When the 1978 Chryslers debuted I was 18 years old, and couldn't afford a new car, much less the top of the line Chrysler. I thought the New Yorkers were the best-looking cars on the road. Very odd for someone my age, but I have always like big lux-o-boats! Since I couldn't buy one, I took a camera to the dealership and snapped a few photographs and picked up the sales brochure. I wanted a white one, just like the one pictured in the sales brochure. Shortly afterwards I bought a triple white 1973 boat-tail Riviera. My big car fix!

Fast forward to 1997. I was at the Hershey Pennsylvania Auto Fair walking around looking at the classic and antique cars. Off in the distance I saw a white Chrysler drive by with a trailer attached. I of course had to go check it out. A man and his wife were loading a 1930's Packard onto the trailer. The car pulling the trailer was a triple white '78 New Yorker Brougham with red accents (carpet, dash, seatbelts, etc.). The man was a salesman with Premier Motors, a small dealership in Greensburg, PA that deals with collectable and special interest automobiles. Premier had bought the car a few months earlier at an auction to use as a tow vehicle. He was in a hurry, but we talked for a few minutes and he gave me his business card. I didn't even think to ask if the car was for sale. They finished loading up the Packard and drove away.

A few days later, back home in Atlanta, I got to thinking about the car. I still had the sales brochure and I even had the photographs I had taken so many years ago. And now I had the money! To make a long story a little shorter, I called the dealership, negotiated a deal and sent them a deposit with the stipulation that I could check the car out before I gave them the full amount. After all, I had only seen it briefly.

I caught a cheap flight to New Jersey, the closest airport to Greensburg. When I got to the dealership it was dark. They had the car under floodlights, which made it look just like the photograph in the brochure. I fell in love. The car is highly optioned, and includes the factory sunroof, road wheels, Auto-temp (not necessarily a good thing), leather seats, power everything, etc. About the only options that it doesn't have is the Automatic Height Control system. Mine has the factory air shocks with the filler nipple in the trunk. The dealership said that the original owner had worked for Chrysler, and had changed out the original 400 engine for a 440. I checked the car out, paid for it, and drove it home with no problems. The car had less than fifty thousand original miles on the odometer.

Service receipts for the car were in the glove box with the original owners name on them, William C. Potter from Washington D.C. I tracked down Mr. Potter's phone number and left a message on his answering machines saying that I purchased the car, and asked that if he had time I would like to ask him some information about it. I didn't hear anything for a few weeks and just assumed he wasn't interested in talking about the car. Then one evening I got a call, it was Bill Potter, he and his wife had been in Florida and had just returned home.

Bill was very nice and told me all about the car and his history with Chrysler. Bill was the Washington D.C. Technical Representative for Chrysler Sales and Service. He had recently retired after 40 years of service with Chrysler. Bill ordered the New Yorker as a company car and checked off most all the option blocks. The car was one of the last New Yorkers built and Chrysler wasn't offering 440s in passenger cars at the end of production. A few months after taking delivery, and not content with the 400 the car came with, Mr. Potter ordered a crated 1975 Imperial 440. He built it out to heavy-duty police specifications and added chrome valve covers and a chrome air cleaner. Since it now had an Imperial heart, he switched the New Yorker hood ornament for the Imperial eagle ornament. Bill said he did not order Auto Height Control because Chrysler had been having reliability problems with them in the past. Being a technical rep, I guess he would have the inside scoop on those things! Though purchased as a company car, it wasn't used for company work, and was never driven in the snow and salt, hence its lack of rust. In August of 1996, after many years of pampered driving, Bill sold the car at an auction because he and his wife were retiring to Florida.

The Potter's and I have kept in touch over the last few years, and I even bought a second car from Bill, a 1981 Imperial, also white, with a dark red interior. The Potter's have a daughter that lives in the Metro Atlanta area. On one family visit, Bill brought me the original power radio antenna, which he replaced with a fixed mast unit for better reception, and a photograph of the 440 before it was installed in the car.

I love my New Yorker and I still think it is one of the best looking cars on the road. I enjoy driving it on nice weekends and taking it to local car shows, it definitely gets the looks. It's in great condition and everything works. The car was originally ordered with the "Wider Whitewall Tires" and had them on it when I purchased it. I know it's a matter of taste, but that was just a little too much white for me. I have since replaced them with 1-inch whitewalls. The original Firestone 721 1-5/8 whitewall spare is still in the trunk. Though I hope after 25 years, I never have to use it! I recently had the A/C system converted to 134, and I'm trying to track down a vacuum leak in the Auto-temp II system. (This is not fun!) A few years ago I added a remote trunk and door lock release system.

I recently found a 1978 dealers paint and interior book, which has all the interior and exterior color and fabric samples for the entire 1978 Chrysler line. Amazing what you could get back then, considering today most cars only offer gray and taupe. Several years before I bought the New Yorker, a friend gave me a Chrysler memo dated October 7, 1977 titled "1978 Chrysler Confidential Price Bulletin, Passenger Cars, and Factory Installed Options and Accessories." It lists all the order codes and their list prices. I guess it was 'karma' that I should get a 1978 New Yorker a few years later!

Christopher Conway

Atlanta, Georgia

USA