1959 New Yorker, info requested on originality issues

Hello all, hope you had a great holiday.

Bryan here again, and different questions this time. I'm looking to add a 59 New Yorker to the garage. Looking at one now, and am wanting to correspond with owner(s) of original / unrestored / surviving 59 New Yorkers to pose a few originality questions.

If anyone can lend a few emails and answer a few questions, I'd really appreciate the correspondence. The60Whitewalls@aol.com

Thanks in advance,

Bryan O'Quinn

Durham, NC

<img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Bryan, I hope that you receive some helpful responses to your questions. A '59 New Yorker would make a great counterpart to your '60 Windsor. If you buy the car, we'll be eager to hear all about it!

Hi Brian, As it turns out, I'm heading to San Antonio on the 16th to pick the car up and drive her back to NC. Will be a fun trip. I'll keep updates coming as they develop. The first issue will be to find the long connector hose that runs under the car connecting the front and rear AC units.

She's is now, a bit dusty but looking pretty good for an original car. The original owner changed the mirrors at some point, so new ones are on the list as well.

Beautiful Buick you have there.

Bryan

Bryan, your trip will be a fantastic experience. I envy you the great adventure that lies before you; there's something about making a long trip in an old car that is a tremendous thrill.

We are eager to see photos and hear all the details. Thanks for your update.

I have a '59 New Yorker 2 door hardtop. jknab@comcast.net

Hi Brian and all,

The trip went great. But, we discovered one thing upon our arrival that wasn't quite clear when we left... the owner had only driven the car about 1,000 miles during the past 14 years. So, a little loosening up had to happen along the way home :-) Flat spots on a couple of tires made a new set necessary almost immediatly. Lost a donut flange off the passenger side manifold along the way (on a Sunday, so nothing open). She sounded like she was running glasspacks, but did great. On the exit ramp off the highway just a mile from my house, the generator seized up. (see other posting looking for #'s for proper generator to replace the older Bosch non-correct generator that failed).

All in all, it was a great trip. She brought me 1400 miles and put me right in my driveway.

So, just after the holidays, it's off to my mechanic with her to get a proper "going through" to get her ready for a little "daily driving" before a gradual restoration begins in the spring.

She's a total diamond in the rough. Great options, drives like a dream. All power windows work great except the driver's window is a bit slow.

Have a super Holiday if I don't get back to check this soon.

Bryan

What a journey! I can only imagine how much fun this trip would have been for you, and it's fun to picture the majestic old Chrysler cruising along the highways. I hope that you took many photos of the car along the way.

Thanks for waking up this fine New Yorker. It certainly sounds like a special car with a unique history. Please keep us posted on your progress.

Here's a pic at a stoplight somewhere in Texas, between Austin and Houston.

More coming,

Bryan

Great, Bryan! Looks like you had a chase car accompanying you on the journey? Not a bad idea for a car that has seen little road time for many years.

Will be eager to hear more about body style, colors, history, etc.

Hi Brian. Yes, there was a following car just in case :-)

Here's the basic rundown of the car.

4-door sedan

Pearl White paint, two tone blue vinyl interior.

Light blue vinyl headliner.

Power Steering

Power Brakes

Power Windows

Power front seat

Dual remote mirrors, driver and passenger side

(mirrors have been swapped out, but toggles are there in dash)

Auto-Pilot

Dual AC, front and trunk units, both factory Air-Temp units (rear blower works just great, just need replacement freon lines between front and rear units)

413 cid, dual exhaust (muffler numbers match original factory equipment)

4 barrel carb (incorrect breather is on right now)

I am pretty sure that vinyl seat covers were installed at some point, but the vinyl is a great match for the original door panels.

Car is missing the hood emblem, and also the emblem that goes in between the rear seat backs, just above the fold down armrest, and also is missing the kick panels under the dash on either side (someone stole them at a car show a while back when the owner had it showing in Texas). Other than those things, the car is very complete.

All windows work well, with the exception of the driver's window which is kinda slow on the motor.

Tinted glass all around came with the AC package.

This is the only 59 New Yorker that I've found with the Dual AC package. Would love to hear of others that might be out there~!

History of the car as I know it is this... The original owner purchased the car, and had a garage built for it. The owner built a garage for each and every car that he ever bought, right back to the 30-something Chrysler he had.

The guy that I bought the car from had gone to the first man to originally purchase a Barracuda that he had. He was told that he could purchase the Barracuda, but ALSO had to purchase TWO other cars as well, one being this New Yorker. The man really wanted the 'Cuda, so he bought all three cars. That was 14 years ago. He finally got tired of having lots of cars to upkeep, and he and his wife were moving off the golf course and needed to empty their storage units. The car was in one of these units. So, the car has been garaged it's whole life.

At some point, there has been very minor repair to the rear quarter panels at the very bottom. Seems like a little rust repair, but very common. No rust in trunk thankfully.

More info forthcoming as I discover it!

Have a safe and Happy Holiday season!

I'm heading to Kentucky for the Holidays, AND then to Detroit to pick up a 1966 Chrysler 300 convertible. Geesh, too much going on... but that's another story!

I'll be trailering the 300 back. 60,000 miles, all original, down to the top. Some rust in trunk, but is forgiven on a car like this.

-Bryan

Bryan, thanks for all the details. This car sounds like a terrific find, and the dual A/C set-up would make this an ideal summer tour car. I had no idea that a dual A/C option had been offered!

I assume that Auto-Pilot was Chrysler's early name for cruise control?

Thanks for preserving this unique, heavily-optioned New Yorker. And your '66 300 convertible find also sounds fantastic; the '65 and '66 Chryslers are among my favorites.

You are living out my automotive fantasies. Please keep the photos coming when you have time.

Bryan,

This car sounds very similar to a '70 Imperial that's for sale in West VA. It has all the options you mentioned. I've been debating with myself wether or not to buy it. It has 17,000 original miles and from photos I've seen looks great, just a little dusty. Since you just picked up an old car that was sitting for some time without driving it i've got a couple a questions.

1) How hard is it to work on these "B" series Chrysler motors. We've owned them before and I remember just doing a tune up was quite a challenge because of the location of the spark plugs. On the Imp, some A/C hoses appear to cross right over the distributor. With all this stuff under the hood I'm a little leary of buying it for fear I'll have to struggle just to tujne it up. I guess you have some experience with this. Are there some tricks to tuning these brutes up? I'm siting on the fence about buying this car and this is one of the things that's bothering me.

Thanks

Hi there,

Just back from Kentucky and Detroit last night... There's now a 66 300 Convt. in the driveway :-) She purrs like a kitten!

My mom is in town for a late Christmas tonight, so I'll touch base soon with some answers to your questions.

The car that you're looking at...Sounds like a great low mile car. Shouldn't be too difficult to tune up, lots of room under the hood to work.

Talk soon,

Bryan O'Quinn

Durham, NC

Hi Brian.

Yes, AutoPilot was the cruise control and speed reminder for the year. You could adjust a dial on the side of the steering column to a number between 1 and 9 (corresponding to speed... 10mph to 90 mph) when you reached the specified speed, you would feel a slight back pressure on the accelerator, and then you would push in the center of the dial, and the system would hold you at that crusing speed until you dialed it off, or put any pressure on the brake pedal.

The system also worked as a "speed reminder" to help you from speeding. The back pressure onthe accelerator I mentioned earlier would "remind" you that you had reached whatever speed you had "dialed".

The dual AC units were one of three AC options available for 1959 for Chrysler. The first being the standard AC unit that just had vents in the front of the car, the second is what is in my New Yorker. There was a secondary blower unit in the trunk just behind the rear seat with twin blowers to vents in the package shelf for the rear passengers. A very long supply hose and another long return hose connect the rear system to the front compressor. On the blower unit in the trunk, there's a big metal AirTemp tag with serial numbers and model numbers stamped on it. Should have it up and running by the summper. I've found a company in north Texas that can remanufacture the hoses for me.

More soon, off now to install a newly rebuily carb in one of my 60 Windsors.

Hope all had a wonderful Holiday Season and turn of the New Year.

Bryan

Bryan, thanks for your responses to my questions. Your '59 sounds like a truly special car, and I'm glad that you will preserve and drive it. We will all be excited to see additional photos during the months ahead.

Am I correct in thinking that your '59 retained body-on-frame construction, but your '60 Windsors had transitioned to unitized construction? Any observations about differences in body structure, ride quality, or road noise between the two years? I love the styling of both model years.

Hi Brian, Yes you are correct. Chrysler began it's Unibody construction new for the 1960 model year on all cars except the Imperial, which began with Unibody in 1964.

So, under the hood of the 59 New Yorker, you will still find the firewall to fender support arms.

Even with this car not having the Unibody construction, it drives and rides like a dream. Chryslers Air Torsion bar setup gives a good ride indeed.

The best way that I can describe the ride/drive of the 59 New Yorker is that it still retains some of that "50's" feel and look to it. You can see the evolution of Exner in the styling between the 1959 and 1960 years. The ride is smooth, and she drives like a dream.

My electrician is still in process of rebuilding the Bosch generator that someone adapted on the car years ago... Should have it back in a couple of weeks. After that, just need to get her to my mechanic and have the exhaust flange fixed at the manifold junction, and she's good to go!

I've attached another pic of the trip home, if you look closely, you can see the rear AC vents inside the back window.

More soon, have a great day!

Bryan

Bryan, thanks for that great "on the road" shot of your '59 finned wonder. It's a beautiful car -- and I suspect that everyone on the highway did a doubletake when they saw the spectacular Chrysler thundering down the road!

Hi Bryan,

I am a first time user of this service and happen to stumble across your message.

I have a 1959 New Yorker Convertible that I am starting to restore. It was in a front end accident about 20 years ago and my father purchased it for $250. No work hs been done on it since its accident and it is now my project car. Appart from the two front guards and grille it is complete and original.

I have a little info on the '59's that I have collected like production numbers, serial number designations if this will help you at all...?

Also I am a little lost as to where I can source parts when I start my resto. Would you be able to help...?

Hi Wokka,

I can sure help out as best I can. For the past 18 years, I've concentrated onthe 1960 Chryslers, and now own two of them. The 59 NYer was a very recent purchase...but am already gathering lots of information on the car.

You say yours is a convertible, WOW! Great car.

Let me know what you're looking for, and I'll see what I can dig up.

Above in another posting, you'll find another gentleman who also owns a 59 NYer, with his being a two door hardtop. Also, I have located another 2door owner only about 20 miles from me here in NC. The 1959 New Yorker seems to be a rather elusive car as far as surviving examples go... I've only been able to find less than 10 mentioned on the Web.

My direct email is The60Whitewalls@aol.com Feel free to email me anytime. Would love to see any pics that you have as you can send them.

Thanks!

Bryan O'Quinn

Durham, NC

Brian,

When you say "thundering", you weren't kidding... Remember I mentioned that the exhaust came off he manifold on the right side (just at the flange)...

The car truly sounded like she was running with glasspacks... LOL

Bryan

Visit www.forwardlook.net - check with a guy who posts on their forums under the handle '62 chrysler' - Steve has three '59's including a pink New Yorker 2dr that was on eBay a while back that a tree fell on the back of. He combined stuff for a sedan he's restoring and a second hardtop and this car is for sale. Forwardlook.net is probably the best place you can go online for 55-61 Mopar info -

A lot of '57-'58 stuff will work on '59's as well. I know of exactly one '59 in a junkyard here and it's a Windsor I believe. I'm parting a '58 Saratoga - it's too rusty to save even being a 2dr - and several '60's.

That convertible is an extremely rare car, it's been suggested that only a handful still exist (there probably is 50-100 if you include unknown cars in storage). The convertible parts are the most scarce on these - the rest shouldn't be quite so bad.