1941 Chrysler Newport

Chrysler reacted to the Airflow debacle of 1934-1937 with upright styling that was as conservative as the streamlined Airflows were advanced. Still, imaginative design found expression in two of the industry’s First dream cars built at the behest of Chrysler president K.T Keller. The first was the Thunderbolt, a rakish, two-door convertible by famed designer Alex Tremulis. its aluminum body had no wheel openings and no grille, and its retractable hardtop predicted the 1957 Ford Skyliner.

The second was the Chrysler Newport, a genuine dual-cowl phaeton grand tradition but styled along more modern lines. Created principally by Ralph Roberts of the LeBaron Coachworks, it was built on the 145.5-inch wheelbase of the Chrysler Imperial. With no exposed joints or moldings between the body and fenders, the car had the appearance of being stamped from a single piece of metal. Like the Thunderbolt, the Newport featured hidden headlights, but had open front wheel wells and a grille divided into upper and lower segments. The twin cockpits had three-across bench seats sumptuously trimmed in leather. The four doors were cut away at the sides and had no windows because the Newport was intended primarily as a parade car for sunny days.

Six copies of both the Newport and the Thunderbolt were built, and they were the well-received centerpieces of Chrysler auto show exhibits. When the Speedway chose the Newport as the 1941 pace car, it became only the second non-production "special" to be so honored (Carl Fisher’s 1915 Packard was the first).

Under the hood was Chrysler’s L-head straight-eight rated at 143 horsepower at 3400 rpm. This is eight horsepower more than the stock engine of the same displacement, and may denote some added features lost to history. The Newport was among the heaviest cars ever to pace the 500 and one of the most distinctive. For thc first time since the practice was begun in 1936, a pace car or its equivalent did not go to the race winner. No production models of the Newport were built, but the original pacesetter survives and is frequently displayed at the Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

The Driver: The pace car, driven for 1941 by Chrysler official A.B. Couture, usually is a focal point of pre-race hoopla. But this year a devastating fire on the morning of the race took center stage. The blaze delayed the start by two hours, destroying several garages and three cars, including George Barringer’s four-wheel-drive Miller, which had qualified l5th.

The Race: Gunning for his third consecutive win and fourth overall, the great Wilbur Shaw crashed while leading in lap 1151 when a wheel collapsed on his supercharged Maserati. Shaw claimed the wheel never should have been on his car and that chalk markings identifying it as faulty were washed away when firefighters fought the garage blaze. Mauri Rose started on the pole but withdrew on lap 60 when his Maserati developed spark plug trouble. He relieved Floyd Davis in a Lou Moore-owned Offy that was running l4th and battled on to victory Rose and Davis were declared co-winners in the last Indy 500 until after World War II.

Winner

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