This is my grandfather's car parked in the driveway of the family shore house circa 1954 or 1955.. Sorry it's the only picture I have so not much to go on. I'm assuming it's a 4 door sedan. Make? Model ? Year ? Paint code or color name ? Thanks in advance.
1950 New Yorker is correct. Last model with the straight eight engine. In the same class as Packard, Buick Roadmaster and Cadillac. An expensive luxury car at the time. Color appears to be Juniper Green, code 23. There were 4 shades of green offered that year but Juniper Green looks the closest.
My grandfather was a retired Newark motorcyle cop. Not a wealthy man by any means so I'm a little surprised to find out it was a high-zoot car. He did however have a real appreciation for all things mechanical. Ha..maybe he grabbed it from the impound yard . Thanks again, great info! .
Those Mopars usually got pretty affordable to regular folks when they were 4 or 5 years old. Actually most early 50's cars depreciated pretty fast in their first few years on the road from new.
The New Yorker was a $5000 car when it was new. You could buy a house for that kind of money. By the time they were 4 or 5 years old you could buy one for $1000 or less. This was when a new Ford or Chev 6cyl sedan had a base price around $1800 and a Bel Air or Fairlane hardtop with V8 and 2 tone paint was under $2500. Cars used to depreciate a lot faster than they do now. Styles changed rapidly and cars did not last as long. In those days it was a rare achievement for a car to go 100,000 miles even with regular parts replacement and an engine rebuild. General Motors cars held their value better than Chrysler, Lincoln or Packard and Cadillac held their value the best of all. Yet Chrysler cars were better built and longer lasting than most other makes. This made Chrysler a great buy on the used car market. If you were savvy enough to pick up a low mile Chrysler in good condition, and didn't mind the dowdy looks, you could ride like a king for very little more than your neighbors spent on their Chevs and Studebakers.
Well that helps explain how he was able to afford it. On a side note the house it is sitting next to (which my grandfather built in the 1930's) sat on a peninsula of land surrounded on three sides by water. My father inherited the house in the late 50's and was forced to sell it and split the money with his 2 sisters. Sale price of the house was $4,500 so each got $1,500 . Prior to the damage inflicted by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 the house was valued at nearly 1 million. Who knew... .
Ahh, if only we all had 20-20 future vision how different our lives would turn out! I know, in my case, I would have tried to keep a few of those cars I sold in my youth.
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