Sold my Newport

[Keith926]

I'm not in the Fuselage club anymore, I sold my 72 Newport a couple weeks ago. I have lots of vehicles, the Newport was one of four that are on the road, and have another 6 plus for future projects, an 85 K2500, 80 W200, 88 W150, 77 LeBaron, 67 Imperial Crown, 79 F250. The Newport always got the most attention over my 77 Delta 88, 1980 Buick Electra Park Avenue and cammed up 2002 Silverado. I suppose it was because it was a less common sight. I really thought that it would be an easy quick sale for at least $4000. I bought the car for 1100 around 2017, it ran off an external gas tank and had been off the road since 1982, I renewed all the brakes, brake and fuel lines, etc to get it rolling, then replaced the suspension, bought the Rare Parts ball joints and pitman arm, got every thing else locally or Rock Auto, new control arm bushings and shocks too, I didn't know how bad the lower control arm bushings can be on these cars until I got into it, I had got all the bushings but that day I didn't intend to change them but changing the ball joints and shocks I had to unload the torsion bar to change the front shocks and noticed how bad the control arm bushing was and realized it was the time to do it. The Newport didn't have uniform paint and the dark gold colour was called brown by most, brown isn't a commonly loved colour, most people noticed the flaws that were most visible from the removed vinyl top, apparently removed before it went into storage in '82, the right rear quarter and driver's front fender were painted brown from a failed colour match attempt on an old collision repair, I can't fault them because my colour match attempt ended up a gloss olive drab, applied with a brush. I've pictured a car like the Newport painted orange or lime green, maybe with gloss or satin black accents like a muscle car, but I've never painted an old car that loud for the road, the new owner of the Newport says he wants to paint it gloss black with a white roof, which kinda made me cringe, he can do what he wants with his car but black and white makes me think cop car and that is a Dodge or Plymouth thing, not Chrysler. Despite all the Newport's different shades of paint, when I think of it I don't see the imperfections as flaws and the one by two foot rectangle of the original dark gold paint that still shined like new was reason enough to not paint it. I guess it was ugly enough that someone may think it wasn't a good car, but it was the most solid and nicest unibody of any Fuselage car I have worked on, and had the most renewed running gear as well, but only brought $2500

 

[Keith926]

 

[detmatt]

Thanks for this information, it’s good to know what these cars are actually changing hands for in the real world Including Canada.

 

[ayilar]

@Keith926 -- thank you for posting. Sorry to hear that your Newport did not sell for more than the "usual C-body price" despite the general price inflation in the past 2-3 years. Looks like the car is GY9 Dark Gold -- it would be great if you could post the fender tag, together with what you know of the car's history before you got it, either here or in the 1972 Chrysler Thread. Thank you in advance!

PS: I hope that you'll keep your Newport FCBO garage up and running, it has lots of good info and pics in it.

 

[rags]

aesthetics sell better than mechanicals. if it was mint body and interior, good vinyl, no rot, but had a rod knock and a grenaded transmission, it would have had a better chance of seeing four grand. as it is you did good at twenty five hundred. now get cracking on that imperial!

 

[Keith926]

@Keith926 -- thank you for posting. Sorry to hear that your Newport did not sell for more than the "usual C-body price" despite the general price inflation in the past 2-3 years. Looks like the car is GY9 Dark Gold -- it would be great if you could post the fender tag, together with what you know of the car's history before you got it, either here or in the 1972 Chrysler Thread. Thank you in advance!

PS: I hope that you'll keep your Newport FCBO garage up and running, it has lots of good info and pics in it.

It is GY9 Dark Gold, it's a hidden gem/less known or appreciated colour, in some lighting shows a copper/orange hue.

I'm satisfied with the sale, more money would be OK, but the money I got was enough. Jack, the new owner, is a local guy, mid 20s, works as a mechanic at a local garage I used to work at and still visit, my friend works in the bay beside him, I used to work with Jack's dad at another garage... Jack's grandfather had a 73 Polara back when and has gone on many tours in the Newport lately. I pass the Newport on the road frequently and have heard many Newport sighting stories. Pretty cool that the Newport is still local and gets driven. Jack replaced the front tires and put the wheel covers back on.

Counting my labour at an average shop rate and the parts I put into the Newport I had a lot of money into it, we all know you can't recoup that number. The number I figured I could conservatively put on the Newport's cost of 5 years of ownership including purchase price was $5000, though I only put on about 6000 miles, it never let me down. I feel $500 a year (5 years x $500=$2500, sale price of $2500) was a reasonable amount for a car to cost.

A week before Jack heard of it I offered it to another local young fella, I said $3500 to him at first, but then changed that number to $2500. I only recently realized this tactic when selling to a friend or neighbour, go low, an unarguable good deal, and I feel no guilt or responsibility when/if problems come up, saves me more in the long run.

I'll get a picture of the fender tag sometime, and share some pics as Jack makes progress

My account will remain active, it will be a couple years at least before any Imperial progress will happen, pics will come when it does. I'll share pics of any C bodies that come through the garage as well

 

[Keith926]

I got a new Mopar, it's not a C body, wanted to share it with you guys anyway. It's a 78 Fury cop car, pretty solid but needs a lot of TLC

 

[cbarge]

Nice score!
With Chrysler on the brink of bankruptcy, and the ever increasing emmisions,
1978 was the last year for fleet services to order 440 powered B body pursuit cars.
Chrysler sold a ton of them but not many are left in one piece today.
The 79 R body with the 360 was a better handling cop car despite being down on power.

 

[commando1]

Holy ****. A 440 B body 4 Dr sdn cop car.

 

[commando1]

Holy ****. A 440 B body 4 Dr sdn cop car.

With air yet !!!!!!!!!!

 

[Joerg]

Saw so many being destroyed in cheap Hollywood-series of the 80ies.
They became a part of my childhood that way.
Still a car I would like to own one day, if I can find one - especially with the stacked rectangular headlights.

 

[Keith926]

Nice score!
With Chrysler on the brink of bankruptcy, and the ever increasing emmisions,
1978 was the last year for fleet services to order 440 powered B body pursuit cars.
Chrysler sold a ton of them but not many are left in one piece today.
The 79 R body with the 360 was a better handling cop car despite being down on power.

My parents had an 81 Gran Fury 318 ex police car when I was young, my brother and I would fight over who got to sit in the middle front seat because we sat on top the arm rest and could see more. That car is long gone but the engine is in an 80 W200 I still have and the transmission is in the shed. I put the differential in my Newport to gain a posi and because it was slightly narrower to accommodate chrome wheels with 275 tires so it is gone now. I like the look of the R bodies, they are a cool car. Sitting in this Fury it reminds me of the Gran Fury

 

[Keith926]

Saw so many being destroyed in cheap Hollywood-series of the 80ies.
They became a part of my childhood that way.
Still a car I would like to own one day, if I can find one - especially with the stacked rectangular headlights.

Part of my appreciation for these cars comes from watching the same movies. I have always wanted a B-Body from this era, preferably one of each lol. I'm thrilled to have this car, on so many levels. I have almost always had 4 door boats, Mopar/GM/Ford, mostly from the 80s, only sporty car was an 87 Firebird, this Fury is the first car with a factory dual snorkel air cleaner, so much performance, and doors!!