For 1969, the Chrysler division got all-new styling based on the fuselage look, creating a fresh identity for the corporation’s oldest brand.

1969 Chrysler Newport Custom Hardtop Sedan

Conceived by Chrysler Corporation designer Cliff Voss for the full-sized Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, and Imperial lines for 1969, the fuselage look was a striking departure for the automaker. The name came from the theme’s pronounced turn-under at the rocker panels and tumblehome in the greenhouse, enabled by curved side glass with a 43-inch radius. The features gave the body a cross-section that reminded the design staff of an airliner fuselage. (See our photo essay on the corporate fuselage era here.)

Approximately $131 million was budgeted to tool the new body shell for production, with $35 million earmarked for the senior Chrysler brand. Head of design Elwood Engel personally selected the Chrysler version from a drawing by Bill Wayland, and the final result was as clean and classic as any of the fuselage cars. One distinctive feature worth noting: a loop front bumper that fully encircled the grille opening. It was expensive to produce but justified by Chrysler’s senior brand status. “Here’s your next car,” the ad writers declared.

1969 Chrysler 300 Hardtop Coupe

While the exterior sheet metal was all new, the model alignments continued as before. Starting from the bottom, the trim levels were Newport, Newport Custom, 300 (or Three Hundred), and New Yorker, with the 300 distinguished by its hidden headlamps.There was a significant spread in the pricing across the line, with more than $1,000 between the basic Newport Hardtop Coupe at $3,485 and the fully-equipped New Yorker two-door at $4,539.

1969 Chrysler Town & Country

All models rode on the same generous 124-inch Unibody chassis except for the Town & Country Station Wagon, which shared its 122-inch wheelbase with the Dodge and Plymouth wagons. Body styles included a Hardtop Coupe, a Hardtop Sedan, and for the value-priced Newport and Newport Custom, a four-door post Sedan.

Convertible buyers in ’69 could select from two trim levels, Newport or 300. But the market for full-sized ragtops was clearly dwindling as only 4,004 convertibles were produced that year, a mere 1.5 percent of the division’s total production. It’s interesting to note that two best-selling models by a fair margin were the basic Newport Sedan at the bottom of the range and the New Yorker Hardtop Sedan at the top.

1969 Chrysler 300 Convertible

While a three-speed manual gearbox with column shift was book-listed as standard on the Newport and Newport Custom, nearly all Chryslers were equipped with the trustworthy Torqueflite A727 automatic. Base engine on the Newport was a 383 cubic-inch V8 with 290 hp, while a 440 cubic-inch, 350 hp V8 was standard on the 300 and New Yorker. The high-performance TNT 440 CID V8 with 375 hp (known as the Magnum V8 at Dodge) was an extra-cost option.

1969 Chrysler New Yorker Hardtop Sedan

It would be nice to say that the clean and elegant fuselage look was a sales hit for the Chrysler brand. In its September 1969 “best of” issue, Car Life named the Chrysler 300 the Best Prestige Car. But in fact, sales for the division trotted along at around the previous rate with 260,000 cars produced in MY ’69. Volume slipped badly in ’70 to only 180,000 cars, but then rallied back to 234,000 in 1973, the final year for the fuselage styling cycle at the Chrysler Corporation.

1969 Chrysler Newport Custom Sedan