My New Yorker Memories

[Hyper_pak]

I was 12 years old when my Dad traded his 1962 Pontiac Station Wagon in for a new 1967 Chrysler New Yorker. So most of these memories are through the eyes of boy to a young man. Fawn Gold?

I was disappointed that my Dad didn't get a vinyl top, I thought they looked cool!
The first night my brother and I completely killed the battery running the electric windows, power seats, AM/FM radio and all the other cool gadgets in that huge car!
We lived in DC at the time and then we moved to Athens Greece. It was by far the largest car on the highways over there. We would travel around and little kids would swarm around the car at every gas station we stopped at.
I remember asking my Dad about getting the front end lined up. He thought I meant tires and suspension, no I meant the grill and bumpers. I didn't like the way everything met at a different point!
When we came home in 1969 we made a few trips up and down the interstate to our relatives in SC and Florida. I really started to appreciate the speed and comfort. Cruise Control, the greatest invention since the automatic transmission! And the 440 when called for would go like crazy!
I helped my Dad change the oil, rotate the tires, rebuild the carb and washed and waxed it a million times. Batteries, tires, brakes, mufflers, etc. Over the years as the electric motors died in the doors, we moved the good motors to the drivers door and cut some wood parts to block the other windows up!
My Dad drove her for years to his job downtown and would talk with me about how he could get pretty good mileage by taking it easy and just maintaining speed. Gas crisis years. I was nearing the end of my high school years by now and I had become a Mopar man from that car. My old Valiant was no luxury car so I was allowed to drive my date, and future bride to the Prom in the New Yorker. I kept the car long after my Dad passed away, but had to sell her when my mom got sick. The car that shaped me went to a good home. Here are just a few pictures of the car that made me.

 

[71Polara383]

Awesome story...thanks for sharing!

My first C body that I owned was a New Yorker with a 440 as well. But a 78. It was an amazing car as well.

 

[413]

Great story, I had a couple 67’s. Great way to be brought up. All that waxing will keep you straight. Thanks for posting this story!!

 

[Lefty71]

Mine was a '71. Grandpa had a thing for the Galaxies of that era as well.

 

[LocuMob]

My Grandma had a maroon LeBaron two door with that crushed velvet type interior. She had a wooden fork she would use to unlock the passenger side door, that would be my first Mopar that I rode in. Grandma was a Mopar gal, she had a '68 Dart that she said always leaked on her feet when it rained, I got to tell her what the problem was, some forty years later.

I would definitely buy a maroon LeBaron two door if one came across my plate.

 

[Fratzog]

Great story. Thanks for sharing. I learned to drive in my Dad's 67 Polara and your fit and finish comments on the NYR also applied to our Polara. Way different quality standards back then.

 

[commando1]

This is the America I remember.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Newport 66]

Great story!!
My parents had a red/wht '57 Plymouth that I really liked (at 4-5 yrs old) then the '63 Dodge 330 in red with a red interior, '67 black Fury II with turquoise interior and my favorite, '70 Coronet 500 in burnt orange inside and out!
Cherish and hold onto the memories, at some point its all we have!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

My introduction to Mopar waz a '57 tri-color White-Black-White DeSoto that was part of a fleet in the family of my Brother-in-Law. Drove it from Ann Arbor to Holland in Michigan on my Wedding Day in late December 1962 throwing a white Roster Tail all the way cross Michigan. Sorry no pix 'cept in my mind. Still miss that Baby Hemi Rocket Ship, Jer

 

[mrfury68]

Great story and very nice picture of your dad and the New Yorker. When my dad bought his '68 Fury III sedan as a 3 year old used car in the spring of '71 I was almost 9 years old and very impressed with our "new" Fury. Obviously it left quite an impression on me.

 

[live4theking]

Very cool story.

 

[Joseph James]

I love these stories. Thanks for sharing.

I had a guy stop me leaving work the other day. He recognized the body style of my Fury. Told me his dad had a 67 Fury III and he got his license right after they got the Fury so he drove it a lot. It’s a lot of fun for me to hear people’s connections with Mopars. Had a lady show me a pic of her 67 4 door Fury with ‘just married’ stuff all over the car.

 

[saforwardlook]

And now you live in Desoto, Texas - you must be a mopar guy! I never knew a town by that name existed.

I was born in 1947 in Detroit, but my parents moved to California in 1948 and before doing so, bought a new 1948 Dodge sedan with suicide doors and a sun visor that looked like this one...............

It brought us here with complete reliability according to my parents and it served us well until 1957 when my dad bought a used 1955 Chrysler New Yorker St. Regis Deluxe that looked just like this one sans the wire wheels.........

I still remember vividly the day that my dad traded in the 1948 Dodge, because my mom cried a lot when we let it go, but she also seemed to get over it pretty soon thereafter. The 55 New Yorker was a really great car and my dad kept it until 1962 when he bought a new Chrysler 300 that ended up being mine when I went off to grad school at U.C. Berkeley in 1967 (that liberal hippie school) in CA. I loved my first car and ended up restoring it completely about 15 years ago...... I took that car to Michigan with me when I went to work for Chrysler engineering in Highland Park, Michigan in 1969. I never drove it in bad weather though. It too was a great car.

I never had a chance - I had to be a mopar guy........................................................and I did a lot of washing and waxing through those years as well.

Thanks for your post - it brought back a lot of memories on this Christmas day.

 

[commando1]

And now you live in Desoto, Texas - you must be a mopar guy! I never knew a town by that name existed.

I was born in 1947 in Detroit, but my parents moved to California in 1948 and before doing so, bought a new 1948 Dodge sedan with suicide doors and a sun visor that looked like this one...............

View attachment 339832

It brought us here with complete reliability according to my parents and it served us well until 1957 when my dad bought a used 1955 Chrysler New Yorker St. Regis Deluxe that looked just like this one sans the wire wheels.........

View attachment 339833

I still remember vividly the day that my dad traded in the 1948 Dodge, because my mom cried a lot when we let it go, but she also seemed to get over it pretty soon thereafter. The 55 New Yorker was a really great car and my dad kept it until 1962 when he bought a new Chrysler 300 that ended up being mine when I went off to grad school at U.C. Berkeley in 1967 (that liberal hippie school) in CA. I loved my first car and ended up restoring it completely about 15 years ago...... I took that car to Michigan with me when I went to work for Chrysler engineering in Highland Park, Michigan in 1969. I never drove it in bad weather though. It too was a great car.
View attachment 339831

I never had a chance - I had to be a mopar guy........................................................and I did a lot of washing and waxing through those years as well.

Thanks for your post - it brought back a lot of memories on this Christmas day.

And thank you for that story.