1964 Chrysler New Yorker: Middle Child of Automotive History Great Bang For Buck
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The stylistic remains of Virgil Exner leave some a little cold, but I like it. The beautiful and flamboyant windshield flows back into a formal c-pillar. The 1964, I would argue, is an improvement over the 1963 because of the re-addition of tiny fender fins and diamond shaped tail lights. This is more in keeping with a formal look and adds interest to the open acreage of the sides. The front bumper, I think, is also an improvement over the 1963 in that it forms around the grill which integrates the bumper a little more. The 1963 front bumper has always struck me as tacked on and is just too much of a departure from the 1962 and earlier Chryslers, which were really integrated into the look.
So it is a throwback (molded bumper and fins), but in a sense it is really a bit of an underdog's car. Not quite an Imperial, not quite a big-finned earlier model, it is the last of its kind and the first of its kind. It is the last for all of the above (the end of Exner, the end of fins, etc), and it is the first of its kind in that it was designed by a committee, not that this is a good thing, but it was what all cars would become. Someone must have looked at the 1963 (tossed together after Exner's scapegoated exit) and thought "we must improve this if only to make it to the next year. So it is a survivor's car too. Hanging on by the skin of its teeth, its neither sexy enough nor ugly enough to be admired by shallow interests. So finally, then, it is a fanatic's car. A special interest for a special girl-next-door. One of a kind, but yet not outrageous enough to get noticed, she still needs love. Conservative and classy with a slightly repressed flamboyance it is not what everyone yearns for, but it is decidedly nicer than what many of us could ever pay for.
Handling: as crisp as you might hope for in 2 tons of steel, thanks to the torsion bar suspension it can keep up, if you know what you are doing. But there is little to no feedback in the steering wheel. The reciprocating ball steering box gives a very high mechanical advantage which is also power-assisted. So you need to know how to navigate and not merely react. In today's tightly-packed roads this means you have to hang back a bit. But that's what cruising is all about. But this is really no different from most of the Chryslers up to this time.
Comfort is great. The car is very wide so it is not out of the question to sleep in the front or back. If they had made the front bench fold down, the whole interior would have been almost a queen size bed. The ride is very nice. Like many of these old cruisers the unsprung weight it huge. The means every bump disappears.
Reliability is great. Simplicity does that. 'Nuf said.
Power is good, but it could be better. Again it is too early to be outrageously powerful, as it was a little late to be outrageously styled, yet still heavy. A cross ram intake improves things, yet even without it there is plenty of wheel-spinning torque, but don't look for 12 second quarters. Getting to 60(mph) will take 8 to 10 seconds. So the fun comes from the torque and the highspeed cruising. You want zippy don't ask it from this classy lady.
What is also amazing is how these things can sit for years and then come back into service. Even the push button transmission controls and the push button heater are not a problem. Everything is so big that it doesn't wear out.
A very nice, classy car with great value for the money.
Source: eBay Motors Reviews