This vintage driveway image seems to tell two stories of woodgrain apliqué; the popular and the obscure one. The popular being the ’72 LTD wagon, carrying the woodgrain finish that became synonymous with wagons. Not all had them, but you almost expected them to do so.
Then, upfront, an obscure offering. A ’68 Newport Convertible, with the “Sportsgrain” option –Chrysler’s term for woodgrain on the model. The white droptop in the image is just one of 175 sold as such.
It’s all part of a mostly forgotten chapter of woodgrain appliqués on coupes and convertibles in the late ’60s. I won’t blame Chrysler (or Mercury) for trying, as trim options had done wonders through that decade; and on wagons, woodgrain was a hot thing. Could it do the same magic elsewhere?
In the case of Chrysler, the option became available for their ’68 Newport Hardtops and Convertibles. Total production of “Sportsgrain” Newports was 1,140; with 975 being hardtops and 175 droptops. While low numbers, the feature was still offered in ’69 before being dropped for good. It’s a story told at CC before.
The Town & Country, in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Even if short-lived, Chrysler would curiously revisit the woody convertible idea during the droptop revival of the 1980s. The ’83-’86 LeBaron Town & Country didn’t sell that great either, but at least found its way into -dubious- pop culture stardom.
But lest not forget, that before that 1980s Town & Country, there was the “Sporstgrain”. Here one more time with the top down, a last view of this unusual offering.
Related CC reading:
The Most Obscure Special Editions And Forgotten Limited-Run Models: Mopar Edition, Part II
I’m surprised they only sold 175 woody converts.
One source says that out of over 182k Newports built in 1968, only 2847 were convertibles. That 175 Sportgrain models works out to over 5% of production, which is higher than I would have expected. I think Chrysler proved over a long, long stretch (before the 80’s, anyway) that Chrysler buyers were not convertible buyers.
….and apparently convertible buyers weren’t woody lovers!
I’m sure the price of the Sportsgrain option had something to do with it. $126 seems like a pittance today, but back in 1968, it was quite a chunk of change for a styling affectation of dubious value.
If memory serves me (and at my age its getting hazy) I believe Mercury had a wood grained Park Lane convertible in `68. A unicorn to be sure, but a nice one.
It appears that the Mercury Park Lane convertible was, indeed, available with ‘Yacht-Deck’ paneling in 1967-68. So, yeah, the 1968-69 Newport’s ‘Sportsgrain’ convertible definitely seems like Chrysler’s response. But it looks like the earlier Mercury didn’t sell any better than the Chrysler version, and neither lasted very long.
I guess I can sort of understand the effort since the Ford Country Squire and Mercury Colony Park station wagons with Dy-Noc wood paneling did sell okay for quite a few years.
In 1968 as one of Lee Iacocca’s mid-year introductions, Mercury offered what was called Colony Park Paneling on the Park Lane convertible and 2dr hardtop for $129.55.
I own one having purchased it from the original owner’s brother who came into possession of it when his brother passed away. He told me his brother had a 66 Park Lane convertible at the time he attended the 1968 Chicago Auto Show where he saw the car featured on the turntable in the Lincoln Mercury display (I have a photo of this) and had to have it.
The car was also used in the introduction of the Continental Mark III on March 18,1968 in the castle built for the set of Camelot on Warner Brothers backlot.
This Park Lane has almost every available option and had an MSRP of $5,692.59. A Marti Report puts the number produced at 15. When commenting on its looks I use the line from ads for Hooters : “delightfully tacky”.
There’s not much about this rare option on the ‘net, but sources indicate the Park Lane hardtop and convertible ‘yacht-deck’ paneling might have began as a 1967 mid-year introduction rather than 1968. But, yeah, it most definitely smacks of a Lee Iacocca effort and easy to believe that the number produced was remarkably low.
The bottom line is, for MY1968 at least, it was possible to get either a Mercury or Chrysler hardtop and convertible with similar, marine-inspired DI-NOC wood paneling on the sides.
Love that ‘69 LTD photobombing the last shot.
I always thought the Town and Country woodie was a gag car customized special for that movie like Clark Griswald drove. Would have never thought the factory and dealers would dream of trying to sell something like that I know there was some company in Hollywood that made special movie cars and the Chrysler had the same look as their Family Queen Wagonmaster and looked just as clownish.
I saw those Sportgrain Newports in old magazine ads long before I ever saw one in person. I am kind of amazed that I don’t hate it. I doubt that I would have ordered one when new, but would not have turned down a used one if the woodgrain was on a car that was otherwise what I wanted.
Chrysler built a partially wood bodied Town and Country model between 1941-1950. These were built as coupes,sedans and wagons. The Newport option and the later ’80’s K cars were an homage to that model. I suppose Chrysler was banking on some nostalgic appeal. I kind of liked the wood sided convertibles but the wagon looked the best. Here’s a photo of the 1948 convertible. photo source, the web, by Mr. Choppers.
1984 to 1986 LeBaron convertible, had a similar roof, and greenhouse appearance, as this Newport. With the quarter windows added in 1984. An improvement on the quarter windowless 1982 and 1983 models. Which looked downright unattractive, with their roofs up.
There were also Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon woodies, as well as Pinto coupe woodies and Chevette woodies.
VW Rabbit ‘Woodie’ at the 1979 Chicago Auto Show.
I think it actually looks pretty good, and even “sporty”, in a “I am wearing boaters and a golf shirt on my way to the Yacht Club for brunch” kinda way. Which is exactly the kind of image I think a “Sporty” Chrysler Newport was aiming for.
I think Chrysler’s marketing was off if they couldn’t sell more than a couple of hundred of these. But I like it!
One thing was, I really do think this generation of big Mopars was “peak Chrysler”, but the two-doors with the big sail panels are an exception – and I think that rubbed off on the convertibles as well.
”I’ve never seen a man lifted by his testicles before” .
Oddly enough I think they all look great .
-Nate
My 4th grade teacher traded her 1964 Chevrolet Impala for a new avocado green 1968 Newport 2 door hardtop with the sportsgrain option. I have never seen another one and now I know why. I didn’t realize that it was so rare. I never cared for the looks of it. Maybe a convertible would have been more believable.
I believe your “Production” numbers are actually the number of cars sold in the US. Additional cars not included in those numbers were sold in Canada.
Should I be ashamed to admit it? But I don’t hate that ’68 Newport Convertible with the “Sportsgrain” option.
There was a story in AutoWeek magazine several years ago about the companies that did product placement of new cars in TV shows and movies. One company that placed Ford products, was offered the script for ‘Planes, Trains, & Automobiles’. The man who ran that company, read the script, and declined the request for a Mustang convertible, based on what was to be done to the car in the movie.