There's a reason Don Stepp went looking for a 1956 Chrysler New Yorker sever years ago. It wasn't just because of the 351 Hemi V 8 though that was part of it. It wasn't just because, at the time, this was one of General Motor's top luxury lines, competing handily against others in that class. It wasn't just because you don't see many of them around these days. Those were all part of it but not the main reason.
"I owned a Chrysler New Yorker in 1975," said Don. "I bought it for $37.50. It cost $75 and I split it with my cousin." Don eventually bought out his cousin and drove that car for a long time. But even beyond that there was a special memory associated with the New Yorker.
"I met my wife driving that car. It was what I owned at the time," he explained.
Don found the car that would become his second New Yorker doing a search on line. "This one was for sale on eBay out of Indianapolis," he said. At the time, Don admitted, that he really didn't know much about how eBay and on line auctions worked.
"I had a walk away price in mind, the most I was willing to pay for the car. That's what I bid. When the auction was over I didn't win," he said.
A few weeks later, still looking, Don was surprised to see the very same New Yorker back on the virtual auction block. Apparently the car didn't meet the minimum asking price, the reserve. "So I bid again, putting up the same amount I did the first time around," he said. As the end of the auction drew near Don went on line and was surprised to see that he was the high bidder.
"I figured there was someone waiting to swoop in at the last minute and out bid me," he said. But as the clock started ticking down Don felt that he might have a chance.
So he told his wife what he was doing and showed her the pictures of the car. "She said, 'You have to get that car,'" said Don, laughing. And he did. His bid won.
While Don had seen pictures and read the description of the car on line, he had never actually seen it. So when he and his wife drove up to Indy to pick up the car he was pleased with the condition but concerned about how little the car had been driven. "The guy had driven it only 400 miles," said Don. "I asked him, is it going to make it? I'm driving it to Cincinnati and I wanted to know if it was going to break down on the highway." He shouldn't have worried.
Though Don has done some mechanical and minor cosmetic work on the car, it is basically in the same shape as he bought it.
"I tend to drive it every weekend," said Don of his New Yorker. "It's a great cruising car. You can go 70 miles per hour and it doesn't break a sweat" In fact, Don estimates that his jaunts around for fun and the occasional trip to a car show or cruise-in have put over 3000 miles on the New Yorker.
One reason for it being such a fun cruising car is the legendary 351 Hemi V 8 which is also one of the reason you don't see many of these cars around. "People would buy these used, take out the Hemi and put it in a hot rod and then just trash the car," said Don. Which is a shame because they really were high end luxury back in the day.
The 1956 was conceived as a very different model by chief engineer Virgil Exner who deemed it a "forward look" car. Part of that forward look was the fins that made their debut on this model New Yorker. Also new in 1956 was the push button transmission.
But while those touches of high end engineering helped sell the New Yorker back then, they really weren't reason Don went looking and ultimately bought for his.
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