Chrysler does not build many cars like the Chrysler Saratoga: a 2-door coupe / 4-door sedan with 298.7 cuin Chrysler flathead engine#Straight-8, built from 1939 to 1995 when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together.
How it came about
The Chrysler Saratoga is an automobile built by Chrysler. The nameplate was used from 1939 to 1952 and from 1957 to 1960 in the U.S. market, in Canada through 1965, and in Europe from 1989 to 1995. In the beginning, it was introduced as a sport luxury model, using the Straight Eight engine from the Chrysler New Yorker which was more formal, and the Imperial which had graduated to special order limousine. The Saratoga was introduced one year after the luxurious New Yorker and was well equipped, wearing the Chrysler nameplate. It was initially more expensive than the New Yorker, then marketing changes repositioned the Saratoga more modestly as the Imperial took the top of the Chrysler hierarchy followed by the New Yorker.
Items that were standard equipment such as power windows, power locks, power steering, power brakes, power adjustable front seat and air conditioning on the New Yorker were initially available on the Saratoga, then as years progressed became standard on the Saratoga. As it maintained its high performance image for Chrysler, it was used to introduce the 331 cu in (5.4 L) overhead valve Hemi V8 in 1951. It was discontinued in 1953 initially when the New Yorker, and, later the 1955 Chrysler 300 took over as the performance models. It was reintroduced from 1957 until 1965 as a junior model to the Chrysler 300 and was available as a sedan and priced lower. In 1989, the nameplate was reused only in Europe as a rebadged Dodge Spirit available with a 3.0 V6 and a 5-speed manual transmission until 1995. It was named for Saratoga Springs, New York, and is home to th
The hardware
Under the skin sits 298.7 cuin Chrysler flathead engine#Straight-8; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 3-speed column-shifted manual, w/Cruise and Climb overdrive. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 125 in (1938–1939) / 128.5 in (1940) / 127.5 in (1941–1942). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in Chrysler's history is not in doubt: the Chrysler Eight came before it; the Chrysler 300 followed it; it was built at Jefferson Avenue Assembly. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Lincoln Continental, the Volkswagen Beetle, the GM (General Motors) Bedford OY. Its Chrysler stablemates include the Chrysler Falcon and the Chrysler Chronos.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Chrysler Saratoga — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.