1989 Chrysler Fifth Avenue: Go Brougham or go home
The 1984–89 Chrysler Fifth Avenue, the final iteration of the old pre K-car Chrysler Corporation, had an interesting genesis. What during most of the 1980s was Chrysler’s top-of-the-line luxury car had much more prosaic beginnings.
Well, keep in mind that while these Fifth Avenues had pretty much every Broughamtastic feature and styling cue in the book, they really were not a full-sized car like the contemporary Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac Brougham. They were midsize at best, and their beginnings were, believe it or not, in the bones of the star-crossed F-body 1976 Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volaré compacts.
I don’t want to go too far off on a tangent, but the Aspen/Volaré compacts led to the “premium compact” Chrysler LeBaron and Dodge Diplomat, which appeared mid-year in 1977 to take advantage of the luxury compact craze that started with the “sheer look” K-body 1976 Cadillac Seville. Of course, the Chrysler versions were much less expensive than the Cadillac, but they were attractive, could be ordered with myriad luxury options, and sold well. The grand, giant Town & Country wagon of 1974–77 was actually replaced with a LeBaron version—with the requisite woody side trim, of course.
In 1980, the LeBaron was given an attractive facelift and remained available as a four-door sedan, two-door coupe, and four-door Town & Country wagon. The coupe could even be ordered with T-tops. That lasted through the 1981 model year. The new success of the all new front wheel drive K-cars changed things, however. Starting in 1982, the Town & Country moved to the K platform but retained the LeBaron nameplate. The full-size R-body Chrysler New Yorker and Newport were discontinued after 1981. So at the same time, what had been the 1980–81 rear-wheel-drive LeBaron became the M-body Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue, for 1982–83 only.
It was what would become the 1984–89 Fifth Avenue in all but name. A new roofline, thanks to a fiberglass shell grafted onto the 1980–81 LeBaron/Diplomat/Gran Fury roofline, and appended with a padded vinyl landau roof, gave the ’82 a new look. It was available only as a four-door sedan.
In 1983, the New Yorker became yet another variant of the K-car utilizing the stretched Chrysler E-Class body, but with a formal roof and requisite padded landau top. But the rear-drive M-body remained a New Yorker—for a while.
Starting in 1984, however, it was simply called the Chrysler Fifth Avenue Edition.
And these cars sold. In the early ’80s there was a lot of talk about the demise of the full-sized American car. GM introduced all-new downsized FWD full-size cars in 1984 as early ’85 models, Ford had been planning on replacing the Panther-body LTD and Marquis with Fox-based midsize cars, and there was a lot of uncertainty after Gas Crisis II in 1979 and the ’82 recession. But a funny thing happened. The economy improved, gas prices went down, and starting around 1983–84 full-sized cars started selling again. So GM kept the B-body Caprice, Delta 88, and LeSabre, and C-body Fleetwood Brougham, and Ford kept the Panther Marquis and LTDs in the line. And although new, smaller models were introduced, the “biggie” models did not totally disappear.
And so it was that if you were shopping new Chryslers in the mid-1980s, you could get a K-car LeBaron, slightly larger K-based New Yorker, or the M-body Fifth Avenue, which while not truly full size, retained V-8 power and rear-wheel drive. It was also available in less-fancy Dodge Diplomat and Plymouth Gran Fury versions, which remained popular with police and taxi fleets.
True, as a midsize, the rear seat room—particularly the legroom—was not as good as a Cadillac Brougham, Town Car, or even the Caprice Classic, but it made up for it in value and sheer Broughaminess. And sales of the Fifth Avenue were healthy through the mid-’80s. Between 1985 and ’88, sales were 109,971, 104,744, 70,579, and 43,486, respectively. Not bad for a car which had only the most minor changes between 1982 and swan-song 1989.
It was a pretty good luxury car value, too. Our featured car, a final-year 1989, sold new for $18,345. It had a 112.6-inch wheelbase, 206.7inch overall length, and was powered by the tried and true 318-cubic-inch V-8, with 140 horsepower and 265 lb-ft of torque. Contemporary competitors in ’89 included the Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency ($19,295), Buick Electra Limited ($18,525), Cadillac Brougham ($25,699), and Lincoln Town Car ($25,205). Though perhaps not as roomy in the back as these other cars, the Chrysler was a solid choice, and there was no mistaking it for anything but an American luxury car with its padded landau top, optional wire wheel covers, button-tufted interior in Kimberly cloth or optional Corinthian leather, V-8 power, ample sound insulation, lavish chrome, and stand-up hood ornament.
Our featured car, resplendent in Classic Black clearcoat over red leather interior, was spotted on one of my favorite Facebook groups, Finding Future Classic Cars, last summer. I’ve always loved these cars, and this example, in its most excellent color combination, had me smitten. It was listed on Boston Craigslist, and although it sold almost immediately after I saw it, the seller had this to say: “As if the STRIKING color combination of black clear coat with lipstick red leather isn’t enough. I don’t recall ever seeing one in this combination. Mostly you see drab whites or blues. This car is simply stunning with just over 42,000 ORIGINAL miles. As fully equipped as you’d expect and everything works! From all the power features to the cold air conditioning. Nothing to fuss with here. The 318 V-8 is a tried and true powertrain and it runs and drives like silk. Again, zero issues there.
“This car was obviously loved by its previous owners. It’s been said that the original owners kept it until just three years ago, where it was treated as one of the family. Looking at this car, I’d believe it. I’ve been around this generation of Chrysler vehicles since they were new and have not seen one this clean in 25 years. Original down to the factory floor mats which you could literally eat off of. I just can’t say enough. The original black exterior finish is amazingly good and barely shows a chip. There is ZERO RUST! You’ll be hard pressed to find something wrong. That being said, the one area on the car that could use some attention is the vulnerable cloth headliner. It’s starting to sag. Incredibly common for this vintage car. Easily fixed.”
It was just amazing, and I bet the new owner is very happy with it. And interesting fact about these final Fifth Avenues: In 1989, and only in 1989, they were newly equipped with a driver’s side airbag. Its Diplomat and Gran Fury siblings got them too. Also, after Chrysler’s purchase of AMC in 1987, the old AMC plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was used to build Fifth Avenues for the 1988 and ’89 model years. So these final vestiges of the old Chrysler Corporation were actually built in Wisconsin.
Starting in 1990, the Fifth Avenue nameplate was moved to a long-wheelbase version of the front wheel drive New Yorker, which had been redesigned in 1988. While it had many Brougham cues, such as wire wheel covers, padded landau top and hidden headlights, it was a super fancy K-car and front wheel drive, and not really the same as the outgoing RWD Fifth Avenues. But they were nice cars and lasted through 1993. But until the all-new 300 appeared in the mid-2000s, these M bodies were the last rear-drive Chrysler sedans. And though the 300 is produced to the present day, and is quite nice, it’s just not quite as regal, formal, and imposing as these Fifth Avenues.
