And now for another installment of “Oh Chrysler, where have you gone?” with today’s subject being a 1955 Windsor Deluxe. The seller tells us that it was parked in ’68 “and started once a week until one day it didn’t start.” With no time for such a project, the seller wants to move it on to a new home. This big four-door sedan is a bit rough here and there but appears to have good bones and needs a second lease on life. Evansville, Indiana, is where you’ll find it, and it’s available here on craigslist for $2,750. Thanks are due to Zappenduster for this find.
Chrysler’s Windsor was the go-to model in ’55 with body styles covering two-door hardtops (either a Newport or a Nassau) and convertibles, a four-door sedan such as our subject car, and a Town & Country station wagon. Chrysler knocked out 153K units in ’55, placing themselves in ninth place in the domestic production race. Almost 99K of that total were Windsors and about 64K were four-door sedans. Garaged for 57 years, this Windsor is pretty complete with just a missing piece of stainless trim and the hood ornament. The seller claims that the body is mostly straight, the frame is sound, and the rust is minor, apparently manifesting itself primarily in the quarter panels. The two-tone finish is typical fifties fare, and it’s suitably faded with emerging primer evident on the horizontal surfaces. While the two-door hardtop version of the Windsor was very stylish, this four-door sedan pulls off a restrained but dignified bearing – what one would expect from a Chrysler-branded car of this era. You can check it out in more detail with this video.
The interior’s upholstery has gone a bit threadbare, and the seller adds, “I have cleaned a lot of rodent remnants out of the car so it’s not too nasty inside…There is also some rodent damage to wires.” The entire environment, front and back, is pretty mangy and will need a complete redo. The straightforward instrument panel is in decent shape, and the speedo appears to still be clear. The dash-protruding gear select lever is a standard Mopar “impale yourself on it because there are no seatbelts” arrangement, but I still think it was a cool feature.
This one’s a non-runner and features a 188 gross HP, 301 CI Poly Sphere V8 engine connected to a PowerFlite automatic gearbox. The engine compartment looks complete, and I must admit that I was surprised to learn that Chrysler still utilized a six-volt electrical system in ’55.
This is an intriguing find, and the video is very informative. Yeah, it’s going to take time, effort, and $$$, but I’d suggest at $2,750, this Windsor is a reasonable buy, wouldn’t you agree?
One summer when I was up north working, I placed a bunch of drier sheets inside the Riviera to keep the mice out. Months later I had the car up on the lift, and found the mice had nested in the frame, using the drier sheets as nesting material!
Good Grief Rex. I thought that was supposed to work? Instead it seems you gave them their bed linens for their rental space on the frame. There has to be some simple solution that works. The parking lot where I live they move in quick.
Get a few cats 🐈⬛ lol 😂they will work for free 24/7 , especially if you don’t feed them
I knew about my wife’s ’55 Chrysler Windsor 4 dr before I met her. I remember seeing her drive around our college campus with gals hanging out. We finally met at a Fraternity/Sorority party after the Chrysler gave up. At that time, she had a ’68 Barracuda. We just celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary last month. She tells our friends that I liked her just for her cars.
I have a bad history with cats:
In 1990, I ran over my wife’s cat (cat’s fault, I warned it); then my brother ran over our deaf cat (whose fault?); the next 2 cats got run over in the street because they wouldn’t stay in the house (somebody’s fault); the next 2 two cats began pissing on the pillows, so they went to the cat welfare place (clearly the cats’ fault); and finally, the last cat here in Florida wouldn’t stay in the house, so a coyote ate the bottom half of her (well, nobody’s fault).
I was awakened at the ungodly hour of 8am by my wife, hysterical over the 1/2 cat in the front yard, so I staggered out there, threw a towel over the thing, then had some coffee and sobered up. I buried it before my daughter woke up.
I’d rather deal with mice than deal with cats. Cats be warned, this place ain’t safe.
You should change your name to Rex Kats!
JO
IMHO, I feel the price is a bit optimistic. If it was a 2 door then maybe but not for a non running entry level 4 door. Just the broken horn ring will cost 500-1000 to replace.
Could you fashion a cat’s tail to do the job? It could have a ring about it! Coyotes beware. Or should that be Toyotas be where?
So, after many days or months or years or decades (we aren’t told) of presumably successful engine starts, one day it wouldn’t start? Perhaps it was raining! (Mopars of this era were notoriously hydrophobic.)
I love it. Fix the minor rust and renew the interior but leave the external patina exactly as it is. Just treat it and clear-coat it. Drop in a a custom frame with a more modern drivetrain (with power steering and A/C) and drive the lining daylights out of it.
I had a barn full of car parts. (Mostly SVO Mustang) And the now ex had sheep. So in her barn she had hay, feed and tools. I would continually get mice in my barn. So we got a cat. A few .months later the cat disappeared. (Most likely coyotes) Get a replacement cat. Same thing all over again. After 4 cats, the next one was named CB. (for Coyote Bait) No more mice and CB lived to a ripe old age of 16. I find that Moth Balls works the best to keep out critters. But they evaporate in about 8 weeks. So the placement process starts all over again. I had an uncle (who was really a rocket scientist!) who had a 1966 Chrysler Newport 4 door hardtop. He bought it new and kept it maintained. But stopped driving it because of fuel costs. BUT he would start it once a week and let it run for 10 minutes each time. Eventually, it wouldn’t start anymore. So it sat for years covered and parked in a carport. One day he gave it to me. The first revolution of the engine took out the seal on the waterpump and started to leak coolant. The fuel pump was D.O.A. so that is the reason for the non-start. And the fuel lines were plugged solid with dried up fuel. Other than the leaking freeze plugs, the dead tires and the complete need for brake hydraulic rebuild. She was cherry! (lol) The car actually cleaned up very nice. (inside and out) I drove it a few times a month and drove it to Hot August Nights for 3 years. All the gauges worked and the A/C was excellent. Not a hot rod, so it didn’t get a lot of attention. But parked by the other “stock old cars” it looked great! Another one that I should have never sold.
500 dollars would be a generous offer