Leaks and burns a quart of oil every 1000 miles.
The suspension is extremely loose.
Interior worn badly.
Minimal performance for a V8.
Had to replace the radio and speakers.
Was parked for 11 years and started up instantly.
Seats are like pillows.
Had to put very little money into it.
The 318 starts every time, even in the cold North Dakota winter.
You are really lucky to own a 1979-81 Chrysler New York or any R-body car from those years, you definitely don't see very many of those cars around and they were better looking cars than the Ford's and GM of those years although I do like them, I've always been a big fan of the classic R-body cars and they are definitely one of the most obscure cars ever made, I wish you best of luck on your car and keep up the good work.
"...keep up the good work"?
Judging by his description and comment about not putting any money into it, it would not appear that the reviewer has any plans to restore it. Most likely will just drive it until it dies, then replace it with another beater.
Nice to see somebody else appreciates the forgotten R-bodies though. Back about twenty years ago when I was going through my "police car phase" I had three of those beauties at one time: a '79 Newport, an '80 Gran Fury and an '80 St. Regis, all ex-police cruisers equipped with the 360 V8. However, they were not particularly fast--that engine only had 195 hp. But they were roomy and comfortable and they looked good if you liked that 1980's boxy styling. The St. Regis had those cool plastic headlamp doors--too bad they got cloudy and didn't work a lot of the time though. I haven't seen any on the road in years--I think a lot of them got bought up for use as taxicabs, and generally by the time the cab operators are through with them the only place they go is the boneyard.
They are considered one of the most forgotten cars in the automotive history I can tell you that much and I'm surprised that they didn't sell as well as Ford and GM, plus it was great that you've got to drive three of the R-body cars and 195bhp was an awful lot of power for it being a late 70's/early 80's car due to the oil embargo and the economy during the time period, I would like to own a R-body car with a 360 V8 for decent performance or install a 383 or a 440 motor for even better performance, I've only seen about 4-5 of the R-body cars during the past 10 years and they deserve more recognition than what they get.
I worked on these cars when they were new. They were a joy to work on. The police cars would have a top end of about 110 MPH. But with a little work on the engine 125 MPH + was not a problem. Chryjoe
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