Rip's New '73 Navajo

Ripinator

Old Man with a Hat
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Since I drove this car to Carlisle, some of you already know that I bought this '73 Newport Navajo just five days ago. I found it from this ad someone posted several weeks ago:

For Sale - 1973 Chrysler Newport--not mine

I always admired and wanted a Navajo fusie, and this car fit the bill pretty well. I was a little apprehensive when I approached the seller (see his comments from his ad), but since I had to go to upper NY state for another visit to Legendary Interiors, I thought: what the hell. I'll call this guy, and see if I can come and see the car. To make a long story short, I saw the car, liked it and made the deal. I returned three weeks later (last Tuesday) picked it up, and drove it back to Legendary to pick up the rear seat back I left there on the first trip and then drove it home, just two days before I drove it to Carlisle.

I bet I've driven the car at least 800 miles since I picked it up. Mechanically, it runs great, the cruise control works, and as you might imagine, it gets a lot of attention. However, it badly needs four new shocks and a front end alignment. Here are a few pics:

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Took this picture at Carlisle for Kenny (@78Brougham). He decided to illustrate what the bumper "tits" were good for:

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Dang, that rear seat looks so good now, you will have to redo the front one! :poke:

What exactly did Legendary do for you on the rear seat since it doesn't look like it is a regular reproduction option for them?
 
Congrats on buying CL23M3C317117 ! The car looks really good. The package is cool and the interior is just great. FWIW, I have yet to see a Navajo interior with a single tear in the fabric of vinyl: Chrysler really got the fabric/seams quality right on that specific model.

As @Ripinator mentioned, this Newport got a lot of attention at Carlisle. The interior elicited a lot of questions. Some non-FCBO attendees even asked to sit inside :thumbsup:

Well done, Rip!

PS: Steve, the seats you see are original! That’s what I mean by incredible quality. Rip was probably dealing with Legendary for one of his 1966 300s.
 
Congrats Rip that one looks decent! I dig these 73 Navajos, what keeps me away is the 73 400cid engine as
I heard that the 400 engines are really anemic. I would like to have a first hand opinion from you. Does the 400 compare to an earlier 318 or is it comparable to the 383?
And second I love the color, in the ad Chrysler said its copper but on pictures it looks similar to the FK5 burnt orange. What would you say, is it more orange or bronze or brown?
Thank you:thankyou:
 
Dang, that rear seat looks so good now, you will have to redo the front one! :poke:

What exactly did Legendary do for you on the rear seat since it doesn't look like it is a regular reproduction option for them?

Steve:

I had Legendary redo the entire interior for my '66 300 convertible. I had to take the rear seat-back back to them, so they could properly attach the boot cover channel and rear speaker grill to the top of the seat-back. I stupidly took those pieces off when I originally took all the seats up to them. When I attempted to re-install them, after I got them home, I couldn't do it without messing up the new upholstery. After all the trips to Legendary and Schenectady, I'm really getting familiar with the roads in upper NY state. . .
 
Congrats Rip that one looks decent! I dig these 73 Navajos, what keeps me away is the 73 400cid engine as
I heard that the 400 engines are really anemic. I would like to have a first hand opinion from you. Does the 400 compare to an earlier 318 or is it comparable to the 383?
And second I love the color, in the ad Chrysler said its copper but on pictures it looks similar to the FK5 burnt orange. What would you say, is it more orange or bronze or brown?
Thank you:thankyou:

Marv: I would say the color is more copper than burnt orange. As regards the 400 engine: Yes. It is somewhat anemic, but I think it is mostly due to a really tall rear gear. It is a 'B' engine, so it is probably a bored out 383; maybe the stroke was changed to get the extra 17 cubes, but I don't think so. I don't know what ratio the rear end is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was something like a 2.76. This car appears to have been built for the interstate. It rolls along at 75 - 80 mph with the cruise control on, and it doesn't slow down for the hills.
 
Thank you Rip for your reply. I think I've read on this board before that it's not the engine being restricted but the rear end that needs a tune up to get some more power out of it. In any way, it's a landyacht member to roll down the highway smoothly. Performance is secondary
 
Congratulations on the Navajo! Can't decide if I like the 72 or the 73 tail light more...
 
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