30th Rollin' On the River

The 30th Annual Rollin' On the River Car Show could only be described as a massive success as about 500 cars and trucks rolled into Fernbank Park on the banks of the Ohio River. The spacious park was so filled with classic and collector cars that, in many cases, there just wasn't enough room to park them all.

While there were a lot of the usual suspects on hand for this massive event, there were also a great number of surprises as I'm sure you'll see as you make it through my posts. I'm going to do one week of my typical posts and then move on, coming back and re-visiting this show later, after the season has closed. In all I have close to two months worth of posts just from this show. On many of them I'll have specific makes or models or types of vehicles and on others, like this one, it will be part of the wide variety that was on hand.

Among the cars on hand for this show was a Cobra kit car, a post Studebaker Avanti, another Cobra kit car, a fantastic AMC AMX, a Mercury Cougar, a Buick GSX, a Chevy racer, and a Mercury Capri.

Chrysler's Entry Level Luxury Car

        

    When you’re the top of the line, even your lowest priced, introductory model had to have some class. The Chrysler Newport had just that.

            Though the Newport moniker was used in the 1940s on a number of show cars and for the 1950 model year, it wasn’t until the 1961 model year that it became the full sized entry level automobile for Chrysler. It had a base price of $2964 which is equivalent to over $25,000 today. The car came in a number of styles, including a two door convertible and hard top and a four door hard top, sedan, and station wagon.

               Because it was a Chrysler there were a number of things one could count on. First off is that there would be some sharing with the other car models in the company. But as a Chrysler, there was also going to be at least the illusion of class and comfort. Neither were missing with the Newport.

            The base engine was a 365 cubic inch V 8 that rated at 265 horse power but there were optional 383 and 413 cubic inch models also available. The original idea behind the Newport was to attract the customers of and fill the gap left when the company discontinued the DeSoto line. It was hoped that the Newport would become the intermediate step between Plymouth and Chrysler. And for a while, it worked.

            For 1962 the Newport saw minor cosmetic changes, mostly the shunning of the tail fins. The following year saw a more complete re-model and by 1965 the Newport was being built on the new C Platform that it shared with Chrysler’s 300 and New Yorker along with the Dodge Polaris and the Plymouth Fury.

            The Newport continued to see changes through the 1960s and 1970s as it was working to keep pace with competition from Ford and GM. By the end of 1979 production had dropped to under 61,000 units and this marked the beginning of the end. The 1979 model was the Newport’s fifth and last generation. By the end of 1981 fewer than 5500 Newports were produced and Chrysler shuttered the model.

            There were a number of reasons for the Newport’s demise. The oil crisis had put a hurt on all large, full-sized cars. Add to that the beginning of the financial crisis that would see Chrysler almost go out of business and it was easy to see why executives were looking to cut lines and models. While Lee Iococca managed to pull a few automotive rabbits out of his hat and save Chrysler, the Newport went out with a whisper which was not really fitting for a car that was so well received during its heyday.

            Most of the photos in this article are of a 1961 Newport convertible but there are others, including a a 1970 Newport Cordoba.

The Last From the Super 60s Car Show

The Super 60s Car Show at Madison Bowl had a smaller than expected turnout but those that did make the drive produced some really hot looking machines. Among those on display was an AMC AMX, a Pontiac Trans Am, a 1965 Ford Mustang, a C2 Chevy Corvette, another 1965 Mustang, and a chopped Ford custom.

More From the Super 60s Car Show

Madison Bowl was the site for the small Super 60s Car Show recently. The Super 60s Car Club sponsors a couple of shows during the year in different parts of town. Scroll back into early June to see the great turnout for that one or just click here. https://turnerbudds-carblog.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-super-60s-car-show.html

At this show there was a 1957 Chevy Bel Air, a 1962 Corvette, a 1960 Ford Ranchero, a Chevy 3600 pick up, another Ranchero (how often do you see two of these at any show?), and a 1955 Bel Air.

Super 60s Car Show

The Super 60s Car Club held a small show recently at Madison Bowl. The weather, as it has been for weeks, was hot and humid but still a nice handful of cars showed up to take part. Among those on display was a 1930 Ford Model A, a 1987 Oldsmobile 442, a 1981 Jeep CJ Alpha, a Mustang, an actual retired police cruiser, and a Chevy Camaro SS.

New Sponsor in Newport

Last year the Rides on Monmouth car show was canceled. The police department had been putting on the show but due to various circumstances that kept them too busy in other areas so they were unable to organize and run the event. This year, though, it returned when the Newport Boys and Girls Club took over sponsorship.They did an amazing job of turning six blocks of Newport's main street into a parking lot filled with over 250 amazing classic and collector cars.

Obviously, a vast number of Chevy owners who were more than willing to show off their cars. Among them were several Impalas, both hard top and convertible, a really cool looking 1972 Nova, a few Camaro Z-28s, a slick looking Monte Carlo, another Nova, and a Chevy II.

Wrapping Up the Bethel Murdoch Church Show

There were plenty of cool cars at this year's Bethel Murdoch Presbyterian Church Car Show and Ice Cream Social. Among them was a 1969 Pontiac GTO, a right hand drive Mini Cooper, a highly customized Chevy Corvette, a Ford F 1 pick up, a post war Chevy De Lux, a couple Chevy pick ups, and a Ford Fairlane.