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newVideoPlayer("/75_Chrysler_NYer_JackJones_494.flv", 506, 423,""); Now that the '75 New Yorker is quite the collector's car, with original examples changing hands for upwards of several dozen dollars, we can understand why Jack Jones was so appreciative of the deep-tufted velour interior and 230-horse 440 under the hood. But that sticker price of $6,611 was more than a grand more than the Cordoba's- talk about car buying dilemmas! And check out the bit right before the ad- Game 7 of the 1975 World Series!
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Welcome to Down On The Street , where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Today's car is one I'm quite familiar with, since it's now sitting in my back yard. No, it isn't my current Personal Hell Project; I'm helping Czech automotive journalist Bobash realize his dream of terrorizing quaint Central European villages with an ocean-liner-scale Fuselage Look Mopar. You may recall the '81 Corvette I inspected for BobAsh a while back; that car is now roaring around the Czech Republic in all its Late Malaise glory. This car was a one-owner, estate-sale find. The late owner was a San Francisco chiropractor who garaged it, had it serviced on the dot, and (apparently) never allowed anyone to sit inside. It's got a few minor dings and dents, but almost everything works and the (purple whorehouse-esque) interior is the nicest I've ever seen on an unrestored 90,000-mile car. It's not what you would...
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Welcome to Down On The Street , where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. The "fuselage" early-70s Chrysler is pretty well represented in this series, with this '71 Newport and this '71 Newport Royal , but seeing yesterday's '70 Newport Royal ad made me decide to break out the photos of today's vast two-door luxury machine. The 1970-71 Chrysler C-body is actually one of my favorite Detroit body styles of all time (with the 1970 Chrysler 300 Hurst being the ultimate ), and I've often considered leaving a "How much do you want?" note on today's DOTS car. How many acres is that hood? The standard engine for the '70 Newport was a 383 with 290 horsepower, but the Chrysler dealer could get you a 350-horse 440. Get the 300 Hurst and you got 370 horsepower from your 440. Sadly, a 4-speed manual transmission was not available from the factory. There's the usual rust you see...
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newVideoPlayer("/71_Chrysler_Royal_476.flv", 506, 423,""); The Newport Royal was priced a couple hundred bucks lower than the regular Newport; it came with less gingerbread and a 360 instead of the 383 engine, but was otherwise the same car. See, that's to get you hooked on Chryslers; the guy who buys the Royal now will go on to buy a Corboba a few years later, and by now he's in a Cirrus. Just like eating peanuts!
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Welcome to Down On The Street , where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. It had to happen, sooner or later; somewhere on the island, a Cordoba was waiting- soft Corinthian leather and all- for my camera. Now that day has arrived, with this '78 located in the 1950s-vintage part of the island landfilled into the Bay. Generally, houses in such neighborhoods have garages, which means the DOTS pickings are much slimmer than those in the neighborhoods full of houses built during the 1880-1910 period, but this Chrysler still lives outside after 30 years. First, we must watch the Ricardo Montalban ad that started it all. In Cordoba, I have what I need! Plastic "gold" Cordoba medallions may be found all over this fine personal luxury automobile. Weighing in at a portly 4,021 pounds and motivated by a thirsty 318 or 360, the Cordoba wasn't quite the ideal machine for a time of fuel-price insecurity. By '78...
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How about an engine family that included V6, V8, and V10 variants and is still being manufactured today after more than 40 years? Starting with the 273-cube V8 in 1964 (itself a descendant of the mid-50s-vintage A series engine) and proceeding through vast numbers of 318s and 360s (and let us not forget the screamin' 340 Six-Pack pictured above), the LA design ended up as the basis of the 488 and 505 V10s used in Vipers and SRT-10s. While the Slant Six has pretty well established itself as the top contender for the All-Time Most Bulletproof Detroit Engine Award, its 318 stablemate makes a strong bid for second place. [Allpar]
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It's got a 360. It's got glasspacks. It's got dogdish hubcaps. It's got a huge skull painted on the hood. In other words, it's fully optioned! This is the car designed for Ricardo Montalban's evil twin brother, Raul, who was serving 10-to-20 for manslaughter in a Madrid jail cell while Ricardo pitched the nice Cordobas. Those of you still shopping for a car for the Toledo 24 Hours of LeMons race, take note: this '78 Cordoba is for sale for an asking price of 500 bucks and it's just a few hours' drive from the track! Thanks to 1300CCsofFury for the tip. [ Craigslist Chicago , go here if the ad disappears]
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Is it really possible that it's been two months since our last Mopar A-body in this series? Like air-cooled VWs, Chrysler A-bodies are so plentiful in Alameda that I tend to lose track of when the last time I DOTS-ized one (also like air-cooled VWs, I've owned a few Slant Six A-bodies and feel much affection for them). So here comes a nice solid 4-door Dart, which lives on the same block as the Mercedes-Benz 280SEL that came in second in yesterdays DOTS Benz poll . The Dart is one of the few vintage Detroit cars in which I prefer the six-cylinder engine to the V8, but then the Slant Six makes even the 318 seem flaky. Of course, a 340/4-speed Dart might convince me to give up the Leaning Tower of Power. This Dart gets driven every day, and there's no telling how many times its 5-digit odometer has been turned over. Check out those Buick hubcaps, which actually look pretty good on a Dodge. This car parks in front of a house in which a high-school girlfriend lived back in the day...
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What was it with Detroit and the word Brougham? GM, Ford, and Chrysler each slapped their share of "Brougham" emblems all over various crypto-upscale models of the 1960s and 1970s, apparently believing that buyers would feel that the elegance of 18th-century horse-drawn vehicles would rub off on their gasoline buggies. This '78 Dodge has all the Malaise Brougham features, from its vinyl top to its lo-po powerplant, and there's some puzzling Fury-ness to it to make things interesting. Brougham just plain means class! But where are the opera lights? It's always fun when I find multiple DOTS cars on the same block; here we have the 1942 Pontiac Torpedo across the street and down the block. And maybe you Mopar experts can tell us why this car seems to have '77 Fury taillights. Bumper swap? Perhaps the Plymouth hubcaps came from the same donor car. Alameda has a good climate for keeping rust at bay, but vinyl tops tend to fare badly in the harsh sunlight. This top is...
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