Fifth Avenue in New York is still a potential marketing gold mine as far as conjuring up images of uber-wealthy people with top hats, canes, spats, and monocles. Well, at least the men. This 1980 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue can be found here on eBay, a mere 2,200-mile drive from Fifth Avenue, up in Tilley, Alberta Canada. The seller is asking $7,000 ($5,135 US), or you can make an offer.
Fifth Avenue has a much different vibe than Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills does, and although it’s a bit grittier today, I still think of robber barons and block-sized mansions when I think of Fifth Avenue in New York. Or I think of Chryslers. This car is special in that it has a stainless steel roof, although the seller doesn’t show any photos of it after talking about it in their listing as being a special feature.
There are really only two good photos out of the bunch, sadly, and I still will never understand why anyone takes photos of a horizontal car in a vertical format. Chrysler offered the New Yorker on the slightly-smaller R-body platform from 1979 to 1981 and the Fifth Avenue was the top trim level. There was only a four-door sedan available but I usually show this Photoshop version that I made of a two-door, just for kicks.
The dark blue paint is matched with hungry-looking dark blue leather seats. I’d want to treat and feed those hides ASAP if this were my car. The seller says that there is no rust on this car and that’s great news. It looks good overall but some of the paint appears to have some issues around the trunk, unless it’s a matter of light and shadow and/or just dirty. I thought that this dark blue paint was only available in 1981 but I must be wrong. They list the mileage (in miles) as 34,000 and even the 8-track tape player is said to be in working condition.
The back seat looks suspiciously unlike a Chrysler 360-cu.in. OHV V8 with 130 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque. Mainly because the seller didn’t bother to pop the hood. It sends power to the rear wheels via a TorqueFlite three-speed automatic transmission. This car has had a lot of new parts and various work completed and I’m surprised that it’s still for sale. Are there any fans of these rarely-seen-today New Yorker Fifth Avenues?
I don’t recall Chrysler ever offering a stainless steel roof option on these. Last one I recall was the “Silvercrest” roof option on `59 Imperials.
Cadillac had a Biarritz option on the Eldorado in the early 1980s which included a stainless steel top. But alas, I do not see one on this New Yorker.
Look closer. It’s there. Unlike the stainless cap on the Biarritz, the New Yorker version did not extend all the way to the rain gutters, leaving a small strip of body color visible on three sides.
The New Yorker Fifth Avenue with the stainless roof and frenched rear window was called the “Fifth Avenue Limited Edition.” It was introduced at mid-year, along with the LeBaron Fifth Avenue Edition. Both cars are quite rare. R-body New Yorker sales never recovered from the quality issues of 1979, and the LeBaron Fifth Avenue was quickly pulled from the market after 600 or so were built so it could be re-introduced as the 1982 New Yorker.
My mother had one of the 1979 5th Avenue’s and it really was one of the most poorly built Chryslers. Trim, interior panels, etc began falling off of it from almost day one. My dad had a 78 Buick Regal and the build quality between the two couldn’t have been more stark. The Buick felt solid and rattle free driving down the road while the Chrysler rattled it’s way down the road sounding like a floor jack being dragged over shell rock Asphalt.
Lovely looking car.
Beautiful looking car. If only more pics were posted. If you’re going to sell a car, the more pics posted, the better.
Not a single picture of the front or rear!
Also, if you’re going to sell a car, consider giving it a good wash and wax and clean up the interior. And skip slathering the vinyl top in salad oil! That being said, this might be a super nice car for the money with the B.I.N. price at just over $5k US, and a “Make Offer” option!
No mileage on the ad either. None of the photos if I had a quality to justify buying it over the Internet, I suspect this is going to have to be sold to somebody in Alberta or at least near enough to drive out to see it in person.
386 made for 1980. Came in 3 color combos.
1979 and 1981 had a few also.
I bought the wife 3 new cars in 78, 79 and 80. Lotus Esprit in 78, Chrysler 300 in 79 and the 1980 Chrysler New Yorker 5TH AVE, Limited Edition. Had a two page window sticker.
Hers was this blue, Nightwatch Blue, no metallic.
I don’t like leather as it get creases in it like this cars picture.
I got her the cloth in dark blue. Soooo much cooler to sit in.
Had bad Firestone 721’s.
The 318 got 23 mph with the 2.45 gear and locking converter.
I will always remember these as the car whose tire blew and went into the drink in the 1981 Brian DePalma classic “Blow Out.” Starring the great Nancy Allen, John Travolta, Dennis Franz, and John Lithgow.
That was a good movie, wasn’t it?
When luxury cars were actually comfortable. Just look at those soft, pillow-top seats. Now, a $90,000 Cadillac comes with the same hard bucket seats as a Kia.
Anybody remember the Dodge St. Regis?Same car different name.Smooth driving cars but too square.Interior needs detail.Like my 75 Imperial better.
My mother in law bought one New Yorker new in 1981 drove it until 1998 put over 200,000 miles on it with very little repairs. I bought a 1986 Fifth Ave. in 1998 with 70,000 miles and put another 60,000 on it.Only repair I did on it was the headliner. Loved that car. Sold it to wifes niece because she was starting college and needed a dependable car.
My friends and I test drove an almost identical car to this one, but it had a cloth interior if I remember correctly. We didn’t go very far from the dealership, but by the time we got back, the power antenna was going up and down on its own. Even after we shut off the car. I still chuckle when I think about that.
” The back seat looks suspiciously unlike a Chrysler 360-cu.in. OHV V8 with 130 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque. Mainly because the seller didn’t bother to pop the hood. ” Okayyyyyyyy…so if the seller popped the hood the seat would look like a 360 ? My Gummy Just Kicked In LOL