The Newport was a name used by Chrysler for both a hardtop body designation and also for its lowest priced model between 1961 and 1981. Chrysler first used the Newport name on a 1940 show car, of which five vehicles were produced.
Chrysler Newport history:
Chrysler Newport Phaeton 1940-1941
Chrysler Newport (1st gen) 1960-1964
Chrysler Newport (2nd gen) 1964-1968
Chrysler Newport (3rd gen) 1968-1973
Chrysler Newport (4th gen) 1973-1978
Chrysler Newport (5th gen) 1978-1981
Fifth Generation 1978-1981
The 1979 model year saw a new downsized Newport on the Chrysler R platform, a derivative of the circa 1962 Chrysler B platform. This reduced model availability to a single "pillared hardtop" 4-door sedan. While GM and Ford had downsized their big cars by engineering smaller bodies around more spacious passenger accommodations, Chrysler took a different approach. The existing Chrysler B platform was modified to improve fuel efficiency through a number of weight saving measures. Examples include plastic brake wheel cylinder pistons, which tended to swell and bind up the brakes after a some years in service. Chrome-plated aluminum bumpers were another innovation, but were replaced in 1980 with a stronger steel rear bumper. The large displacement V8 engines were dropped.
Initial 1979 sales were strong, but Chrysler's unsteady financial condition, combined with tightening oil and gasoline supplies hurt sales of the redesigned vehicle, and all of the R-body models were discontinued after a short run of 1981 models, as Chrysler began its shift toward smaller front-wheel drive cars.
Cancelled revival 1984
The Newport model name nearly made a comeback in early 1984 as an addition to the M-Body (Dodge Diplomat, Plymouth Gran Fury, Chrysler Fifth Avenue) lines. Orders were taken by Chrysler-Plymouth dealers, but at the last minute, the would-be Newport was marketed as the Dodge Diplomat SE. This model used the same waterfall grille as the Chrysler Fifth Avenue with the exception of a horizontal bar running across the center to mimic the other "crosshair" grilles in the Dodge lineup.
Source: Wikipedia