| What's New
With exception of time-proved
Spitfire and Firepower engines, all-new from tire treads to
roof ... Dart-like progression of "Forward Look"
styling . . . Balljoint, anti-dip, rubber-isolated torsionbar
front suspension . . . New Saratoga series in upper mid-price
range . . . Optional dual headlights ... Wrap-over-the-top
windshield on convertibles . . . Wrap-over-the-top backlight
on New Yorker hardtops . . . Convertible available in 300-C
series.
Your Choice
All new Chryslers are mounted
on the same 126-inch wheelbase chassis. Therefore, choice
is what you can afford in luxury and power. Lowest price Windsor
costs about the same as Oldsmobile Super 88s, Buick Centurys,
and top-line Mercurys. New Saratoga moves into upper end of
mid-price range, competing against Buick Supers', Olds 98s,
and a variety of accessory-laden Golden Hawks, Nashes, and
Hudsons. The New Yorker takes in the rest, on up to and including
the lowest price Cadillac. The 300-C is an expensive specialty
car for those who want the ultimate in performance.
All three series offer four-door
sedans, two- and four-door hardtops. Four-door, super luxurious
station wagons, called Town and Country can be bad in Windsor
or New Yorker form. This year, the convertible. is limited
to New Yorker, except for an interesting 300-C power variation,
and of course the latter is available with steel overhead
as well.
Chrysler Power
The New Yorker Firepower V8 (also
used in the Imperial) is the biggest in the industry with
its 392-cubic-inch displacement, the increase coming from
longer stroke and wider bore. Rated at 325 horsepower (and
Chrysler is more honest than most), it exceeds Lincoln and
Cadillac by 25 and is matched only by Cadillac's optional
powerpack. If that bothers you, buy the 300-C. Although the
rating hasn't been announced, it should easily exceed 350!
With all of this, the compression ratio is a relatively modest
9.2 5 to 1.
The wholly adequate. Spitfire
engine is of similar basic design until you get to the cylinder
heads. Instead of being hemispherical like in the Firepower,
the combustion chambers are a shape that Chrysler admen like
to call "polyspherical." MT reader Hal Julian of
Los Angeles pointed out some time ago that there is no such
word; the shape should be called hemispheroid, which aptly
describes it and is in the dictionary.
This 354-cubic-inch engine with
a twobarrel carburetor puts out 285 horsepower to propel the
Windsor. The Saratoga has a four-barrel carburetor and 10
more horsepower. Biggest advantage over the Firepower is a
less complicated valve train (single instead of double rocker
arms) and more accessible spark plugs.
Mid-season last year in the Imperial,
Chrysler Corp. introduced the three-speed version of their
pushbutton automatic transmission, now called "Torqueflite."
It was an operational success, so now with revised controls,
it is available throughout the line. Basically, it is a torque
converter coupled to a three-speed planetary gear set.
A five-button panel to the left
of the steering wheel (out of children's reach) gives handy
driver control. The control unit is connected mechanically
to the transmission, eliminating annoying electrical failures
common with another make of car that last year featured pushbutton
control. New feature is connecting the starter switch to the
NEUTRAL button.
This transmission is standard
on New Yorker and Saratoga models, optional on the Windsor.
Besides on the Windsor, a three-speed manual box can be installed
"for special purposes" (racing) in specially ordered
300-C's.
Chrysler on the Road
. Chrysler calls its new torsion-bar
front suspension system "Torsion-Aire." Where the
"Aire" comes from, we wouldn't know, as none is
involved. Nevertheless, it is an interesting adaptation of
a common European design.
Unlike Packard, no levelling
device is incorporated; nor, of course, does it extend to
support the rear wheels. The bars reach out from points on
the frame roughly below the front-door hinges on each side,
and connect to a conventional balljoint linkage at each wheel.
As the wheel goes over a bump, the lower control arm twists
the bar, and it acts like a constantrate spring. Interesting
feature for longterm owners (or those that wish to adjust
their own ride) is a manually adjustable device to put more
twist in over-age bars built into the rear anchor.
Chrysler, with its Torsion-Aire,
has a ride that is more firm and has dramatically improved
cornering. As is usual with this year s crop of ball-joint
suspension designs brake-dive that is noticeable is a thing
of the past. And this is something with Chrysler's center-plane
brake, one of the best stoppers in the industry. "Full-Time"
power steering, a little too sensitive for the taste of many,
is standard on the New Yorker, optional on the others.
One would think that the lowest
car in the medium and high-price field would be hard to get
in and out of, It isn't. The only interior dimension that
has really taken a licking is rear seat legroom. It hasn't
reached the point where you will burn your knees while smoking,
but a good 10 inches are gone when compared to last year's
model.
The new windshield and lower
hoodline give greatly improved visibility. On New Yorker convertibles
and. hardtop coupes, where wrap-over-the-top glass is standard
front and rear, respectively, so also is Solex treatment to
prevent discomfort from the sun. Richness of decor is as to
be expected in the New Yorker, and of exceptional value in
lesser models.
Why Buy?
Advanced styling, not likely
to be soon outdated . . . Power range from snappy to neck-snapping
. . . Real road-runner for long trips, not too cumbersome
around town ... Pushbutton transmission control.
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