Mystery of the Chrysler Mariner (solved)

The custom Treatments mentioned before rule out a Serial production for the Mariner. Personally never heard of another one but the prototype, not even a scaled down Special Edition.
 
[QUOTE="1978 NYB,
Dang, it must of been very cool living in the Motor City and surrounding area's in the 60's and 70's and seeing all the new Mopar's roaring around town and leaving on transporter's![/QUOTE]

I can attest to that Bob. My Woodard Ave cruising days started in 1964 when I got my license to drive.
The most prolific period was in 1969/70 when I was there with my first new car, the A12 Road Runner.
There were lots of shiny new supercars out there and I learned early on to watch out for cars with a "M" in the license plate and a young guy in a shirt and tie driving. These were likely factory prepped cars designed to build an image on the streets.
I lined up with a 69 Hurst Olds that pulled a car and a half on my Road Runner from a dead dig at a stoplight. (I had a 4:10 Dana axle). I caught him at the top of second gear, but learned to be more cautious after that.
 
1969_drolds_.jpg


Did the guy in the Olds wear a mustache ?:D
 
Another treat was witnessing Jimmy Adison's "Silver bullet" race a couple of times, and losing once to a friend of mine's T-bucket with a 427 Rat motor.
 
chry73luv said:
That is a very neat story but I am confused. Did this guy say that only one was built and this was the only prototype made or did he just buy this car when it came up for sale at chrysler?
Click to expand...
This was a one-off made by Chrysler to tour the auto-show circus. After it served this duty, the car was offered by Chrysler to Chrysler brass .

chry73luv said:
Could there have been more than one?
Click to expand...
Probably not.

chry73luv said:
Articles I have read on this car seem to suggest that it was a production model and not just a prototype.
Click to expand...
These articles are wrong. There is no indication whatsoever that this car was intended for mass production or offered to the general public. However, as the press photos on the car's dash indicate, Chrysler spiced up its PR with this model, too. So any unwary motor journalist might not have read the actual press release and published incorrect information.
 
ceebuddy said:
This was a one-off made by Chrysler to tour the auto-show circus. After it served this duty, the car was offered by Chrysler to Chrysler brass .


Probably not.

These articles are wrong. There is no indication whatsoever that this car was intended for mass production or offered to the general public. However, as the press photos on the car's dash indicate, Chrysler spiced up its PR with this model, too. So any unwary motor journalist might not have read the actual press release and published incorrect information.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the clarification. If you have any info on that Dodge Sundancer please pass it along. I love the offbeat packaging that Chrysler did on some of their models! I have a Chrysler Navajo and Dodge Polara VIP and eventually will have a Fury Spring Special all 1973 models.
 
ceebuddy said:
This was a one-off made by Chrysler to tour the auto-show circus. After it served this duty, the car was offered by Chrysler to Chrysler brass .


Probably not.

These articles are wrong. There is no indication whatsoever that this car was intended for mass production or offered to the general public. However, as the press photos on the car's dash indicate, Chrysler spiced up its PR with this model, too. So any unwary motor journalist might not have read the actual press release and published incorrect information.
Click to expand...

That's basically it. Just a lot of bad automotive writing back in the day, carried forward four decades and re-printed. There was a fad for installing opera windows in any big sedan back then, I'm sure some other C's got it. Paint one turquoise/white and instant replica in the minds of most dealers.
 
bluefury361 said:
[QUOTE="1978 NYB,
Dang, it must of been very cool living in the Motor City and surrounding area's in the 60's and 70's and seeing all the new Mopar's roaring around town and leaving on transporter's!
Click to expand...

I can attest to that Bob. My Woodard Ave cruising days started in 1964 when I got my license to drive.
The most prolific period was in 1969/70 when I was there with my first new car, the A12 Road Runner.
There were lots of shiny new supercars out there and I learned early on to watch out for cars with a "M" in the license plate and a young guy in a shirt and tie driving. These were likely factory prepped cars designed to build an image on the streets.
I lined up with a 69 Hurst Olds that pulled a car and a half on my Road Runner from a dead dig at a stoplight. (I had a 4:10 Dana axle). I caught him at the top of second gear, but learned to be more cautious after that.[/QUOTE]

Very cool Will!!!

Me and my brother use to sit on the corner steps of a major intersection around the block from my parents house (Humboldt Blvd & North Ave in Milwaukee) in 1968 & 1969 and watch for RR's, Charger's, Super Bee's, Dart's etc. Two years later (1971) I was driving my first car 69 Super Bee.
 
1978 NYB said:
Dang, it must of been very cool living in the Motor City and surrounding area's in the 60's and 70's and seeing all the new Mopar's roaring around town and leaving on transporter's!
Click to expand...

If you love cars and history, this is a great city. Go to work for a car company and you get to see and do some really cool sh..stuff. When I was a kid working at a grocery store a few miles from the GM Tech Center, (1989) a 1975 Buick Century rolled through the parking lot. Mint condition. Robin's Egg Blue. Looked like Kojack's sedan. Sounded like a giant vacuum cleaner and had a full digital dash. I was gathering shopping carts before closing. I walked up to the driver and he said he was on a "doughnut run" for engineers burning midnight oil. Nice guy, but wouldn't let me see under the hood:(
 
Of course you never know. The car has been around for forty plus years and hasnt made it yet. It would be nice but as I said, Highly unlikely
 
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