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Chrysler Newport

Newport
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A car produced by Chrysler in 1950 and from 1961-1981. The name was also used on the Newport Phaeton show cars in 1940.

History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Chrysler Newport page on 7 November 2018, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The Newport was a name used by Chrysler for both a hardtop body designation and also for its lowest priced model between 1961 and 1981. Chrysler first used the Newport name on a 1940 show car of which five vehicles were produced.

1961-1964

Chrysler revived the Newport name for their new, full-size entry-level model for 1961. At a base price of $2,964 (equal to $24,519 today), the Newport was the least expensive Chrysler model, intended to appeal to owners of the discontinued DeSoto brand. While the Newport was successful and comprised the bulk of Chrysler production, the base Newport sedans were detrimmed versions of Chrysler's traditional upscale 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. By contrast, the next model up, the New Yorker, retailed for $4,870 (equal to $40,286 today)

1965–1968

The 1965s Newport was built on an all-new Chrysler C platform, shared with the 300 and New Yorker, along with the Dodge Polara and Plymouth Fury. Styling mimicked the square lines of the Lincoln Continental and the 1964 Imperial, while wheelbases increased 2 in (51 mm) to 124 in (3,150 mm) (wagons continued on the 122 in (3,099 mm) wheelbase). All body styles were continued 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. This design would later return in the 1970s.

1969–1973

The Newport was completely redesigned again for 1969, and featured the distinctive "Fuselage Styling" that would become symbolic of Chrysler's full-size cars until the end of the 1973 model year. Although retaining the same 124 in (3,150 mm) wheelbase that it shared with the premium New Yorker, this generation Newport was longer, lower, wider, and several hundred pounds heavier than the 1965–1968 Newports.

Although still offered in 2-door and 4-door hardtop, 2-door convertible, and 4-door sedan models, station wagons were no longer part of the Newport series, as the Town & Country became a separate model outright. Newport convertibles were discontinued after 1970, following a drop in sales of 48% that year, to 1,124 convertibles; while total Newport sales were down almost 30%, to 110,292 units, despite the restyling.

1974–1978

The Newport was redesigned for the 1974 model year, along with all other full-size C-body cars. This generation shed the sweeping "fuselage" styling, in favor of more crisper, slab-sided styling. Despite losing several inches in length, 1974–1978 Newports were some of the heaviest cars ever produced by Chrysler. Their introduction coincided with the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, and sales of all full-size cars plummeted. The Chrysler Corporation was especially hit hard, as no smaller cars were sold under the Chrysler brand.

Production of the C-body Newport ended in 1978, along with the Chrysler New Yorker. Related Dodge and Plymouth C-body cars, as well as C-body Chrysler Town & Country station wagons had all been dropped the previous year. The 1978 Newport offered the American car industry's last true two-door and four-door hardtops.

1979–1981

The 1979 model year saw a new downsized Newport 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. While GM and Ford had downsized their big cars by engineering smaller bodies around more spacious passenger accommodations, Chrysler took a different approach. The existing Chrysler B platform was modified to improve fuel efficiency through a number of weight saving measures. Examples include plastic brake wheel cylinder pistons, which tended to swell and bind up the brakes after a some years in service. Chrome-plated aluminum bumpers were another innovation, but were replaced in 1980 with a stronger steel rear bumper. The large displacement V8 engines were dropped.

Initial 1979 sales were strong (with a large portion of Newport sales going for fleet use), but Chrysler's unsteady financial condition, combined with the 1980 addition of the Plymouth Gran Fury, 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.

Photographs

	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1965 Chrysler Newport - 4,421KB
	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1965 Chrysler Newport - 4,072KB
	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1965 Chrysler Newport - 3,933KB
	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1965 Chrysler Newport - 2,894KB
	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1965 Chrysler Newport - 3,461KB
	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1965 Chrysler Newport - 3,187KB
	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1965 Chrysler Newport - 3,802KB
	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1965 Chrysler Newport - 4,406KB
	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1965 Chrysler Newport - 4,010KB
	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of1965 Chrysler Newport - 3,002KB
	1965 Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1965 Chrysler Newport - 4,203KB
	1968 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Crandall's Breakfast Cruise and Car Show July 27, 2008 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport - 4,030KB
	1968 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Crandall's Breakfast Cruise and Car Show July 27, 2008 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport - 3,534KB
	1968 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Crandall's Breakfast Cruise and Car Show July 27, 2008 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport - 2,824KB
	1968 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Crandall's Breakfast Cruise and Car Show July 27, 2008 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport - 3,670KB
	1968 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Crandall's Breakfast Cruise and Car Show July 27, 2008 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport - 2,719KB
	1968 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Crandall's Breakfast Cruise and Car Show July 27, 2008 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport - 4,692KB
	1968 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Crandall's Breakfast Cruise and Car Show July 27, 2008 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport - 2,777KB
	1968 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Crandall's Breakfast Cruise and Car Show July 27, 2008 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport - 3,307KB
	1968 Custom Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom - 4,430KB
	1968 Custom Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom - 3,377KB
	1968 Custom Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom - 2,972KB
	1968 Custom Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom - 3,211KB
	1968 Custom Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom - 3,841KB
	1968 Custom Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show July 5, 2009 View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom - 4,742KB
	1968 Custom Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom - 3,659KB
	1968 Custom Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom - 4,020KB
	1968 Custom Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom - 2,823KB
	1968 Custom Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden The Cars Time Forgot Car Show View photo of 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom - 3,581KB
	1969 Photo ©2018 Bill Crittenden 2018 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1969 Chrysler Newport - 2.0MB
	1969 Photo ©2018 Bill Crittenden 2018 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1969 Chrysler Newport - 2.5MB
	1969 Photo ©2018 Bill Crittenden 2018 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1969 Chrysler Newport - 3.2MB
	1969 Photo ©2018 Bill Crittenden 2018 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1969 Chrysler Newport - 2.6MB
	1969 Photo ©2018 Bill Crittenden 2018 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1969 Chrysler Newport - 1.6MB
	1969 Photo ©2018 Bill Crittenden 2018 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1969 Chrysler Newport - 3.1MB
	1979 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Spring Grove Charity Car Show View photo of 1979 Chrysler Newport - 3,273KB
	1979 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Spring Grove Charity Car Show View photo of 1979 Chrysler Newport - 3,016KB
	1979 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Spring Grove Charity Car Show View photo of 1979 Chrysler Newport - 2,810KB
	1979 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Spring Grove Charity Car Show View photo of 1979 Chrysler Newport - 3,125KB
	1979 Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden Spring Grove Charity Car Show View photo of 1979 Chrysler Newport - 3,166KB
	1979 Dove Gray Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden View photo of 1979 Chrysler Newport - 3.1MB
	1979 Dove Gray Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden View photo of 1979 Chrysler Newport - 2.4MB
	1979 Dove Gray Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden View photo of 1979 Chrysler Newport - 2.6MB
	1979 Dove Gray Photo ©2008 Bill Crittenden View photo of 1979 Chrysler Newport - 2.5MB