Let’s be frank and honest: nobody, and I mean NOBODY, looked at a Chrysler K-car and genuinely thought “Hey, there is a symbol of prestige and luxury!” No. I refuse to believe that even Lee Iacocca thought that bullshit up. Lee knew luxury, and he knew how to market a product. And when it came to the Chrysler Executive limousine, that was a marketing gimmick that honestly should have been shot down faster than waterfowl in Duck Hunt. An extended-wheelbase E-class wasn’t a bad call…in fact, it made some sense…but stretching out a K-car until it had a 131″ wheelbase and saying it was a seven-passenger limo was, pardon the pun, stretching it a bit. The only way you were fitting seven people inside a Chrysler Executive comfortably is if the Seven Dwarves were enjoying the Corinthian leather that Ricardo Montalbán constantly purred on about, with Snow White tied up in the trunk.
That’s not to say that Chrysler couldn’t do a good factory-based limo, or even luxury car. All we are saying is that it certainly didn’t happen in the 1980s. No Fifth Avenue or even the J-body Imperial limousines had the same cachet as the 1970s C-bodies did. Take, for example, this 1978 Chrysler New Yorker that is sitting on Craigslist. This isn’t a limo…this is the standard-wheelbase New Yorker, and is the rolling proof that the Executive was and still is a cynical, half-assed attempt at luxury. While cars like this C-body were part of the reason why Chrysler’s bank accounts were the stuff of nightmares in the late 1970s, I’d rather be seen in one of these than the Executive any day of the week. Here’s why:
For starters, look at this front end. That bumper is more than enough to push peasants, paparazzi, and that plasticky K-car out of the way. Hidden headlights and the waterfall grille scream “classy!” and the Chrysler script was elegant. No block-letter bullshit here. If you can’t read cursive, you aren’t worthy.
This is the kind of Chrysler that the B-52s name-checked in the song “Love Shack”. Seats about 20? Yep, plus there’s enough room in the trunk for about six or seven New Jersey-sized rats…the ones that wear Italian loafers.
Like I said…classy. Body-colored paint on the mirrors with the “Chrysler” script left bare. A nice touch.
Look at that. A true four-door hardtop, because when you want to cruise with the windows down, you don’t need to have a B-pillar blocking your damn view! And those seats…LOOK AT THEM! Fluffier than an angel’s air biscuit and just as warming. I defy anyone to tell me that those are uncomfortable.
If you pronounce it “bro-ham” you’re going to get your peasant ass handed to you. Just that word alone meant that manufacturers could upcharge, because this was LUXURY!
Fun fact: The 1978 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham is really a renamed version of the Imperial, which had been discontinued in 1975. That means that the legendary strength of the Imperial is present…all 4,700 pounds of it.
Despite it’s own faults, a big-block New Yorker trimmed out to the hilt, dressed in TX9 Black, in this kind of condition, checks all the right boxes. It has presence, it has grace, it has a touch of menace, and you could get lost for days in the interior. You’d also do a better job of seating seven than that front-wheel-drive cracker box ever could.
WANT !!!
I like it, it just says Mopar Mafia to me.
dont forget the 4 cigar lighters and ashtrays! standard 440 smogger with 2.71 gears for 100 mph cruising all day long!
Absolutely beautiful car. Chrysler did this right with a far better design than Lincoln or Cadillac. Its too bad that elegance has gone away. In my opinion even the newest luxury liners pale in comparison.
Of course the “Executive was and still is a cynical, half-assed attempt at luxury.” What it is not, however, is boring – it’s too spectacular as an example of an epic fail. So it’s definitely interesting and amusing.
This, on the other hand – looks like a great cruiser, and much better than most other cars to come out of the malaise era. “I’ve got me a Chrysler that’s as big as a whale, and it’s about to set sail!”
Its beautiful, being black no one will confuse you for a trailer park supervisor.
My friend and I cruised one of these in the 80’s; the 400 couldn’t even chirp the tires, but with all the windows down and the 50’s music playing in the 8-track, it got us from spot to spot in style…