The 1961 Chrysler Newport 

"It Looks Like a much more expensive car—and it performs Like one, too."

By Tom McCahill ( Mechanix Illustrated, June 1961)

AS John L. Sullivan said to Jake Kilrain, as he bounced him off the wall, "Good things come in big packages, too, an’ yer not apt to forget it." The Chrysler Newport is a good big car at a comparatively low price and it’s chock full of little goodies for the big-car fan with a low-tide wallet. As you know, Chrysler cars come in as many sizes as brides do, ranging from the speed trial champion 300 down to the New Yorker, Windsor and, at the bottom rung, the Newport.

 The price range also goes the whole route. This is why we decided to give the economy kid a whirl. The Newport rests right in a hot bed of medium priced competition—and at the low end of the medium-priced rigs at that. Its immediate rivals are the Pontiac Catalina, Olds Dynamic 88, Mercurys and some medium-grade Buicks. Delivered in Florida with heater, radio, whitewalls and all the deluxe gook, aside from air conditioning, this car in a full cream puff suit will be left at your door for a hair over $3,700 of Uncle Sam’s green trading stamps. In a skimmed-out version

as austere as love on a scooter, without extras, you could slice $600 to $700 off the price or go the other way and, getting all the gadgets plus air conditioning, be forced to shell out over $4,000. Though this is not cheap by ten-years-ago standards in today’s rat race its’s a bargain. My test car was delivered by the Atlanta Chrysler Zone and I still haven’t figured out why it carne through with Alabama plates. As usual when I keep a test car for some time, little facts pop out that are impossible to detect or fully realize in a short one-day go. For example, the standard Newport is powered by a 361-cubic inch V8 engine, the same as the Windsor. The big New Yorker has a 413-inch mill, the same as the 300, with a compression ratio of 10 to 1. The Windsor, with the same base engine as the Newport, sports a 10 to 1 ratio but the Newport has a comparatively low 9 to 1 set of heads. This means the Newport can successfully sidle up to the lamp oil, or low octane pump, while the another Chryslers, including the Windsor, must stop at the high-priced spread. This fact alone can mean as much as one buck’s difference every time you gas up. The test car didn’t have the extra cost six-way power seat and as I must drive with the seat all the way back, I felt as though I was sitting m a mole hole. A great big paper sign attached to the sun visor advises that the seats, in addition to the regular back and forward jazz, can and will be custom-fitted for pitch and height to your posterior by the dealer at no extra cost. If you are six foot six, married to a five-foot two wife, better buy her a six-way power seat or a bike. The Newport is rated at 265 horsepower which our test proved was more than adequate for the average family. But if you were sired by Man O’ War and your brother was Count Fleet, there’s another page in the Newport for you. At extra cost (about $200) you can order the slightly lighter and slightly shorter Newport with the New Yorker engine. If you are really a foam churner you can also order it with the full 300 engine and let the trees stand aside. The Newport with a big, high-performance engine will just about out-drag anything on the road except another Chrysler product, the Plymouth, which can also be bought with the big Chrysler atom-smasher. Back to the Newport in its regular suit. Sizewise, it’s a big car. The wheel base is 122 inches, and overall length is 215.6 inches and the width is 79.4 inches.

On the road this job handles and controls with all the ease of inheriting money. Although the suspension is excellent I felt the torsion bars could have taken a little winding up. On the Daytona sports car course, where I tested it, there was just a little more roll than with my 300 over the same route. Anyway, as most of you know, Chrysler can give aces and spades to any other manufacturer in America and still win as far as suspension is concerned. The ride is strictly big-car stuff and railroad crossings and pot holes are sopped up like "spilt milk in a cat factory. These are the cars to be in when an emergency arises. If you have to take to the road shoulder or ditch or throw your car into a spin to avoid annihilation in a head-on crash, your chances are lots better with torsion-bar suspension. Recently, on a rainy Saturday night I was returning to Florida from a quail shoot at Claude Cook’s in Hazelhurst, Ga. The road was slick with a mud film that had floated across it from one of the high banked shoulders. It was about 10:30 at night and I was tired, having spent a long day in the field. Suddenly I became aware of some action on the highway up front. Then my headlights picked up what looked like a solid wall across the road some 200 yards ahead. I was driving my Chrysler 300 and doing about 65. I hit the brakes but it was no go—the road was too slick from the mud slime to get a grip. I threw the 300 into a long broad slide, right down the center of the road, corrected and got it back in line. Now I saw the wall was only about 40 yards away and I was still doing about 40, so I cut hard for a spin. One complete loop and I was able to bring the 300 to a stop less than four feet from the wall, which turned out to be the bottom side of a huge trailer-tractor that had just jack-knifed and flipped on its side, blocking all passage on the narrow, two-lane road.. It was the terrific Chrysler suspension that allowed me to pull the 300 out of this situation. In any one of a dozen other less able road barges I would have been in real trouble without an exit. 

Stylewise, the Newport is Chrysler all the way and unless you are a real Chrysler phobe you’d be hard pressed to tell which model it is. It’s only four inches shorter than the New Yorker overall and just as wide and roomy inside. This car will appeal to a lot of buyers who want that certain amount of prestige that goes with owning a Chrysler, plus very good performance over the ground, and all on the regular fuel. The Newport isn’t the fastest car on the road in its standard suit but it’s also a long way from being the slowest, and it certainly won’t cause you any embarrassment at a traffic light. With the standard engine and regular gas the Newport will crank out zero to 60 mph in ten seconds flat—and, as you know, that’s still pretty good. Top speed is better than 110 mph and on the road it will whip up from 40 to 60 in 5.1 seconds which will get you by the oxcarts pretty fast. All performance speed tests were made at the Daytona Speedway and for spins and handling control I used the sports car course and the beach.

I hate to condemn this car with the swashbuckle set by dubbing it a real practical automobile but that’s just what it is from almost all standpoints. It has some faults—such as the head-roasting feature of the rear window and a real phony glove box. The glove compartment has a tremendous door that, when open, reveals a small hole on one side and that’s it. The rear window is slanted out to catch all the sun’s rays when you are heading north. This can become, pretty uncomfortable on a hot summer’s day if you happen to he hauling your mother-in-law in the back seat. Of course, tinted windows will cut this down some and so will venetian blinds but still it seems a little silly. In summing up, I think, all things considered, that this is a hell of a buy for some people. The performance is such that unless you are in the business you might easily think it could take anything on the road. Zero to 60 in ten flat, and plenty of torque in the upper ranges, make this a top-flight performing rig at a price and without any sacrifice of comfort. It is roomy, comfortable, well-styled and expensive-looking and can go coast-to-coast and back on the cheapest pump fuel. The upholstery is good and the general fittings are up to the best Detroit standards, which I’ll admit isn’t giving it much. In summing up the summing up, the Newport is a car that looks as if it costs a lot more money than most of its competition—and when you look still further, it drives as if it cost more, too.

              By: Tom McCahill ( Mechanix Illustrated, June 1961)

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