Description
Rare Chrysler 77 Town Sedan Saloon with a cream and black body, would make an ideal wedding car or fast touring car for VSCC or other car events.
This car was manufactured at the beginning of the run of Chrysler 77's, which were only built for the model year of 1930. The cars were developed in 1929 and were an improvement on the previous year model, the Chrysler 75.
The car is fitted with a 268. 4 cu. in. (4. 4 litres), seven bearing crank engine, which produces 93 BHP. at 3, 200 rpm.
Chrysler only made 436 Town Sedans bodied cars during the year long 77 model run, which makes this an extremely rare car. The FEDCO number shows the car to be the 329th 77 that came off the production line.
This car has been on wedding duties for the last 20 years, but has more recently been laid up since just before COVID. I have owned the car for around 5 months, and during that time have spent many hours reviving the car from its lay up.
The 77s were built to go up against the likes of Bentley and Studebaker. The cars were able to exceed 77 mph, and the model number reflected that. I have yet to push this car that fast, but it easily keeps up with modern traffic and can cruise comfortably at 65 mph.
Of special note is that this car has its original upholstery, which whilst there are some signs of its age, is actually holding up pretty well. The car also has the famous 77 Pennon type louvers in the bonnet sides, and an art-deco instrument dash panel which was dubbed the "Futura" design.
The car starts first time, and is fitted with a downdraft carburetor which was again a first for Chrysler in this model year; all previous cars being fitted with updraft carbs.
The car has recently enjoyed a full service, which has included new spark plugs, HT leads, coil, Swifttune Condensor, an oil change and a full grease. Other work has also been completed to make this into a very useable car.
Braking is via hydraulically operated drum brakes, which work well. It has a four speed gear box which was new for the model year. First gear is a crawler gear and is selected on a sprung gate, whilst the other three forward gears are for day to day running.
I am selling the car to make some room and to fund another project. It turns out that you can have too many vintage cars!
For the VSCC trialist that may be reading this, I believe this would make a great class 2a trials car that would see you up most sections in the warm and the dry! That crawler gear has to be an advantage!