The New York Knicks will be rolling down the city’s Canyon of Heroes on Thursday to celebrate their first NBA championship in 53 years and there will be a car much older than that making the trip with them.
The black 1952 Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton parade car has been a fixture of NYC’s “ticker-tape” parades since it was first used on December 18, 1952 to carry World War 2 veteran and Commanding General of the First Army at Fort Jay on Governors Island Lt. General Willis D. Crittenberger up Broadway upon his retirement.
Chrysler built three of the cars to promote the brand and loaned two of them to New York and Los Angeles, while keeping the third in Michigan, from where it sent it to cities across the country for various events. It had originally planned to donate the third to The White House, but was thwarted by gifting rules, according to Chrysler-owner Stellantis.
The 20-foot-long open-top car is based on the Chrysler Imperial Limousine features a divided cabin with an oversized rear area with a bench and folding jump seats. It is powered by a 5.4-liter FirePower V8 and maintained by the NYC Department of Administrative Services, which keeps it in running condition and ready to go at all times.
I went for a non-celebratory ride in it once and it truly did feel like a magic carpet gliding over the rough pavement with the 180 hp engine lazily puttering away. The car was originally delivered to NYC in black, but was updated in 1955 with Chrysler’s latest styling and painted white, but later restored to its original color.
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Among those who had the honor of riding in the back seat were astronaut John Glen, who was feted twice, once in 1961 after orbiting the Earth and again in 1998 following his record-breaking trip to space at age 77.
The car was also used during the parade welcoming home the Iranian hostages in 1981 and for many events celebrating dignitaries, sports champions and essential workers of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
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Chrysler eventually donated the cars outright to NYC and Los Angeles. Classic automobile experts estimate the their value at well over $1 million, but NYC has no plans to sell its car to fund the city’s budget .. yet.
Los Angeles is also still in its possession, while the third was sold by Chrysler and now resides in The Petersen Museum of automobiles.
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