...massive, serene, silent (except when pushed, and the 440 cu. in. V8 comes alive with authority over lesser wagons...)

Edited February 10, 201313 yr by ocnblu

I dunno; 5100 lbs stark, raving naked & 215 HP.....

It's definitely heavy enough....but needs more like 425hp.

Worth reposting: In 1978, my uncle, his wife, and another couple took a trip across country. Uncle John took my grandfather's 1977 New Yorker Brougham, his friend had a '77 Ford LTD Landau coupe with 460. I'll remember vividly how he described their high-speed dash across Texas, the big Chrysler running strong, without incident... his friend's LTD unable to cope with the Texas heat, it overheated several times and had to stop. That's when I knew.

I dunno; 5100 lbs stark, raving naked & 215 HP.....

tsk tsk.. you know the name of the game for these wagons is measured in lb-ft.

You KNOW I know.

Chrysler seemed to be doing a bit of the shell game on the 440. In '71 it was rated at 220 HP net @ 4000 and 350 TRQ net @ 3200 at 8.8:1 CR.

By '74, the numbers were 230 HP & still 350 TRQ @ 3200 with 8.2:1 CR.

Still, drive one of these monsters- it feels quick but the stopwatch tells it different.

A '70 300H with the 440 (375/480 gross) did 0-60 in 7.1 secs. You KNOW this wagon, at 700 lbs more (5100-4400 (curb weights)) is not going to see the top side of 10 secs, and it's not just the weight. The 230/350 was the net rating on 335/460 net - still not enough to account for nearly 4 sec difference WITH the weight penalty. The rating numbers were there, but the performance wasn't.

If '74 wasn't so close in years & product (generally) to '70, I wouldn't be sour on it, but I've driven this era big block wagons, and they aren't great performers, just adequate.

I'm sure they are all off the line performers and then after about 45mph there is nothing left. They were meant for great take off feel around the suburbs for when Mom was trying to pull out of the Winne Dixie in a jiffy.

^ Very much correct, in my experience.