1961 may have been the first year of President Kennedy’s “New Frontier,” but at the Chrysler Corporation, 1961 marked the last year of Virgil Exner’s finned “Forward Look” styling. For 1962, the now-outdated fins would be gone and the rest of the styling was a bit of a holdover until the all-new Chrysler could be introduced for the 1963 model year. The New Yorker continued to be the top-of-the-line flagship model and here’s one of only 5,862 4-door hardtops produced for the 1961 model year. It’s in remarkable, highly-original condition, located in Wenatchee, Washington, and listed for sale here on Facebook Marketplace for $22,000. A tip-of-the-hat to T.J. for sending this cool old Chrysler our way!
The seller describes this car as “solid and always garaged” and it looks it. The New Yorker appears to be in great shape for a 65-year-old car and I’m not spotting any rust or other issues. Although Chrysler offered 20 paint color options (many in beautiful metallic finishes), this solid-color Tahitian Turquoise with an Alaskan White top paint choice looks a bit “Fifty-ish,” but it’s still very attractive. And the seller says the paint is original. The chrome bumpers, glass, trim, and those gorgeous wheel covers completes the package nicely. Styling wise, the ’61 Chryslers featured slanted quad headlights and a new grille upfront and a new ribbed deck lid.
The white-and-black interior is luxurious and appears to be in great shape. The front seat upholstery is new and the space age, three-dimensional AstroDome control center has been restored, as well as the car’s radio and clock. The New Yorker is also equipped with factory air conditioning, Automatic Auto-Pilot cruise control, power windows, seats, and locks, and the full-width black padded dash looks very good and isn’t cracked.
Under that long turquoise hood is a legendary 413-cubic-inch “Golden Lion” V8 that was rated at 350 horsepower at 4600 RPM when new. Check out the cool lion detail that’s part of the front door side trim. The theme continues under the hood as well with a gold air cleaner and lion decals on the valve covers. The seller says there’s 94,000 on the 413 and I’m assuming they’re original miles given the condition of the car inside and out. The pushbutton 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission has been rebuilt as well as the front suspension and brakes.
The ’61 Chrysler New Yorker was a luxurious, comfortable highway cruiser that cost around $4,260. That equates to about $50,000 in 2026 dollars. This example is quite a time capsule and the nicest, most highly-original New Yorker 4-door hardtop we’ve ever featured here on Barn Finds.
I suppose the eternal question will be, how could these unusually styled cars be such a hit? The only thing I can figure, is people were so enamored with Chrysler products, obviously it didn’t matter what they looked like. While this car was aimed at upscale buyers, a ’61 Newport wasn’t that much different, and at just under $3grand, almost 60,000 went with the Newport. While I can find no connection between the “canted” headlights, and any Asian influence, it was a short lived feature. Apparently people had enough of the “Forward-Look”. Non-FB members can’t see the instrument cluster, that was never rivaled by any car maker. At night, it’s downright trippy. ’61 Chrysler Newports came and went, but someone saved this car because it was so unique. What a car!!
I love this car, but I have two old cars already. According to the boss, I’m at my limit and I would need to sell one before acquiring another. lol
I was young when the 61 showed up in our driveway. I would sit in the driver’s seat and pretend driving it, and up to a ‘Supercar’ traveling through space. And then it was gone. On a trip to NYC to see a show, it was stolen from the parking garage. The next car was a 62 4 door Pontiac. But a year later my father also picked up a 61 Newport convertible. He must’ve like the style as much as I did.
Supercar… that’s a memory from way back After reviewing the Wikipedia article, I now recall how it used marionettes and scale models as part of its production (1960-1962). I see there is an episode on YouTube.
Nice looking car, this and its Chrysler Corp. stablemates were pretty much the last examples of “space age” styling that so enamored us in the ’50’s, although Cadillac wouldn’t be able to give up the fins for a few more years.
Highly Original tells you he’s soaking for big bucks. Headline is a warning. Beautiful; color beats today’s infatuwation with MUD GREY.
Great looking car. If I had the money it would definitely have a warm spot in my garage.
The man that designed this car was probably the first to do LSD. To me this is one of the ugliest cars (Chrysler had many) to hit the road.
Not too pretty for 1961. Styling had moved on.
This is a beautiful and original looking Chrysler. Those dashes were a work of art unto themselves. If I had a Jay Leno garage or wallet I’d have no problem owning it.
I really like this New Yorker – as well as the other Chrysler products at the time and since. It actually has “style” and not a rubber stamp design / follow the leader continuation of what’s already available in other showrooms. And this one appears to be in “highly original” and excellent condition. I’d say it’s worth every penny being asked for it.
I agree ENTIRELY, Michael! Beginning in 1957, Chrysler Corp. went PURE UGLY! — I HATED that “Swept Wing” “Forward Look”: the nicest-looking Chrysler cars of that era were the 1953 models. The only worse-looking Chrysler product of 1955-1961 was the gag-ugly ’61 DeSoto! When it came out, my first thought was, “YOU’ve got to be KIDDING me! Did Alfred E. Newman design this? The utterly hideous down-sized 1962-’63 Plymouth and Dodge nearly finished Chrysler off! But in 1965, they came to their senses, and then made beautiful cars in 1967 — only to mangle their looks again for ’68. I credit Exner with two master-strokes early-on. Engineers designed the 1949 Chrysler cars for interior room and comfort whilst sitting as upright as with previous designs, complete practicality, with little regard for style. So, the cars looked small and dumpy — the Chrysler and Dodge even invoking their 1941 tail-lamp designs! Dashboards were classic and gorgeous. But you wanted a tall fence to hide that ladybug in your driveway. A massive refresh for 1950 only made matters worse. They got rid of the quirky doo-dads, making the frumpy bodies even more obvious. Along came Virgil Exner, and with only skin-deep modifications, he made the fronts of those cars actually stylish! (Well, the Plymouth maybe NOT so much). With the Korean War underway, Chrysler essentially marked time for 1952, fielding barely warmed-over ’51s. But the Chyslers gave us a hint of what was coming, by replacing those 1950-’51 tail lamps, with ones that predicted 1953. Came ’53, and Exner made the tail portions of their cars up-to-snuff with his ’51-’52 front make-overs. And THIS time, he finally made Plumouth proud on BOTH ends! All of that said, this right here is one fine and proud example of a 1961 Chrysler (if that’s your bag). My only concern is, that “restored” clock: hope it actually IS that, and not some replacement quartz movement! I like MY clocks ORIGINAL, thank you! Clean and oil (re-bush if needed) the original electrical-mechanical movement! (of course, I have an advantage that way, since I’m a watchmaker by trade). One tip: some better cars used Borg movements as well as Westclox or New Haven — if you have the option with your vehicle, the Borg is of much better quality than rhe orhers.
And the ugliest engine of all time. The “Slant Six” It ran like a fine watch but was “Ugly as homemade sin”
There seems to be a gauge in the steering wheel hub. Anyone know what it is?