Help Choose a Car for Harry

General Discussion
1

I have been reading a book by Matthew Algea titled “Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure”. The summer of 1953 after President Truman finished his term as President of the United States, Harry and his wife Bess embarked on a road trim from Independence, Missouri to the east coast. Harry and Bess traveled alone with Harry doing the driving. The car Harry purchased for the trip was a new 1953 Chrysler New Yorker. The dealer wanted to sell him a Chrysler Imperial, but Harry didn’t like the name Imperial. Harry was partial to Chysler products. The last cars he owned before becoming President were a 1940 Chrysler Royal coupe for himself and a 1940 Chrysler Windsor sedan for Bess.
I have been thinking about whatg kind of car Truman would have chosen today. Here are some guidelines:

  1. Harry would be 68 years old
  2. Harry likes to drive and drive fast
  3. Harry would be a repeat buyer of a certain make of automobile
  4. The car must be roomy. For the trip described in the book, the Trumans had eleven suitcases and these suitcases took up the whole trunk and the back seat.
  5. The car needs to get good mileage for its size. The Trumans kept complete records gas mileage. They recorded the number of gallons put in at each stop and the odometer reading. These records wee kept in the glove compartment. The Chrysler averaged about 18 mpg for this trip.

Since this forum often gets posts from people seeking advice on automobile purchases, maybe we should help a former President.

2

Cadillac CTS Sedan. Comfort, roomy, speedy and not bad mileage at 27mpg highway.

3

For a Chrysler guy like Harry, the 300C would be a good choice, faster, roomier, but lower mpgs than the CTS. Better mpgs? Get the 300 with the new V6, would then be similar to the CTS.

4

11 suitcases? A Cadillac Escalade Hybrid. It gets great mileage for a yacht (20 city/23 highway)

5

Dag–I read, and enjoyed, that book a couple of years ago, even if it was…shall we say…a lightweight in the world of literature. However, as a major fan of Harry Truman, I do try to read everything written about him, and will endure almost anything in order to glean new information on this amazing man.

But–to return to the topic at hand, I agree with Texases, and I would also recommend a 300C for good old Harry.

6

Harry went to my church when he was President. Or more correctly, my parent’s church. I was born at the end of his second term.

7

A Grand Marquis…Harry would LOVE it…V8 OHC power, 25mpg, room in the trunk for everything…