There’s a type of music that has in the past 20 years or so been classified as Yacht Rock. Artists that fall under this banner include the likes of Hall and Oates, Steely Dan (one of my favourite bands and in my view, not YR at all, but anyway…), Fleetwood Mac, the Beach Boys, the Doobie Brothers and their former lead singer, Michael McDonald, and the dreaded Kenny G and his “lovely crinkly hair”, to quote that superb guitarist, Richard Thompson. Music that is for the most part smooth, light, catchy, aspirational. These adjectives – except for “light” – could equally be applied to the full size, mostly American cars known as “land yachts”.
Land yachts ahoy!
Land yachts are among the largest mass-produced cars ever manufactured, and their era is generally considered to be between 1960 and 1976. An almost exclusively American concept, although you could argue that perhaps that the likes of the Jaguar 420G or Mercedes-Benz 300SEL in particular would qualify, or as land dinghies, at least. In reality, probably only the Mercedes 600 and Rolls Royce Silver Shadow would compare from Europe.
European land yachts
Other characteristics of these huge cars besides their sheer size included soft, wallowy rides (not unlike the pitch and yaw of a boat) and big, lazy V8 engines. They were unquestionably built for comfort and stress-free cruising and suited the big wide-open spaces and straight US roads just fine. They’re a lot less suitable for UK and mainland European roads, so are not seen so much and owners here must find parking their cars quite a challenge, so it’s quite unusual to find such a car for sale here in the UK, and at well below our theoretical £20k budget, a 1968 Chrysler 300 convertible.
I have to admit that I’ve always found it slightly difficult to follow the frequent changes US manufacturers made to their ranges each year, but I’ll try to sum up the development of the 300 as best I can.
The first Chrysler 300, introduced in 1956, wasn’t really a land yacht at all, more of a grand tourer, and Chrysler 300’s did well in NASCAR racing. The 300 nomenclature reflected the output of the 5.4-litre, though it didn’t stay at this number for long. As Chrysler updated the 300 over the years – and added letters to the number to reflect each new version – engine capacities and power outputs were steadily increased. With the 300C in 1957 the numbers were 6.4-litres and 375bhp, a new 6.8-litre pushing out 380bhp came with the 300E in 1959, but by the time we get to the 5th generation 300L in 1965, the nature of the car had changed, and it was much more a cruiser than a performance coupé.
To confuse matters, Chrysler introduced the 300 Sports Series in 1962, as a two-door hardtop only. It was visually little different to the then 300H, but came with a lower level of standard equipment. The convertible remained available only as a 300H.
Getting back to the 300L, it was still a powerful car – 6.8-litre V8 and 360bhp is not to be sniffed at, nor was a 0-60mph time of 8.8seconds – but the nature of the car had changed, as had the styling, now slab-sided with long, linear lines that coincided with the 300’s first change of designer, from Virgil Exner to Elwood Engel, designer of the equally rectilinear 1961 Lincoln Continental.
This was the final “letter series” 300, and followed Elwood’s “long, low, wide and smooth” mantra, and the clean uncluttered lines, while conservative compared to earlier iterations of the 300 series, looked very cool. Further updates included a horizontal rather than vertical tail-lights and a full-width grille which by 1968 also concealed the headlamps and for my money, made for the most elegantly styled 300 of them all.
The big V8 pumped out 350bhp in standard form, and it was possible to order an upgrade on this to 375bhp, so there was still plenty of performance if require, but – and I say this without ever having sat in, let alone driven, a 300 – I would have thought that to drive one of these very big cars quickly would not be the best experience, but to cruise along on the open road with Steely Dan coming out of the speakers, probably unmatched. Of course, I could be completely wrong – perhaps one of our American readers could let us know?
Our Prime Find this week is the very definition of a land yacht and is for sale through a private vendor in Chelmsford, Essex. It’s finished in Frost Green metallic, with a white interior and matching power-operated hood. Described by the vendor as “stunning” and “immaculate”, the car also has new black carpets. There isn’t a great deal more information about this Chrysler, but the advert describes it as having no rust or welding, with all panels being “straight” and the paintwork having only minor scratches.
Based on the limited number of photos available, I have to agree that this particular land yacht looks fantastic. It’s not a car I would ever buy myself – way too big and soft, and I’d be terrified of driving it around the narrow country lanes here, or indeed trying to park it in, well, anywhere, really.
Nevertheless, it looks fabulously cool and will surely make a powerful impact at any event it shows up at. To cap it all, it’s not that much money, either – it carries a price tag of £15,750 and is a perfect example of a lot of car for the money, with acres of metal and leather. Only 2,161 of these Mopar convertibles were built, and I doubt that there can be more than a couple over here.
At 18 ½ feet long and 6 ½ feet wide, this is one big car and not for shrinking violets. It has its original 7.2-litre V8 and the odometer reads just 82,000 miles which, if genuine, will hardly have stressed this mighty engine at all. It is of course an automatic, with a 3-speed Torqueflite ‘box, so all the driver has to do is steer.
Fuel consumption is a little over 10 miles per UK gallon, so even if you filled the 20-gallon tank, a range of only 200 or so miles, although that might be extended a bit in relaxed cruising mode, surely the only way to travel in this car.
Whoever buys it will also be acquiring a film star, or at least, a film extra, as this Chrysler will be seen in the next Indiana Jones movie, apparently. You can see the original advert here, and as always, if this fine example of an American land yacht appeals, we recommend arranging a prior inspection if possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk