Offered between 1982 and 1989, the heavily chromed and stubbornly dated looking Fifth Avenue midsize luxury sedan found an audience of aging and technology averse car buyers for whom the car’s cranky stoicism was a virtue, and a vote against smaller, modern, more efficient offerings.
1983 Chrysler Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue Name
The Fifth Avenue name had been previously used as a New Yorker trim level, and the new 1982 Fifth Avenue was launched as the New Yorker Fifth Avenue, though the New York prefix was dropped for the following model year.
And by 1983, thanks in part to promising sales, Chrysler had fully embraced the Fifth Avenue’s dated ways, though the maker’s advertising for the car suggested otherwise.
1983 Print Ad
This ad for the 1983 Chrysler Fifth Avenue opens with the following three lines:
- “Uncommon in its quest for engineering excellence.”
- “Uncompromising in its over the road comfort.”
- “The 1983 Fifth Avenue may be the most practical luxury car in the world.”
Calling Baloney
Despite the lofty pretensions of the copy in this advertisement, we must, in good conscience, call baloney on all three claims.
Permit us to rewrite the above statements in an effort to filter some of the truth into the sales pitch:
- “Common, if not dated, in technology.”
- “Reasonably comfortable over most road surfaces.”
- “Affordable, all things considered.”
Dated Technology
In fact, the Fifth Avenue was the opposite of modern or advanced, it was, built from the remains of the brand’s aged rear-wheel-drive model lineup, yet it was also, unexpectedly, a sales success.
Traditional Buyers
The big on the outside, somewhat cramped on the inside Fifth Avenue caught the fancy of folks who found Chrysler’s move to crisply styled, front-wheel-drive, 4-cylinder cars a little rushed, and a little uncomfortable.
Plymouth and Dodge Variants
Indeed, the Fifth Avenue (less expensive versions of which were sold by Plymouth and Dodge, and often into law-enforcement and taxi service) was technologically antiquated. It’s torsion-bar front suspension, ox-cart leaf-spring rear suspension, and carbureted engines dated to the late Sixties. On the plus side, the Fifth Avenue cost little to develop, and could be sold at an attractive price.
Fifth Avenue Prices
In 1983, Chrysler’s compact front-drive, 4-cylinder LeBaron started around $8800. At about $12,500, the larger Fifth Avenue, with its standard landau roof treatment, available V8 engine, and traditional rear-wheel drive powertrain presented as a strong value to conservative buyers looking for a vehicle with old-school presence.
At approximately $40,000 in current dollars, the Fifth Avenue was priced more in line with popular period Buick sedans, than with the Cadillacs and Lincolns its buyers likely cross-shopped the Chrysler against.
Fifth Avenue Sales
As for sales, these numbers likely made the accountants at Chrysler very happy:
- 1982: 50,509
- 1983: 83,501
- 1984: 79,441
- 1985: 109,971
- 1986: 104,744
- 1987: 70,579
- 1988: 43,486
- 1989: 26,883
Total production: 569,114
The Fifth Avenue may have had a couple of additional years of sales momentum, the car’s 5.2-liter V8, which became standard for during the 1983 model year, wasn’t keeping pace with emissions regulations, and wound end up becoming a truck-only power plant. Chrysler’s once ubiquitous “Slant Six” engine had been standard going into ’83.
CG Says:
We suspect the automotive luddites who purchased Fifth Avenues were well served by the cars. They were plush, looked the luxury part, and kind of a deal. The Fifth Avenue was not, however, “Uncommon in its quest for engineering excellence.”
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1983 Chrysler Fifth Avenue Pictures
(Click below for enlarged images)
