Description
Our lovely 1929 Chrysler 77 Royal Sedan needs a new home.
There is a walk around video on You Tube, search 1929 Chrysler Royal Sedan.
The Chrysler 77 was a 1930 model car, which began production in July 1929. This is an early Royal Sedan, which according to its Fedco number was the 329th car off the 77 production line. There were 9 different body styles coach built for the 77 model. Only 436 Royal Sedans were constructed, which makes this a rare 77 body type. The cars were developed in 1929 and were a big improvement on the previous 1929 year model, the Chrysler 75.
It has a 4. 4 litre (268. 4 cu in) straight 6 Silverdome headed engine, which develops circa 93 bhp at 3, 200 revs. It has a 7 bearing crank so is very smooth when on the road. The idea of the late 20's Chrysler Model numbering was that the model number was meant to indicate the top speed that the car would cruise at; they were all said to be able to exceed the speed of the model number. In the 1930 range Chrysler offered Series 66, 70 and 77 models, all of which had a range of body types.
Other selling points for the 77 model are that they have hydraulically operated drum brakes all round, a lift fuel pump (previous models were on vacuum pumps), a four speed gearbox, and "Futura" design instrument panel. These cars were also fitted with one of the first iterations of a downdraught carburettor, which certainly improved fuel delivery and power output.
The four speed gearbox is a little different to a usual 4 speed box in that the first gear is a crawler (trials!) gear, which is accessed via a sprung gate. Otherwise, the gearbox is used as a three speed configured box, setting off in the lowish second, that then goes through to third and fourth. It is still a crash box, so double declutching is required.
The car has recently benefited from a full service, which has included new plugs, plug leads, coil, condenser, and distributor service. The exhaust and inlet manifolds have been removed, cleaned and put back on with fresh gaskets and ultra copper seal. It had several manifold leaks, which are all now fixed. The carburettor has been fully stripped, ultra-sonically cleaned and carefully rebuilt. A master cut off switch has been installed. The car is still on its original 6v system, which works really nicely. The car also has the famous 77 Pennon type louvres in the bonnet sides, which were only present for the first half of the model run.
The car has its original upholstery, which is showing some signs of wear. I have bought a couple of Mexican rugs to cover the seats, which will hopefully protect the originality of the upholstery. These will be included in the sale.
The car runs beautifully and is ready for its next adventures. Does it do 77 miles an hour? We have had it up to 69 mph, which was before the manifold fettle, and that felt really far too quick for the car. The car is left hand drive. Prior to our more recent ownership, it has been a wedding car and performed such duties for around 25 years. It tootled around Yate, nr Bristol carrying brides around as part of a wedding business. The car was originally bought into the country by a well known Chrysler oficiando based in Chipping Sodbury in 1989. Otherwise, the car has spent its life in the US. Its history from that time is unknown.
We believe the value of this car is much greater than it is now advertised for, and think it should be more in the region of £20K. However, due to health issues, we really need to see it go to a new home, and have advertised it to sell. Please do phone and talk to us about price, or anything else that you may have a query about.
