According to the Chrysler Corporation, the 1979 New Yorker could be summed up in one word: “fabulous!”
Here’s a fun game: Count the number of times you hear the word “fabulous” in this 1979 spot for the Chrysler New Yorker. (Sorry, there’s no prize.) With the Imperial discontinued in 1975, the New Yorker became the corporation’s flagship, and for ’79 it was riding on a downsized R-body platform shared with the Chrysler Newport. The wheelbase was reduced from the 124 inches of the previous C-body to 118.5 inches, while weight was reduced nearly 1,000 lbs. With the “fabulous” messaging, Chrysler was signaling to buyers that despite the significantly smaller package, they would not have to give up on luxury or comfort.
The R-body was in fact an update of Chrysler’s trusty intermediate B-body platform, and it was produced only as a four-door sedan. This body style was known as a pillared hardtop; that is, there were B pillars but the door glasses had no frames. The New Yorker featured an additional quirk in that the quarter windows were not in the rear sail panels but opened with the doors.
With the 400 and 440 cubic-inch big-blocks banished from the lineup, the New Yorker’s standard engine was a 360 CID V8 with 150 hp (a 318 CID V8 was optional). But despite its smaller everything, the New Yorker continued to offer the same luxury features: leather or cloth interior combinations, multiple audio system options, and a standard vinyl roof. For another $1,500 over the New Yorker’s $10,026 base price, shoppers could opt for the ritzy FIfth Avenue package with landau roof and champagne interior.
Sales of the newly downsized New Yorker rose nearly 23 percent for ’79, but it wasn’t a good year for the Chrysler Corporation overall as production fell 18 percent and the company posted a record $1.1 billion loss. Fortunately, help was on the way as Lee Iacocca became chairman and CEO on September 20, 1979 with complete control of the company. Video below.
Eight times.
really good looking car for the era and those button tufted leather seats,,, oh my!
I have a bad habit of looking back at product failures with the benefit of hindsight, and then asking, “what if?”.
But what if Chrysler had taken a more conservative approach, maybe avoided the frameless glass doors and plastic brake parts, and focused on giving these cars bulletproof reliability?
Sure, at the time many Americans believed that Chrysler was circling the drain and the Iran crisis was about to cause high fuel prices on top of a recession, but maybe the R-body would’ve soldiered on for several more years, like the M-body. But then again, I’m not sure that Chrysler would have had the production capacity once the K-cars took off.