1977 Chrysler Newport Sedan (LHD)

Description

Chrysler’s Newport badge was first applied to a dual-cowl Dream Car built in 1940 and later used to denote a series of two-door hardtops in the 1950s before reappearing as a full-size entry-level model in 1961, selling alongside its more luxurious New Yorker stablemate. Throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, the Newport grew in size and power and the Sixth Generation, based on the full-size C-body shared with other Mopar cars, was launched in 1974, featuring crisp, squared-off styling. The Oil Crisis was beginning to have an impact across the American auto industry and the latest Newport was several inches shorter than its predecessor, but the 124-inch wheelbase frame could hardly be described as compact. The Sixth Generation Newport underwent regular facelifts and for 1977, its penultimate year, received a fresh grille and minor changes to the front and rear sheetmetal. Chrysler offered just three different body styles that year, including a two-door hardtop, a four-door sedan and one of the industry’s last true four-door hardtops. All came with a massive 400-cid V8 under the bonnet as standard (a 440-cid motor was optional), featuring Chrysler’s class leading electronic Lean Burn technology for greater efficiency. The standard powerplant developed 190 horsepower at a lazy 3600 rpm, with an 8.2:1 compression ratio and was only available with the smooth Torqueflite automatic transmission, along with the usual power steering and power brakes. The Newport’s interior featured a cloth/vinyl split-back bench seat, with Williamsburg cloth optional. Bucking the trend of falling sales of full-size cars, Chrysler actually made more Newports in 1977 than the previous year, with 32,506 sedans rolling off the production lines, accounting for roughly ten per cent of overall sales.