It’s whammer-jammer time! Today’s review of a significantly outsized car covers this bodaciously beautiful 1958 Chrysler New Yorker. There’s no shortage of chrome or stainless trim but there is a deficit of mileage – and that’s a good thing. Mr. Numskal gets the nod for the discovery of this Huntington Beach, California resident and it’s available, here on craigslist for $35,750.
Size matters and this New Yorker stretches 220 inches in length while riding on a 126″ wheelbase. With almost 80 inches of garage door jamb scrapping width, this big four-door hardtop will tip the scales with 4,300 lbs. of curb weight. Perhaps it’s the long, airy, and flowing Virgil Exner-inspired lines of this New Yorker but it looks longer than the statistics reveal. New Yorker’s production stats for ’58 were lean with just 18K units seeing the light of day but ’58 was a recession year and wasn’t overly kind to any auto manufacturer.
As stated at the outset, the seller claims that this Chrysler has only experienced 15K miles. There’s no documentation provided to prove that claim but if looks convey an honest story, the mileage reading is probably legit. The finish is deep and the chrome shines. There is no indication of rust, crash damage, or other mayhem. Obviously, this is a well-kept car that has been properly stored – it truly cuts an impressive swath.
That thing got a Hemi? You bet – 345 gross HP comes about thanks to one of ChryCo’s finest, a 392 CI V8 engine which makes the rear wheel hookup via a TorqueFlite three-speed automatic transmission. The seller mentions, “Mechanically the car runs extremely well having been able to drive to Arizona and back with no breakdowns or issues in the October heat“. Recent changes include the conversion of the ignition system to electronic mode, a rebuild of the born-with carburetor, and the installation of a new water pump.
The dash and instrument panel are this car’s interior’s major highlights – it’s artistic without being outrageous in a cheesy space-theme kind of way. The upholstery, door panels, and dash pad are in magnificent condition – almost too magnificent to believe that it’s all original. But the seller claims 90% total originality and adds, “The Interior is in great shape as well as very comfy with both the power seat and windows all working accordingly“. The only thing that appears to be out of place is the missing passenger side kick panel. Also stated is, “Air conditioner (which is currently disconnected but when plugged in) does engage and spin“. OK, it spins but does it cool…
This New Yorker is quite a sight – we won’t see the likes of a car like this produced again, ever. And that begs the question, at a price of $35,750, what do you think, priced right or not quite?
Whammer-jammer? Surf City reference? Not sure what that is, but what we have here folks, is the epitome of excess. Look at it. Not one panel is delete of something and looks like it’s going fast, sitting still. The interior, not a Facel Vega or Jaguar, but classic American. I must differ, I feel the 426 was Chryslers finest hemi, but the 392 sure made a statement, none better,,,at the time. Half the motors power was run the A/C. I think, while Caddy, Lincoln and Imperial were for the hoi-paloi, a Chrysler New Yawker was the best road car for the not so hoi-paloi. My old man must have liked these era Chryslers, as the 1st car I remember was his ’59 DeSoto. Oddly, he never owned another Chrysler product after that car.
I got into a minor tift about how most Asian cars are throwaway cars, and someone boasts how they love their Honda Fit and what a good car it is, obviously not knowing what a ’58 New Yawker rides like. These could suck a Honda Fit through the air intake it would. Beautiful cars.
Howard:
Whammer-jammer means an unusually large, top drawer, automobile – something that we no longer get to experience.
JO
The J, Geils Band comes to mind, never heard the term referring to cars.
J. Giles was awesome!
That guy could blow the harp Howard, I hope you are doing well Buddy, As a side note I need my 540 towed from Albany to Sun Prairie on a roll back. 41miles, 397 bucks. Wow! I do understand the costs but there was some sticker shock involved! I know it is early but Merry Christmas and have a great New Year, Mike. And keep up the great posts!
Gorgeous
And, J Geils was a car guy! Actually, an Italian car/bike guy. I remember reading an article about him in Autoweek, probably 10 years ago now.
His collection was auctioned at Mecum in 2017: https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/the-j-geils-collection-goes-to-auction-in-monterey/
The responder who loves their Honda Fit could be me.
The New Yorker probably floats down the road like the ’59 Dodge my folks owned many years ago.
But I still love the Fit and the 40+ MPG. ;)
Hi Rick, I mean no disrespect, and if a Honda Fit works for you, that’s cool. The outstanding gas mileage is surely the cheese, and that’s okay. We don’t need hemi powered behemoths today that get 8 mpg for regular transportation. This and the Fit are from 2 different worlds, and it’s unfair on my part, to use the 2 in comparison. I know folks that got HUNDREDS of thousands of miles on Asian cars, something these would never do. Fact is, if one of these turned 100K, it was a big event. Peace.
Include me when it comes to Honda Fit appreciation. I bought a new yellow Fit in 2016 and loved the way it drove and the quality build. Only had to do maintenance of oil changes and new brakes. I never liked the styling of the Fit but I used to get over 50 mph on the highway when I had no passengers. My wife takes that personally whenever I remind her of that. Only drove it for 3 years because we then needed a SUV for cargo space. I’m not sure why Honda never bothered to restyle the Fit. I remember sitting outside one day when the car was fairly new and my neighbor telling me, “That Fit sure is an ugly car.”
In the late 1950’s my uncle drove Chryslers before changing over to Cadillacs. His brand of car reflected how much profit his business was making at the time. He lived next door and I remember riding with him in one of his Chryslers to pick up Chinese food on a Saturday night when we heard over the car radio that Sputnik had been launched.
Hoi polloi: the masses, the common people, the multitude, the rank and file, the lower orders, the crowd, the commonality, the commonalty, the plebeians, the common herd, the rabble, the riffraff, the great unwashed, the many, the ragtag, the peasants.
I’m wondering how far you’d have to stretch your mouth to get all that in! Lol!
Gitter, Why am I am suddenly hearing that Billy Joel song “We didn’t start the Fire”?
My mom had this model in the late 1960s. As she drove my sister back to college on Sunday afternoon she got stopped by police for speeding. I wasn’t yet driving age but clearly remember she told the officer “sorry officer, I had no I idea I was doing 90 (mph) I was just getting my daughter back to college.” He left her off with a warning. Those were the days. That car flew and the torsion ride was soft. :)
My father bought a new 57 Desoto and we went to Florida.My grandmother kept telling him to slow down.He was cruising at 80 MPH.Smooth!!!
The original interior of this car is evident in the photo showing the passenger side front door panel.
Dash has also been reskinned.
15,000 miles?
If you believe this, please contact me, as I can make you a great deal on some swampland that I have for sale in Florida.
Their is more metal in one fender than a whole Honda car.
Hagerty has this car in “excellent” condition at around 45K, so it would seem to be priced well for the buyer.
Such a rare beauty. Why not just fix the AC and save someone else the trouble? When you have a near perfect car you start raising red flags when a major component “spins” when connected instead of blows ice cubes.
That crossed my mind while reading the article. Another was if the car has only done 15,000 miles, why would the carburettor need an overhaul?
Years…
It’s the YEARS not the miles that probably dictated the Carb needs. With only 15k miles (assuming for the moment that’s indeed real..) she’s probably endured lots of sustained periods of dormancy. That usually results in gasoline turning into godknowswhat sortof sappy gunk. And with today’s corn-alcohol crap it can also mean prodigious white-metal corrosion, which can eventually shed chards of alum-oxide from the bottom of the carb bowls (where water has separated out) into the Jets and passages etc upon first startup after a dormancy.
I’d be surprised if this thing hasn’t had many more than just his Carb rebuild in tis long life…
Very nice!!! I wish I could buy it. A beautiful, low mileage original with all the options, except the record player. I’d probably be afraid to drive it, the way people are in my area. Maybe early Sunday mornings only. I love the style and chrome!!!
If you where in a accident you would drive away they would be towed away.
Ah……..maybe not! 1950’s cars were heavy but designed very different! No crush zones as safety was not a big concern back then. Check out this crash test of this 1959 Chev v/s 2009 Malibu! That 59 folded up with lots of damage to the vehicle!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_r5UJrxcck
A Renault Dauphine, probably a’ 60 or so hit the back of my ’52 Buick back in 1963. I drove home with my broken taillight and he was towed with front grill pushed back mid engine. Totaled.
Flip, the Renault Dauphine had no front grill – its engine was mounted in the rear. The only front-engine Renaults in 1961 were the model R3 and model R4, but they were not sold in the US (Canada, maybe?)
Neat car.I had a 74 Chrysler 4dr ht.Put 200,000 miles on it.Great riding cars.I would consider buying if I wasn’t so old and winding down.
Gorgeous car! Amazingly clean underneath. It’s a 65 year old car with barely the mileage of a 1 or 2 year old car! I’m pretty sure the dash pad and the seats are recent, as the original dash pads were smooth and didn’t have that french stitching across the front, and the seat upholstery featured contrasting panels. I suspect that is why the seller says the car is “90% original”.
My mom’s dad and her cousin both worked at Chrysler’s Highland Park headquarters in the 40s and 50s. They always drove big Chrysler’s one way or another. It was these late 50s Chryslers really had iconic fins with every available surface either chromed or wearing some Chrysler badging. Mr Exner was completely unhinged at this time, and that made Chrysler the one to beat, but GM or Ford didn’t have Virgil Exner’s “Forward Look”. Chrysler had some pretty wild styling at the time, the tallest angled fins. But they also had the engineering to back it up. I remember those cars. Chrysler had their push button drive, torsion bar front suspension, the coolest dashboards ever, Panelesent instrument lighting, and those very cool clear Lusite steering wheels with glitter floating around inside. They may not have been for everyone, but I liked them, and we can be sure we will never see that kind of styling ever again. Although it would be nice to see some kind of styling instead of every car looking like a used bar of soap.
“it would be nice to see some kind of styling instead of every car looking like a used bar of soap”
Very well put!!!!
How about this one they all look like turtles with tires.
What a beauty! Sure, it’s not cheap, but where would you find a nicer one?
It’s museum quality.
15K miles? For a 65-year-old classic? No way!
I have a 84 lebaron convertible with 25K
I don’t recall the Chrysler Whammer-Jammer.
At 15k miles and this many years, the carb would be full of goo and hardened gasoline . Not to mention the gaskets and internal soft parts would be eaten up due to age and the old gasket materials are not compatible with today’s fuels. (We had boxes of old carb kits that were useless due to this) .
I have to question the validity of the survivor status on this one. The interior was a big tip off to me:
The ribbed seat covers/upper door panels aren’t correct for a `58 New Yorker. There should be squares of the same fabric on the lower door panels on smooth vinyl with the Chrysler logo embossed on the upper seat backs. (Just google any other `58 New Yorker interior pic to know what I’m talking about.) My point is, for a supposed “15K original miles” why was the interior redone?
Notice the tow-bar attachments up front.
Ha! I saw that too. Maybe a snow plow attachment? This car should be pulling something, not t’other way round. I wonder what, besides a Mack truck, could pull this?
I went half with my dad when I was seventeen and bought a 4yo 59 Dodge suburban station wagon. it had push button drive, torsion bars and a crank down rear window. I could stuff more than ten of my friends into it to go to a party at the lake. That car rode and handled like a dream. Still miss it sixty years later.
Tony
Ready for the survivor tent at Chryslers at Carlisle.
Beautiful 58 Chrysler New Yorker. But why is it so damn hard for sellers to get the ACs and fuel gauges working in these older classics? You’re spending the big bucks on everything else, so why not? Don’t know if I buy the 15k mileage claim either, but she’s still a beauty.
I’m with you HC. How many of these cars on Barn Finds have we seen that say “ac /working but needs a charge”, or “new compressor but needs a charge”. So charge it! Sheesh! Go to the trouble of having a new unit installed and stop in the middle.
Makes a potential buyer wonder how much dough they have dish out to get it done and probably turns off a lot of buyers. Done ranting!
A neolithic AC system like this is probably beyond repair at any kind of reasonable price. So dump it on the buyer, because it “just needs a charge”.
Many times, these cars are the remnants of an estate, and the newfound seller just wants it gone. They don’t want to stick another dime into the situation, dads nursing home bill was already $108,000,,,ask me how I know,,,
Didn’t anyone notice the wet pavement, possibly rear mainseal leaking oil?
My first car was a 57 New Yorker that I bought in 1967 for $190 in the Bay Area. Loved that car but it had the worst brakes of any car that I have ever owned (double cylinder drums). That monster would scoot with that Hemi.
@Fliphall. That must have been one helluva crash as the engine of a Dauphine is in the rear!
For those with older OEM AC systems like on this 50s Chrysler. Classic Auto Air in Texas can rebuild older parts like compressors, dryers, clutches and condensers, or they can help upgrade to aftermarket parts. They rebuilt my dryer on a 65 Mercury for $99 they also sell 134 conversion valves and Sanden compressors.
Still a more door however you slice it, not an investment car.
A lot of us prefer four door cars especially if they are as gorgeous as this Chrysler is.