This Chrysler Windsor benefits from low miles and a club coupe body style, notching it above the lowly sedan in terms of desirability. It’s listed on facebook Marketplace for $13,900 – an aggressive price given comparable sales over the last few years. It’s tidy, though – in fact, it’s nearly ready for the summer show season – and despite the waning popularity of ’40s and ’50s cars these days, it would make a great starter classic. The odometer reading of 66,212 is said to be original. Thanks to T.J. for finding this excellent Windsor, located in Abington, Massachusetts.
I write about every Windsor I can snap up here at Barn Finds, because many moons ago on a rainy afternoon, I test drove a for-sale 1955 Windsor in the huge parking lot at Portland Meadows, our now-defunct horse racing track. The car was extremely well-kept and I loved its looks. For someone used to daily-driving a 1972 MGB, straight-line performance seemed great! In the end, I decided against the purchase, but that experience kicked off my abiding fondness for this underdog model. The Windsor offered the same luxury appointments – albeit with a few designated extra-cost options – as the New Yorker, but it was powered by Chrysler’s “Spitfire” 265 cu. in. L-head six rather than the premium car’s straight eight. Still, 119 hp paired with this three-speed manual offers enough git-up-‘n-go for daily driving, with top speed well over 75 mph – some say the car can reach 95 mph but its floaty suspension isn’t built to behave in that range.
The pinstriped cloth interior could use a cleaning, but the upholstery is intact, with fancy quilting clearly apparent on the rear seats; the rubber floor mats are in excellent condition; the bold multi-featured gauge set in front of the steering wheel is outstanding. The trunk contains the spare and a couple of tools, and if it’s not in perfect condition, it’s certainly presentable.
Chrysler’s brand strategy went wayward in the 1950s, setting up competition among DeSoto, Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler’s mid-market Windsor model. Eventually, this mismanagement would result in the demise of DeSoto, and just one year later, the Windsor model. Chrysler’s stodgy styling wasn’t helping matters – it took until a facelift in ’53 – when this car was produced – before the Windsor sported a one-piece curved glass windshield. Yes, Virgil Exner was on board but his work began at DeSoto with the Adventurer; it would be 1955 before the “Forward Look” would percolate into all of Chrysler’s product line. Pricing these models is tough; a red ’54 Newport hardtop dressed to the nines sold last Fall for only $15k – that’s a more desirable body style than the club coupe and the car was essentially show-ready. This ’53 convertible sold for $14,500 two years ago. I think this seller will need to discount his price to tempt a new owner; what do you think?
Opening hood, pointing and laughing, where’s the hemi? Another in the “shows to go ya'” dept., the hemi was the epitome of engines in ’53, yet some refused to acknowledge that. By golly, Gertie, that flathead 6 did us just fine. I read, the 331 hemi was offered, but most had the 6. It couldn’t have been the cost, people didn’t skimp when buying a Chrysler like this. I couldn’t find a price difference, but it wasn’t much then. It was the automatic that was a hefty price option. They were beautiful cars, but the 6 isn’t in the same league as the hemi. For the record, I believe the last straight 8 for Chrysler was in 1950. The stick here will surely kill the deal.
I’ve told this before, a neighborhood chum, George, who was a bit older than us, in the early 70s, bought a car very similar to this, maybe a ’54, 4 door( looked just like the 2 door) with a non-running 6, from 2 old ladies. It looked just like this, in perfect condition. I forget what he paid, but he had to promise the ladies he’d take care of it. He took care of it, alright. He then found a ’52(?) DeSoto with a hemi,(276?) and we all helped swap motors, both automatics. While not quite Big Daddy, the hemi did transform the car into a wicked burnout king, he beat the heck out of it, eventually the transmission went. I could just imagine what the old ladies would have thought. I bet many wonderful cars just like this, were sacrificed to get the hemi, them young punks!!!
First up..The boxy look was caused by Kaufman Thurman Keller, then head of Chrysler who decreed every Chrysler car should have ample room for a man to wear his hat. Moving on, the Windsor name was not a salute to The House of Windsor. Maybe to the Windsor, Ontario plant? But for the 53 Royal Visit of ELIZABETH II, Chrysler built a one off CORONATION, a dazzling beauty in white over Royal purple with elaborate interior. This Windsor does have a somewhat Stately presence, but I’d pass for one of Exners fabulous finned fantasies. Like yesterday’s DeSoto ADVENTURER.
Rick, just to be clear, the ‘Coronation’ car was an Imperial, not a Windsor. I have a copy of the ad featuring that majestic beast! Anyhoo, the year before (`52) my parents got married and Dad bought a beautiful maroon Saratoga sedan with the 331Hemi–his first OHV V8 and he loved it. He said just once he was teased at a light to race a kid in a Ford and he apparently shut `em down!! LOL
Thanks Will, you’re smart as a Fox! I too have a CORONATION ad. Yes it was an Imperial. I think we’ve discussed this on another site. I’ve no doubt about that race. In an emergency, my mother (a very slow and cautious driver) put the pedal to the metal and burned rubber in the family 55 Firedome. Those were the days when a HEMI was an engine, as opposed to a pain in the 😲. BTW, I’m now driving a Town Car which I believe is based on the FOX platform.
Will, you are a sly FOX. I also have a CORONATION ad. Wish I had THE CORONATION. It was officially an Imperial. As for Hemi power, Mom once in an emergency burned rubber in our 55 DeSoto. Ah those halcyon days when A Hemi referred to an automobile engine! 😲
Tough crowd here. Based on the condition of this car and the relatively low mileage, it appears to me to be a perfectly acceptable option for anyone looking for an attractive early ’50’s classic. Okay, the price is optimistic, but the 6 cylinder doesn’t bother me. The point of this car was to provide an entry into a Chrysler model for those of more modest means – it cost about $125 more to move up into this car from a Desoto Powermaster club coupe, for example.
Man, I love those rear vent windows. Nice looking car in a desirable color. Pricing seems spot on.
This appears to be a nice car. It was certainly an improvement from the massive frontage of the late 40’s Chryslers and the incredibly boxy 50-52 models. I don’t much like this 2 door model. I think it looks better with 4 doors or the Saratoga (I believe that was the hardtop) or the convertible.
I’ve remarked on this before, but in December 1953 my parents bought a 54 Windsor 4 door with the 2 speed automatic and power steering. Sky blue with a black top. Very plush interior, identical to the New Yorker. I’m pretty sure that the 53 had a clunkier automatic (perhaps fluid drive?) than the 54 which introduced a smoother automatic. That car would cruise at speed all day long. A few years ago, a guy showed up at a Collector Car Classis show (NC State Fairgrounds’ Dorton Arena) with a survivor 54 Windsor convertible in a pale yellow. Clearly a used vehicle, but very nicely maintained. We chatted for a while. He wasn’t interested in selling it and I don’t blame him.
As to the 55s and 56s…I wanted to like them, but the Fords were nicer looking to me. Nothing prepared us for Chrysler’s offerings in 57, but I still thought that the 57 Ford, especially the convertible, was super pretty.
I absolutely love this car, if it wasn’t on the wrong coast ,I would have to have it. Maybe it is timing. Today is my eighty second birthday and I want this car!
Happy Birthday, Joe! Buy this car as a present for yourself, it’s only 25 miles from Boston Logan International airport. Fly in, drive it home, make an adventure out of it.
My father had a 52 Imperial. Hemi intact, Sunday driver when I was a kiddo. Nothing like bouncing around in the back seat like trying to hold onto a life raft in a choppy sea.
Hydroglide auto? No getup&go even with the hemi
“The Windsor offered the same luxury appointments – albeit with a few designated extra-cost options – as the New Yorker, but it was powered by Chrysler’s “Spitfire” 265 cu. in. L-head six rather than the premium car’s straight eight.”
The ’55 you test drove would have had a V8 not a 6, though, and the New Yorkers had V8s starting with the ’51s. So for the ’53s, it was straight 6 for the Windsor (no V8 offered), “Fire Power” V8 for the NYer.
Hmmmm….On the Facebook description a manual transmission is listed, but from a picture, there is only a brake & gas pedal. A nice car, always liked the 1953 & 1954 Chryslers. Nice body lines & beautiful dashes.
Look a little more closely. The picture above shows 3 pedals.
Todd j, Thanks for the plan and idea it sounds perfect. One little thing would it be possible for you to convince my wife of 58 years what a great adventure this is going to be……Thanks Joe, See you at Logan International Airport
I started to feel bad that I can’t buy it and then I saw it didn’t have a hemi.
Why do people use red vacuum hose instead of the correct black heater hose?
1953 is my absolute favourite-looking Chrysler — but FOUR DOORS, please! I much prefer the New Yorker, which I believe had fancier trim on the outside. For 1954, they spoiled the front a bit, from the handsome 1951-’53 style; and the change in the tail-lights was unwelcome: give me the ’53 all day long! For some strange reason, you see numerous ’54s, but few ’53s. I would LOVE to have a 1953 New Yorker four door sedan in this condition! I have to say this: I utterly HATED the “Forward Look” — then and now. The 1955 Dodge was okay. I did not care for the 1949-1952 Mopars (although I very much appreciated the Chrysler engineers for defying the “longer and lower” trend that made it impossible for me to see out over the hood in most of the postwar re-designs). But the 1949-’52 Mopars were frumpy and stubby-looking. The 1951 restyle of the fronts helped. But it was the 1953 re-working of the rears that made these Mopars good-looking. Then, after 1954, they had to go and ruin it all, not recovering until 1965.