Chrysler Newport

Chrysler Newport

Manufacturer	Chrysler Corporation
Production	1940-1941 1949-1950 1961-1981
Predecessor	DeSoto Adventurer DeSoto Firedome DeSoto Firesweep DeSoto Fireflite
Successor	Chrysler E-Class
Class	Full-size
Layout	FR layout

The Newport was a name used by the Chrysler division of the Chrysler Corporation used as both a hardtop body designation and also for its entry level model between 1961 and 1981. Chrysler first used the Newport name on a 1940 showcar of which five vehicles were produced.

1940s

First generation

Production	1940-1941
Body style(s)	2-door roadster
Transmission(s)	3-speed manual
Related	Chrysler New Yorker

The first Newport, known as the Chrysler Newport Phaeton, was produced from 1940 to 1941, and was a low-production dual-cowl phaeton that used an straight-8 engine coupled to a 3-speed manual transmission. The Newport was based upon the Chrysler New Yorker of the time, and designed by Chrysler designer Ralph Roberts. Only 5 were built. Actress Lana Turner owned a Newport Phaeton, as did Chrysler founder Walter P. Chrysler, who used it as a personal car.

The Newport Phaeton served as the pace car for the 1941 Indianapolis 500 race.

1950s

Second generation

Production	1949-1961
Body style(s)	2-door coupe
Related	Chrysler New Yorker Chrysler Windsor Chrysler Saratoga

The Newport name was used in the 1950s to designate the 2-door hardtop body style in Chrysler's lineup. Each Chrysler series, the Windsor, Saratoga and the New Yorker received a hardtop Newport model. The redesigned 1949 Chrysler Town and Country was first proposed as a hardtop, however the body style only appeared in the model's final year in 1950.

1961–1964

Third generation

Production	1961-1964
Body style(s)	4-door sedan 2-door hardtop 2-door convertible 4-door station wagon 4-door hardtop
Engine(s)	361 cu in (5.9 L) V8 383 cu in (6.3 L) V8
Related	Chrysler 300

Chrysler revived the Newport name for their new, full-size entry-level model for 1961. At a base price of US$2,964, the Newport was intended to fill the price gap between Chrysler and Dodge that was created when DeSoto was discontinued. While the Newport was successful and comprised the bulk of Chrysler production, the base Newport sedans were detrimmed versions of Chrysler's traditional upmarket models, featuring small hubcaps instead of full-wheel covers, plain interiors and a minimal amount of exterior trim. The perception of an inexpensive Chrysler hurt the marque in the long run by cheapening the brand's cachet.

In 1961, the Newport was available as a 2-door convertible, 2-door hardtop, 4-door sedan, 4-door hardtop and 4-door station wagon. The base engine for the Newport was the 361 cu in (5.9 L) V8 engine rated at 265 hp (198 kW), although most were equipped with the 305 hp (227 kW) 383 cu in (6.3 L) V8. 1962 Chryslers continued to use the 1961 body, but were shorn of their trademark tailfins.

The Newport was restyled alongside the New Yorker and Chrysler 300 for 1963, with this body style continuing for 1964.

Sometimes known as the "lost years", 1963 and 1964 Chryslers were the result of instabilities within the design team. And although the 1963 model was a restyle, without tailfins, 1964 saw the return of small, chrome-topped fins.

1965–1968

Fourth generation

Production	1965-1968
Assembly	Jefferson Assembly Plant - Detroit, Michigan, USA
Body style(s)	4-door sedan 2-door hardtop 2-door convertible 4-door hardtop
Platform	C-body
Wheelbase	124 in (3149.6 mm)
Related	Chrysler New Yorker Dodge Polara Plymouth Fury Dodge Monaco Plymouth VIP Chrysler 300 Chrysler Town and Country Dodge Custom 880 Chrysler 300L

For 1965, the Newport was redesigned on the then-new Chrysler C platform, shared with the 300 and New Yorker, along with the Dodge Polara and Plymouth Fury. Styling mimmicked the square lines of the Lincoln Continental and the 1964 Imperial while wheelbases increased two inches to '124 (wagons continued on the '122-inch wheelbase). All bodystyles were carried over from 1964 including the pillared four-door sedan, four-door hardtop sedan, two-door hardtop coupe and convertible, along with the station wagon, which was renamed the Chrysler Town and Country and became a separate series. A new bodystyle for 1965 (shared with other Chryslers and Dodge Polaras) was a six-window Town Sedan that included a small side-window in the pillar similar to the three-window design of 1950s cars that would return in the 1970s.

The standard engine for the 1965 Newport was the 383 cubic-inch V8 with two-barrel carburetor and 270 horsepower, designed for use of regular gasoline of 92-94 Research octane. Optionally available at extra cost was the 383 with four-barrel carburetion and 315 horsepower with higher compression and required premium fuel of 98-100 Research octane. The standard transmission was a three-speed column shift manual and optionally available was the three-speed Torqueflite automatic transmission, now featuring a column-mounted shifter replacing the pushbuttons of previous years as was the case with all 1965 Chrysler Corporation cars and trucks.

Interiors featured padded instrument panels, full carpeting and choices of cloth-and-vinyl or all-vinyl bench seats and notchback bench seats with armrest. Newport coupes and convertibles were also offered with optional bucket seats with either a center console and floor shifter or armrest and center cushion.

The 1966 Newport received new grille work and revised tailights but was otherwise changed very little from 1965. Engine offerings were revised with the 270-horsepower 383 two-barrel continuing as standard equipment while the four-barrel 383 received a 10-horsepower increase to 325. New this year was Chrysler's 440 cubic-inch V8, for which Newport buyers could get the high-output TNT version with four-barrel carburetor, dual exhausts and dual-snorkle air cleaner that was rated at 365 horsepower, about 15 more horsepower than the standard 440 four-barrel that was the base engine in the New Yorker and Imperial, and optional on the Chrysler 300 as well as Dodge Polaras and Monacos, and Plymouth Furys.

For 1967, the Newport and other Chryslers received new sheetmetal but retained the basic 1965 bodyshell. Two-door hardtops received a new angular semi-fastback roofline featuring reverse-slant side windows while the rooflines of four-door pillared and hardtop sedans, and station wagons were unchanged. The slow-selling six-window Town Sedan was dropped this year. Engines were unchanged except for the 440 TNT being bumped up to 375 horsepower.

New to the Newport line for 1967 was a more luxurious Newport Custom series available in four-door pillared and hardtop sedans, along with the two-door hardtop.

The 1968 Newport received only a minor facelift from its 1967 counterpart including new grilles and taillights. All bodystyles were carried over on both the base Newport and Newport Custom lines. Under the hood, the standard 383 two-barrel V8 received a 20-horsepower increase to 290, while the four-barrel 383 was jacked up from 325 to 330 horsepower, and the 440 TNT was unchanged at 375 horses.

A mid-year offering on the Newport hardtop coupe and convertible was the Sportsgrain option similar to the woodgrain trim on the Town and Country station wagons of this period. The Sportsgrain Newport was intended to bring back the spirit of the late 1940s Town and Country convertibles but amounted to little more than a fancied-up Newport as there were no other modifications and interior trims were the same as standard Newports. Production of the 1968 Sportsgrain Newports amounted to 965 hardtops and 175 convertibles. Sportsgrain was back for the redesigned 1969 Newport 2-Door Hardtop and Convertible, however, orders for the option were so tiny that Chrysler never released the numbers of 1969 Newports so equipped.

Mercury tried a similar approach to the Sportsgrain Newport in 1968 by offering woodgrain "Yacht Paneling" as an option on its Park Lane coupes and convertibles, which also didn't garner much buyer interest.

1969–1978

Fifth generation

1978 Newport 4-door hardtop
Production	1969-1978
Assembly	Jefferson North Assembly, USA Newark Assembly, USA
Body style(s)	4-door sedan 2-door hardtop 2-door convertible 4-door hardtop
Platform	C-body
Wheelbase	124 in (3149.6 mm)
Related	Chrysler New Yorker Dodge Polara Plymouth Fury Dodge Monaco Plymouth VIP Chrysler 300 Chrysler Town and Country Plymouth Gran Fury

1975-76 Chrysler Newport hardtop coupe

The Newport was redesigned again for 1969, and featured the "Fuselage Styling" that would become symbolic of Chrysler's full-size cars until the end of the 1973 model year. Newport convertibles were discontinued after 1970. Production of the C-body Newport ended in 1978 along with the Chrysler New Yorker. Related Dodge and Plymouth C-body cars had been dropped the previous year. The 1978 Newport offered the American car industry's last true two-door and four-door hardtops.

1979–1981

In 1979, a new downsized Newport appeared on the Chrysler R platform, a derivative of the circa 1962 Chrysler B platform. This reduced model availability to a single "pillared hardtop" 4-door sedan. Whereas GM and Ford had downsized their big cars by engineering smaller bodies around more spacious passenger accommodations, Chrysler took a different approach. The idea was to modify the existing Chrysler B platform but to retain as much of the traditional full-size look and feel as possible, while at the same time improve fuel efficiency through a number of weight saving measures and drop the 400 and 440 cid engines. This creative approach produced an attractive car, though some of the weight-saving measures proved to be more trouble than they were worth. Examples include plastic brake wheel-cylinder pistons, which tended to swell and bind up the brakes after a couple years in service. Chrome-plated aluminum bumpers were another innovation, but were replaced in 1980 with a "new, stronger steel rear bumper" due to apparently inadequate strength.

Initial 1979 sales were strong, but Chrysler's unsteady financial condition, combined with tightening oil and gasoline supplies hurt sales of the redesigned vehicle, and all of the R-body models were discontinued after a short run of 1981 models, as Chrysler began its shift toward smaller front-wheel drive cars. The 1983 Chrysler E-Class replaced the Newport in Chrysler's lineup as the more basic version of the New Yorker.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chrysler Newport

• Information on the Newport Phaeton
• Allpar.com page on the Chrysler C-body
• 1969–1973 Chrysler Newport at Fuselage.de site