1965 Chrysler Resources

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• Chrysler 300L
• New Yorker
• 300 Sport
• Newport
• Newport Town & Country

1965 Chrysler Facts – Body Paint Color Mix Codes

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1965 Chrysler

1965 Chrysler Facts and Specifications

General Year Information – 1965 Chrysler Facts

All 1965 model-year Chryslers were built on an all-new C-body unit body platform that featured a bolt-on, rubber-isolated front sub frame. Elwood Engel designed the 1965 Chryslers with styling cues from his 1961 Lincoln Continental — slab sides with chrome trim along the top edges of the fenders. The styling began to share some visual similarities with Chrysler Motors’ premium luxury sedan, the Imperial, which had received an all-new appearance in 1964.

Newport
The 1965 Newport was built on the all-new Chrysler C platform. Like the rest of the ’65 Chryslers, styling mimicked the square lines of the Lincoln Continental and the 1964 Imperial. Wheelbase increased 2 inches to 124 inches. However, wagons continued on the 122 inch wheelbase. All body styles were continued from 1964 including the pillared four-door sedan, four-door hardtop sedan, two-door hardtop coupe, and convertible, along with the station wagon, which was renamed the Chrysler Town and Country and became a separate series. A new body style for 1965 was a six-window Town Sedan that included a small side-window in the pillar similar to the three-window design of 1950s cars.

The standard engine for the 1965 Newport was the 383 CID V-8 with two-barrel carburetor and 270 HP, designed for use of regular gasoline. Optionally available at extra cost was a 383 CID V-8 with four-barrel carburetion and higher compression and developed 315 HP. The standard transmission was a three-speed column shifted manual and optional was the three-speed Torqueflite automatic transmission, that now featured a column-mounted shifter replacing the pushbuttons of previous years.

Interiors featured padded instrument panels, full carpeting and choices of cloth-and-vinyl or all-vinyl bench seats and notchback bench seats with armrest. Newport coupes and convertibles were also offered with optional bucket seats with either a center console and floor shifter or armrest and center cushion.

300
There was an all-new sheetmetal in 1965. The 1965 Chrysler 300 featured a standard 383 CID V-8 or an optional 413 CID V-8, whereas the high-performance 300L model came standard with the 413 CID V-8. A 3-speed manual transmission was standard, but available transmissions included a 3-speed automatic or an optional 4-speed manual. Key specifications included the 4-barrel carburetor 315 HP 383 CID V-8 or the 360 HP 413 CID V-8, rear-wheel drive, and drum brakes on all wheels. The line continued with the convertible, the 2- and 4- door hardtop models as in 1964.

New Yorker
The standard engine was a 340 HP 413 CID V-8 unique to the line, with a single four-barrel carburetion. Optional was the 360 HP 413 from the Chrysler letter series cars. That engine came with an unsilenced air cleaner, dual breaker ignition, special camshaft, and dual exhaust. The three-speed Torqueflite automatic transmission was standard. 1965 would be the last year for the 413, replaced in 1966 by the new 440 CID version of the RB block.

The 1965 New Yorker was offered as a four-door sedan, two- and four-door hardtop, and as a Town & Country in two- or three-row station wagon. The four-door sedan was a six-window Town Sedan, also available in the Newport line. The two-door hardtop was sold in the United States. While the 300 and Newport two-door hardtops shared a rounded, convertible-styled roof, the New Yorker had a unique roofline resembling the four-door hardtops. A padded vinyl covering on the parallelogram-shaped rear pillar highlighted the more formal and squared-off lines. The wheelbase of the New Yorker models was now 124 inches. The Town & Country wagon sat on the Dodge’s 121 inch wheelbase as all Chrysler Corporation C-body wagons shared the same basic body. Factory options for 1965 included a vinyl rear roof pillar insert, Saginaw-sourced Tilt ‘N Telescopic steering wheel, air conditioning, and power windows, antenna, and steering.

300L
The 1965 300L was the eleventh and final model in the traditional letter series. Like every other 1965 Chrysler, it featured a completely restyled body with the crisp lines, slab sides and a tall greenhouse passenger compartment. It was now a linear look and the panoramic windshield that had been used since 1957 was abandoned. The car grew two inches in wheelbase and three inches in overall length. Both 2-door hardtop with crease lines in the roof sheetmetal for the then-popular “convertible look” and 2-door convertible body styles were still available. The cross-ram 390 HP V-8 was discontinued, leaving the 413 CID engine with regular intake manifold and a single 4-barrel carburetor. Still part of the engine package was an unsilenced air cleaner, special camshaft and dual exhaust. Since the introduction Dodge Coronet and the Plymouth Satellite, the performance coupe tradition was handed off from the 300 letter series models to the mid-size muscle cars and the model and naming convention was discontinued.

The buyer could choose between the standard 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic and the no-cost option 4-speed manual with Hurst shift linkage. Every feature on the 300L could be ordered as an option on the regular 300, later recognized as a poor marketing effort. Therefore the only external difference was the 300L-exclusive ornamentation, consisting of a round “300L” medallions at the center of the die-cast grille and in the middle of the textured aluminum applique between the taillights, a red-paint-filled full-length beltline molding, and a rectangular die-cast “300” badge on rear fenders. The standard interior was an upgrade over the 300, requiring those buyers to order bucket seats and console separately.

A total of 2,405 300L hardtops and 440 convertibles were produced.

Historical Notes
The 1965 Chrysler sales increased nearly 40%, to 204,002. Of those 49,871, were New Yorkers, a 62% increase over 1964.

1965 Chrysler Facts – Significant Options

• • Air conditioner (dual air conditioning on all except convertible).
  • Console (Newport & 300, standard on 300L).
  • Heater and defroster.
  • Heavy-duty springs, shocks, sway bar and brakes (300 only, standard on 300L).
  • Power brakes (Newport, 300, standard on 300L & New Yorker).
  • Power door locks.
  • Power seat.
  • Power steering (Newport, 300, standard on 300L & New Yorker).
  • Power windows.
  • Radio, AM-FM.
  • Radio, Golden Tone.
  • Rear view mirror, Inside Day/Night.
  • Rear view mirror, Outside remote control.
  • Reclining bucket seats.
  • Seat belts.
  • Speaker, rear seat.
  • Steering wheel, adjustable.
  • Tinted glass.
  • Tuner, Golden Touch.
  • Undercoating.