Jalopnik
As President's Day is ultimately a ripoff to those working stiffs who used to get more than one President's birthday a year off work to lounge about in their pajamas or swap out voltage regulators in their old Lincolns, it seemed only fitting to bring some Presidential caliber motorcars to the Jalopnik today. The pictured Chrysler New Yorker limo was what Nixon rolled in about a decade after his Presidential ride in Washington ended, and may or may not have included an onboard tape recorder.
Parade of Presidential Limousines [Dave's Classic Limousine Pictures]
Related:
What Do World Leaders Drive, er, Ride? [Internal]
Comments
I generally despise FWD, but when it is taken to this kind of extreme it starts to interest me. Tricky Dick might have had some extra armor on his, but this was a production car:
http://www.allpar.com/eek/k/limo.html
Now that's disgraced-ex-presidential luxury!
Cadillac also made an in-house limo from the front-drive Fleetwood/deVille platform:
http://www.gmphotostore.com/images/53218155-Large.jpg
Sadly, I don't think they ever made a limo version of the Cadillac Cimarron. Now that might have been able to top this for disgraced luxury.
If I had an "I don't give a fuck" level of independent wealth this would be my daily driver (or, more properly, rider). Not only is this based on the K platform, but it was powered by the turbo I4. In the DCX luxury hierarchy this thing shivs the Maybach with melted, sharpened polyester underwear then pisses on it.
I have test drove one at a back woods used car lot. It came from Chicago as some flea-bit hotels O'hare shuttle. High miles, high cig smoke, and low oil. I dug the half vinyl landeau top though. Really would have made a bitchin' Limo-page pickup.
It's good to know that someday after his impeachment, George Bush might be riding around in the stretch version of, I dunno, a Scion XB.
Spence: No it'll have to be something with an American badge. Think Chevy Aveo.
I always wondered if mom's 86 NYer turbo was technically a K car, or not. She insisted it wasn't, that it was a cut above. I can finally get some sleep now...
BTW how in the hell did that thing move? Mom's car probably ran a 26.5 in the 1/4 mile, w/o the stretch! Too bad the steering had more torque than the motor.
I've seen one of these in person. My only thought is how did it ever get out of its own way?
The only K-cars that werent dangerously slow were the ones that weighed less than 2500lbs. (I'm not counting K variants with Turbo II or III or what have you)
That reminds me of the coolest K of all... 89 Caravan Turbo 5spd
My wife (then girlfriend) had a family K car. That thing couldn't get out of the wind's way!
Normally, when driving, you stick your hand out the window & fell wind pressure from the front. If you were driving this thing with a tail-wind, you felt the wind from the back!
It probably ran 26.5 to 60mph...
Got one of these Chrysler Executives in my driveway, same color, Nixon not included. Leisurely 1984-85 models had Mitsubotchy 2.6 for keeping up with grandma's Geo Metro. All final year 1986 versions (mine) had Turbo 2.2 -- feeble when the light turns green but get the revs up past 2500 and it's rapid transit for 7. Driver is cramped but behind him, electric tinted sliding glass reveals enough legroom for the Shaq. Everything from the front door forward is truly a New Yorker, behind the rear seat is half a LeBaron tudor. You can see the welds underneath where the factory joined them. When girlfriends told my daughter about the limos their dates were renting for grad, she replied "How nice. Daddy BOUGHT me a limo for grad!" Needs a tranny now, it truly is a Chrysler.
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