Clean, regal, and in fantastic condition, this 1939 Chrysler New Yorker has only covered 46,925 miles. Having belonged to a family that was involved with horse racing, this Chrysler was sold, and lived in a shop for a few years. Having recently been revived, this classy sedan is looking for a new home. Although running, this suicide door sedan needs some further work to be a driver again. All of this class and elegance is offered at a mere $7,250. Find it here on craigslist out of Rockdale, Texas.
The straight 8 engine runs as it should and is coupled to what is claimed as a factory overdrive transmission, although I suspect it is from a later model New Yorker. Still a great feature to have making the car better suited to modern day traffic having a manual 3 speed with an overdrive gear. The engines appearance is a little rusty, but there is plenty of paint in the engine compartment. There is a little grime on the engine but what else can you expect from an engine that is 78 years old?
Very original, and colorful, this interior has aged nicely. The door panels have some minor staining, and the front seat has some minor wear on the outer edges. The carpet looks very reasonable if it is original, and the dash is nice with a few minor cracks in some of the Bakelite items. In all seriousness, this Chrysler is in great condition for its age. Examine the paint in the door jams, and door sill areas, there is no evidence of any paint damage.
The paint is gorgeous, and the body is awesome on this Chrysler. There are two small issues to bring attention to on this New Yorker. There is a minor dent in the passenger rear fender, and there is a small amount of bubbling developing in the rain rail. Otherwise, this automobile it outstanding. The floors and trunk are rock solid, and there is a wealth of information, and factory documentation included with this Chrysler. Address the brake system so stopping is of no concern, and then check the rest of the systems in this fine classic to guarantee safe road operation. Would you grab this reasonably priced Chrysler survivor?
Are those 1940 Ford headlight rims or were Chrysler similar? That air cleaner has to go.
Those are sealed beam conversions Wayne. Very common to see on pre 40 models at one time. 1940 was the first year for the sealed beam headlight.
Looks like an aftermarket sealed beam kit. They were a common upgrade for cars not originally equipped with sealed beam headlights.
There has got to be an area the size of Rhode Island filled with OEM air cleaners. Once again another Briggs & Stratton filter kit.
Beautiful shade of blue!
I have a hard time believing that blue interior is factory original in a pre-war Chrysler? Any Chrysler experts out there know for sure. Here is a picture of a factory interior from the 39 Chrysler dealer brochure and it looks different in the details to me, like the pattern on the doors for instance
I noticed that your image is for a “Chrysler Royal or Imperial” and the car in this ad is a New Yorker. I may be wrong but it is possible that being different models that they may have had different interiors including door panels.
I agree Anthony looks like an older restoration. The paint on the exterior doesn’t look right either. Wrong shade of blue and it looks like base/clear paint to me too think it is a 70’s paint job.
If you go here https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hcc/2013/10/Luxury-Goes-Long—1939-Chrysler-New-Yorker/3730201.html#PhotoSwipe1484978924157
this car is a twin on the interior to this one including the blue color and door panels..
Thanks for the link. Now we know what the horn & air cleaner should look like.
The blue is/was a factory colour option…I had the same interior in on of my ’39 New Yorkers.
I saw one of these in Cuba, where there are a lot of old cars, going down the road last week. I’d never seen one before and I can tell you it is one classy, graceful looking automobile when you see it for real. I would love to own this one. But not in the market. Someone grab it and cherish it and drive it!
How can you not love that face! I think the interior is not original. Most pre war cars I have seen were a dull neutral color ( i.e.: light brown ). Never seen a bright color like this blue, I am no expert on pre war cars, so I could be wrong. I like this car even if it’s not original. Hope someone buys it and enjoys it.
This car is extremely original. The only things that are not (that I can see) are 1) the air cleaner…and no it was not an oil bath on this car. 2) the sealed beams 3) the front turn signal lights.
This car still has the original fan shroud (only the eights had a shroud) and the rear centre arm rest…a very rare item to see. The door handles in and out are original although some are broken. This car was painted at one point you can see the difference between the original “Regal Blue” and its current colour when you look at the engine photo. This is a well optioned car with a fluid drive O/D, a clock, radio, rear arm rest and inner wheel trim rings. I much prefer the dry clutch O/D over the fluid as they were very sluggish…
What a great find! It almost looks comfortable enough to sleep in so it’s very tempting. (Would dear wifey really make me sleep in it?) This is exactly the kind of car and price range I would love. Too bad the “it followed me home” excuse won’t work. (Look dear, a BIG BLUE puppy and…) Even “But dear we only have 3 cars now!” doesn’t work. This is what happens when you retire (she pronounces it “retarded”) and da spouse is still working. Oh my…
Air filter and that fuel filter regulator are incorrect. I do not believe the horns are right, the bracket is correct for the long trumpet style horns used in ’39. As for the interior… i do not know. I know that Chrysler was a step up from Dodge (which I have restored to original) so it may have been a little more ‘colourful’. Same basic body as the D-11, so it really looks familiar and correct in so many ways. They were great, solid comfortable cars. The automatic choke is correct for the upscale Chrysler. very rare to still be there. And you can sleep in the rear seat!
The blue is/was a factory colour option…I had the same interior in on of my ’39 New Yorkers.
The horns are original and factory standard. The “Town and Country ” horns were a factory option…I’ve had them both. The fuel filter/bowl is original on the Stromburg AAV-2 carb. The other carb which also came on many of the eight cylinder cars was a Carter and did not have the bowl.
We had a 39 Chrysler and it had a factory overdrive transmission
A very nice car. I bought a 30’s Packard years back that someone had sprayed the entire interior with a maroon fabric dye giving the car the appearance of having a maroon interior. Could this have been done on this car, only in blue? I have my doubts the interior is original, but what the heck, it’s still a nice car at a good value
The blue is original.
Overdrive was available in ’39. As for the interior color/pattern, Google ’39 New Yorker and you will find other cars with the same door panel trim in addition to this car. The ’39 brochure shows both the interior pictured by Anthony, and the subject car’s square door pattern, and what appears to be blue seats as well.
Beautiful car well worth the price, but I’d ditch the sealed beam conversion and go back to the original teardrop shipped glass lamp covers!
IF I owned the car, and IF I could source the original headlight glass (I bet it is very hard to find), I would put halogen bulbs in them so I could see where I was going. And a dual master brake cylinder, a MOPAR one, even if it has about the ugliest face ever to grace a Chrysler (well the Airflow and its modifications were worse) but for 1940 GM had really revamped their fronts, and Chrysler had to do something quick and easy, and that is it
This is a great car in great condition, definitely worthy of being saved.
The minor issues of putting in the missing headliner, front armrests and rear quarter upholstery are relatively inexpensive, but the plastic parts on the dash are near unobtanium; though there is a business out there now that will 3D print any parts you need for any car, though undoubtedly not cheaply. Still, might be worth the effort.
Changing out the air cleaner and headlights, too, are a simple job. Wish I had the dough to do this but I’m all “carred up” for a while.
Yes, I like it. Just drive it.
Car looks pretty complete, nice project for someone. One thought I want to add is over the years I’ve worked on cars and trucks that belonged to a long term friend(until he passed) who were involved with horse racing and although the vehicles all looked beautiful, the underside of each were packed with clay and dirt. Rust is a possibility, I hope the new owner does a close inspection. That’s just been my experience.
Very nice and pretty big. Looks quite like my old neighbors ’40 Ford 4-door, only in blue, more chrome and straight 8, not V8. There was probably an immense black oil-bath air cleaner covering that carb, as that was the norm then. Does look like someone or “something” took a header into the glove box cover though. Hope that whomever buys it leaves (and returns) it to stock !
The glove box door looks dented but it’s really not. The plastic cover is peeling away from the metal. This was a very common problem with these cars.
My dad’s ’37 DeSoto had overdrive; I can’t imagine this was not available on a ’39 Chrysler. A couple of things wrong with this old restoration – not mentioned so far: all Chrysler-built cars had faux-wood finished dashboards from about 1934 until 1952. All of them! I hate it when I see these painted over. Next: while most Chrysler-built cars had a jute-like carpet in the back seat (it felt rather prickly on your bare arms), they all had rubber floor mats in front. ‘ Suspect this rubber material is NLA: 3 ribs, space, 3 ribs, space, 3 ribs, etc, running front to back.
Question, although not shown in these pictures: all of the many Mopars from my memory had the oval brake and clutch pedals with the long dimension running vertically. Yet most of the ones I see online these days have the long dimension running horizontally. Which is correct?
The blue is/was a factory colour option…I had the same interior in on of my ’39 New Yorkers.
The horns are original and factory standard. The “Town and Country ” horns were a factory option…I’ve had them both. The fuel filter/bowl is original on the Stromburg AAV-2 carb. The other carb which also came on many of the eight cylinder cars was a Carter and did not have the bowl.
Allen, these cars had painted dashboards…all ’39 New Yorkers and Saratogas…the Imperial and Royals had wood grain. In addition, carpet was optional in the front on the Royal and Imperial but all New Yorkers and Saratogas had carpet. I am extremely familiar with these cars especially the eights. I have two New Yorkers and an Imperial. The pedals ran vertically but with one bolt, you could remove them and mount them horizontally.