Parking a classic Chrysler?
If the "N" button is pushed, the transmission is in neutral and the parking brake IS NOT APPLIED, as "Dave" stated there should be a lever in the immediate vicinity of the transmission control panel and that lever is moved to apply the parking brake. "IF" I remember correctly the lever was moved in an "upward" direction to apply the parking brake. This information applies to the majority of the Chrysler/Imperial models of the '50's era while the Dodge, Plymouth and Desoto models used the "pull" handbrake under the dash, some higher end Dodges and Desotos "MAY HAVE" had the "lever" parking brake but I can't say with any certainty. As cars of the era had carburetors instead of fuel injection it was normal procedure to start the engine using a slight depression of the accelerator. My wife and I taught our children to watch for "reverse lights" on cars when walking through parking lots but tapping the brakes to illuminate the brake lights as a warning will not harm the transmission or engine and the wear on brake shoe lining will be minimal if your engine speed is minimal.
Have you been stuck in an engine failure near the forest during a road trip?
In the rain, after midnight, in 1955, before cell phones, on a country road, on my way back to Suffolk County Air Force where I was due to sign in at 8 am. I was driving my 1938 Chrysler New Yorker. For diagnosis, I removed a spark plug from the straight eight cylinder flat head motor and placed it where I could see it from the driver’s position, cranked the engine and saw no spark. I removed the distributor cap, with the ignition switch on I shorted the breaker points with my Swiss Army knife and saw a spark. this indicated the primary winding of the coil was probably good, but there was no spark at the plug. I disconnected the condenser and shorted it from the plus wire at the open points, there was a brief spark, then nothing. Repeated shorting to the plus wire elicited no spark. This indicated the condenser was good and held a spark, so I concluded that the problem was an open or shorted to ground high voltage winding in the coil. unfortunately, the coil + wire from the ignition switch was in an armored cable from the ignition switch to the coil, to make stealing the car by hot wiring difficult, so I had to release the ignition switch from the dash, disconnect the plug from the back and feed it through the grommet in the firewall, to get the coil off and take it into the car, where, using the can opener on my knife, I opened the can to get to the windings, thinking this was stupid, what chance did I have to fix it?I examined the pitch the can was filled with to insulate the coil from the can and found a burned spot, right by where the seam was that I opened, where the high voltage burned through the pitch and sparked to the can, ground. Using the cigarette lighter, I melted the pitch around the burned spot and used the knife blade to move pitch over the burned spot, and left the can open, reinstalling everything, closed the hood, started the car and got to base, soaking wet but in time.Wow, my bad luck was balanced by my good luck! And good luck has been with these last 62 years. Knock wood.
Are SUVs the cars of the 50s?
no not at all in 50 years will you find SUV's being customized and chopped I think not cars from the 50's were (are) cool most are works of art. car prices in the 1950's and cost new... Aston Martin DB2 $5,956 1950 Austin Healey Bug Eyed Sprite $1,795 1958 Buick Century $3,706 1957 Buick Invicta $3,515 1959 Buick Roadmaster $3,373 1954 Buick Super $2,139 1950 Cadillac Coupe De Ville $4,163 1952 Cadillac Elderado $4,146 1956 Chevrolet Corvette $3631 1958 Chevrolet Delray Coupe $1,884 1954 Chevrolet Impala $2,693 1958 Chevrolet Imperial $4,225 1953 Chrysler New Yorker $4,347 1958 Chrysler Saratoga $3,995 1958 De Sota Fireflite $3,119 1956 De Sota Powermaster Six Club Coupe $2334 1953 De Sota S15 Custom 6 $2,793 1952 Dodge Coronet V8 $2,494 1953 Dodge Lancer $2,807 1956 Dodge Royal V8 $2,915 1958 Edsel Corsiar ( Ford ) $3,346 1958 Ford Custom Club Sedan $1895 Wisconsin 1955 Ford Country Sedan Station Wagon $2,060 1952 Ford Country Sedan Station Wagon $2,947 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 $2,428 1958