WTVJ / MIAMI - Bob Mayer 'Behind The Wheel' Of The 1979 Chrysler New Yorker

From November, 1978

[@kevinpatrickmacnutt]

Well, it was the New Yorker, and this car was a perfect reflection of what New York was like in the 1970's.

[@petermartinijr.1012]

LOL. I grew up in the 1970's in NY.

[@ucanvance]

"Next week: the Olds Diesel!" And we all know how THAT turned out. Geeez, what an era.

[@fordmavericksosx3569]

Lol true. The 80’s was the beginning of GMs downfall.

[@seiph80]

Where's *that* video?

[@johnmaki3046]

At least MoPars WORKED!

[@Lincolntowncoupe]

A true testament to Chrysler's state of condition in the late 70's/early 80's

[@georgechambless2719]

We looked at these when my Grandmother wanted to trade in her old car. Trim pieces didn't line up from from fender to door, and that was only the most obvious defect. You could see that on their brand-new cars just driving by the dealership. These were the dark days before Iacocca's ideas became actual products. Chrysler had an unsigned death warrant that scared buyers away.

[@waterheaterservices]

I owned the 1979 Dodge St Regis version of this car. Very enjoyable despite the minor workmanship flaws. Served well for 14 years.

[@andrewdevay1479]

My parents had this car, a 1979. The workmanship was awful with many minor defects, but not as horrible as this car in the video. Once the defects were sorted out, the car was bulletproof for years, indicating the design was sound but burdened with horrible execution and workmanship. Also the fuel economy was WAY better than the car in this video. Never got below 15, and never over 20. They measured it every time.

[@JP-vf9yb]

yep exactly... excellent engineering... poor production quality...

[@nickzobel9922]

That probably had the 318 ci engine, which would explain the gas mileage.

[@andrewdevay1479]

@NickZobel99 My parent's 1979 New Yorker had the 360 engine, not the 318. In '79 the vast majority New Yorkers had the 360 engine. I recall that for 1980 and 1981, the 318 was the only engine available. My parents traded the New Yorker in for a 1983 Lincoln Town Car. Despite the newer Town Car having fuel injection AND a 4 speed overdrive transmission, the New Yorker completely matched the Town Cars fuel economy!

[@johnmaki3046]

I knew these cars! They had CRAPPY assembly, but they had GREAT drivetrains! They HAULED ASS!

[@andreg4460]

In '79 the 360-2bbl was standard on the New Yorker, although a 318-4bbl was substituted in California and high altitude areas, where the 360-2 wouldn't pass stricter CA emissions. As for the leaking rear windows, that's actually a common issue, as they age, but it's interesting that this test car did it new! I have a '79 5th Ave, and the left side rear window actually seems like it rolls up TOO far, to the point it makes the window, as well as the opera window structure, jut out just a bit. Another added "bonus" is that these cars don't have rain gutters, like most cars did back then. I keep it garaged so it's rare that it gets rained on, but I've found that if I leave the rear windows cracked just a bit, there's no leakage. Oh, as for the 20 mpg, I've actually been able to break that on a good highway run. Local driving, I'm lucky to see 10-11. However, the car's also 45 years old now, doesn't get driven much, and most local driving is very short-trip.

[@craiga7652]

I love the look of these 70's & 80's cars, pity the build quality was so poor.

[@sneakerfreak2002]

Gorgeous car. I’ve always loved this 1st gen fifth ave. I can imagine though, being disappointing to pay those prices and get poor quality in return.

[@WadeMcLure]

Can you imagine buying a new car today and having all these problems? Oh wait, never mind, we have Tesla today... ;-)

[@pennywise8182]

Wade McLure .......I predict Tesla will eventually go out of business like Delorean did in 83-84.

[@624radicalham]

@@pennywise8182 Still waiting?

[@sparten17708]

@@laszlopalkonyay4133 no they’re not.

[@fairfaxcat1312]

@@pennywise8182 Just announced record sales today.

[@deepthinker999]

Don't forget Hyundai/Kia, today's answer to the Chrysler Corporation. Great designs but crap quality.

[@bramlintrent1145]

"The air conditioner stopped working. An electrical malfunction caused the brake lights to fail. The digital quartz clock went out. Stepping on the brake caused the interior lights to go on and off." Wow. They were beautiful cars, but it's hard to believe such a dud was given to someone for a "test car".

[@thecardsaysmoops]

Bramlin, it happened ALL the time!

[@WSNO]

Great car, fixed one up a few years back and had a blast tooling around in it

[@dkt1976dt]

This was when Chrysler was suffering build quality issues and Lee Iacocca had just taken Chrysler over and he had quite a mess to fix.

[@johnmaki3046]

Which he "sorta/kinda" repaired. He became VERY WEALTHY doing this, though!

[@deepthinker999]

@@johnmaki3046 Well Deserved by single handedly saving Chrysler. No one like him since.

[@johnmaki3046]

@@deepthinker999 I am NOT a real Iacocca fan. He had TALENT in the auto industry, but MUCH of his "accomplishments" were due to "right place, right time".

[@bpatterson1846]

Yessir when I hit the brakes the dash lights flicker and the clock fades out and resets back to 12:00 when it comes back on. Damndest thing I've ever seen!

[@MsKewi-NYC]

MY DAD'S car didn't have all those problems. I miss that car.

[@brkitdwn]

@jason9022 Your grammar, spelling and sentence structure also have probs!

[@craiga7652]

@@brkitdwn Her grammar, spelling and sentence structure don't seem to have any problems that I can see.

[@ATLcentury334]

I remember these cars very well. In the late 70’s and early 80’s they were an eye catching luxury car, that should have been equal competition to Lincoln and Cadillac. But unfortunately, it was a Chrysler. That meant that it was seen on the side on the interstate with its hazard lights blinking all too often. And now, you never see them for sale. All looks and no show.

[@ppxhbqt]

No surprise here. The first R-body off the line, a Newport if I remember correctly, wouldn't start and had to be jumped off while the press watched. Consumer Reports had to buy a second St. Regis to complete their tests because the first spent so much time at the dealer. The second one had lots of problems too, though between the two they made their test deadline.

[@walterweddle7644]

I loved the Fifth Avenue edition. Sad such a great looking car had so many problems. Maybe a lot of cars in those days. One thing is obvious however, they all didn't look exactly alike as today where most aren't really cars, but SUVs. I guess the manufacturers have to make what sells.

[@deepthinker999]

The minivan faded and someday the SUVs will too.

[@rich1223]

My mom had a 79 Diplomat baby blew with the half white roof! basically same thing and never had a problem until she sold it it in 85 AND bought a brand new Cutlass Supreme which was also a great car!

[@scottlevine7646]

I. Love. This. Guy.

[@thecardsaysmoops]

:-) THANK YOU!!

[@rtoma1974]

This car was so stylish and elegant. Shame about the build quality.

[@thebestisyettocome4114]

I had new in 1979 ,this was right before Lee Iacocca, took over the company.
It really was not a dependable automobile by any standards. I remember it had a lot of bells and whistles on the car. I kept that car to 1982 and traded it in on a Chrysler Imperial with fuel injection. That car was a problem all of its own with the fuel injection. Chrysler had to convert it to a carburetor system. I traded again and went to a Cadillac and never went back to Chrysler. I've been told that the Chryslers up today are very good cars I have a feeling that they most likely are.

[@jasonhsu4711]

If your 1979 Chrysler New Yorker was so undependable, why did you buy another Chrysler product in 1982? If you wanted an ultra-high-end Brougham land yacht at that time, Lincoln would have been your best bet.
Given that you didn't mention anything about your experience with your Cadillac, I'm guessing that you were one of the lucky ones. Cadillac had a series of bad engines in the 1980s and sent so many of its customers to Lincoln, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Acura, and (eventually) Lexus.

[@unitedcity_mc4421]

No. Chryslers today are not very good cars. They are still being plagued with build quality issues. These R-bodies also had so many flaws but at least they have so much style, character and personality than the junk they are building today.

[@deepthinker999]

There is only one Chrysler left and it is a minivan.

[@DSGNflorian]

A late 70s Chrysler product riddled with defects from the factory?! What were the chances? I guess they were something like 96.7 percent. Based on that assumption, there HAVE to be at least 8 or 9 very satisfied buyers of those out there whose cars didn't fall apart. Comfy land yachts that were actually quite nice looking compared to some of the other stuff that visually polluted the highways back then. Chrysler's legendary assembly quality aside, I bet every now and then a super low-mileage, absolutely mint example, pampered by a kind and caring grandma, pops up on eBay or Hemmings. They don't look it, but these ultra-orthodox boxy barges were direct descendants of the futuristic, quirky and similarly sales-proof 1962 Plymouth and Dodge. Although designated the Chrysler R-Body, they were really the last hurrah, or final whimper, of the corporate B-Body that started life as a Plymouth Savoy/Belvedere/Fury and Dodge Dart/Polara back in the day.

[@1983jblack]

This was one of those cars you loved or hated. I could leave it, never cared for the styling of these full size Chryslers from 1979-81. 1974-78 big Mopars are a different story for me.

[@rbielarski]

Wow, forgot how much the quality had slipped by the late 70's/early 80's in the USA auto market. That would not be acceptable or put up with today at all.

[@ericsamuelson5656]

My childhood friends father had a 1980 Chrysler New Yorker. They resigned into a front wheel drive K-Car by 1983 and resigned again for 1988 which was a replica of the 70s version. The New Yorker was in K-Car form until 1993.

[@maddywendall2980]

AH...1970's fit and finish!🤔😉😄 NO Surprise Americans started buying Foreign models. This car actually was a nice design though.

[@jamesmorris913]

GAWD, these were horrendous times in our country, in general..1973-1981 (more or less). I was a young adult, trying to get my "footing" in life..through one "shit-show", after another. Ridiculous inflation, oil embargoes, Jimmy Carter, Iran, and the icing on the cake...Really, REALLY, crappy Detroit "iron"; exactly like THIS!

[@jhancock1575]

This Chrysler is a good example of the crap that was being produced by all of the domestic makers during this period. Working out the “bugs” while under warranty was very common during the first year of ownership. People got conditioned to this crappy quality and tolerated for a while until they discovered from Japanese makers that their cars don’t come with “bugs.”

[@TVHouseHistorian]

Funny you should say that. I bought a Honda CRV brand new in 2017. The car was a complete headache for the first 3 years of ownership. It came with lots of “bugs,” it seems. Year #4 seems to be no different. This thing has so many electronic glitches it’s not even funny. The first year, the collision mitigation system would sent a false warning signal and the car would randomly slam on its own brakes - even on the freeway! Then, I’d be driving on the freeway and the cruise control, as well as all the other electronics within the sensing system would randomly shut down. A system warming would come up on the dash, and I would have to pull over and turn the car off for 5 minutes before getting back on the freeway. Then the touchscreen would randomly adjust its own settings, beeping constantly as it went. Took 3 years of fighting Honda long and hard to get the necessary work done in order to make it tolerable to drive. I’ve never owned a car that produced so much anxiety. Wishing I’d have gone with Ford.

[@jhancock1575]

@@TVHouseHistorian I’m sorry you had to go through that. Not something I would expect from Honda. But, we are now 40 years later and companies change.

[@TVHouseHistorian]

@@jhancock1575 Very true!

[@martinliehs2513]

​@@TVHouseHistorian the sad part is that rhe issues that you describe are related to features that did not exist 40 years ago. Were your car not equipped with all of these gadgets, perhaps you would have had a much better experience.

[@darylkik6204]

I had forgotten about the cars when I was in high school in the 1980s. Hey look the new Chryslers average 10 defects per car this year. I never thought they could reach a low number like 10. Gonna be a good year.

[@ponchoman49]

I remember seeing these cars when I was a 9 year old kid. The workmanship was appalling. The frame less door glass didn't mate up with the rubber seal on several examples and I could stick my fingers through the gap! The front and rear bumpers has thin flexible plastic surrounds that often had ripples you could stick your fingers in and paint runs were common. The best parts of these cars were the 318 V8 tied to the bullet proof Torque flite automatic transmission!

[@mst3kanita]

shit was crazy in the late 70s.

[@RADIUMGLASS]

There was a strike going on at the time a lot of these cars were built. They had a skeleton crew and the cars were just thrown together and if there was an issue a supervisor or Foreman would just say "its the dealer's problem.

[@tingokuman]

Meanwhile at Toyota and Datsun Headquarters.....

[@jameswillett7186]

Upscale/Luxury cars of the late 1970's like Buicks and Oldsmobiles were better built than Ford or Chrysler products.

[@olddisneylandtickets]

1979, took a helicopter tour of queen mary in long beach harbor, there were 1000's of the big bodied Chryslers, new unsold, parked in huge lots covered in thick layers of dirt and harbor grim, i think i could hear them rusting away...

[@michaeldickens7493]

Oh my dad had one but it was a Good car then he traded it in on an Eldorado

[@GoodOlRoll]

The late 70s were a dark time for Detroit.

[@KayakTN]

And you got to pay 12% interest for the privilege.

[@emeyer6963]

They needed to install an alarm that warned buyer's to stay away from these shoddy assembled clunkers.

[@solemandd67]

So Chrysler expected customers to faithfully make monthly payments on their $12k luxury car, plus tax, license and insurance with these many problems?
I was 15 when these were introduced yet I don't remember seeing many in Houston and can't recall the last time I've seen one in Dallas.
Now I know why....

[@joserafaelgrangefuenmayor7744]

Me gusta el carro

[@jasonhsu4711]

Given the weird electrical problems, you could have easily convinced a superstitious person that this 1979 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue was haunted.

[@Jac2Mac]

What Chrysler SHOULD have done for the 1979 New Yorker is use the exact same chime sound that was used in the 1976-85 Cadillac Seville for all 3 functions instead of an electronic chime sound.

[@pcno2832]

It's too bad the government made Chrysler drop these cars as a condition for the 1980 bailout; they were good competition for GM's and Ford's large cars and were said to be reliable once the early defects were sorted out. I've read that they won over a lot of police departments which had dropped Chrysler cars due to the poor long-term reliability of their 1970s mid-sized cars. These cars were actually based on said mid-sized cars, but many of the design weaknesses of those models had been addressed. I guess the same can't be said of Chrysler's assemble process.

[@timothykeith1367]

The big blocks were dropped after 1978, the 360 lacked the oomph for high speed pursuit. Dodge trucks without the big block were also less competitive, but eventually signed a deal with Cummins which gave new life to Dodge trucks. This era was a technology gap in which computers and EFI weren't ready but consumers still wanted luxury, but the gasoline price was high.

[@derekogilvie6942]

I can't believe the fault list - how did this car get through any modicum of testing before it left the factory? Appalling.

[@Doobie1975]

Do you have the video for the tested Olds Ninety Eight Diesel?

[@thecardsaysmoops]

No, I'm sorry... I do not,

[@lincolnlane9235]

“Our test car DID develop several problems..”. I am about as anti-Chrysler as it could possibly get, and this is why. BRAND new, and on a test run, listen to all the weird problems and issues the damn thing exhibited. The car was performing at “30-year-old-car” standards from the day it rolled out. EMBARRASSING. Can you imagine sitting in the board room at Chrysler, watching this review, and having to account to managers and investors for this build quality and the negative publicity that just got broadcasted all over town and beyond? A shame too, because that generation was actually not a bad looking car.

[@beezertwelvewashingbeard8703]

79, 80 were probably the worst years for American cars. Brand new Ford's wouldn't even start right out the factory door, Chevy's would come back to the dealership, sometimes under their own power because the complaint of noise turns out there was a Coke bottle trapped inside the boxed frame of the car, rattling around. I can attest, I have a 79 Plymouth.

[@shelbygtsoo]

Usually the manufacturer would take extra care when handing over a test car to reporters. Shame the car looked great but the finish… reminds me of Triumph Stag

[@LearnAboutFlow]

This was Tesla's quality benchmark

[@TruthFLA]

12k for top of the line wow

[@billiamdabne9932]

50k today

[@ce9345]

All those defects. Chrysler didn't care about quality. Thankfully Lee Iococa came in and saved Chrysler from going under

[@michael9052]

The car should never have left the plant. Have to wonder if it was inspected. Not good to have so many problems with your flagship model.

[@suspiciousminds1750]

I watched about two dozen of these reviews, were there any good cars from the 70s?

[@thecardsaysmoops]

One of the best ones from the 70's was the 1979 Cadillac Eldorado. I liked it so much, I bought one. Turned out to be a real lemon. I sold it after only about 1 year. Constant computer issues, breakdowns and tows. A real disappointment. These days I'm on my fourth Lexus ES 350. Nothing EVER happens to a Lexus. It's really unbelievable!

[@suspiciousminds1750]

@@thecardsaysmoops On my first ES, a 2016. I fully agree!

[@jasonhsu4711]

@@thecardsaysmoops It's a shame that your 1979 Cadillac Eldorado wasn't as good as the one you test drove in your Behind the Wheel segment.

[@brkitdwn]

All those issues on a brand new car? Was that done deliberately as a joke by the car manufacturer? Those were some very major issues.

[@thecardsaysmoops]

I assure you it was no joke. Check out some of my other car reports from the 70's and 80's. American auto manufacturing was at an astonishing low point.

[@waterheaterservices]

Glorious revolutionary labor unions did to Detroit what The Party did to the Soviet Union.

[@googleusergp]

@@thecardsaysmoops You were indeed driving a Chrysler product at its' worst. 1979 was the bankruptcy year for Chrysler and the lack of quality in this was apparent. By 1980, Chrysler would close Chrysler Main and other issues would come about. When Lee Iacocca took over he was shocked at how Chrysler built cars. Rather than do it to order, they "pushed" inventory out to dealerships, which led to many of them sitting around unsold for a while and inventory holding costs being high. I'm pretty sure that's one of the first things Lee Iacocca looked into as it was a cash drain on the company. One of the reasons for the 1979 bailout was I believe at that time Chrysler had military contracts and Washington felt that letting them go under could become a security issue. Further, no lawmaker wanted to be the bearer of bad news to constituents that they were the one that said no to a bailout and caused job loss. As others have said, the Big 4 (back then) all had their problems, but Chrysler and AMC and some extent Ford had the lion's share of the problems. GM was no better, but their vast size helped to "bury" some of those problems (at least in the short haul).

[@deepthinker999]

@@googleusergp Chrysler would continue building cars without any customers and then parked them outside rusting away until a sales order was received. This process was one of the first that Iaccoca shut down. Before Iacocca Chrysler was run by accountants who cooked the books to make Chrysler look more profitable than it really was.

[@googleusergp]

@@deepthinker999 Yup, pretty much what I said. LOL. Yes, they were indeed trying to look profitable on paper, but they were in deep trouble.

[@fairfaxcat1312]

The Lord don’t make no junk.

[@MrCarguy2]

Holly hell those electronics scream FIAT all over it
I didn't knew they were that bad

[@Monaghan]

What

[@billiamdabne9932]

Fiat didn't buy Chrysler till 2014...

[@andycraig7734]

@@billiamdabne9932 Practice makes perfect.

[@aaronwilliams6989]

@@billiamdabne9932 it started with the 2009 bailout.

[@SuperBooboo02]

Fiat had nothing to do with Chrysler till in the 2000s, but Fiat sucks as well...

[@warriorofsunlight9272]

Huh consider me lucky mine only have a small water leak in the trunk

[@saxongreen78]

Far out, Man...with all those annoyances, one would be better off in a secondhand '64 Imperial or something like it - instead of $12,000, you could pay $800, add new tyres, brakes and shocks and still have over ten grand to play with! They deserved to go bankrupt.

[@RoadCone411]

And to think, this is a downsized New Yorker....wow.
There was no shortage of quality defects for Bob Mayer and his team to point out in the late 1970s, that's for sure. Can you imagine buying a new car in 2020 and having parts of the dashboard go out when you stepped on the brakes? Or a leaky door seal causing rain water to puddle on the plush carpet? Or some of the horrendous paint and trim I've seen on some other cars that he's tested? While just about all of these are correctable, the customer shouldn't be the one to notice these issues, of course, and these vehicles should never have been allowed to leave the factory like that. It doesn't say much about the long-term reliability of these cars, which I'm guessing was pretty atrocious. The fact that I don't remember too many of them on the road by the late 1980s when I started driving probably speaks to that.
It's cars like this that gave the government pause for concern about giving Chrysler (and the late Iacocca) a bailout.

[@rudybratr]

And this all problems are reason, why not to buy car during 1st year of production.

[@SuperBooboo02]

have you looked at new Chrysler products, worked for them for a short time, same kinda crap, wiring issues, electronic issues, engine oil consumption...just always built crap

[@atlguy00]

@@rudybratr In 2012 I bought a brand new 2013 model year Cadillac ATS. It was a new model at the time and mine came from the first production run. I knew about not buying a 1st year production model, but I figured it was the modern era, what could go wrong? Plenty. They didn't even weld the seats together properly. The A/C blend doors wouldn't stay shut in the proper position, it leaked water and started to mildew. There's more, but you get the point. Poor quality is not a thing of the past.

[@deepthinker999]

@@rudybratr At Chrysler it didn't make a difference. All the years were like this and don't forget the rust.

[@mantonas1]

Am I the only one who can't hear the voiceover in this video? Other than some kind of mechanical noise there's no sound.

[@thecardsaysmoops]

Something is wrong on your end. The Audio voice over is fine.

[@martinburke362]

They tried to slim the B body down to much with this model and left them feeling flimsy

[@DinoLondis]

To be fair, New York was in bad shape too at the time.

[@Lumotaku]

this car is great looking but went cheap over the new yorker of the previous generation

[@antd8259]

Cars back then were really crap..wow. Hard to believe that anyone would even attempt to buy something with such shotty manufacturing...sticky doors..leaks from outside...my god..total waste of money.

[@waterheaterservices]

True, but they would typically make it to 14 years and 135,000 miles, and were simple and affordable to repair compared to cars now. Not the best, not the worst.

[@deepthinker999]

@@waterheaterservices Back in the day cars would rust out after (3) or (4) years and need replacement. Chrysler products had the worst rust issues.

[@fredericklandry3597]

By '81 they had fixed some issues. By then it was too late the chassis was scrapped and Chrysler still sucked. My mom had an '81 New Yorker. Cleanest car ever but was a horrible mess.

[@corvettejimmy3323]

Mistake #1- you bought a dodge

[@michaelorlando6159]

If the new yorker had the same fuel ijection system as the imperial you were in for some serios problems chrysler had to recall them and install a carburetor at a great expense to them. Otherwise they noce cars the 360 and 318 where bullet proof nice sad the build quality looks sloppy. I love next week: the old 98 diesel now that was a total disaster

[@deepthinker999]

I had a 69 Plymouth Fury III with a 318 engine. The car would start immediately on the North Pole, then after (5) minutes it would stall and would not restart. Fifty years later I discovered it was an electrical ballast part that was the problem.

[@Mickmickster]

Brake failure? No big deal I guess?

[@andrewcolsen]

It’s a Chrysler...

[@handymatt1970]

a brand-new p.o.s. it nearly ended chrysler

[@trampasashton1822]

These things were horrible, the workmanship was laughable at best after it spent 3 months at the dealer sorting our all the factory flaws they were still a wet blanket.

[@deepthinker999]

Chrysler established regional repair centers that were supposed to correct the build quality issues before delivery to the dealer. Another reason why the company failed to make any money.

[@SuperBooboo02]

typical Chrysler quality, and now in 21 same shit, bad wiring, engine the suck oil...always been crap

[@deathflashx089]

Haha typical chrysler

[@palebeachbum]

Typical 1970s junk American car. This wasn't just a Chrysler issue. Low quality American cars paved the way for the influx of higher quality Japanese, and nowadays, Korean cars. My 2018 Hyundai Elantra seems like a downright luxury car in comparison.

[@deepthinker999]

Hyundai/Kia is the new Chrysler corporation with poor manufacturing quality which they try to weasel out of their (10) year warranty that only replaces claims with used engines and transmissions.

[@palebeachbum]

@@deepthinker999 They're replacing engines under warranty with new crate engines. Any manufacturer will deny a warranty claim if you give them reason to.

[@dieseldan9686]

I had a brand new Ford. Worst build quality I had ever seen. I had mopar that were better built. I haven’t owned a Ford since.

[@thecardsaysmoops]

They were ALL bad in the 70's. No single company had a monopoly on poor quality construction.

[@deepthinker999]

@@thecardsaysmoops Yes but Chrysler led the charge.

[@lex-2006]

LOL flasher would stay engaged Dumby dumb

[@seand2711]

Wow an expensive brand new car with all those issues? What a piece of junk.