This is Round Two for this spectacular wagon in Barn Finds. We covered it in 2018. Now it’s looking for a new home again. Here on craigslist is a 1964 Chrysler Newport Town & Country wagon, at an asking price of $24,000. The car is located in Hernando, Tennessee. We have T.J. to thank for this great tip! The Newport name was used by Chrysler from 1940 to at least 1981, on and off with dizzying repetition. But fairly consistently starting in the 1950s, the “Newport” tag meant you were looking at a pillarless hardtop. By 1961, Chrysler introduced the Newport in several body styles with a trim level slotted below the New Yorker. The Newport Town & Country Wagon was not a high production vehicle, with fewer than 7,000 made in 1964 including those with a third row of seats. This particular wagon is in near-show condition. The seller has owned it for four years (probably since the last ad in 2018) and indicates it is nearly all original except for the deep blue paint. The car is said to start, run and drive very well.
The Newport wagon came with a 361 cu. in. V8 developing about 265 hp and affectionately known as a wedge engine thanks to its wedge-shaped combustion chambers. The transmission was a push-button TorqueFlight automatic. This engine bay is as spiffy as they come. The seller notes that the odometer reads 79,679 miles, and he believes that to be original. The car has had a tune-up, and the power steering pump has been rebuilt. All hoses have been replaced. The radiator was replaced with an OEM version. The car rides on new shocks, leaf springs, and tires. The brakes and wheel cylinders are new.
The car’s interior is as clean as it can be. The “way back” looks as if no one’s children ever spilled ice cream on the rubber mats. The dash shows off the pushbutton transmission, which is quite fun to use.
The pillarless look was billed as a “convertible sedan” in feeling, and this photo evokes that airiness. Chrysler touted the ease of loading both people and cargo into the wagon; that does not seem like an exaggeration. While these mid-1960s family-oriented Mopars may not be everyone’s idea of a collectible, I can certainly see the appeal of this example. Could this wagon find its way into your garage?
Is the steering wheel upside-down?
There are two photos – one with it one direction, the other with it in the opposite direction. My bet is it takes considerable movement to get this baby to turn?
Perhaps it’s correct. If you drive like one should with hands at 10 and 2 o’clock the horns will be right under your thumbs.
It is in some pictures, it all depends on what position it was in when you shut the car off. The horn ring is always on the bottom of the wheel when its straight ; and you can see the “C” on the horn button is facing the right way when its in the correct position
In the first photo, the front wheels are straight, and the horn ring can be seen on the steering wheel through the windshield.
The wheels are turned a few degrees to the right, perhaps enough for a half-turn of the wheel, given the age of the car and the fact that the steering wasn’t exactly precise when new.
‘But fairly consistently starting in the 1950s, the “Newport” tag meant you were looking at a pillarless hardtop’
‘Pillarless hardtop” is redundant.
Just “hardtop”. Hardtop is the exception as in hardtop coupe, hardtop sedan, hardtop wagon.
Hardtop= no B pillar.
In a previous Barn Finds article, a couple of commenters didn’t understand that ‘hardtop’ referred to the fact that there was no pillar. I was deliberately redundant so folks would understand that hardtop didn’t just mean the top was hard.
How stupid are those commentators? Maybe they should seek other employment.
Beautiful car, but no A/C would be a deal breaker.😕
Not in Alaska
I had the same tbought. I’ve been thinking of replacing my 1964 Dodge 440 wagon with a C body Chrysler or Dodge wagon, but no AC is definitely a deal-breaker for us Georgians. I’ve had my wagon for 29 years, and it’s all-original, too.
We gotta have A/C here in the land of 100+ degree summers! Vintage Air makes some nice retrofit units for making cool classics cooler.
I love wagons and I especially like this one, and I don’t care if the steering wheel is upside down or not. A 4 door hard top wagon, how cool is that, I didn’t even know Chrysler had one. I would love to have this one just to show it off. I think the price is fine I wouldn’t even try to buy it for less, this is just too cool.
I’m with you on the hardtop wagon look, and there’s no fake wood grain, thank God!
I wouldn’t poke holes in it, but a nice vintage drip-rail mounted roof rack would look stellar on this.
“Nice vintage drip rail mounted”. There has never been such a thing.
I think drip-rail mount racks look fine on older post-war wagons, but are just too clunky looking for a sleek modern wagon like this one. If it was necessary, I’d install an OE type rack on this wagon.