SOLD: 1968 Chrysler Newport Town & Country Station Wagon California
Spoke Motors
I made several friends when I went to school in Bexley, Ohio. Sometime in the late 1960s, one of my friend's dad bought a brand new Chrysler station wagon. This group of friends was into tiny European sports cars. American cars, to this group of friends, were too big and too clumsy. They had no finesse. So this purchase was derided by this group, and my friend Phil Hathaway christened his dad's wagon Thunderpig. It had a honking big V8 engine and cruise control and Phil had his driver's license. Somebody had set the cruise control to highway speeds. Phil got it the car, started it, and pressed the RESUME button on the cruise control The analog cruise control obeyed, opened the throttle wide and the car took off like a greased pig, tires squealing and smoking. Great fun for 16 year old boys.
And that's why the cruise control on your car is crippled.
1 comment:
Just about a year before he died, my dad bought a 1966 Chrysler New Yorker with a 440 hemi. My mom didnt drive so when she became a widow I became her chauffeur at the age of 17. She wouldn’t happily ride in my decrepit VW bug so I drove her in the Chrysler.
One day, as I was getting onto the highway (driving alone) the accelerator stuck to the floor. Within seconds the Chrysler was way, way past highway speeds and there seemed to be no way to slow down. I literally stood on the brakes with both feet, my hands gripping the lower rim of the steering wheel and my butt lifted off the drivers seat. I got the beast down to about 70 mph and finally found a spot to pull over and shut the car off. All four wheel wells were smoking. I dragged my mechanical ignorance under the hood, located the accelerator linkage and pulled it up. Problem solved, sort of.
Turns out a cable had come loose under the gas pedal and trapped it down when I punched it to enter the highway. Those Chryslers of that era were beasts with more power than a 17 year-old should ever be near.
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