Meet Ming, my 1973 New Yorker Brougham

[Marv]

Love it I actually like this 73 front end. It the most massive looking front end. Beefy like a truck front end.

 

[LocuMob]

Congratulations @ayilar.

 

[detmatt]

It looks great but mostly from the sides and back.

 

[Ripinator]

I acquired this JA5 Dark Silver NYB a couple of weeks back. She has now safely reached my place, and @71Polara383 will bring her back in tip-top shape. Super thanks to him for staying up late to ensure the car's reception in the wee hours this morning!

I saw this car advertised on FB in Greenfield, Ohio over a month ago. I alerted a few members who had been looking for a fusie 4-door, but none of them was interested. I am generally not a fan of the 1973's front end, but in this color, in this body style, it just works IMHO. This car is in fact the very picture of a "big Chrysler" that I've had in my head since reading a cool adventurers' book in 5th or 6th grade, and the price was too good to pass up, so I decided to jump in. The fact that the car is the same (save for the lack of passenger-side mirror and power antenna) as the one pictured in the 1972 Chrysler Corp. Annual Financial Report sealed the deal (thanks to @ceebuddy for that picture!).

The seller (who owns a towing-company and a used-car store) had recently gotten it from the widow of a local collectionner. The latter had kept the car in proper storage for the past 9 years, and the photos and video that the seller sent to me prior to my agreeing to buy the car seem to back up the claim. Unfortunately, the widow had just replaced her Kentucky title in early March without making any copy of the old title, so tracking the car's history will be harder than I had hoped for.

It took me a while to get the car transported, as the initial dispatcher (who had been pretty reliable before) got sick then went MIA. Thanks to @amazinblue82, @detmatt and @71Polara383 for suggesting Ray at A&A Auto Transport -- he made it happen.

Wyatt tells me that the car needs a passenger-side cornering light (in the process of being ordered from Arizona Motor Parts), a battery and tires (no surprise there), and of course the car will get a full tune-up and brake check. The rimblow steering wheel has one crack, but let's hope the rest is good. I have no idea if the A/C works (@Ripinator will note with dismay that it is H53), but the seller affirmed that the heater works well -- so I hope to be able to fix it if I am lucky enough to benefit from the guidance of experts such as @saforwardlook .

Here are a few pictures of the car right after her arrival!

C: Chrysler
S: Special (New Yorker Brougham)
43: 4 Door Hardtop

T: 440 cid 4 barrel V8
3: 1973
C: Jefferson Avenue, MI, USA

331: Build Date: March 31

E85: 440 cid 4 barrel V8 350hp
D34: Automatic Transmission

JA5: Dark Silver Poly Exterior Color
H7X9: Trim - High, Black Carlisle-cloth & Cologne-grain-vinyl Divided Bench Seats
(with Individual Adjustments, Passenger Recliner and Armrest in front & Armrest in rear)
TX9: Black Diamond Int. Door Frames
V1X: Full Vinyl Top, Black
V7X: Accent Stripes, Black

H53: AutoTemp A/C
G25: Add Vent Windows

R35: AM/FM Stereo Radio (10 Watts)

L31: Hood/Fender Mounted Turn Signals
L35: Cornering Lamps
L42: Headlamp Time Delay

M45: Fender Skirts

P31: Power Windows
P41: Power Door Locks

N88: Auto Speed Control

View attachment 362698

View attachment 362697

Hmmm. . . . No power vents. . . ATC II. . . I'll give you $2500 for it.

All kidding aside, Michel. That is a stunning car. Mighty fine!

 

[Samplingman]

OK, now I need a refresher. With everybody buying and selling like crazy of late, I've lost track. SO...
list your up-to-date inventory so I can keep up.

 

[barnfind]

Sure looks nice, congrats!

 

[commando1]

View attachment 362784

Note to self: Read the signatures, stupid.

 

[ayilar]

Hmmm. . . . No power vents. . . ATC II. . . I'll give you $2500 for it.

Ha! I’d have preferred power vents and manual A/C, but this is the only silver ‘73 NYB I’d ever seen and it seemed to be in great shape—so I paid just a bit more...

In all seriousness, with the economic clouds gathering on the horizon when the seller agreed to hold the car for me, I wondered if it would have been wise even at the usual C-body price (all the more so that it needs the usual mechanical go-over after sitting for almost a decade, which ain’t gonna be cheap with quality parts). But the seller took a risk to hold it: I’d given my word, and that is that. So, no regrets!

All kidding aside (...) That is a stunning car. Mighty fine!

Thank you! Tomorrow she’ll get a new battery so that @71Polara383 can start bringing her in shape.

 

[MacLebaron]

Very nice, enjoy!

 

[JC68vert300]

I really like the color as well, very classy. The massive front end of the '73 is so imposing, it has always appealed to me. The front vent windows are icing on the cake, I wish new cars still had them.

 

[69monaco]

Very good looking car………...but ( FOR ME ) a 73 Chrysler New yorker / Newport isn,t a fuselage anymore.
That front …………………….no thanks.

 

[LeBaron1973]

That was the front of our Aussie Chrysler range for the last few years if I recall correctly.

 

[78Brougham]

Very good looking car………...but for me a 73 Chrysler isn,t a fuselage anymore.
That front …………………….no thanks.

Sorry to disagree, but to me the '73 Chrysler and Imperial's are the benchmark of the fuselage body, especially the '72-'73 Imperial. Nothing says fuselage better than a Chrysler or Imperial from those two years.

As far as the front end and rear end, as everyone here knows... the hideous rubber tits must go. I bet @ayilar 's new '73 would look so much better without them! Just sayin'

 

[ayilar]

as everyone here knows... the hideous rubber tits must go. I bet @ayilar 's new '73 would look so much better without them! Just sayin'

She might look better -- beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all. I am sorry to report, though, that Ming's appendages will be staying on for as long as she is mine. I am generally a stickler (or sucker, perhaps) for originality, and IMHO the rubber bumperettes are part and parcel of the redesign that Chrysler designers implemented to accommodate the new federal impact standards.

 

[78Brougham]

Respectfully disagree, but I'm very happy that you have this car.

Those appendages were a matter of regulation, not design. If you unbolt them, even for five minutes and step back, dso you could see the beautiful bumper and grill, I doubt you would put them back. Rant over....

Be that as it may, congratulations on a great find. Hopefully we'll see it sometime at Carlisle. If not this year perhaps next.

 

[Factorial]

Silver is so bland on modern cars but looks great on this one.

 

[stubs300]

Silver is so bland on modern cars but looks great on this one.

It's ironic you say that! You look at a lot of these modern colored cars with these silverish/grey and other "Earth Tone" colors just make them look boring after awhile. But I disagree, but it's cool, whatever makes a flat bottom boat.

 

[detmatt]

Silver bland? Hell no!

 

[MarPar]

I'd be embarrassed as hell to drive around in that bigass American car with a **** ***** ***** name like Ming that you gave it! Just sayin

F'n really, Jon?? Jeezus H Chrysler.

 

[ayilar]

Thanks guys -- let's now get back to the car. Here is a photo taken yesterday by @71Polara383. Yes, she's beautiful! One can see the Kentucky front "plate" that has been there since before the car moved to Ohio.

Wyatt put in the new battery that I'd ordered from NAPA (Legend Premium No. 27 710 A, 20% off with AAA membership), then he confirmed that the car starts and that all the power toys work. Even the rimblow horn works -- yes!

The interior dome light was missing, but Wyatt had one in his stash of parts. As the photos below show, all is now good.

He recommended to change the heater hose (I got the NBH111), and of course the car will be getting new coolant. I ordered Valvoline Zerex green, also from NAPA. Pre-mixed may not be the cheapest option, but it is easy and NAPA had a tempting 20% off coupon.

Next in line are a new rotor and cap (ACCEL 8320), spark plugs (Champion Copper Plus 14), air filter (WIX 43022), oil (Brad PennGrade 71586) and oil filter (WIX 51068) -- all bought from Summit Racing with a 10% off discount, as I had done for Medina, my '71 Monaco.

For the spark plug wires, I could not find the reproduction set that @Big_John has recommended for earlier model years and with which I have been very happy on Medina. It seems that Lectric Limited, the manufacturer of those sets, stops with the 1972 MY. My solution will be to take the Taylor 8mm wires that the seller of Snow White (my '70 Polara N-code 'vert) had freshly installed last fall (see picture below when still on Snow; here is the link at Summit) and to order the correct, date-coded Lectric wires for Snow.

As well, we'll be replacing the gas tank (as recommended by the previous owner) and will take the opportunity to get new sender unit, grounding strap, fuel pump, and fuel filter. More on this once Wyatt gets to that stage. The new tires should arrive and be ready for installation on Friday.