Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
I've had these photos and story for some time now. I never bothered to post them here because I assumed the story would be well-known on the world's premier C-body port(al). However after reading the post in the For Sale section ('73 NY'er) that mentions the Mariner, it appears that might not be the case.
First off, it seems that some people think they've seen actual Mariners, implying that more than one exists. Well I don't want to call anyone a liar, so I'm just going to say that would be VERY unlikely, for these reasons:
1) The Mariner uses a number of one-off time pieces. Despite the number of dumb decisions we've all seen Chrysler make, they weren't dumb enough to tool up things beyond emblems/stickers for a model that was winding down. This car has real mahogany interior trim, special windows, hood ornament, door pulls and probably something else I've missed.
2) Too labor intensive to build on an assembly line. Note the custom paint stripes, two-toning.
Oh, but what of the Navajo editions? Simple... Those were just color/upholstery and they survived the jump to the "formal" style. I had one. Also recall there was a 1973 Plymouth Aspen, basically a white 4drhtp Fury with a big blue snowflake on the side, ski racks and huge whitewall snowtires. The least-known '73 C-body of this trio (I've never seen a photo, but did see the real car) was the Dodge Sundancer. Remind me to tell that story sometime.
So let's get down to the real car... Fast forward to 2011-ish and I'm attending a cruise night at a local bar called Wiseguys. Years ago, this bar's neighborhood really was the stomping grounds of real-life Detroit-area "wiseguys". Let's just say a lot of names around here end with vowels. I digress... So I'm walking past the usual Chargers, Cudas, Mustangs, Camaros, blah blah and I encounter this:
Holy crap, I just struck C-body gold! I have nothing with me but my .05 Megapixel Blackberry camera. And the sun is in my eyes.
See those curled-up B&W photos on the dash? They're genuine Chrysler press release photos.
Without much difficulty I locate the owner. He's the FIRST and only titled owner, and he's well beyond the age where he should safely operate such a large water.. um, landcraft. Thankfully, he's there with his 20-somethingish grandkids, who I think (hope) drove him to the cruise. Nobody is talking to this guy, everyone is too fixated on the '55 Chevys and '68 Chargers that of course we've never seen before.
So I go a little over the top telling him what an incredible car this is... Please tell me the story! In 1973, he was a prototype mechanic at Chrysler Highland Park (Ironically, not far off from my own job now in Auburn Hills.) In fact, compare his mid 80s bumper sticker and my toolbox:
(The bag of cookies is a long story)
Anyway, if the bumpersticker don't get ya, his license plate will:
So he's working in the Prototype Garage, (probably attaching 200 mpg carburetors to ball-stud Hemis™) and he sees this turquoise monster roll in for a quick wash before heading to the Lynch Road vehicle marshaling center. That's were all the executive lease cars go to get sold as used, frequently to employees, sometimes dealers. Every so often, (at least back then) an oddball showcar, now finished with promotional duties also made it to the lot.
This guy is a boater, and he falls in love with the car and its nautical theme. Therefore he must possess this 4500 lbs mistress. He tells his boss "put me on vacation the rest of today" and follows the flatbed about 3-4 miles to the marshaling lot. He's the first to put down a deposit and, obviously he got the car. He uses the car primarily to tow his boat (see trailer hitch) still present:
You know this guy had to be cock-o-the-walk with all his boat buddies! I'm sure he really did have "more fun" and even the America's Cup crew didn't have such an awesome tow vehicle.
Boat-towing might not be the best for the trans, but seasonal use probably spared this baby from cancer. Check out the ship's keel at the rear.
Here's the other nice part of the story... He was really a nice ol' dude, and it seemed like his grandkids really cared about him and the car/family history. I probably gave them my number, but didn't press the issue because I could see the car meant a lot to them. I saw the car again, about 2-years later at the St. Clair Shores Harper Cruise (a mile from the lake, lol). A friend who lives in the area I spotted the car told me he saw it a few weeks ago out for a drive... At that point, we were still having a dry winter, so it wasn't pulling beater duty.
I'll shut up now and dump a few more pictures in the next post.
First off, it seems that some people think they've seen actual Mariners, implying that more than one exists. Well I don't want to call anyone a liar, so I'm just going to say that would be VERY unlikely, for these reasons:
1) The Mariner uses a number of one-off time pieces. Despite the number of dumb decisions we've all seen Chrysler make, they weren't dumb enough to tool up things beyond emblems/stickers for a model that was winding down. This car has real mahogany interior trim, special windows, hood ornament, door pulls and probably something else I've missed.
2) Too labor intensive to build on an assembly line. Note the custom paint stripes, two-toning.
Oh, but what of the Navajo editions? Simple... Those were just color/upholstery and they survived the jump to the "formal" style. I had one. Also recall there was a 1973 Plymouth Aspen, basically a white 4drhtp Fury with a big blue snowflake on the side, ski racks and huge whitewall snowtires. The least-known '73 C-body of this trio (I've never seen a photo, but did see the real car) was the Dodge Sundancer. Remind me to tell that story sometime.
So let's get down to the real car... Fast forward to 2011-ish and I'm attending a cruise night at a local bar called Wiseguys. Years ago, this bar's neighborhood really was the stomping grounds of real-life Detroit-area "wiseguys". Let's just say a lot of names around here end with vowels. I digress... So I'm walking past the usual Chargers, Cudas, Mustangs, Camaros, blah blah and I encounter this:
Holy crap, I just struck C-body gold! I have nothing with me but my .05 Megapixel Blackberry camera. And the sun is in my eyes.
See those curled-up B&W photos on the dash? They're genuine Chrysler press release photos.
Without much difficulty I locate the owner. He's the FIRST and only titled owner, and he's well beyond the age where he should safely operate such a large water.. um, landcraft. Thankfully, he's there with his 20-somethingish grandkids, who I think (hope) drove him to the cruise. Nobody is talking to this guy, everyone is too fixated on the '55 Chevys and '68 Chargers that of course we've never seen before.
So I go a little over the top telling him what an incredible car this is... Please tell me the story! In 1973, he was a prototype mechanic at Chrysler Highland Park (Ironically, not far off from my own job now in Auburn Hills.) In fact, compare his mid 80s bumper sticker and my toolbox:
(The bag of cookies is a long story)
Anyway, if the bumpersticker don't get ya, his license plate will:
So he's working in the Prototype Garage, (probably attaching 200 mpg carburetors to ball-stud Hemis™) and he sees this turquoise monster roll in for a quick wash before heading to the Lynch Road vehicle marshaling center. That's were all the executive lease cars go to get sold as used, frequently to employees, sometimes dealers. Every so often, (at least back then) an oddball showcar, now finished with promotional duties also made it to the lot.
This guy is a boater, and he falls in love with the car and its nautical theme. Therefore he must possess this 4500 lbs mistress. He tells his boss "put me on vacation the rest of today" and follows the flatbed about 3-4 miles to the marshaling lot. He's the first to put down a deposit and, obviously he got the car. He uses the car primarily to tow his boat (see trailer hitch) still present:
You know this guy had to be cock-o-the-walk with all his boat buddies! I'm sure he really did have "more fun" and even the America's Cup crew didn't have such an awesome tow vehicle.
Boat-towing might not be the best for the trans, but seasonal use probably spared this baby from cancer. Check out the ship's keel at the rear.
Here's the other nice part of the story... He was really a nice ol' dude, and it seemed like his grandkids really cared about him and the car/family history. I probably gave them my number, but didn't press the issue because I could see the car meant a lot to them. I saw the car again, about 2-years later at the St. Clair Shores Harper Cruise (a mile from the lake, lol). A friend who lives in the area I spotted the car told me he saw it a few weeks ago out for a drive... At that point, we were still having a dry winter, so it wasn't pulling beater duty.
I'll shut up now and dump a few more pictures in the next post.
.. happy to have a C body lover still on the workforce
