So here it is, Christmas Eve Eve, as some may say. I spent the day picking up a pie for Christmas dinner (I don’t cook), hosing off the Lincoln (damn birds, damn berries!) and perusing FB for cars I don’t need or have room or patience for.
And found this seemingly immaculate Mopar M body on Omaha CL. For a rather princely $11,500, but I will admit it appears to be a real time capsule, at least from the photos.
As the ad proclaimed: “Last of the big body, rear wheel drive, V8 Chryslers. Unrestored, driven occasionally, garaged and well cared for, one family owned. If you are a fan of the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul series you may recognize this car. The character Mike Ehrmantraut drives a similar Fifth Avenue in the show. Please contact me through Craigslist. Please only serious inquiries. Thanks for looking.”
While it is listed as an ’88, I am guessing it’s an ’89, as it has the airbag steering wheel. I seem to recall the airbag being an option late in the 1988 model year, but I don’t have my vintage Chrysler brochures in front of me at the moment, so I’m calling it an ’89, which was the last year these were available. (UPDATE: it is an ’88, thanks to CJ for decoding the VIN in the ad.) Those final relics of the old Chrysler Corporation were actually built in the old Rambler factory in Kenosha, believe it or not.
While this car and its Gran Fury/Diplomat brethren were the last V8 powered, larger than a K car Mopars (at least until the 300/Charger/Magnum appeared in 05), calling them big is kind of a stretch, as anyone who rode in the back of one of these would attest. It was a shrimp compared to the contemporary Brougham/Brougham d’Elegance/Town Car. But they had all those Brougham cues: opera lamps, wire wheel discs, padded landau top, hood ornament, poofy ‘lawyer’s office’ seats, etc.
And I always liked them. Sure, they’re gauche, blowsy and over the top, but still way more interesting and attractive than say, a silver silvermist leased Sedona or CR-V. At least to your author.
As always, thanks for reading and have a great Christmas/weekend, as the case may be!