Sporting a smoother rear deck and quarter panels, the 1962 Chrysler New Yorker was a bit more modern in appearance than the previous year’s car was with its famous Chrysler tailfins. This car can be found listed here as a Barn Finds Classified and the seller mentions that it’ll be in an upcoming auction this Sunday. It’s located in Hesperia, California and they don’t list a reserve but they do mention that there are $129 in fees to the winner.
That’s a thoroughly modern profile compared to the 1961 New Yorker, although I’m not sure which one I like better. The sixth-generation Chrysler New Yorker went through some big changes, starting out in 1960 with regular-looking headlights and for 1961 and 1962, they got the famous/infamous slanted headlights and the tailfins went away for 1962. The 1963 cars went back to “normal” headlights again and in 1964, small tailfins came back.
The seller gives us almost no information on this car, other than the passenger side door hinges are bent, there is no title, and there’s a key in the ignition. You can see that there will be a lot of work to do on this car to bring it back to its former glory but rust-wise, it appears to be rock solid. Things like broken or faded tail light lenses should be able to be found online.
Surprisingly, the dash doesn’t appear to be cracked but a lot of the other soft parts will need to be replaced. The rubber gaskets and windlace, front and rear seat and door card upholstery, of course. And, the horn ring appears to have a crack in it so the next owner will have to do some scouting to find parts. Typically, trim and interior parts are the hardest to find during a restoration unless you’re lucky enough to have a car that has multiple aftermarket catalogs filled with parts. I always like to see power windows on a luxury car of this era, but the AC takes away from the otherwise sleek interior.
The engine should be Chrysler’s 413 cubic-inch V8 with around 340 hp. With no real description of the car at all we don’t know if it runs or even turns over, but the seller says to give a call or text with any questions. Hagerty is at $4,000 for a #4 fair condition car, what’s this one worth?
Let’s talk about the Ford Courier in the background.
yep, I’d grab that if affordabe
I love the Forward Look cars that Virgil Exner designed which came out in ’57 and basically defined the late 50s with the outrageous tail fins. By 1960, Exner topped it off with the biggest fins of the era (’60 Fury, it’s awesome).
Then the Mopar design paradigm got weird. Rumor has it that Exner knew he was gonna get the axe, so he sabotaged Chrysler with the ungainly designs of 1962. There is no car more ugly than the ’62 Valiant, perhaps the master’s stroke, however spiteful. This New Yorker design is also one of those oddball shapes that tries hard but just doesn’t work.
At the same time, Elwood Engle was getting the push out of Ford, and landed at Chrysler to replace Exner. Engle would go on to design the awesome C-body slab sided cars introduced in 1965, an homage to his earlier work on the 1961 Lincoln. That slab sided design would remain a design paradigm for both Ford and Chrysler into the 1980s.
Hopefully there might be some late-Exner guys out there who will save this old albatross. I wonder how much better the car would look with just stacked headlights (my favorite) instead of the slanted ones.
Actually Rex, one DID have higher fins than the `60 Plymouths; the `61 Imperial! Back then some argued nobody’s fins outdid Cadillac’s `59 models. Then came the Imperial for `61, which settled many arguments I understand. (IMHO, the `61 Imperial looks better than the `59 Cadillac anyway)
Here’s an example of those Engle C-bodies.
First year offered as a regular 300. This is a 383, 2 bbl.
413 dual quad is the 300 H for 62, a Letter car.
The Arizona plate, plus Calif dmv greed, is the reason for that extra fee, but only if you register in Kommifornia. I live about 100 miles from this car.
Loose the paper work. Then register the car. Not a problem outside this gestapo state.
Ya, 57 Ford Panel courier. More interesting