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And so they would, all the way into the mid-’70s. But they were definitely more prone to rust — as many a sad owner found out. Since “unibodies” were held together more by welds than nuts and bolts, they didn’t suffer so much from looseness or rattles. The 1960-61 models were the last of the outlandishly finned Exner-styled Chryslers and the first to employ full unit construction instead of traditional body-on-frame (even the old Airflow had body panels welded to a separate cage frame). Stylewise, the 1960 Chrysler models were highly sculptured but as clean as the deft ’57s.
Overall, Chrysler did fairly well in this period. Sales fell to around 177,000 for 1970-71, but recovered to nearly 205,000 for ’72, then to 234,000-plus. Nevertheless, Chrysler still couldn’t seem to beat Cadillac, trailing GM’s flagship every year in 11th place. Sales sank mightily in the wake of the first energy crisis despite a completely redesigned crop of 1974 models, still on a 124-inch wheelbase but about five inches shorter than the “fuselage” generation. Styling was crisper but more slab-sided, announced by pseudo-classic square grilles, a period fad that Chrysler had studiously avoided before. Engine options and horsepower were down: 185/205-bhp 400 V-8s for Newport and Newport Custom, 230/275-bhp 440s for T&C wagons, New Yorker, and New Yorker Brougham.
It couldn’t miss, and it didn’t. That year’s lineup comprised no fewer than 38 models priced from $795 for the least-costly CJ to $3000-plus for the imposing Imperial. The smallest was the four-main-bearing job in the cheap CJ-Series; the others were derived from the original 1924 design. Should you loved this short article along with you would want to receive guidance relating to What are the release dates for Designed to Sell – 2004 Vintage Condo Conversion? generously check out our own web site. Sixes remained Chrysler’s mainstay through 1930, when the make offered four different engines ranging from 195.6 to 309.3 cid. The Chrysler line then moved rapidly upmarket in price, prestige, and power.
Giving the divisions freer reign meant that people close to retail sales would have more say in mapping policy. Despite lower compression that allowed using lower-octane fuel than most other postwar overhead-valve V-8s, the Hemi produced far more power for a given displacement. The Hemi polished Chrysler’s image in a big way, and quickly spread to other company nameplates. First offered on the ’51 Saratoga, New Yorker, and Imperial, it wasn’t really a new idea, but it did have exceptional volumetric efficiency and delivered truly thrilling performance.
Like other ’67 Chryslers, the Custom dash sprouted no fewer than eight toggle switches, three thumbwheels, 16 pushbuttons, three sliding levers, and 12 other assorted controls. Meanwhile, the luxurious New Yorker Town & Country wagon disappeared after 1965 (sales had been slow for years), but six- and nine-passenger Newport wagons continued through ’68, after which T&C became a separate wagon series. All typically came with vinyl upholstery instead of the cloth-and-vinyl of Newport sedans.
But that only stole sales that might have gone to the company’s redesigned 2001 minivans, which offered more features but cost more to build and thus carried higher prices. Chrysler dangled more lures to spark sales, but competition was stronger than ever, so the new minivans were a fairly tough sell. With all this and more, DC stock tumbled, losing half its value by the end of 2000 versus its merger-time price, and some members of the DC board began demanding that Schrempp be fired. That was not what buyers wanted, especially since the new models didn’t look very different from the old ones.
