The story of this 1973 Chrysler New Yorker 4 door sedan goes back about 11 years to 2013 when I was still going to Kettering University in Flint, Michigan doing my Master´s degree.
It belonged to Hans Granberg, “Hasse”, that I got to know when I was 20 years old and still in Finland. He was about 13 years older than me, but we shared the passion for classic cars and American culture. His plan was always to move to Sweden when I wanted to move to US. He also had so many classic cars that nobody really knew the exact number, I am almost sure he didn´t know that either.
In 2012, When I moved to US, he left Finland and moved to Sweden.
In 2013 he came to visit US for one his epic road trips. You can read about it here, at Moparts. There are also lot of really good photos: New Yorker is included too. For the trip Hasse picked up 1973 Chrysler New Yorker from Kansas. This was going to be his ultimate road trip vehicle and he drove it from Kansas to Detroit area. Before he started his journey, he did replace the fuel tank and had optional Mopar wheels installed with Dunlop Elite tires. While he was driving to Michigan, he had some carburetor issues and the left rear wheel bearing failed.
Below is a video, when I was still living in Flint and studying at the university. Hans arrives from Kansas with the Chrysler New Yorker.
After Hans´s trip to US, the car was put away in a storage in Flint area. However after few years, the warehouse went up for sale so the vehicle was moved to my friend´s garage. From the garage it ended up to outdoor storage lot, where it sat couple more years. Hans was going to come to US the next year to get the car, but he never did. Unfortunately, Hans passed away late summer of 2024.
Because the Chrysler sat in a storage lot and the monthly payments were recurring, I decided to contact Hans´s estate and purchase the vehicle. At this time the car had been sitting 11 years total, so I wasn´t sure how good (or bad) the Chrysler was going to be. Luckily, it was almost the same how I remembered it: 62,000 miles, original paint and -nice- interior, couple rust spots (but nothing major).
Below is the “to-do-list”
- The keys were lost
- bad battery
- Engine doesn´t crank
- left rear door doesn´t open
- Exhaust damaged when the car was lowered from the trailer
- Left Rear wheel vibrating
- Brakes need to be completed
- Interior smells like wet dog (or should I say, wet mouse)
- some of the tail lights and turn signal doesn´t work
At the time of writing thIs, almost the entire list has been solved. The Chrysler went to even local car show “Parking at Pasteiner´s” on Woodward and 14 Mile (Birmingham, Michigan). I can say that after all these years, it will and has been cruised on the Woodward Avenue again, like when Hasse owned it. Rest in Peace.
