Elwood Engel left Ford in 1961 to succeed Virgil Exner as head of styling at Chrysler. The 1965 Chrysler–which essentially evolved the Engel’s design language for the 1961 Lincoln Continental–was his first “clean sheet” production car design for Chrysler. The 1966 refresh was, in my opinion, an improvement on the ’65s that provided greater differentiation between the base Newport (Windsor, in Canada), sporty 300 and high-end New Yorker models, all of which shared most of their sheet metal.
The letter-model 300 was gone, but 1966 marked the debut of the 350-hp, 440 cu in Mopar big-block that came standard in the New Yorker. The Newport and 300 had 383 cu in big-blocks with two- and four-barrel carbs, respectively. All ’66 Chrysler series offered the 365-hp, 440 ‘TNT’ engine upgrade.
Front disc brakes were newly optional for ’66; from my personal experience, however, under most circumstances the power drum brakes are sufficiently large to stop the car without drama. Even the base-level, non-power drums are fairly adequate, thanks to their use of a unique pedal assembly that provides more leverage.
TV ads touted the 1966 Chrysler as a car “For when you’re young… or when you want to be.” This car definitely lives up to the tagline.
When I drive to the mall, it’s not unusual for me to find an old guy hanging around my car even when I park it near the back of the lot. The story is always familiar: He drove one “back in the day”, and it was the best car he ever owned.
Once, I even found a business card, stuck under the wiper blade by someone who’d once had a car just like mine. On it was a written offer for my car. As every current or former owner I know will tell you, these cars never fail to evoke fond memories.
You chose just the right examples in your photos. The six-window sedan is so distinctive, and of course it’s hard not to love the two-door’s roofline.
Thanks, I took all the pics myself. I sat at my PC for a long time deciding which ones to send. Finally, I sent Paul 9 of them and basically said, “If there isn’t space for all of them, these are the ones I would omit first.”
There were actually completely different 2-door hardtop rooflines for each of the 3 models. The NYer roof looked much like the 4-door hardtop roof with a trapezoidal C-pillar. The Newport/Windsor roof has the crease to simulate a convertible top bow. The 300 roof does not have the crease, and the rear window is smaller.
The 6-window sedan is also the rarer of the 1965-68 Chryslers, they dropped it when the ’67 models arrived. Very few still survived (and the 1965 Dodge Custom 880 6-window sedan is more rare).
When I checked that ’66 model, I wonder if Engel might get the inspiration of a aborted project of a ’62 DeSoto designed by Don Kopka? That proposed car was a 6-window 4-door sedan who have a roofline more or less similar to the Newport. There a picture of it at http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1960s-chrysler-concept-cars1.htm
Growing up, my Dad purchased a blue over blue ’65 Dodge Custom 880 sedan – it was the six-window. It was a leftover ’65 bought in January 1966. He traded the ’55 Pontiac 870 Chieftain sedan for it. That car was still around when I got my driver’s license, although my Father ended up giving the car to my Mother (they were divorced by then); my Mom wrecked it, but the car was still driveable (sans the hood). The car was driven under it’s own power to the junkyard around December, 1975!!
Nice! Glad you finally got around to writing the article.
Is that your convertible? Why did I think yours was white?
I’m still undecided on CCOTY. I’m so non-denominational on these issues it’s hard to pick, although I do love those big wagons…
I still intend to write something more lengthy about my cars one of these days. My convertible is a white Newport. The pictured 300 convertible belongs to a friend of mine. I threw the text and pics at Paul and let him organize the picture placement, so I guess it reads like the 300 convertible is one of mine.
Looking forward to more! And wishing for a drive in the 300, and then a ride in that great red T&C.
Maybe it’s because the first family car in my memories was our ’66 Polara and my first car was a ’68 Fury…this is the CCOTY presented thus far that gets my vote. I love this era of big MOPARS.
If we were nominating the above car in, say, 1963, I’d award it hands-down. But, no – too out-dated a design compared with the GMs.
I have no idea what I would nominate for my choice. Perhaps a Jeep C101 Jeepster Commando, as I can’t think of anything else, though a guy at work sometimes drives his 1966 Corvette convertibel – red, of course!
All this being said, and as I am a hardtop guy, you can’t beat the Chrysler six-window sedan, as it was the first car with that glass configuration I had ever seen.
Our family mechanic had one of those and it was beautiful – and rare even in the day, for I looked for them and never saw another.
He was quite the Chrysler guy, and he kept his exquisite. It was light-colored and gorgeous.
There you go…
One of my very favorite cars. When I owned my 66 Fury III, I tried to “upgrade” to a 66 New Yorker 6 window sedan. Unfortunately, the car was a click or two lower in quality than my Fury, and the owner had a grossly inflated idea of its value. I still remember how much better the support was in the front seat.
My car-mentor Howard had bought a very early 66 Newport 6 window sedan. His brother was an exec at Sun Oil Co. Howard’s brother pulled some strings and took the Newport to be used as one of the cars for the annual master tune-up and service manual that Sun put out every year for its service stations. They would do a bunch of service procedures to see if any changes were necessary for the books. The benefit was that mechanics took gobs of stuff apart and put it back together, a process that tended to fix a lot of little issues any new car might have had in those days. Then, 6 months later, the Charger came out and Howard traded the Newport in on a new Charger. His brother was extremely peeved.
I agree that the 66 is a more attractive car than the 65. My “editorial self” would say that this may not get the votes for CCOTY, but my “real self” would have made this my own car of the year had I been buying a new car in 1966.
I like these big Mopars, and my Grandad had a white T&C wagon. But to nominate since they have new grilles and tails, which was a common ‘stlyle change’ in the 60’s isn’t enough for COTY in my opinion. If they got all new motors, maybe, but looks are pure subjectivity.
These 66’s are virtually the same as 65 and 67-68 big Mopars. I know when I was kid/teen, I had strong preferences for different model year looks of 50’s thru 80’s car, example I like the 65 vs 66 Impala. But looking back, in reality it’s really gingerbread.
I did point out that the available 440 and front disc brakes were new for ’66. Also, the base engine in the Newport was bumped up from the 361 in 1965 to the 383 in 1966.
Stunning color on your car! I still like the Toronado, but you make a compelling case…
They don’t come much better looking than this!
You’re a very lucky chap!
I really like this car as a convertible. But I don’t see how COTY for ’66 goes to anything other than the Toronado.
I was surprised to find out recently that Chrysler did seriously consider a 300M letter car for 1966, 500 of which would have had the 426 Hemi. That, with front discs and a suitable heavy-duty suspension, would be a contender, although I’d be hard-pressed to call it as important as the Toronado.
I agree that the ’66 Chryslers were remarkably sharp cars. The disc brakes and available 440 were just icing on the cake. That navy blue 6-window NY is especially stunning.
I’m looking forward to hearing about your own cars and their stories. Soon, I hope.
Great photos of some nice cars – thank you!
My first car was a 1966 Mopar, but it was an A body, not a C body. Perhaps I should call myself “SmallOldChryslers”?
Chrysler really was at the top of their game when these things came out, it’s hard to believe that a near death experience and blinged out K-Cars passed off as Chryslers were just around the corner. I liked Ronnie Schreiber’s description over at TTAC: “The K-car saved Chrysler the company. The K-car almost destroyed Chrysler the brand”*.
The LX platform BigNewChryslers seem to be a worthy successor to these old cars – mother Mopar seems to be in her manic phase again these days – but the cars shown here still have more presence.
___________________
*source: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/08/review-2012-chrysler-300-luxury-series/
I must have been really out of it yesterday. As much as I love the C body, I would have to pick the B body as CCOTY for 1966. And it didn’t occur to me until right now. The Coronet/Satellite/Charger and all that came after them became the performance leaders of the late 1960s and eventually became modern collector car royalty. We C body fans have to acknowledge the debt to the B cars’ popularity, because I suspect that they are the ones responsible for the wide parts availability for old Mopars today.
Not that I’m disagreeing with you, but the original Charger wasn’t exactly a sales success, which is funny considering the 66-67’s are my favorite generation of Charger.
Yep, gotta be thankful for the A/B/E-body crowd for supporting the aftermarket that helps keep my cars alive, but I can still be bitter at them for mostly seeing C-bodies and Imperials as engine donors.
“but I can still be bitter at them for mostly seeing C-bodies and Imperials as engine donors.”
I am standing right beside you on this one. Give me a choice, and I take a C body or an Imperial every time.
Thirded. All day.
Wow! These are all gorgeous cars. The six window sedan is the one that leaps out at me, though. That one is fit for a captain of industry, or the Preseident of the United States. I’m looking forward to some articles on your cars, too.
Harry Truman was a fan of Mopars and after the Presidency, apart from a ’53 Dodge and a 1960 Dodge, Old Harry drove the Big Chryslers. I remember seeing a picture of him putting around Independence, Missouri in a ’66 Newport Sedan . . . .
My 1966 300 all original with 36,000 miles except the paint was originally lilac Polly
This is how mine drove off the production line in 66