Technical 1964 Chrysler Newport 3 on the floor

Are these (Rare). I am told that the floor shift is unusual.. Any help would be appreciated.

 

pics... Even a 3spd on the column seems like it would be rare in a Newport of that year.

 

A friend had a '61 with 3 on the floor. Only one I ever saw. Had another friend with a '64 with factory 4 speed. Probably somewhat rare too.

 

VERY rare with the floor shifter!

 

Good then it was a good investment.. I'll put up some pics... Most likely will be selling it.

 

Did you see the pics? I don't know if I am doing this correctly. Still new to the board.

 

Yeah, I see the pics It being a four door, I suspect it didn't have the manual tranny from the factory but I'm no expert.

 

Worked on several 3 speeds years ago. No column shift Chryslers were built in '64. The factory shifter is mounted in the floor, not on the trans - if driven at all hard, they start jumping out of gear, & parts were hard to find 40 years ago. Look for a Drag-Fast shifter ..You know you can lower that thing with a wrench, right ???

 

I recieved this document
with the car..

 

I am old enough to remember when these cars were marketed. In fact, A shipmate of mine bought one at the time. They were an advertised 'price leader' to draw people into the showroom. As I recall, they were advertised for $2964 in newspaper and magazines. The 3 spd floorshift is how they came...no column shift offered.

Ray

 

The story is that it was ordered this way.. I have found a wagon with the same set up on the internet. Linkage is on the trans.. And it is not a (Hack) job.. It appears to be authentic.. But Chrysler wants 45 Bucks for a new production letter. Not sure I need it???

 

Thanks. I have a letter stating it's one of 2710 cars made. Don't know if it's authentic. Any idea how to get the numbers??

 

yeah, the "price leader" where when you go to the dealer they don't have one and try to upsell you into a model with all the options for a much higher price. they still do that shit.

I think you should put an automatic in it and send me the shifter for my 61 Dodge.

 

Ha Ha.. Not gonna happen.. (Wink) Everything has an auto... Boring...

 

I once bought a '64 Dodge 4 door ex cop car from out of state. Had a B engine and 4 speed. Looked factory, but I don't know.

 

Don't know if that figure is correct on the three speeds, but there were 55,957 four door Newport sedans built in 1964. You could contact my buddy Galen Govier. He has a website and is a MoPar guru. He has production numbers darn near right down to the colors chosen.

 

After reading the postings following the above, I stand corrected and am happy to learn something new today!

 

An official letter, from Chrysler, stating 2700 Newports were built in '64???? So much for factory documentation being a gold standard.

 

probably 3 spd. is what it meant. Thats ok I just found the (Build) sheet behind the back seat...

 

I'd have never guessed that there was a factory installed floor shifted 3 speed available in one of these Chryslers. Back around the mid 70s though, a coworker had a '68 Newport 4dr sedan with a 383 2bbl and a column shift 3 speed. He bought it used, with low miles, quite reasonably because nobody wanted it without an automatic.

The owner said he could remember when these cars were advertised as a way to "Own a NEW Chrysler" for less than $3000 or $3500 or some such figure. It was a nice enough car, but it was trimmed out like a base model Dodge or Plymouth. No vinyl top, no fancy interior trim, and painted wheels with dog dish hub caps and blackwalls. There was a thin metal applique glued onto the instrument cluster lens to cover the shift indicator (PRNDL) for the automatic trans equipped models.

 

Found the build sheet but it has codes that a re not listed on the decoders I found online.

 

They're rare, but they DID make them. I was in the trade back then, worked on 2 customers' cars that were 3-speed Newports, both 4 dr sedans.
A younger brother of a guy we knew (we were 21) drove into the drive in restaurant with his Dad's '64 Newport...he was playin' the role, asked how we liked it.
My bud said it looked like a BIG Valiant. Much laughter...

 

Big Valliant indeed. Only with a Big Block...

 

Fender tag matches build sheet. odo says 80,xxx. Can't find the build sheet codes. Oh well still a great old car..

 

3 Speed on the floor was standard. However according to some old Chrysler literature. It was only standard on the Newport and 300.. Interesting.

 

Chrysler used a floor shift in this body design because of the bubble cluster "Astra-Dome" used in the 60-62 cars left no room for a conventional column shifter for the manual trans, and the automatic still used the push-button. Although heavily facelifted, Chrysler used that same body shell on the full size cars through '64.

At the time Chrysler didn't have a ton of money - the Dodge 880 full size car first combined the '61 Dodge nose with the '62 Chrysler shell, to the point that the taillight openings on the '63s will take a '62 Chrysler taillight, and vice versa. Pure in factory parts bin build. All the 60-61 full size cars and all the 62-64 Chrysler and Dodge 880 use the same platform with the same cowl and windshield opening (hardtop and sedan differ slightly).

So, the floor shift carried over through '64. In '65 the push-buttons went away and it's likely then that manual trans cars got the column shift option back.

 

Neat car. As mentioned, there were base model Newports available with rubber floor mats, radio delete, dog dish caps and 3 on the floor so you could buy a new Chrysler for the cost of a Belair or Galaxie. Car would look cool with the dog dish caps, I had a set on my '65 300-L.