yorker a 413 cubic inch V8 is standard equipment by 1969 the New Yorker had gained six more inches and like many of its competitors the opulent luxury of days long gone was replaced with lots of fake wood and obvious cost cutting as Chrysler struggled to compete with Ford and GM however the biggest hit to the New Yorker came in 1973 when the 9th generation New Yorker debuted for the 1974 model year the timing here was horrible as they had a new model launched with an even bigger New Yorker that year just as the OPEC oil embargo hit and big cars were now a huge liability see the 1974 Chrysler New Yorker a totally new expression of an idea that has never changed Chrysler now offered their biggest New Yorker ever over 19 feet long those loyal to Mopar stuck with him but overall sales slid especially for large cars like the New Yorker which by 1976 had to take on the role of Chrysler's Flagship model as the entire Imperial brand once priced through the luxury division was eliminated in an effort to consolidate and keep the company alive [Music] the eight engine displacements were still huge with a 440 cubic inch 7.2 liter optional in 1978 just so it could move well over two and a half tons during the mid 70s continued sales decline Chrysler simply didn't have the money to completely redesign their cars to make them more fuel efficient by the end of the decade both Ford and GM were introducing downsized models but for the New Yorker to maintain its Flagship status Chrysler re-engineered their Sea Body platform which had been in use since 1965 to become the our body for 1979. although it was smaller it only lost less than a foot in length Chrysler New Yorker for 1979. [Music] Chrysler put a smaller or weaker V8 and remove the door frames to save a few pounds the ladder change looking very odd on the rear doors when they tried to maintain the Opera window in the land out top but also remove the frame around the window that could be lowered high-end models are referred to as a New Yorker Fifth Avenue and overall sales for 1979 managed almost 55 000. the continued financial hardship meant a price increase for 1980 and sales tanks to only 6 500 for 1981 leading to the R Body being considered back then and now as a huge failure Chrysler was living on a 1979 government bailout that was spearheaded by Lee Iacocca Mike shoes for coming to you is real simple I'm running out of money and I'm going to have to shut down who would usher in big changes for the New Yorker to make Chrysler profitable again 1982 and 83 were transitional years for the New Yorker and likely a confusing time for buyers although sharing platforms across divisions was commonplace not just a Chrysler but also GM and Ford the 80s proved to be a time where this practice was seriously abused Chrysler's new m-body platform now strung to about 17 feet in length was used for the New Yorker as well as a Dodge Diplomat and Plymouth Grand Fury the latter two I discussed more in my earlier Dodge Diplomat episode the embody had previously been used for the Chrysler LeBaron but for 1982 the LeBaron moved to the cheaper and smaller k-car platform The Fifth Avenue name was still being used for the higher trim version of a New Yorker in 1982 but for 1983 just to really confused things the m-body model became a New Yorker Fifth Avenue and a stretched version of a k-car now called the e-body became the New Yorker a whole new class of automobile the Chrysler class Chrysler's largest front-wheel drive sedans just a year later 1984 the m-body model was renamed the Chrysler Fifth Avenue so now the New Yorker name was on the smaller four-cylinder model marking the first year since 1955 that the New Yorker was no longer Chrysler's Flagship model and it became the first Chrysler branded model with a four-cylinder engine since 1932. the k-car platform is probably best known for the smaller Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant models which Chrysler heavily marketed in the 1980s and were a key factor in making Chrysler profitable again Aries came from Dodge Reliant K from Plymouth for cars like the New Yorker also use the variation of the k-car platform as its smaller cars like the Dodge Daytona even the Chrysler minivans utilize some of the k-car design making it one of the most proliferate platforms of any automaker New Yorker use a modified k-car platform and being effectively demoted thanks to the Fifth Avenue becoming a separate and larger model the New Yorker named from that point on would never have a status at once held Chrysler still tried to sell the luxury look with the padded Landau roof and Opera lights as standard yet features such as air conditioning and power windows were an extra cost option virtually unheard of today despite the downgrade the New Yorker was still included among the many ads that Chrysler did in the 80s which featured actor Ricardo Montalban these cars caught the competition sleeping although these ads are now more or less 40 years old I think it is safe to say that anyone who grew up in the 80s as I did still remember them everyone asks according to unlever of course why not the best the early 80s was also the start of the home computer Revolution so Chrysler tried to capitalize on the public interest in the new technology by offering audible alerts your fuel is low essentially a recorded voice that alerts the driver to such things as a door being a jar a door is a jar or even saying that all systems were working properly all monitored systems are functioning fortunately none of my bio functions seem affected although it may have seen state of the art at the time it didn't take long for these gimmicky screens and voices to be mocked and generally hated by most drivers I'd suggest you shut that drawer the drawer is a jar the drawer is a jar the drawers are so they were phased out across all the Chrysler models within the next few years sales of a New Yorker managed to average around 60 000 per year during the 1980s up until a new design was available in 1988. those extra sales may have been what led Chrysler to continue offering the previous gen model along with a new for 1988 with the older body style being branded as a New Yorker turbo as a new model would be offered with a V6 engine with the worst of a gas prices in the past the latest New Yorker now in its 13th generation moved to the larger Sea Body which added about 5 inches in length from the previous model yet it still was nearly three feet shorter than it was in the mid 70s the seabot in New York which itself was still related to the original k-car platform still remained under the Fifth Avenue in the Chrysler model rankings although 1989 would represent the new yorker's 50th Anniversary Chrysler never offered any form of anniversary edition so although at the time it had been the longest running main flight Chrysler clearly didn't see any need to advertise it the following year in 1990 Chrysler would make some more changes just to confuse things again the name Imperial was brought back not as its own brand as it once was but as a new model to replace the Fifth Avenue however the Fifth Avenue name didn't entirely go away as Chrysler offered a stretch wheelbase version of The New Yorker and called it the New Yorker Fifth Avenue despite the confusing name changes they were going to be short-lived anyway as Chrysler was working on a new full-size car platform that would be a complete departure from the squared off look that had been standard across most of their lineup for the past decade the new platform known as LH would introduce a new styling Direction the Chrysler called cab forward by pushing the windshield farther out over the front hood and the overall length increased by over a foot initially there were three models for the 1994 model year that shared the LH platform the Dodge Intrepid Chrysler Concord and the Eagle Vision about six months after the release of those three initial models two additional Chrysler branded LH models were released with a more formal looking upright rear window and were named the LHS and The New Yorker although the name New Yorker had already diluted somewhat during the 1980s this final iteration was clearly designed for their older customers hence the idea to use a name that had been in their lineup for over 50 years although the New Yorker was the same shape and size as the LHS the LHS had front bucket seats a slightly stiffer suspension and less chrome trim whereas a New Yorker had a front bench sheet to allow Three cross seating a softer suspension and more exterior Chrome presumably to make it more attractive to their older clientele but not surprisingly the LHS sales were far higher than the New Yorker resulting in the New Yorker being discontinued for the 1996 model year no celebrations or special editions to highlight the fact the New Yorker name was the longest running model Chrysler ever had Instead The New Yorker simply didn't exist for 1997. having a car name plate lasts for over 50 years is rare nowadays the Ford Mustang will soon reach 60 years the Chevy Corvette recently made it to 70 years and the Chevy Suburban is about to hit 90 years as it was first sold in 1934. today if you are younger than the millennial generation you may not even recognize a New Yorker on the road if you can find one but if you're a boomer you may still remember riding in a classic New Yorker as a kid backed women named New Yorker for a car anyway was truly synonymous with luxury thanks for watching if you like this video click the like button and subscribe to my channel thank you Sunday driver if you want to own a car from the 80s to mid-2000s that you rarely see today and when I get featured in a future episode leave a reply in the comments or contact me at the email shown here see you next time [Music]

Channel: My Old Car

Views: 130,229

Keywords: Chrysler New Yorker

Id: DdsIxAyala0

Length: 13min 3sec (783 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 25 2023