Mere mention of the city of New York evokes images of opulence and excess, and much of that imagery is embodied in the vehicle which bears that name

New York City; the town that never sleeps, where you can get whatever it is you want at whatever time of day or night it may be. While the buzz may diminish somewhat in the small hours it never stops completely, and the city has been described as the crossroads of the world, where it appears that any culture can be savoured, be it in the form of a Turkish kebab, a Chinese stir-fry or even, in these modern times, a Japanese car. Mind you, that’s the tip of the iceberg.

The thought of Japanese cars making their way into everyday American life would never have entered Walter P Chrysler’s head back in June of 1925, when he founded the Chrysler Corporation. The products on offer from Chrysler were definitely a cut above some of the automotive industry’s mainstream offerings, but the features incorporated into Walter’s products certainly didn’t push the vehicles beyond the financial capabilities of Middle America. They were right up there in terms of quality and appointments, but not strictly the domain of the super-rich.

Pleasing aesthetics

These mid-1920s medium-priced automobiles were powered by relatively high compression, six-cylinder, seven main-bearing engines with a carburettor air cleaner and replaceable oil filter. On top of that they had four-wheel hydraulic brakes, and the  handsome cars appealed to the crowds who attended the mid-decade New York show, with 32,000 units finding happy owners. As time went by and more features were incorporated into the vehicles, production figures grew; Chryslers were soon selling in large enough volumes to put the company in fourth place in the North American sales race. In fact, growth was so rapid that had a person bought US$100-worth of stock in the Maxwell Corporation in 1923 (Chrysler had worked for Maxwell in the 1920s, and from that company he had formed his own organisation), by 1928 he or she could have reaped the rewards that came with the value of $1,756 for that $100 stock! Not a bad return in just five years.

It wasn’t just the pleasing aesthetics of the Chryslers that discerning buyers were clamouring for, there was much to be admired in what could not be seen under the graceful lines of the Chryslers’ sheet metal. Throughout the ’30s Walter constantly strived to improve his products, and little things like ‘Oilite’ made the ‘must have’ list. Oilite was an oil-impregnated sintered metal material which was sandwiched between each leaf of the vehicle’s leaf spring suspension to eliminate annoying squeaks. I would think, also, that the subsequent lowering of friction between the leaves would have improved ride quality somewhat. However, there was much more going on at Chrysler than squeak elimination, and throughout the ’30s mechanical advancements were many. Roller bearings appeared in driveshaft universals, coil-sprung front suspension arrived and much more besides, and on the outside styling changes were many and varied. The Airflow models appeared, the Airstream, the Royal and the Imperial all made their mark at the New York Auto Shows that came year after year, and it seemed only fitting that sooner or later the words ‘New’ and ‘York’ should be attached to a Chrysler vehicle.

New York Special

In 1938 Chrysler released the New York Special and the following year, as part of the ‘Imperial’ series, the line was simply called the New Yorker. The public lapped it up, and the New Yorker became a much-loved symbol of luxury and elegance in motoring for many years to come. Unfortunately, Walter P Chrysler died on August 18, 1940, and even sadder for the planet there was to be a major conflict that put paid to civilian automobile production in the United States for a few years. Chrysler ceased production of civilian autos by early 1942, and turned its attention to producing some 600,000 trucks and 25,000 tanks. The corporation also designed and manufactured countless aircraft parts, while around 44,000 paired and single Bofors guns were produced along with hundreds of thousands of incendiary bombs and rockets, not to mention several billion large and small bore cartridges and projectiles. Not all of Chrysler’s effort was designed to kill, though; much of its expertise was used to produce such handy things as gyro-compasses, radar sets, submarine netting and (would you believe) parabolic reflectors for searchlights! Chrysler was certainly a talented and versatile contributor to the war effort.

As the dust of WWII settled, and the ban on civilian automobile manufacture was lifted by the American authorities in 1945, Chrysler got busy with new designs, while at the same time rolling out re-hashed versions of pre-war vehicles to fend off the wave of hungry new-car buyers. Raw materials were in short supply but the ‘new/old’ vehicles were easy to sell, with GIs willing to lighten their combat-pay-heavy wallets. Chrysler offered them gems like the ‘Town and Country’ series (bedecked with white ash framework and mahogany veneer ply inserts). Heading to the country and discovering the great outdoors in the new-found peace was soon to become somewhat of an obsession for Americans, and the Town and Country looked just the part for the job.

Town and Country

Toward the end of the ’40s everything, including consumerism, began to gather momentum. The engineers and stylists were working at  feverish paces to produce the best that the mechanical world could offer, combined with some sheet metal dreams hitherto unavailable, or indeed undreamed of. Unfortunately for Chrysler the transition from wartime magnificence to satisfying some quirky civilian lusts was a difficult one and, even though the Town and Country cars were popular, sales overall plummeted. Old school management, poor relations with the labour force and some out-dated styles were all part of the decline.

By 1947 Chrysler management reported that the company was operating at about two-thirds capacity due to shortages of raw materials and, to add insult to injury, the cost of those materials was rising rapidly. Therefore the price of a new car rose to cover those costs, but apart from rising prices in the showrooms Chrysler’s prospective customers faced a waiting list that could stretch out for two years! Things were looking grim for Chrysler as a new decade dawned, and a never-to-be-seen-again flurry of four-wheeled excess got rolling.

Those at the helm of Chrysler at the beginning of the 1950s were getting on in years, and many said they were out of touch with the requirements and/or the desires of the new age of car buyers. Indeed, the friction between management and members of the Union of Auto Workers (UAW) culminated in a 100-day strike in 1950. This would have been the time when the fabled ‘Hemi’ engine was ready and waiting, having been developed using Chrysler’s wartime endeavours and learning. The engine, finally introduced in 1951, had hemispherical combustion chambers and produced good power levels for its size. The ‘FirePower’ engine debuted at just 5424cc (331ci), but it produced some 134kW (180hp).

Fabulous Fifties

This was good going in 1951, and it didn’t take long for the buying public to latch onto what soon became a legend. Even in stock, standard form the power output grew every year, until in 1954 it was rated at 145kW and 423Nm of torque (195bhp, 312lb/ft). This level of output comes in pretty handy when you put the pedal to the metal in a vehicle of such solidity, but there was even more on offer for those who desired the upper hand. The New Yorker Deluxe series came with an even more impressive 175kW, the configuration our feature car came equipped with.

The Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe convertible of Kevin and Gael Slater is truly an automobile laden with style and flair. One of just 724 units produced for the 1954 model year, the vehicle has been lovingly and painstakingly restored to a level that would, I’m sure, satisfy even the fussiest of Chrysler aficionados. It’s hard to believe this car was, according to Kevin, somewhat of a shambles when it landed on New Zealand soil, and he on-sold it to a friend who commenced the mammoth task of the restoration.

In this gentleman’s hands the car underwent some of the major surgery required, and the body was painted in Waihi, in the Coromandel region. To cut a long story short, it was at about that point the car went back into Kevin and Gael’s ownership, and the project continued for another three years. The motor was attended to in great detail, so that it not only runs like a charm, it looks as though it was slotted between the front fenders just yesterday. I spotted the Holley carburettor which has replaced the original Carter unit, and for the purist this would not be too difficult to swap back should the correct unit be required for some sort of picky show judging. The power steering pump is driven off the back of the generator, not uncommon for this era, and the drum brakes have power assist.

Classic look

Transmission is by way of a PowerFlite two-speed unit, not unlike Buick’s Dynaflow, and this is selected via a column-mounted lever. The steering also has power assist, and operation of the convertible top is courtesy of a button. The dashboard is padded, and is home to a factory-fitted clock, radio and heater controls. The interior has, naturally, been fully re-upholstered, and the green and grey work well together. The stunning wire wheels suit the car to a tee, and were actually available as an option in 1954. These are reproduction items, and epitomise the classic look with wide-whitewall tyres.

Not wanting to stray too far from that classic look, Kevin also retained the single outlet for the exhaust system. He located reproduction badges for the convertible, and while they were available in general terms not all were available in the optional (for the Deluxe) gold-plated finish. It was a matter of locating the correct parts, importing them and having the chrome plated items gold plated on their arrival. Then all the die-cast housings and bezels were stripped, polished and re-chromed, and all the stainless steel trim parts were straightened and re-polished.

The car hit the road in May of 2006, and it was indeed a pleasure to get an opportunity to photograph such a rare automobile in such pristine condition. I have no idea how many of the convertible models are left from the original production run, but you’d be lucky if the figure runs into the dozens. It’s a shame in one way, but certainly provides Kevin and Gael a certain automotive exclusivity; however, that hasn’t come easily or cheaply.

For fans of the convertible New Yorker, it is indeed fortunate that there are people who are prepared to invest their resources and energies into preserving what is undoubtedly an important motor vehicle; it would be a challenge to find another one of these anywhere, let alone in this condition.

When you look at this convertible you can’t help but let a sad sigh escape your body, and wonder what it must have been like to cruise your neighbourhood in such a machine in early 1954; top down, the burble of the V8 engine tickling the eardrums of envious onlookers. It stayed that way for decades, too; the New Yorker model line was/ is highly regarded by its fans, and the moniker was to remain part of Chrysler’s luxury line-up until 1993, when on May 28 the last of the New Yorkers rolled off the assembly line and into the pages of America’s automotive history books

Specs

1954 Chrysler New Yorker

Engine: V8 Hemi

Capacity: 5424cc (331ci)

Valves: ohv

C/R: 8.50:1

Max power: 175kW (235bhp) at 4400rpm

Transmission: Two-speed auto

Brakes: Power-assisted drums

Dimensions

• Wheelbase: 3188mm

• Weight: 1935kg

Production: 724