Hemi Wagon: 1955 Chrysler New Yorker Towne & Country
A factory built wagon with a Hemi? Can a wagon get any better than this? Well, this unique ’55 New Yorker Towne and Country is an awesome classic that you can still utilize today. With plenty of room, style, and hemi power, this wagon would be great to hit the roads with your family on a classic inspired road trip of your choice. Currently not running, but able to crank over, this station wagon is straight with some rust concerns. With 37 bids, and half of the auctions time nearly over, bidding has reached $4,710. Find it here on ebay out of Charleston, West Virginia.
Perhaps not the Hemi some may have hoped for, this New Yorker is powered by a 331 cubic inch Hemi V8. Currently not running, the seller explains the fuel system needs to be cleaned and that the ignition system is too weak to currently fire the engine. There is a generous layer of surface rust on the inner fenders as well as on the engine itself. There also appears to be a fair amount of dirt as well, but this is to be expected as this Chrysler was found in a dilapidated garage half exposed to the elements.
Wearing a few different shades of blue, and some paid, this interior is in fair condition. There is no carpeting, and the seats have some rips, but the interior is quite complete. The biggest issues are the fractured steering wheel, and a spot of rot in the driver floor location. Aside from this rot area, the floors in this wagon seem quite solid. Also this wagon is rather fancy with its power windows. The door panels are in fair condition where they could likely be tidied up for an original look. The seats have been recovered at some point, and the front bench is missing its upper cover. Moving to the storage area, the white paneling in the trunk is scuffed, but complete, and the material covering the wheel wells is there, but rough.
If you take the time to look over this Chrysler carefully, you will see that the rust, and what little rot it has, is right on the cusp of being an issue. Meaning that the rust needs to be arrested now before it goes too far. There is various rust all around this wagon, but predominantly seen in the lower section of the body. There is some bubbling in the bottoms of the doors, as well as around the rear bumper trim. Rot is also present around the rear bumper trim as well. Surface rust is present on the roof, but there is little other surface rust on the exterior of this wagon. Taking a look at the under body photos shows surface rust that has become rather thick, where it has likely thinned the metal. There is also evidence of some rot along the bottom interior edge of the rockers as well. It is a shame as this wagon looks great as is, but the rust really needs to be halted now so that this wagon will last. With Hemi power, great looks, and tons of storage, this would be the ultimate family hauler, and classic road trip machine. Would you pack the family, and go reach the outer most edges of the country in this Chrysler?
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Comments
That Hemi brings back memories. I once had a 55 Dodge PU that I got from a friend. It hadn’t run in years and someone previously had transplanted a Desoto 331 into it. After some rewiring and work, it fired right up having been giving a little fuel. Still had the trucks 4 speed in it with a granny 1st gear but it was a lot of fun till I had to sell it due to family finance issues. Wish I’d had time to finish that one off, it was fun.
How that thing avoided the crusher purge is a miracle – those chassis rails are really inboard
Please restore this one to stock specs. Perfect the way it is, no improvements required.
I’ve never known a station wagon to have a trunk…
Love it. Could pull my 1946 Spartan Manor and haul the family to all of our national parks! Be still my heart.
What do you mean”may not be the hemi you wanted”? Wasn’t its the first? The 331 and 354 were the drag racers bread and butter not the tall deck 392. This car and engine are what I think of when I hear the phrase mid fifties Chrysler. I would drive this old gal proudly just the way she is.
I think Brian is referring to the fact that the 50’s hemi engines were intended for ordinary use. From the factory most were not the fire breathing 426 hemi.
The years make the difference; the 426 was a dream way back in the fifties, but the engineers knew the engine’s potentials. In WW2, there was a hemi engine designed for fighter acft, but wasn’t accepted by the AAF after testing. I believe it was ‘expensive’ & the ‘frugal-ists’ were too tight to part with ‘their’ dough! Might have given the Allison a run for its money, as the Allison was an older design adapted to fighter use. They were used in PT boats tho’ , & were good performers tho’ thirsty & ran hot- especially in the So. Pacific. I talked with an Engine Room mech from the era, he said it was miserable in there with all 3 eng’s running.
Absolutely beautiful. It needs to be restored, in my opinion. I think if someone wanted to use it daily, it would need updating such as 12 volts and air conditioning. But this car is an important part of an era of our country. The thing that should NOT happen is to put a blower on it with the carb sticking through the hood.
The auction is over $5k now, reserve not met…. I am surprised. Thinking that would be about the right money for this beauty.
Part of me sees a surfboard on the roof, and part of me sees it bone stock. Either way, it should be saved, and soon. It’s the same age as me, and that naturally makes it even cooler
Cutting a hole in the hood!? That would be an abomination! This is not rat rod fodder. But I agree with that other poster. It will be only good for a rat rod, or at best a lot more work to “derustify”, if that rust is not addressed soon.
Me, if I had all the money in the world, I might buy it, get it running, re-chrome the front bumper (and repair the slight damage to it), patch up the interior (especially that steering wheel), and patina the paint (assuming that is THEE original paint), add AC and a 12V conversion (per what another poster said), and store it in a heated barn. I would drive it on Sundays and to shows, but not on road trips.
As you can tell, I’m a purist as they are only original once.
Hmm! That’s a workable plan, all right. Kinda/sorta sounds like Jay Leno’s friend he visited on one show ; ICON. That guy builds radically powered, original paint, nice interiored ‘Not A Rat Rod’! Maybe ya saw it? It was a good episode, was on recently as a re-run. neta cars, but GAWD! The Dough he gets! ‘course he’s gotta support a huge building & many mechs who do the work. You might find the the show on some site, or wait for it to show again. Happy Dreamin’ !
Lets see here, in the US it was called a Town and Country and in Canada a Deluxe Estate Wagon; where was it called Towne and Country??
In any case way cool wagon and for a 50s Chrysler product looks quite solid. This one needs to be restored to it’s former glory with the only modification made adding a vintage Airstream Bambi.
I grew up in a Mopar family. We had a 1955 Desoto. It would go but it didn’t stop or corner all that well. This needs a disk brake conversion. If possible, (sure why not) replace the 2 speed powerflite with a three speed torqueflite.
Our next Mopars. 1957 Dodge, 1958 Plymouth, and 1960 Dodge all had torsion bar front ends and handled better.
Torsion bars were a huge improvement. Most people have no idea……..
81 Dodge Mirada rode like a magic carpet.
Sounds like a pretty rare rig also. Cool looking car with dual spotlights! Can someone tell me if the tailgate hinges are factory and is that a plastic cover over the power seat switches on the drivers seat? Thanks, Mike.
Hi leiniedude, I wondered that too, they look like gate hinges. Apparently, they are stock, just the chrome is gone. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/66/bc/6d/66bc6d09dd0ee96117cf9ed903fb9647.jpg
I thought they were “jury rigged” hinges as well. Thanks for the photo. I would have thought that even in 1955 the engineers/designers could have been a little more creative.
Thanks again Howard. The rig in your photo is a beauty also, and they get a thumbs up from me for taking her out in the rain.
Always remember the Lee Iacoca statement. “In the 50’s, we put chrome on with a trowel” So. I am guessing, they thought it was an opportunity to ad chrome.
Yes I know Lee wasn’t with Chrysler then, but the big 3 all loved chrome, in that era
Wondered the exact same thing. Plus it looks like there are phillips screws in there,and at the risk of being proven wrong, I dont think there were phillips screws in the mid fifties
That said, power windows, spots.super cool! Bring 25 grand to restore it.if you’re lucky :)
I remember chrome trim covers over these ( later year ) hinges. They’re gone in the pics, here. The earlier ’50’s Chrysler, Dodge, & Plymouth wagons had huge hinges that looked like walk-in freezer types from meat markets & restaurants! That always amazed me. Even as a kid, when we bought them to cruise the beaches in, as they were considered ‘nearly indestructable in our hands’, I never saw one with broken hinges-ever! Those hinges were kinda ‘art noveau’ as they were cast with great detail, then chromed & I’d have bet they were likely the most expensive pieces on the car!
I believe this is the car Bonnie Franklin drove during the opening credits of One Day at a Time, roof rack and all.
Hi Bob, good eye. I think hers was a ’56. ( proves I watched that show too)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8xgDgTBmtI
Howard and Bob, you’re showing your age. Lol
My daddy always told me, “Rusty cars are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
My buddy just bought a Dodge Magnum RT AWD with a 5.7 Hemi………
I’d rather have this!
I’ve owned a ’53 and ’54 – similar in profile, though as pre-Virgil Exner cars, they were more stodgy. This is on the cusp of not being worth the restoration in my opinion, we had to give up on our ’53 due to rust. They only made like 1200 of these things… so sourcing missing parts is another thing that’ll drive you nuts.
Hope the rust can be inexpensively halted (POR-15, maybe) and driven mostly as is. Great vehicles.
Looks like a full load for that little Uhaul trailer. One of those trips you couldn’t tell them what you were really hauling………
Indeed. I don’t recall them asking the make and model, but I remember I had to climb through the tailgate to load and unload. It was a slow, top-heavy ride in the right lane all the way from Buffalo to Chicago.
Haha yes! I brought home a 38 Chevy 1.5 ton on a U-haul trailer once. Pretty exciting stuff.
Guy at the counter didn’t know what to say, so he typed in S10 Pickup instead.
Actually weren’t called “Hemi” then. They were called “Double Rocker”.
Interesting, never heard the double rocker terminology. Of course, the valve covers say FIRE POWER …which I imagine summed up the whole country’s confidence level emerging from WWII and heading into the 50s.
Good call! In a Reply previously today about ‘Hemi’ , I talked about the aircraft engine designed by Chrysler during WW2. In the magazine ad touting the engine’s technology, they described how the ‘Hemispherical Cylinder Head’ was so efficient and powerful a design & so on. But you’re right, the auto ads described the ‘double rocker design.
This is especially cool because it was rare in its day and even more so now. You saw Chrysler wagons, but not that many of them even in the ’50s when I was a little kid. And a high-spec two-tone model like this? Not often at all. As such, it speaks of class and the owner’s expendable income — an owner who wanted something better, more interesting and frankly a little more exclusive than a Buick. Cool. Someone buy and save this thing. Get it going mechanically, restore the body and interior, paint in original colors, find some nice new wide whites, and have the coolest wagon out there.
I was going to disagree about the wide whitewalls, as I feel few cars look good with them. Then I saw the picture below posted by Jimmuh. Wow they look great. Good call Paul
I love it when an old car like this is found in original condition, it always makes restoration easier when you don’t have to do months of research to find out what it should look like. This looks like a solid base for restoration. I agree, upgrade electrical system, vintage air, I might also upgrade brakes, otherwise leave this as built.
I don’t think I would “drive to the outermost edge of the country” in the blue one, but I certainly would in this one….
Looks like the Puget Sound out there…
Beautiful car! Doctors’ families had stuff like this- they were posh, stylish, & comfortable. I can imagine how much the wire wheel option would have cost! I remember that most wire wheels had to custom ordered & came from only 2 or 3 makers in the USA-at the time. Nothing unusual there. Car mfg’s thought they were ‘old-fashioned’ for some time.
evening guys had one years ago in ct we drug it out of the woods behind a farm house pretty rusty but could have been saved if I rember the gate hindges were moe like the inside of house door hinges perhaps yhey rotted out and some one used barn door hindegs best to pull one up on the net and check what they look like up close ben in fl
Bidding is at almost $8000 with 2 days to go. There’s an awful lot of rust to work through if you’re going to preserve this one.
Couple of things – I know in 1954 that the New Yorkers got dual exhausts. This one seems to have a single and it looks to exit in front of the right rear tire, which is strange to me. Also, it’s cool that it has a panel that flips over the space between the interior and the tailgate.
Personally I liked the 56s better than the 55s, but this is one cool vehicle (PW, Pwr seats, dual spots, hemi, probably PB too, roof rack, mostly intact).