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Junkyard Gem: 1990 Chrysler New Yorker Landau Mark Cross Edition

The hallowed American tradition of the cushy, softly-sprung sedan with padded vinyl landau roof and puffy upholstery had its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, but you could buy such cars well into the 1990s. Even after Lee Iacocca's modern front-wheel-drive K-Cars appeared in the early 1980s, "traditional" Detroit luxury cars based on the K platform continued to be built by Chrysler for quite a while. A great example of this is the 1983 to 1993 Chrysler New Yorker, which managed to mix up the philosophical concepts behind the plush-yet-affordable 1970 Chrysler Newport with the space-efficient, lightweight Iacocca Era in one machine. I found one of these, a 1990 New Yorker Mark Cross Edition in a Northern California yard, and I wish to share its resplendence with you as today's Junkyard Gem. Lee Iacocca wanted Chrysler-badged cars to seem like Mercedes-Benzes (a little earlier, Ford had the same idea with the Granada), but at one-third the cost, and so we saw these "crystal-pentastar" hood ornaments for quite a few years in the middle 1980s through early 1990s. While Ford had deals with Cartier, Pucci, Bill Blass and Givenchy to sell "designer edition" cars, Chrysler went with leather-goods king Mark Cross. The base MSRP for the 1990 New Yorker Landau was $19,509, and the Mark Cross Edition package tacked on an additional $2,069 to that cost (that's like getting a $4,565 option package on a $43,050 car, when figured in 2022 dollars). For that price, you got power everything: a digital instrument cluster, a bunch of extra body moldings and interior goodies, and throne-like seats swathed in vinyl and Mark Cross leather (which, I'm just guessing, could not be distinguished from the famous (infamous?) Corinthian Leather of this car's Cordoba predecessors). Padded landau roofs were big in the 1970s and fairly deep into the 1980s, but had long fallen out of favor with the under-80 set by 1990. Still, Chrysler was proud of its landaus, and this car has big badges inside and out to prove it. By 1990, most luxury cars came standard with at least an AM/FM stereo radio, and that's what this car has. If you wanted to play cassettes, you'd have to pay at least an additional $254 (about $560 today). The 1990 New Yorker belonged to the extended K-Car family, living on the same platform as the very similar-looking Dodge Dynasty. The only engine available for this car in 1990 was the 3.3-liter Chrysler V6, rated at 147 horsepower.

FCA's U.S. sales chief sues company for wrongful retaliation

Some fresh controversy is brewing at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as The Detroit News reports that the head of U.S. sales has filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against the company.. Reid Bigland, who's also in charge of the Ram truck brand, alleges that FCA made him a scapegoat for wrongful sales inflation practices and fixing vehicle sales statistics, which are currently under investigation by federal agents. Bigland claims that FCA executives punished him for cooperating with the federal investigators in the case by cutting his pay by more than 90 percent, according to the lawsuit he filed. The plan apparently was to use the money saved to pay for fines following any settlements made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. So far, the lawsuit alleges that FCA cost Bigland over $1.8 million in income. "They had the largest growth in retail sales in 17 years last year and refuses to pay him," Deborah Gordon, Bigland's lawyer in the case, said to The Detroit News. "Why is that? Because he participated in the SEC investigation and they don't like what he said." Bigland claims he just cooperated with the SEC investigation by testifying about FCA's sales reporting, from the time he took the position to the period prior to being appointed the company's U.S. sales chief. "In late 2018, presumably as a way to wrap up their investigation with some result, the SEC suggested to plaintiff that he admit to some wrongdoing as to defendants' monthly sales reporting," Gordon further said in a statement as part of the lawsuit. "The SEC also suggested a resolution involving some penalty to FCA. Because (Bigland) had not engaged in any wrongdoing, and there was no wrongdoing, he declined to do so." However, exacerbating the issue is the fact that Bigland reportedly sold his shares in the company last year, prompting FCA to act against him even more. FCA came under fire recently by federal agents in at least two separate investigations, potentially exposing conspiracy and corruption between company executives and private entities. The investigations are being led independently by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI. So far, eight convictions were reportedly secured, with one including former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Vice President Alphons Iacobelli, as one of the defendants. Iacobelli was one of the former top labor-relations executives for the automaker.

FCA denies report it's pulling Chrysler brand from Japan

TOKYO - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles denied it had decided to pull the plug on the Chrysler brand in Japan, after local media reported it was planning to stop selling the US cars in the country as early as next year following years of poor sales. "Although FCA Japan has already announced its intention to concentrate its resources on the Jeep brand ahead, no decisions have been made regarding (the) Chrysler brand," the automaker said ion Monday. The Nikkei business daily reported that the European-US automaker, which also sells the Jeep, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Abarth brands in Japan, was close to deciding to throw in the towel on the Chrysler brand, which posted sales of less than 300 vehicles in 2016, having fallen steadily since around 2000 and are about a tenth of what they were a decade ago. FCA sells only one Chrysler model in Japan, the full-size 300s sedan, which is sold at the company's Jeep dealerships. FCA's Fiat brand, which includes smaller models, and its Jeep brand have been growing in the country. Last year they sold around 6,700 and 9,400 units, respectively, making them top 10-selling foreign branded vehicles in the Japanese market. However, foreign cars constitute a small portion of the total Japanese auto market, which is dominated by domestic brands. Last year, 295,000 foreign-branded new cars were sold in the country, roughly one-tenth of total new vehicle sales. Reporting by Naomi TajitsuRelated Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery 2017 Chrysler 300S Sport Appearance Package: New York 2016 View 12 Photos Auto News Chrysler Fiat Jeep Sedan FCA