series available in four-door pillared and hardtop sedans, along with the two-door hardtop. The 1968 Newport received only a minor facelift from its 1967 counterpart including new grilles and taillights. All body styles were carried over on both the base Newport and Newport Custom lines. The standard two-barrel V8 received a increase to , while the four-barrel rating went from to , while the TNT was unchanged at . A mid-year offering on the Newport hardtop coupe and convertible was the Sportsgrain option similar to the simulated woodgrain exterior bodyside trim on the Town and Country station wagons of this period. The Sportsgrain Newport was intended to bring back the spirit of the late 1940s Town and Country convertibles but amounted to little more than a regular Newport as there were no other modifications and interior trims were the same as standard Newports. Production of the 1968 Sportsgrain Newports amounted to 965 hardtops and 175 convertibles. The Sportsgrain option returned for the redesigned 1969 Newport two-door hardtop and convertible; however, orders for the option were so low that Chrysler did not release their production totals. Mercury tried a similar approach to the Sportsgrain Newport in 1968 by offering woodgrain "Yacht Deck Paneling" as an option on its Park Lane coupes and convertibles, which also did not experience significant consumer demand. 1969–1973 The Newport was completely redesigned again for 1969, and featured the distinctive "Fuselage Styling" that would become symbolic of Chrysler's full-size cars until the end of the 1973 model year. Although retaining the same wheelbase that it shared with the premium New Yorker, this generation Newport was longer, lower, wider, and several hundred pounds heavier than the 1965–1968 Newports. Although still offered in 2-door and 4-door hardtop, 2-door convertible, and 4-door sedan models, station wagons were no longer part of the Newport series, as the Town & Country became a separate model outright. Newport convertibles were discontinued after 1970, following a drop in sales of 48 percent that year, to 1124 convertibles; while total Newport sales were down almost 30 percent, to 110,292 units, despite the restyling. Available in 2- and 4-door hardtops and 4-door sedans, the Newport Custom would still be offered as the top-line Newport through the entire 1969–1973 design cycle. First appearing in 1971, the Newport Royal was an entry-level model in the Newport Series. It borrowed the name of the entry-level Chrysler from 1937–50. The