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Virgil is our Golden Fawn 1978 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham (acquired in February 2001), and is my daily driver. 1978 was the New Yorker Brougham's final year of production and also the last year for the Chrysler big block V8s in passenger cars. Big is the key word here, as Virgil stretches almost 19 1/2 feet and weighs close to 5,000 pounds! He was a 66k mile 1-owner original car, with just about every bell, whistle and gadget you could imagine. Equipment includes Auto Temp II air conditioning, tilt and telescope steering wheel, dual 6-way power seats, power door locks, am/fm stereo with 8-track player, and plush Corinthian leather upholstery. Virgil was originally purchased by Margaretta Stone at Gundaker Chrysler-Plymouth in Belmar, NJ on July 24th, 1978. Ms. Stone kept the car for 22 years, trading it in for a new Dodge in the summer of 2000. The Dodge dealer then wholesaled this late 70's lux-o-barge to Shirey's Auto Sales in Dover, Delaware. Originally, Mr. Shirey (who is also a collector) was planning on keeping the car for himself and bringing it down to his winter home in Florida. However, he decided instead to bring his 1980 Mercedes to Florida and released the car for sale. I came across the car while searching on the internet for large, late 60's to mid-70's vehicles (talk about getting into trouble shopping on the internet!). Mr. Shirey e-mailed some excellent photos to me, and I pretty much bought the car based on those.
As of this date (September, 2002), I've put about 9,000 miles on Virgil, and other than a new set of Firestone 721's, a full tune-up, and a thorough cleaning, he's just about the way I found him. His size alone attracts much attention, and I'm amazed at the number of people who don't know what kind of car he is! I've had several folks remark on my 'nice Lincoln'!
Long Island, NY, USA
'Life's too short to drive 'ordinary' cars"