Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
Chrysler New Yorker 2 Door, original in mint condition,runs and...
I know this car was reported earlier, but that thread got a little murky with the garden hose, glass tables, etc. So consider this a set of fresh eyes on the target.
I always begin my phone call with "Hello, I'm calling about the car you have for sale." The response will be telling. In this case, it was "Yeah, the Grand Prix is one of my toys. It's got a..."
"Um, no... I'm calling about a Chrysler..."
"The PT Cruiser right? That's my daughter's car and..."
"No... You have a New Yorker listed..."
"Oh yeah... the big ol' sucker..."
FLIP FAIL
But whatever... I'm not going to let that stop me. I do some flippin' myself.
So I set up a time and arrive to find a hot engine. Sometimes people don't do it on purpose. Other times it's done to cover an engine that is hard to start, smokes at start-up, makes noise, etc. When I show a car, I always make a point to plant my hand right on an exhaust manifold and explain why I'm doing it. Still, not a deal-killer.
Under the hood I find all the tell-tale signs of a car that's been sitting a long, long, time. Leaves, spiderwebs, bits of paper and other deposits from God's creation. Then I notice the Orange box mounted on the fender, the bypassed wiring and a ballast resistor just laying on the heaterbo
Speaking of the heaterbox, there is a big hole patched with foil tape.
Yes Stan, ATC II.
Turning to the body... Much of it is original paint. There have been spot touch-ups (tape line under factory stripe). Paint heavily oxidized. You could bring it back to life with a detail job, but why bother? There are too many small chip/scratch rust spots to make it worth the effort. Sadly it's gonna need paint to look good. Rust just starting to punch through at the troublesome "shelf" bracket above the marker lights. Some (minor) rust at the right door hem starting to show through the outside. Small holes in left 1/4 where it dips under. To be fair, this car is far from a rot-box. The underside was fine. By MI standards, it's practically perfect. But if you fix these problems, there is no point in trying to preserve the (mostly) original paint, and who knows what lurks under that old repair? But when the sun hit some curves in the un-faded door jamb... What a beautiful color!
Chrome: Very good. Plastic "brougham" emblems: Sunburnt. Vinyl Top: Good, but needs some love to bring back the luster. Roof w/strips: Great by AZ standards, crummy by MI standards. Driver's door glass misaligned, not sealing at front edge.
Interior: Needs a detail, then I'd want to sit in it naked. I apologize if the imagery is disturbing, but I'd love to do a real, paid appraisal and write phrases like: It was like being in a giant chocolate womb. This is the closest a car seat can feel to a woman's beautiful, soft breast. I want to run my toes through the shag carpet. You damn sure won't read a review like that on ForABodiesOnly.com!
Has dual power seats. Rear defrost. Tilt/tele. Lighted vanity mirror. Search-tune AM/FM. This of course makes it all the more weird that it didn't come with power locks?! Tape residue over the power window buttons as if there was a time when grandma put it there to remind herself not to use them.
Rear view mirror has migrated from the glass to the dash. Speedo stuck at perpetual 40 MPH... Unless I was really that moved by the interior?
Misc: Trunk lock popped with a screwdriver (no metal damage). Did not bother to open trunk. Did not bother to drive. Michelin Radial X tires inflated to 15 psi that surely are older than many of our group's members.
Drove the ol' Magnum down there since it was about a 40 mile ride and the weather was PERFECT. The seller said, "What kind of car is that?! A "Spitzer"? (referring to the stupid Spitzer Motors dealer emblem from decades ago). Not real observant because Spitzer is a huge local dealer, and there are a lot of other "Spitzers" on the road that look completely different.
Then he said I would be missing out because the car is worth $6000 as-is, probably $9800 restored. Here's the scoop... I really only wanted the car if it needed a weekend's worth of detailing. It is definitely worth fixing this car up. If I didn't already have too many projects, I might have offered $2k (and would surely have been turned down). I would hate to see a hack end up with this excellent starting point, but it's not $3900 well spent. I believe it sat in an old timer's dry garage, and the current seller plopped in a battery and fresh gas after leaving $500 with the estate. If I can move some more metal this summer, I'll give it more consideration. If it's gone, I suppose we weren't meant to be together.
I know this car was reported earlier, but that thread got a little murky with the garden hose, glass tables, etc. So consider this a set of fresh eyes on the target.
I always begin my phone call with "Hello, I'm calling about the car you have for sale." The response will be telling. In this case, it was "Yeah, the Grand Prix is one of my toys. It's got a..."
"Um, no... I'm calling about a Chrysler..."
"The PT Cruiser right? That's my daughter's car and..."
"No... You have a New Yorker listed..."
"Oh yeah... the big ol' sucker..."
FLIP FAIL
But whatever... I'm not going to let that stop me. I do some flippin' myself.
So I set up a time and arrive to find a hot engine. Sometimes people don't do it on purpose. Other times it's done to cover an engine that is hard to start, smokes at start-up, makes noise, etc. When I show a car, I always make a point to plant my hand right on an exhaust manifold and explain why I'm doing it. Still, not a deal-killer.
Under the hood I find all the tell-tale signs of a car that's been sitting a long, long, time. Leaves, spiderwebs, bits of paper and other deposits from God's creation. Then I notice the Orange box mounted on the fender, the bypassed wiring and a ballast resistor just laying on the heaterbo
Speaking of the heaterbox, there is a big hole patched with foil tape.
Yes Stan, ATC II.
Turning to the body... Much of it is original paint. There have been spot touch-ups (tape line under factory stripe). Paint heavily oxidized. You could bring it back to life with a detail job, but why bother? There are too many small chip/scratch rust spots to make it worth the effort. Sadly it's gonna need paint to look good. Rust just starting to punch through at the troublesome "shelf" bracket above the marker lights. Some (minor) rust at the right door hem starting to show through the outside. Small holes in left 1/4 where it dips under. To be fair, this car is far from a rot-box. The underside was fine. By MI standards, it's practically perfect. But if you fix these problems, there is no point in trying to preserve the (mostly) original paint, and who knows what lurks under that old repair? But when the sun hit some curves in the un-faded door jamb... What a beautiful color!
Chrome: Very good. Plastic "brougham" emblems: Sunburnt. Vinyl Top: Good, but needs some love to bring back the luster. Roof w/strips: Great by AZ standards, crummy by MI standards. Driver's door glass misaligned, not sealing at front edge.
Interior: Needs a detail, then I'd want to sit in it naked. I apologize if the imagery is disturbing, but I'd love to do a real, paid appraisal and write phrases like: It was like being in a giant chocolate womb. This is the closest a car seat can feel to a woman's beautiful, soft breast. I want to run my toes through the shag carpet. You damn sure won't read a review like that on ForABodiesOnly.com!
Has dual power seats. Rear defrost. Tilt/tele. Lighted vanity mirror. Search-tune AM/FM. This of course makes it all the more weird that it didn't come with power locks?! Tape residue over the power window buttons as if there was a time when grandma put it there to remind herself not to use them.
Rear view mirror has migrated from the glass to the dash. Speedo stuck at perpetual 40 MPH... Unless I was really that moved by the interior? Misc: Trunk lock popped with a screwdriver (no metal damage). Did not bother to open trunk. Did not bother to drive. Michelin Radial X tires inflated to 15 psi that surely are older than many of our group's members.
Drove the ol' Magnum down there since it was about a 40 mile ride and the weather was PERFECT. The seller said, "What kind of car is that?! A "Spitzer"? (referring to the stupid Spitzer Motors dealer emblem from decades ago). Not real observant because Spitzer is a huge local dealer, and there are a lot of other "Spitzers" on the road that look completely different.
Then he said I would be missing out because the car is worth $6000 as-is, probably $9800 restored. Here's the scoop... I really only wanted the car if it needed a weekend's worth of detailing. It is definitely worth fixing this car up. If I didn't already have too many projects, I might have offered $2k (and would surely have been turned down). I would hate to see a hack end up with this excellent starting point, but it's not $3900 well spent. I believe it sat in an old timer's dry garage, and the current seller plopped in a battery and fresh gas after leaving $500 with the estate. If I can move some more metal this summer, I'll give it more consideration. If it's gone, I suppose we weren't meant to be together.
Last edited:
