Davo posted these two pictures on the Cohort and I thought they were too good not to share. Is this a clean K-car or what?
Thanks, Davo!
CC Outtake: Chrysler New Yorker Turbo – Just Add Gravitas
– Posted on February 19, 2012
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Curbside Classics Archives
Beautiful!
A V2000 Broughamed to within an inch of its life.
I’m going to faint. He used a period and a capital letter.
Wow, I know that back then the turbo 4 is Chrysler’s upgrade engine, but still, the idea of a turbo 4 on a car like this is just… bizzare.
Not really…just a paradigm shift. Think of industrial diesel engines…with turbochargers, many of them…trucks or locomotives.
Bottom line is: Chrysler needed a bigger engine, and the cupboard was bare. Not unlike Studebaker with its Paxton-blown engines in their last years as a “real” car company.
Yes, I guess anything is game when you’re desperate. Then again, miracles by miracles, after too many brush with bankruptcy, ownership by Germans apparently still mad at Chrysler’s involvement in World War II, and two government bailout, they’re still around today.
A turbo-four Chrysler luxury seems a bit wrong, but so does a turbo-four BMW 5 Series. I guess everything old is new again.
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2012-bmw-528i-first-drive-review
A nice car – now, if they had only gone for a more Mercedes-like look rather than trying for big-boat-Cadillac. It might have worked very well.
A buddy of mine had one of these around ’96-97, same color. The button-tufted leather (?) interior was amazing, and it was reasonably quick, too!
The ‘Burb next to it provides a good size contrast—this is not a large car. I remember thinking that it felt smaller inside than my mother’s ’95 Camry (which I still own).
I would love to tinker with one of these and light the tires across an intersection. This could be a sleeper with very little modification.
Wow, a turbo in a New Yorker? That’s kind of bizarre.
I still wouldn’t drive it. The ’94 Dodge Spirit I owned required 2 transmission swaps before I finally got rid of it. It was a nice, clean old lady car though. Decent gas mileage despite the V6. Power everything.
If this New Yorker were cheap enough, who knows?
These New Yorkers (this one looks mid-80’s) had a 3-speed automatic with a lockup torque converter, not the dreaded A604 Ultradrive, which didn’t come along until 1989. Dad worked for Chrysler until 1989 and had a number of these K-derivatives. As near as I can recall, the Ultradive was never paired with a turbo. Probably a good thing, too.
The Turbo badge is in an odd spot but it is in pretty sweet shape! These can be made surprisingly quick for very little money too.
Given some of the comments on similar era cars I suppose the rear part of the roof is a fiberglass cap and the trunk no longer opens fully?
My father had a 1986 New Yorker – the car he originally thought could be his “last new car”. He ordered it, and six weeks later took delivery of it from a dealership in Westchester County, NY. He was driving home to Connecticut and was crestfallen when he realized it was NOT a turbo, the engine he had expressly ordered. He turned around and went back to the dealership. He discovered the salesman had unilaterally deleted the turbo figuring an old guy would not want it. Rather than taking the car back they gave my father back a big chunk of change.
Wow! I heard car salesmen were shady(shadier?) in the 70s and 80s but that is above and beyond.
This brings back memories. When I was a kid the guy who lived down the street had one of these in the same color, but it was a limo! It was the weirdest looking limo I’ve ever seen but it was still cool in a quirky way. I even think it was a turbo car as well.
You mean this?:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1984-chrysler-executive-limousine-the-ultimate-eighties-folly-mobile/
This was designed in 1980-81, when gas was supposed to go to $5 a gallon by 1984, about 15 in todays bucks. Lee I. was ready to go all 4 cylinder cars, and the Turbo was to be the top of the line.
The 5th Ave V8 M body was supposed to die off after 1983-4. Guess what really happened?
Back in the late 80’s my Mom worked with a lady who had the sharpest M body Fifth Avenue- Maroon with matching leather, wire wheels, just a sharp looking ride- She broke my heart when she traded it for a Black Nissan “4DRSC” Maxima- the one that looked like a faux-BMW.
Ran into a nice 1985 2.2 (no turbo) Le Baron conv, 31K miles, clean but not perfect. No dings, quite a few minor chips in the paint and a new top, an old lady car. Left seat has a few rips, will need covered or redone. Drives nice, but really sluggish by today’s standards.
Any thoughts?
If you love convertibles and the price is right, why not?
Its cheap, but you get what you pay for. I remember almost buying a non turbo 86 LeBaron from one of my mothers co-workers back in the 90’s. I was shocked at how slow it was, and how it shook over railroad crossings, the dash, doors and a-pillars all went in different directions, no sale.
I would love one of these- they have a certain panache- plus they are really comfy for 4 passengers, with this being a stretched k car. They got decent gas mileage especially considering the comfort in which you would travel. Even a standard K Car had the room of larger cars. I knew a girl in high school who got one of these (an 84 or 86) and this was back in 1994- her 8X Taurus got totalled making a left turn into oncoming traffic/ or maybe a speeder was running a yellow to red light and this was her replacement car. A classmate wanted to know what kinda car was a “New Yorker”, she said “It’s like a Cadillac…”, and I regret piping in “Well, I don’t know if it’s a Cadillac- maybe a Buick or a fancy Oldsmobile”. Looking back I was just trying to be accurate but I came off as a jerk. (probably still am retelling the story…) I came to appreciate them more years later- at the time I didnt care for the way the trunk and the front fender don’t line up- but now I see it as a sort of short deck/bustle back-esque feature and find it charming.
Hello. What year is this Chrysler New Yorker? I like the body design of this sedan.