(first posted 5/17/2012) Poor Chrysler. They have certainly had their issues, both in the distant and not so distant past, eh? But somehow, they manage to get up, dust themselves off and carry on. Even if you don’t agree with their business decisions through the years, you have to admire their moxie. In the mid to late 1970s, when this Newport came off the lines, Chrysler was in the soup – again.
1974 should have been a good year for Chrysler. While E-body fans mourn 1974 as the end of the line for the Barracuda and Challenger, Chrysler was looking forward to increased sales. And why not? All of their full size models, from plebeian Fury I to luxo-cruiser Imperial, were completely redesigned. While the Imperial was very attractive in your author’s humble opinion, the Chryslers were not too shabby either. They were certainly closer to the squared-off, sheer look that all good Broughams were adopting at the time.
Replacing the lean, smooth Fuselage Look was more rectilinear, creased styling, with more chrome and neoclassical radiator-type grilles. The base Chrysler was the plain ol’ Newport. If you had more green to spend, you could move up the ladder to a Newport Custom, New Yorker, New Yorker Brougham, or if you were really loaded, a classy Imperial LeBaron.
The 1974 models used the tried and true Mopar unibody construction, with front torsion bar suspension, electronic ignition and front disc/rear drum brakes. Depending on the model and the year, 1974-78 full size Chryslers could have a 360, 400 or 440 CID V8, all of which came with the storied Torqueflite automatic transmission.
Now, 1974-78 was a most Broughamiful time in the automotive industry. This was proved in what may possibly be the most Broughamy top treatment ever: the St. Regis landau roof, seen above on a 1975 New Yorker Brougham, natch. This top treatment, an option on New Yorker Broughams (and in slightly different form on Imperial LeBaron coupes) starting in 1975, was available from 1975-78, described thusly in the 1976 brochure:
St. Regis package (New Yorker Brougham and Newport Custom Hardtop only.) Padded canopy boar-grain vinyl roof with unique color-keyed molding trim. Available in 8 standard colors plus a unique silver vinyl roof (and) formal opera windows.
Go Brougham or go home, baby!
While you probably would have gotten all sorts of envious stares, pulling up to a fine dining establishment in a St. Regis-equipped Newport or New Yorker coupe, I would have much rather had the standard two-door hardtop. I’m sure Zackman is with me!
In fact, this hunter green and white 1976 Newport Custom hardtop from the ’76 Chrysler catalog is exactly what I would have gotten, had I been around and of driving age in 1976. I love the road wheels too!
The “Highlander” interior had been a feature on Chryslers of the 1940s, and it made a comeback in the Seventies, as seen above. I’d rather have that white vinyl interior however. I bet it would stay pretty cool in the summer too.
As for the full size Chryslers, the Imperial went away, if only in name, starting in 1976. Thus, the 1975 Imperial became the 1976 New Yorker Brougham and the 1975 New Yorker Brougham became the 1976 Newport Custom.
As for our featured CC, I spotted it on Monday afternoon, about a half hour before I stumbled upon the purple Taurus. I have actually seen this car before, but it’s been a while. It never really registered that it was a Newport St. Regis. I had previously thought only New Yorkers came with this roof, but as I passed it I clearly saw the Newport nose of this one.
It was in rough, but not terrible shape. It must have been garaged as the rust was relatively minor. It was more weathered than anything else, and in much nicer shape than the 1965 Newport Paul located some time ago.
It looked like something Burgess Meredith would have driven in Grumpy Old Men: an aging, tough old land yacht that makes no apologies to anyone, with an owner to match.
Despite the rocky start, full size Chrysler production got healthy after 1975. The ex-Imperial New Yorker Brougham was a hit, despite being virtually unchanged from the 1974-75 Imperial save less standard features and different badging.
As for the Newport itself, it carried on in much the same fashion through the 1978 model year. After that, Chrysler “pulled a GM” in which it hatched a new full size sedan out of the mid-size B-body. It was much less successful than the 1977 Caprice and friends, however, and Chrysler was on the cusp of yet another crisis. Here we go again…
I am loving all of the Mopar attention. 1976-78 was probably the only time that there was ever a significant difference between a Newport and a Newport Custom. The base Newport stayed the same as it had been in 1974-75. But where going to the Custom had always gotten you a little extra chrome and slightly nicer seats and trim, now you got an entirely different front and rear end, that was much more attractive.
My car mentor Howard bought a 77 Newport Custom 4 door hardtop in this exact color. With no vinyl roof and with fender skirts, the car was one of the most graceful big cars I had ever seen. That car convinced me in 1977 that Chrysler finally had its act together. The unibody structure was really tight and felt more solid than the fuselage cars had felt. I later drove a 74 or 75 Newport sedan, and had nowhere near the structural integrity of the 4 door hardtop, which would seem backwards. Maybe Chrysler overcompensated on the hardtop’s structure.
I later owned a 77 New Yorker as well, so I got to know these pretty well. Very good road cars that seemed better assembled than some of Chrysler’s cars earlier in the decade. The only problems turned out to be the Lean Burn and the body rust.
The severe tuck-under of the lower rear quarters guaranteed that road debris from the rear tires would sandblast the paint off, and you would have a lot of surface rust. On the backsde, that tuckunder provided a shelf for caked mud to sit which would trap moisture and accelerate rusting. I had to sand and paint those lower quarters more than once. Howard’s Newport was a much better car than my New Yorker, but every once in awhile, I still get the crave to own one of these again. It’s that old Mopar optimism: This time I will get a really good one. It could happen. Have I ever mentioned that I am a Cubs fan too?
I will confess that on the coupes, I prefer the regular 2 door hardtop roof, but the St. Regis treatment is one of the better conversions to mandatory 1970s opera window roofs. I think that it is the aggressive semi-fastback angle of the back of the C pillar that makes it come off so well.
Really nice comments. You know your 1977 Chryslers.
I get lost in the 2 door nomenclature. In 1977, if the Newport has just two doors, it’s a hardtop by definition, no? Are there two kinds of two door hard tops roofs?
I did not know you were a Cubs fan as well. As am I, right behind my local club. I became a fan in the days of Jenkins and Williams and Santo. At least 2016 was a reward.
The preferred vehicle in Sunnyvale Trailer Park 🙂
lol, yup Ricky and Lahey each had one
Does anyone else think all this Broughaminess doesn’t really fit with the rest of the ’70 “aesthetic” ?
I love full-size Chryslers from this era (and the years before, for that matter). At the moment, I’m considering following up on a classified for a low-mileage, white-on-white leather 1977 New Yorker Brougham. Sharp car.
Man, that hardtop coupe is beautiful! Funny that my fixation on hardtops – the pillarless kind – I’ve never owned one, by my dad did and I sure took advantage of them. I was hooked.
These cars? I would never have bought one – too big and thirsty and at the time I was against – and still am – fake luxury. Give me sportiness any day. Give me a simple, nicely appointed interior with good comfortable cloth seats and some nice trim and I’m happy.
I’d like to see a return to the pillarless coupe style, but with side impact standards being what they are, that may not happen.
I had to laugh at the shout-out – love it!
I think I would take a 1975 Imperial Lebaron two-door hardtop instead.
Tom, great find; are you sure you didn’t take a quick little trip out to Eugene? It looks like something I’d expect to find here, but never have. This particular roof treatment is really…something…else.
That’s ok, Paul. Now that Tom has found an ordinary version, you can keep a lookout for one with the Castillian upholstery option.
I want to put my eyes out, but it’s hard to do that while you’re puking. Sheesh.
The good thing is, if you puke on it, it’ll just blend in. Perfect for kiddies in the back given the wallowy suspension and two obligatory adults chain smoking in the front.
Isn’t that fabric the same as on the sofa from the Roseanne show in the 80s? I think its a Sears Roughulon weave.
I’m all over that interior.. Sure beats the cookie cutter shades of gray and beige applied to today’s appliances.
+1!
+10
I’ve also hemmed and hawed over a couple of old imperials and newports in the classifieds. I’d take one of these in a heartbeat.
Jim, stop it already. I’m just starting to feel better after my Torino flashback, and you’re trying to trigger another episode already? Castillian?!? How about calling it the Carlos Castaneda upholstery option?
Its like Kermit the Frog on acid in Tijuana.
LOL
This is EXACTLY THE SAME COLOR COMBO as the two Dodge Magnum XEs at Scott & Sons/CC Graveyard in Eugene and about the same condition as the one that was in semi-working condition last time I asked about it. In fact I thought it was that car until I looked closer at the thumbnail pic.
I guess I am that guy. You are casting pearls before swine. The old chryslers remind me of the one that came with the vacation house I rented in the Canal Zone in 1977. The people left us a Chrysler and an old vw van. We had already shipped our car. I believe I got 4mpg out of the thing. Congested urban driving.
That immediately became the only thing I remember about fat chryslers with 440’s.
The rust was relatively minor? By the looks of those quarters, heavier items in the trunk would be apt to fall through, me thinks.
Re: The St. Regis roof. The brochure showed these on a New Yorker and I just assumed they were exclusive to it. I’ve never seen one of these on a Newport until now, and what a crusty and undoubtedly, storied example.
Relatively minor for a 35 year old Midwest car, yes. I’ve seen much worse.
Most agreed. As a fellow Illinoisan, I can tell you that I’ve seen much, much worse that somehow still rolls on down the expressways here in Chicagoland. Shoot, there are younger cars that have holes where body panels should be (a fair number of late 1980s and early 1990s Hondas come to mind).
This one is actually in very good shape for being 35 years old. I suspect it must have been washed often and garaged from the pictures.
As JP states, the rear quarter panels would rust with ease. My parents had one, a 1977. I believe it was a Newport Custom as I remember seeing the wording on the passenger side where a normal glove box would be. (The glove box was down low in the center). The car had A/C, power windows, electronic door locks (that never worked), a handy map light above the glove box, and a fold down arm rest for the front bench seat. It also had a rear speaker for the AM/FM.
Around 1983, it was looking rather worn on the outside, so my dad hired a retired Studebaker employee to paint it. He let me pick the color, so it was changed to midnight blue with a dark blue vinyl roof. It looked really sharp. The car was kept until 1986 and was also my first car. I smacked into another car with it and the engine was getting tired, so it was sold.
I remember many trips in this car and it was a great travel vehicle. It seemed that on every trip, Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione would play on the radio and I remember the warm sunlight streaming through the back window as I would stretch out on the super long back seat, unbelted of course. Excellent memories. Thanks for posting this car Tom.
Of course, this being before Chuck Mangione took up residence at the Mega Lo Mart.
Ha! That reminds me, I need to pick up some propane for the grill.
Thats What I pictured. Arlen. Texas.
Looking at the set of photos again, does anyone hate mansard roofs more than I?
Ugh. The 70s/80s were a pretty sorry time for “cheap rental unit” aesthetics.
Every town has a few of these. As children, my sister and I always called them “Pizza Huts”…I guess for the faint resemblance to the “corporate” PH stores.
Yes. I may not have lived through the Seventies, but the hideous architecture remains a hideous burden on us all.
The Trailer Park comments were bang on, these things were the darlings of the working class set in Canuckistan right up to the mid-1990’s since they were huge and actually drove relatively well. I had a barmaid girlfriend circa 1988 who had a loaded 440 New Yorker, complete with red leather and it was not a bad drive at all. The body was quite solid.
She worked at a redneck cowboy bar in the evening-afternoon shift and I got off the bus from my summer job there every evening. She’d feed me beer until she got off work at 8:00 pm and then we’d jump in the New Yorker off to her place. Happy memories of a cute blonde, big car and buckets of free beer.
As big as that car was, why go off to her place? 😉
Nuge, nudge, wink, wink…..easy-peasy in that rear leather throne….
That roof is like a bad toupee.
What’s strange is that in our leafy suburban neighborhood of ranches, capes and neat little cottages there sits one of these homes with this MacDonald’s type roof and it is exactly like a bad tupus.
I wonder why no-one commented on the faux-Mercedes grille on this one… Or I may just be too early (ducks) 🙂
By 1977, they were old hat. Someone has to get credit for being the first, and we’ve given the ’74 Chevelle its due props for that.
What I always noticed was how the bottom of the grille had that center dip just like the 1960 Chrysler.
I just noticed that for the first time reading this article. It’s just subtle enough to look good here.
After the repaint.
Ooh…Pretty much every 60s-70s car I see in light blue, I want to paint it this color. Nice work!
Thanks. As mentioned it was not a factory color. Since a Stude guy painted it, maybe it was a Studebaker color? The car was originally silver with a mid/light blue interior.
Wow. Very nice!
First Let Me Say… I Was Taught To Drive On The Dodge Station Wagon version of this car, a 1976 Royale Monoco Brougham 3 seat wagon … and if you took corners too fast that rear end Would Swing Out And either knock into somebody or ? G. help a novice driver. It replaced the 74 Coronet Wagon on my 2nd lesson.
You all know I love big luxuo barges and for me I think the appeal of these is the huge car combined with (by all acounts) a solid structure and decent handling.
Ive always laughed at those type of roofs, were they too cheap to cover the whole panel? sure dont reek of luxury
With the part of the vinyl top that extends over the quarter windows and then goes forward on the car, these always looked kinda strange, the vinyl top part at least, the rest of the car sort of looks like something that Buick rejected and Chrysler found in the dumpster, but the vinyl top on only the front have of the roof makes it look like a man going bald in reverse with the hairline receeding from the neck up.
I had the 1977 Plymouth Gran Fury 4-door sedan version of this car, which seemed remarkably similar inside and out except for the added upscale trim on the Chryslers. The Mopar folks were unapologetic about their badge engineering in those years.
There’s a house in an older neighborhood near hear that’s had a pair of Mopar C-bodies in the driveway for at least a decade; I’d bet money it’s the original owners of both the house and the cars. Not sure what models they were, the ’74-’78s were pretty indistinguishable to the untrained eye…I think one has the early New Yorker/late Newport Custom rear, I think. Maybe the other one was a Monaco or Gran Fury. Last time I drove by, one was looking rustier than I remembered…made me a little sad.
While you probably would have gotten all sorts of envious stares, pulling up to a fine dining establishment in a St. Regis-equipped Newport or New Yorker coupe, I would have much rather had the standard two-door hardtop. I’m sure Zackman is with me!
Me three – that car looks great. The St. Regis roof looks like all it needs is a scarf and a pair of goggles strapped around front and you’ll be ready to dogfight The Red Baron…
This article makes me realize why I bought my 76 Royal Monaco new back then. Those Chryslers were really beautiful cars, especially with the standard 2 door HT roofline. I liked the hidden headlights of the Royal rather than the Newport. An added benefit was the comparable Newport cost a bit more, $ 135 if I remember correctly.
Although my Monaco is a little tired looking, it still draws compliments. Last Sunday, an older guy at the gas station asked me if I would sell it. We talked a while and he regaled me what he would do if the car was his. New paint and repairing the minor rips on the driver’s seat. I told him the repairs would cost many times what the car is worth.
Maybe what makes my car so desirable is the fact that it is original and practically valueless. I doubt whether anyone would pay over a thousand for it, let alone invest additional thousands in its restoration. I’ve said for years that if anything major goes wrong, I’ll give it to Make-a-Wish or any worthy charity that will take it.
Cheers!
I wonder if Dave C. is still nursing how old car along .
Chrysler company had the right idea stymied by terrible management and deliberately odd, conservative styling .
As I age out I like the old Chrysler products ever more .
-Nate
Actually over here Chrysler dusted themselves off and ran like hell for the US by late 79 theyd run out of Hillmans to rebadge and they were nearly done with Aussie Valiants so they left us in the incompetent hands of Misubishi.
Looking at all the brochure pictures in this article, I think these cars looked much better without the fender skirts.
My first car. ’75 Newport Custom 4dr, spinnaker white with burgandy vinyl top, highlander pkg with plaid cloth and burgandy vinyl interior. A/C and 8 track. No fender skirts, 318cu. Bought it from an elderly neighbor for $1200 in 1983 with 42,000 miles. Awesome ride!! Wish I had her today.
Had your car had an engine swap? I do not believe that small block engines were ever in a C body Chrysler. The standard engine in your car should have been a 400, with a 440 optional.
My aunt had a 1974 Newport Custom, it was the burnt orange/copper color with a white roof, looked exactly like the one on the right in the 2nd brochure (3rd photo down) It had a gorgeous white interior, but with the hideous Castillian cloth option seat inserts. I remember thinking, it looked a Navaho Indian blanket laying on the seats. It looks fine on a blanket, but really bad as car upholstery. The seats took away from the otherwise refined subtle luxury feel that the car had.
When I was barely 16, she let me drive the huge Chrysler. I loved the big padded steering wheel, staring out across that massive hood, the crisp lines of the fenders with the amber turn signal indicators on each far corner. I would load all my cousins and their friends and drive them all over Nashville, TN. All the teens loved riding in the Chrysler, because it was roomy, comfortable and had a terrific stereo for the day. I remember it had 3 speakers across the top of the dash and 4…yes 4 whopping 6×9 speakers on the rear package shelf, 2) 6×9 speakers on each side? Unheard of. I never looked in the trunk to see if there were in fact 4 speakers, but there were definitely 4 factory grills perforated into the package shelf. We were jammin to some Journey, “don’t stop believing” and other 70’s hits. The only problem was keeping the tank full, it sucked gas, but that V8 would haul! Great memories!
I never have been able to figure out why so many guys prefer two-door, mile-long-door, cars. You couldn’t give me one. Make mine a 4-dr. hrdtp. in a light color . . with cloth upholstery.
My interest in these mid-70s Chryslers stems from the recognition that they were the last American boats which offered VENT windows. Put that together with torsion-bars in the front, leafs in the back . . . and nothing can touch it for value-per-dollar.
The less padded rust traps the better for me just the plain model will do fine
There’s redneck chic and then there’s just trash.
I don’t care how good these were (and they were pretty good) I don’t want to be associated too strongly with the demographic except in bed
Had about 10 C-bodies both fuselage and “formal” from model years 1970 to ’78, bought in the ’80s up to about 2000. All were daily drivers, bought well used, 318s, 360s, 400s and 440s. Wagons and 4 door sedans. One was a ’77 Newport 4 dr hdtp with a 400, got poor mpg. The ’77 Gran Fury with 360 was the best formal, we drove it 100 miles a day for 8 years, the ’71 F III with 318 was the best Fuselage, also driven for long distance commuting. Some were trailer pullers. All of them had their positive attributes and I loved them all. Sometimes a full-sized Olds or Buick filled in for a spell,, but we always ended going back to Mopar C-bodies as family cars
Recently saw a white St. Regis coupe for sale in a yard in rural north Georgia. Looked so nice, I turned around to have a look. Really nice, but for the large rust trails from under the padded roof. $7k. Haha
From what I’ve heard, and even seen on occasion, when you got this option package, they simply built the padding around the roll-down rear windows, and took out the window crank (or power window switch, if so equipped), but left all the mechanicals in place to allow the window to roll down. I’ve seen one or two of these, where the owners hooked them back up, and made the rear windows functional.
Apparently, in power-window models, they even left the power window motors in there! Sounds like one helluva inefficient way to build a car, but maybe with the way they were mass-produced, it was easier to just leave that stuff in there? I imagine though, being a hardtop, and with that padding just added on, they might be more prone to leaking than a car that was designed with fixed windows, from the get-go?
In 1974, the Electra and Ninety-Eight coupes offered a similar treatment, where you could get a true hardtop, or padded roof that gave it the opera window/personal luxury coupe look. I wonder if GM did the same “quick and dirty” route to do this, that Mopar did with the St. Regis package?
One thing that stuck with me all through the years about those cars, and any contemporary Chrysler car or truck with the B/RB engine, was the constant need for them to have their valve cover gaskets replaced. You can see in the cut-away drawing how close the upswept exhaust manifolds came to the lower edge of the valve covers, the heat radiating off the manifolds would just cook the cork gaskets commonly used at the time. This wasn’t too much of an issue until the mid-70’s when the catalytic converters and low emission engine tuning caused the exhaust temperatures to be higher (at least Chrysler didn’t often use air pumps then, that would have made matters worse). A few gasket manufacturers came out with heat-resistant valve cover gaskets for these engines, but Fel-Pro had an effective solution in the form of a metal exhaust manifold gasket that had an extended flange on the top that served as a heat shield.