Some people believe that form should always follow function. Nobody in the auto industry believed that more than Kaufman Thuma Keller, the leader of the Chrysler Corporation in both the late prewar and early postwar era. This 1948 Chrysler New Yorker sedan for sale on Barn Finds Classifieds is the mechanical manifestation of Keller’s power at the company. Boxy, but with room to spare, this gargantuan luxury car can be yours if you strike a deal with the reluctant seller. No asking price is listed, but this car is fresh out of long-term storage and can be back on the road with little effort and likely a low purchase price. Is this postwar pachyderm the car for you?
K T Keller was a giant in the automobile industry in many ways. By all accounts, the man was a genius. He ran Chrysler for decades and later went to work for the US government as sort of a troubleshooter for the Merchant Marine and the Office of Guided Missiles. Yet perhaps his biggest claim to fame was his influence on Chrysler Corporation styling. Keller was over six feet tall and weighed north of 300 pounds. He was well known for rejecting any prototype automobile that he wasn’t comfortable in.
There are various renditions of how he sent this message to those under his command. The earthiest one is summed up in the quote that he was most famous for. “Americans want a car they can wear their hat in and not (insert your favorite word for urination) over.” He was also said to show up at prototype reveals with his hat on and two large milk containers. If his hat touched the headliner or the milk containers wouldn’t fit vertically in the trunk, it was back to the drawing board. This dowdy styling is referred to as “three-box” or “boxcar” styling.
From 1937 to 1954, every Chrysler Corporation product had to live by this edict. The problem was that the American public, caught up in the postwar euphoria of the jet and rocket age, wanted low, sleek automobiles that didn’t look like they were being piloted by a spinster librarian. As the automobile industry passed through the first few years of selling everything it could produce to the much more competitive early fifties, Chrysler’s styling had to change if the company was to survive.
This lack of fervor for these boxy vehicles in the marketplace is still an issue in the collector car marketplace today. Postwar Chrysler products have, with few exceptions, low values as collectibles. What they do have is an incredible and well-deserved reputation for reliability and durable construction. These vehicles are some of the best choices available if you want to drive and enjoy a vintage vehicle. This is especially true if you have an extended family that would like to participate in the festivities. A big Chrysler of this era can not only hold a basketball team. That team can play a full-court game in the rear seat area.
The car you see here has the potential to be an awesome driver for someone with a big family. According to the seller, this car has been stored for 25 years. While it has not been cranked up or driven since its entombment, it does roll easily even considering its considerable size and weight. There is no rust mentioned and the new buyer will need to completely reupholster the interior. The exterior does look to be completely presentable given some gentle detailing.
One of the biggest selling points is the straight-eight engine. Displacing 323.5 cubic inches, this engine was one of the last straight eight engines made by Chrysler. 1950 was its last year at Chrysler with Packard finally ending their straight eight production in 1954. These engines are famous for their unparalleled smoothness and low-end torque. In this car, the engine was backed by a semi-automatic Fluid Drive transmission. This was sort of an interim step bridging the gap between manual transmissions and later automatic ones.
Sadly, the seller has come to the realization that they will never be able to restore this Chrysler due to becoming disabled. Doing a full restoration on a car like this would be a taxing endeavor, both physically and materially. Probably the best bet here would be to get it back on the road and reupholster the interior. This is a car for traveling in and would make a good ride for one of the multi-day tours and rallies we are seeing pop up in advertisements. It would also be a great car for many of the AACA tours that occur multiple times throughout the year. Getting this New Yorker back on the road would be the best way to validate K T Keller’s theories on what would make for a great automobile. It is durable, smooth, roomy, and reliable. Isn’t that enough? Do you think K T Keller was right about how an automobile should be designed and built? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
I like it, but thanks to Virgil Exner for pulling Chrysler and the other US makes out of that bloated early-50s design style.
Wow! What an amazing car. I’m curious as to what this might bring, it’s both gorgeous and slightly less practical given the cost of a restoration.
I’d get it purring, safe and legal and make it my Sunday driver.
What a gal she is.
Yep. Just like you said. Redo the interior shine it up a bit get it running maybe new tires maybe even some nice true spoke wheels just for the heck of it and drive it around. Really nice car I love that old car look and people seem to get out of the way because of its size.
This car isn’t at all boxy. It’s rounded. The ’49-’54s were boxy and I think a better example of Keller’s influence on styling since cars were getting sleeker by then and Chrysler was out of step with that trend. These ’46-’48 Chryslers are simply warmed-over ’42s (which in turn were facelifted ’40s) and reflect early 1940s Chrysler styling, which was conservative/practical.
Agree they were roomy, though. We had a ’48 Windsor Traveler as our family car in the ’50s and it had a ton of room inside plus a huge trunk. IIRC, the extra length of the NYer is all ahead of the cowl but the body is the same as the non-limo shorter wheelbase 6-cylinder cars so they are no roomier inside than the Windsor.
The ad calls this a C38, but a ’48 New Yorker is actually a C39.
Thank you. I will change it. I just saw that it was built o the Saratoga platform of the c39. I really appreciate it.
As a kid growing up in Southern California in the 60s, I remember seeing these Chryslers still on the streets, and they were huge. But the Chryslers had that front and rear styling that set them apart from the Fords and GM cars of the 40s. If you look closely at the details of the car, Like the way the grill wrapped around the front fenders, and the shape of the taillights were all Chrysler. I was born in Detroit in 1955, my grandfather, my uncle and a few cousins all were Chrysler employees at the Highland Park headquarters location just west of downtown Detroit. Of course our family all drove Chryslers one way or another. My grandfather retired from Chrysler after 35 years, and even after he retired, he only ever drove Chryslers and Plymouths. I think K.T. Keller had the right ideas about building cars, but some times it’s hard to keep up with the times, especially if you know what you doing is right. I wish Detroit was still building cars with the pride it once had when the US Big Three was the global provider of cars. I believe if it wasn’t for that damn 73 oil crisis, Detroit would still be building the best cars in the world. Detroit built the cars that the American people wanted. No body cared about good gas mileage, they didn’t have too. American highways stretched across the country for thousands of miles. And after the 1956 Eisenhower interstate highway project our highways were state of the art and the best in the world, and everyone knew it. Those big Chryslers, Fords and GM cars were made for our great highway system just like those little imported cars were made for the cramped city streets. Too bad it couldn’t stay that way.
Hey Guys,
Tim Studdard, editor of Grassroots Motorsports and Classic Motorsport had one of these for several years. Of course there was work to do when he purchased it. After the repairs were completed he drove it everywhere including the tours that his two magazines sponsor. If my memory serves me correctly they just buffed the paint and it looked like a million dollars. That says a lot for the old paint jobs. Just look around today and see how many cars driving around with peeling paint or clear coat.
Everybody have a good day.
Bill
Write up says it’s an ad but no price mentioned anywhere.
$6,400 Check in Barn Finds Classified.
Lots of interesting stuff in that garage. Can anyone identify the green sedan to the left of the Chrysler? It looks very European, perhaps Jaguar?
That’s right – it’s a postwar (probably 1948) Jaguar MKIV sedan. Gorgeous cars!
Wow, I like it! Great memories. In the late 1950’s, a high school buddy had a mint condition one owner 1948 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe Club Coupe, 6 cyl. w/4 speed semi-auto Fluid Drive. 1st gear in low range was ideal for pulling stumps. Built like a tank. It took a while to get up to speed but, cruised easily at interstate speeds of the day. Another friend had a high mileage ’48 New Yorker Town & Country Convertible. Despite the mileage, previous owners must have been obsessed with maintenance. That straight 8 was quiet, smooth and nary a trace of blue smoke out the tailpipe. My ’49 Dodge Coronet sedan was downright plebeian by comparison. Ah, those were the days, my friend.
I almost forgot about the cutie in my senior chemistry class who drove a black ’50 Packard straight 8 with a white ragtop and wide whitewalls. Damn, I would like to have anyone of those cars today.
My comment is to applaud Jeff Bennett for the wonderful and insightful piece on the Chrysler series. This was a true journey for me in reading and discovering more about the car. It made e a bit reluctant to sell her.
Thanks for a real practical look at a classic.