Funny how as we age, we see an old car and we see a lot more than just an old car.
In my high school days in the early 1980's, half of the crew that I ran with had their own cars while the other half drove their parents cars. There was certainly no shame in the latter since all of the guy's parents cars were way cooler than the horrific piece of junk I was unlucky enough to call my own. Without a doubt the coolest of the "parents cars" was the 1967 Chrysler Newport that belonged to my buddy Rob's mom. This well preserved example looks just like it save for a darker shade of green. Or whatever fifty-three years of mid west weather has worn it down to.
In my high school days in the early 1980's, half of the crew that I ran with had their own cars while the other half drove their parents cars. There was certainly no shame in the latter since all of the guy's parents cars were way cooler than the horrific piece of junk I was unlucky enough to call my own. Without a doubt the coolest of the "parents cars" was the 1967 Chrysler Newport that belonged to my buddy Rob's mom. This well preserved example looks just like it save for a darker shade of green. Or whatever fifty-three years of mid west weather has worn it down to.
My take-a-ways on that big Newport was its awesome styling inside and out, cavernous interior and magnificent engine. The only real downside was it got single digit gas mileage even when driven responsibly; that seriously got into our modest "fun money" since we all chipped in for gas whenever we'd go out in it. It had horrible brakes too and its steering made the rudder on the Titanic seem responsive but oh, that engine. Granted it seemed even more powerful compared to the emissions clogged, six cylinder golf cart I was driving but any time I drove it I felt as though I was king of the world. Which, for reasons that seem preposterous to me now, I found myself doing quite often because "the gang" considered me to be a "responsible and safe" driver. Truth be known, aside from being intoxicated by the right-now! thrust of the car's "383" engine, the sheer mass and bulk of the thing terrified me. My apprehension driving it more than likely came across as maturity.
So, what was, a Newport? Well, as is often the case with automobiles, there's more to what we're looking at than meets the eye. Named after a Chrysler concept car from the 1930's, the 1960's Chrysler Newport evolved from Chrysler's discontinuation of their DeSoto line in mid model year 1961. What had been a "DeSoto" suddenly became a lower priced Chrysler model. It was rather brilliant when you think about it and begs the questions as to why they didn't do something like that sooner. The answer to that probably has more to do with pride and hubris than anything else.
In the years before and after World War II, Chrysler attempted to go bumper-to-bumper with General Motors in having a line of automobiles that would fit a wide variety of income levels. At the bottom of their pricing ladder was Plymouth followed by Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler and finally Imperial. While there was always a resemblance to all makes and models on GM's family tree, for the most part, Chrysler did little more than rebadge each of their makes and models making little distinction overall between, say, a Plymouth and an Imperial. The two brands that took the brunt of Chrysler's lack of distinctiveness were Imperial, which could never really go bumper-to-bumper with Cadillac not to mention Lincoln, and DeSoto which attempted to be Chrysler's Oldsmobile. Throw into the batter the fact that Ford attempted to the same pricing ladder thing in the late '50's and poor little DeSoto didn't stand a chance.
As all auto manufacturers did back then, Chrysler sliced, diced, kneaded and chopped their wares seemingly every year so that each model year their wares were different from the previous year prior. In my humble opinion, of all the different iterations of the Newport throughout the sixties, they really got it right with the '67 two door models. Although, that flying buttress of "C" pillar holding up the back of the roof, cool as hell as it was, did young me or anyone driving these cars any favors when changing lanes. Holy blind spot, Batman.
Sadly, I lost contact with Rob about half way through college. I'm not really sure what happened but in the politics of the group I called my friends, really we were just a really obnoxious clique, he fell out of favor with what could best be described as the leaders of the bunch. To remain in good standing with the group, I was more or less forced to part ways with Rob which was really sad since I was friends with him first and he introduced me to everyone. Of everyone in the group, I felt a special bond to him since he was the only one else like me who came from a wildly dysfunctional family.
As for his mother's Newport, although his parents were divorced, his father still ruled the roost when it came to finances for her. It being the early '80's and gas being as expensive as it was, he thought it best to trade it in for something more economical. That more economical thing turned out to be a Fiat Strada of all things. A horrible little car that actually made even less sense than the Newport did. Talk about dysfunctional.
So, what was, a Newport? Well, as is often the case with automobiles, there's more to what we're looking at than meets the eye. Named after a Chrysler concept car from the 1930's, the 1960's Chrysler Newport evolved from Chrysler's discontinuation of their DeSoto line in mid model year 1961. What had been a "DeSoto" suddenly became a lower priced Chrysler model. It was rather brilliant when you think about it and begs the questions as to why they didn't do something like that sooner. The answer to that probably has more to do with pride and hubris than anything else.
In the years before and after World War II, Chrysler attempted to go bumper-to-bumper with General Motors in having a line of automobiles that would fit a wide variety of income levels. At the bottom of their pricing ladder was Plymouth followed by Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler and finally Imperial. While there was always a resemblance to all makes and models on GM's family tree, for the most part, Chrysler did little more than rebadge each of their makes and models making little distinction overall between, say, a Plymouth and an Imperial. The two brands that took the brunt of Chrysler's lack of distinctiveness were Imperial, which could never really go bumper-to-bumper with Cadillac not to mention Lincoln, and DeSoto which attempted to be Chrysler's Oldsmobile. Throw into the batter the fact that Ford attempted to the same pricing ladder thing in the late '50's and poor little DeSoto didn't stand a chance.
As all auto manufacturers did back then, Chrysler sliced, diced, kneaded and chopped their wares seemingly every year so that each model year their wares were different from the previous year prior. In my humble opinion, of all the different iterations of the Newport throughout the sixties, they really got it right with the '67 two door models. Although, that flying buttress of "C" pillar holding up the back of the roof, cool as hell as it was, did young me or anyone driving these cars any favors when changing lanes. Holy blind spot, Batman.
Sadly, I lost contact with Rob about half way through college. I'm not really sure what happened but in the politics of the group I called my friends, really we were just a really obnoxious clique, he fell out of favor with what could best be described as the leaders of the bunch. To remain in good standing with the group, I was more or less forced to part ways with Rob which was really sad since I was friends with him first and he introduced me to everyone. Of everyone in the group, I felt a special bond to him since he was the only one else like me who came from a wildly dysfunctional family.
As for his mother's Newport, although his parents were divorced, his father still ruled the roost when it came to finances for her. It being the early '80's and gas being as expensive as it was, he thought it best to trade it in for something more economical. That more economical thing turned out to be a Fiat Strada of all things. A horrible little car that actually made even less sense than the Newport did. Talk about dysfunctional.
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