The start of the Sixties watch several novel types of cars sprouting up in America as Detroit begin fine - tuning its marketing . The 1962 - 1964 Dodge Polara 500 was one example . away from compacts , there were also " personal - lavishness " cars and high - performance special built to a formula that included V-8 engines , unique trim , and pail seats . When Dodge mixed these ingredients , it cooked up the 1962 - 1964 Dodge Polara 500 .
Classic Cars Image Gallery
ideate you ’re on some Survivor - type telly curriculum , alone out on the vast Utah salt flats . It ’s dark , desolate , and there ’s a chill in the atmosphere . Out in the distance , three cars are quickly act toward you , all with their low- and high - beam of light lights blaze . From among those 12 circles of light , your test is to distinguish the 1962 Dodge Polara 500 from the 1963 and 1964 . How do you do it ?
If you know your Polara 500s , it ’s leisurely . The car with the inboard lamps in high spirits than the outboards is the 1962 ; the car with the inboard lamp low than the out - boards is the 1963 ; and the elevator car with all lamp at the same tallness is the 1964 . ( Hey , you never know when this information will come in handy ! )
The 1962 Polara 500 was Dodge ’s first attempt at a personal - opulence cable car with operation overtone . As such , it was the mathematical product of many powerful strength at work in the late mid-fifties and other Sixties . Some – the debut of smaller cars and the sudden demand for bucket seating – involved the total American automobile industriousness . Others were funny to the Chrysler Corporation . A quick aspect is in order .
Despite all the fuzzy - die fancy for the decade , the last few years of the Fifties were turbulent 1 for the American automobile companies . After a record - break off 8 - million - elevator car year in 1955 and a second - honorable 6 - million - machine twelvemonth in 1957 , the industry suffered with the residuum of the American economy in a short , but mystifying , niche in 1958 . Simultaneously , an unexpected falloff in the average - cost railroad car market eliminated Nash , Hudson , Packard , and DeSoto , and gutted Mercury . It turned the Edsel , Ford ’s unexampled intermediate - price entry planned in the halcyon day of 1955 , into a selling and financial fiasco .
Moreover , as gross revenue of these eminent - profit cars were declining , the rising popularity of the Volkswagen Beetle and George Romney ’s Rambler drive the Big Three to stick in new smaller " heavyset " cars in the fall of 1959 , machine that yielded diminished profit margin . The car market was undergo what we ’d today call a " ocean change . " All over Detroit , product planners were asking , " What form of car should we ramp up ? " boastful or small ? V-8 or six - piston chamber ? Front - engine or rear ? More chrome or less ? It was a time of cracking uncertainty and , therefore , bang-up risk .
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Dodge Polara 500 Competition
Early in 1958 , Ford Motor Company unhorse up the darkness with the introduction of the four - rider Thunderbird , and this was the start of a class that would become the 1962 - 1964 Dodge Polara 500 rival . Beneath the Thunderbird ’s fashionable blind - quarter cap line was a stylish passenger compartment offer seating for four . Individual front bucket seats were separated by a floor cabinet , with imitation bucket seating in the rear . It was the first of a new musical style , the personal - luxury car , and the public loved it .
Pontiac offered bucketful in its 1958 Bonneville , and one or two others dabbled with the conception . But the big discovery came with the 1960 Chevrolet Corvair Monza coupe . It swash a openhanded interior with vigorously trimmed front pail bottom , creating a two - threshold personal - lavishness car anyone could afford .
Like the T - Bird , the Monza was an straightaway success . Despite a late unveiling , 12,000 were built in 1960 , uprise to 151,000 Monza coupe in 1962 . In the lyric of Ward ’s 1964 Automotive Yearbook , " It remained for Monza to send other producers hurry into the bucket seating room market . " By 1963 , bucketful seats were being installed in 16.7 per centum of production , remind Ward ’s to comment that the " installation rate for this type of seating is quite phenomenal , since it permits only two soul to be seated in front instead of three , meaning at least 1,000,000 autos being sell annually no longer are family auto . "
When it come to offering bucket seating area , Chrysler was a minute late to the party . The innovational swivel seats first offered in 1959 were almost buckets . In 1960 , the circumscribed - production Chrysler 300 - F sport four individual seats secernate by a full - duration floor console . But it was n’t until 1962 that front bucket behind were offered in any of the pot ’s popular - price cars .
While bucket seating room were a critical component of the first Polara 500 , other forces also shaped the car . The shuffling of the headlamps each yr symbolized Dodge ’s manic struggle to regain sale equilibrium after a disastrous styling and intersection planning misstep during which the Polara 500 was born . The debacle of 1962 nearly gimpy the naval division and its monger .
The star - thwart development of the Dodge and Plymouth for 1962 has been well documented , so a summary will suffice . Searching for the " next tone " after fins , Virgil Exner , Chrysler ’s talented styling frailty president , set about reproportioning the full - size family car , substituting a longsighted - toughie / light - deck silhouette for the Fifties ' wedge - shaped quint . Another young fundamental design constituent was the oval consistence discussion section at the B - column . Patterned after the flowing , space - effective fuselage of a jetliner , the new curved side drinking glass fuse glibly into the bodyside sheetmetals .
But while the 1962s were progress , executive vice chairwoman William Newberg " discovered " in the spring of 1959 that Chevrolet was plan to downsize its full - sized car for 1962 . Panicky that the cars Exner and the engineering department had under development were now too big , Newberg mandated that the novel 1962 Plymouths and Dodges be downsized as well .
Since there was n’t sentence for a new design - report search , Exner ’s existing Dodge and Plymouth mud had to be tailor to equip the new measure . Wheelbase was cut back from 118 to 116 inches , the curving side glass disappeared , and width was reduced . Everything potential was done to edit sizing , weight , and cost . In this , Newberg was abetted by a cadre of Chrysler engineers led by Syd Terry , who , demoralize at the growth in size of American cars in the tardy Fifties , enthusiastically endorsed this smaller , lighter , " more rational " package .
At the coming together where the downsized 1962s were approved , an unhappy Exner was uncharacteristically blunt . " These railway car are ' pick off chickens , ' " he told the assembled engineers , planner , and administrator . " They are not competitive and Styling should not be held responsible . " Ultimately , of course , Exner was hold responsible when Chrysler president Lynn Townsend replaced him in the fall of 1961 with Elwood Engel .
Dodge B-Body cars
Dodge ’s new downsized cars – Chrysler ’s first unitized " B - bodies " – were announced on September 28 , 1961 , and they would be used as the cornerstone for the 1962 - 1964 Dodge Polara 500 . Marketed as the " New Lean Breed of Dodge , " these Dodge B - body cars were also offered in Dart , Dart 330 , and Dart 440 iterations . Long , horizontal blade faded into the front door . Up front , the wrapper of the fender blades was disrupt by a bold , forward - thrusting radiator grille in the shape of an invert trapezoid .
The high - irradiation headlights were tucked into bright recesses in the upper corners of the vertical grillework , while the humiliated - beam headlight were housed in circular chrome bezels nestled under the cowcatcher blades . Thus low beams were mounted low , high beams were mounted in high spirits .
Both localisation had their oddness . The grille was fundamentally undercut , with a short wrapover at the top . for put on the gamey - beam lights , this convex grille plane had to be scooped out for the for the lamp bezel , moderately unenviable , visually . Retired Chrysler styling chief Gerry Thorley recalls that the grille texture was originally concave , with the inside lamps recess and set in forrard - thrusting bezels in what he count to be a more - raw workout . Thorley also favour the concave grillework as an evolution of the concave grilles on the 1961 Dart and Polara .
But Dodge Division General Manager M. C. Patterson insisted on the convex grille - work because it was a greater styling change from 1961 . The bright bezels on the outer low - beam of light lamps were also unusual in that the internal bezel was a ring of white charge plate , manifestly in an attempt to make the five - in lamps seem larger than the likewise sized in high spirits - beams .
At the rear , the staggered - lamp look was repeated in the diagonally biased arrangement of four small , circular lamp , with the inboard lamps again jump on higher than the outboard . On Darts , the dispirited outboard lamp housed the tail lamp , while the upper inboard lamps were back - up lights .
An arcing , sculpted blade in the body - side sheetmetal curved over the rear cycle and then rose rearward to gather the upper lamp . In between the sculptural front and rear , the elevator car ’s midsection hold back the flush body - to - field glass relationship of the original design , albeit with straight side glass . The beltline was notch - up aft of the front room access to reduce the pinnacle ( and cost ) of the rear door glass .
Two- and four - door rooflines were very and more upright in visibility , a silhouette in stark contrast to the severely slop two - door hardtop cap Dodge had favored since 1957 . The base of the windshield was pulled further forward at the centerline to assemble the arise " speedboat " cowl , styling touches force out frailty Chief Executive Virgil Exner treasure .
1962 Dodge Polara 500
Into an uncertain milieu , with direction shakeups hampering the purpose of cars , rode the 1962 Dodge Polara 500 . The Polara name was pretty new to the Dodge lineup , having first appeared on the top series in 1960 - 1961 , cars that were larger than the Darts and with some different styling detail . It is unclear what Dodge planners originally had in brain for the Polara name in 1962 , but in the terminal , it became a clean-cut variant of the Dart .
That said , the Polara 500 was the most - attractive iteration of the 1962 Dart body , The outside was pleasantly dechromed compare to Dart 330 and 440 poser . The slightly flattened sword formation on the front door provided a surface on which Polara 500 could be spelled out in touchy individual chrome letter and number , a customs duty cutaneous senses . The numerals were a none - too - subtle contact with America ’s most revered automobile race , the Indianapolis 500 .
The nearly chromeless flanks were accented by a narrow-minded streak of vividness just below the belt , stretching from front to nurture and limn by slight moldings . The leave color sweep was key to the colouring material of the interior trim of the railcar . This treatment attend as a continuous front - to - rear design element and inspired midyear imitations on the Dart 440 and – in chrome – on the Plymouth Fury and Sport Fury .
The Polara 500 ’s other bodyside design " exclusive " was n’t as successful . The trailing edge of the rearward after part venire was emphasise by a series of bright louvers . Since similar louvers were also standard on the Dart 440 , the Polara 500 had to have something " better . " The stylists ' solution was a prospicient , smart , diecast rectangle enclose chrome louvre fronted by the " fratzog , " Dodge ’s new triangular , three - pointed allegory . Like the colour end run , the interior background of the rectangle was painted accent color . alas , the exercising of this design element was heavy - handed ; the car would have look better without it .
Up front , Polara 500s could be spotted instantly by the brownout handling given to the radiator grille in which the narrower of the vertical bars were painted black , making the seven wide bright bar stand out . At the rear , each of the 500 ’s four round lamp were red taillamps . The back - up light were relocated to a slight diecast circle with a horizontal ribbed texture above the rear bumper . in the end , Polara 500s came with unique rack covers , accomplished with protruding spinners – " weed winders " – in the contour of large , chrome fratzogs .
Exterior and interior were carefully colour - coordinated . Red , downhearted , green , hot chocolate , and smuggled exteriors had beige in the color slam and louver panel , while beige automobile could be had with these same exterior colors in the slam and louvers . fateful cars could also be ordered with red or blue exterior accents . In each case , the predominant interior colour was promiscuous beige , used on the seat bolsters , guidance wheel , threshold - board accents , and headliner .
A darker contrasting coloring was used on the instrument panel , doorway - trim control board , seat inserts , and carpeting . Thus , a depressed gondola would have beige exterior accents and a beige interior with dreary accents , while a beige automobile with blue exterior accent would use this same interior . The overall effect was striking , stylish , and sporty .
1962 Dodge Polara 500 Interior
The 1962 Dodge Polara 500 interior was a vital component in achieving the hope personal - luxury look for the auto . reduce in saddle - food grain vinyl radical , the seat cushions and backs on the front bucket seat each featured a horseshoe pattern of narrow vertical pleats in contrast color , while the rear workbench buttocks employed likewise formed pads to simulate a bucketful - seat aspect . The front buckets were divided by a chrome - trimmed center console boast lockable storage , dual ash tree receivers , cigar lighter , and courtesy lamp .
As with the exterior , the padded instrument panel was like nothing from General Motors or Ford . The base panel sloped down , aside from the windshield , and then tucked under to maximize knee room . Virgil Exner , who supervise the 1962 design while he was still Chrysler ’s frailty President of the United States of styling , powerfully favour this " minimalist " figure in line to the normal approach using a full - breadth slab . Instruments were housed in a free - pattern seedpod in front of the driver , with automatic infection and smoke pushbuttons arrayed along the left over and right lower edge of the bunch .
This transcription was specially suited to the Polara 500 , since most of the " good hooey " was in front of the driver . Even the steering wheel was different , with an odd - shaped hub stylists soon nickname " the grasshopper read/write head . "
Dodge Division General Manager Byron J. Nichols underline that " We do not believe the car buyer should be draw to choose between epicurean appointment … and top - pass performance . The Polara supply both , and we consider … spot motorists will insist on this combining . " To back his claim , the Polara 500 employed Chrysler ’s 361 - three-dimensional - inch , 305 - HP V-8 with a four - barrel carburetor , gamey - elevation camshaft , and treble exhaust .
" This is an locomotive engine with real punch , " Nichols enthused . " It gives the Polara surpassing smoothness , acceleration and devolve major power . " The addition of the four - barrel " Runner Manifold " provided five additional horses . Later in the year , railway locomotive choice were blow up with optional 330- and 335 - HP 383 - cubic - column inch V-8s , and 413 - cubic - column inch V-8s jactitation 365 , 380 , and 410 horsepower .
Polara 500 assembly was confined to the Dodge Main works in the Detroit enclave of Hamtramck . Producing all Polara 500s in one flora allow for more - coherent mastery over build quality , praiseworthy since the car ’s intend customers were expected to be more advanced and particular about details .
ab initio offer in a two - doorway hardtop and transformable , the Polara 500 lineup was elaborate almost immediately . " Originally , the Polara 500 was go to be restricted to just two model , " state Nichols in a press release dated November 5 , 1961 , " but customer and dealer interest developed so tight that we make up one’s mind to introduce a four - door hardtop model . "
The Polara 500 four - door hardtop differed from its companions in the Department of the Interior . Instead of front buckets and a floor console table , there was an all - vinyl , three - passenger front seat with a fold - down center armrest . satisfying , dark interior colors were featured rather of the gamey - line two - tones used on the two - doors . Price was $ 2,960 , compared to $ 3,019 for the two - door hardtop and $ 3,268 for the convertible .
The innovation of the 500 four - door hardtop scarcely a month after the first appearance of the 1962 personal line of credit was grounds of the widespread discontent within the rank and file . Unhappy as trader were with the 1962 lineup ’s odd styling and atrophied size , they also complain that owners of former - model Custom Royals , Polaras , and Matadors who might be interested in trading in their cars on a new model had no premium four - door car in Dodge saleroom to count . Thus , the Polara 500 four - threshold hardtop and its more - conservative six - passenger inside was proffer .
But a four - room access 500 was n’t the answer . In the understated words of then - Dodge public - relations coach Frank Wylie , " The dealers got quite excited about not have a big car to sell . " By January , the harried planners had patched together a genuine intermediate - price Dodge : a 1961 Polara front clip run out to a 122 - column inch - wheelbase 1962 Chrysler Newport body plate , with the amalgam consecrate the clumsy soubriquet Custom 880 .
Once this car introduce production , the rationale for a four - room access Polara 500 disappeared . There would be no successor modelling . Besides , the conception of a four - door personal - luxury railway car was a second of an oxymoron , as Ford would discover when it brought out a four - door Thunderbird in 1967 .
1962 Dodge Polara 500 Styling
Like Ford ’s ill - clock Edsel , the 1962 Dart / Polara was the wrong gondola with the wrong styling in the awry size at the amiss time . The 1962 Dodge Polara 500 styling include a salient center grille , sculptural cowcatcher forms , full exposed steering wheel , and long - hood / short - deck of cards dimension , all of which were favored plan cue from depose exec Virgil Exner ’s " pure car " invention philosophy expressed in his early " mind cars . "
Of course , it could be argued that these innovation elements were correct for the sporty Polara 500 and perhaps they were . But for family sedan , it just would n’t act in Peoria .
In the summertime of 1962 , holiday Dodge Exterior Studio assistant director Bob Gale drive his new Polara 500 convertible to the mountain of Colorado . While it got a lot of attention , " no one knew what kind of car it was , " he said . " They ’d never seen one like it . " When the downsize Dodge hit the showrooms , there was a stunned silence from the dealer , longtime Dodge customer , and the buying world . reaction to the styling began with " different , " then apace go on to " unusual , " " singular , " " weird , " and then " despicable . "
Additionally , the whole scenario was full of irony . Unlike Dodge ’s approach for the Dart / Polara , Chevrolet did n’t downsize its full - size car in 1962 ; rather , it introduced the 110 - inch wheelbase Chevy II . Ford , too , keep its big railroad car and also introduced a new midsized Fairlane on a 115.5 - inch wheelbase halfway between the Falcon and the Galaxie . Lacking a full - size salesroom associate , the Dart / Polara became by nonpayment an " average , " scorned by emptor interested in full - size gondola .
Perhaps the final irony is that the 1962 Polara 500 , with its sporty facial expression and colorful bucket - seat Department of the Interior , was something of a success . ( One partisan magazine even named it " execution Car of the Year . " ) Some 12,268 were bring out , amount to a healthy percentage of the Dart / Polara assembly .
This encouraged Plymouth to introduce at midyear a similar Sport Fury hardtop coupe and ragtop in what was becoming a crowded field . Ford join the affray with its 1962 Galaxie 500 / XL , as did Mercury with its similar Monterey S-55 , and Buick with its Wildcat . It was also the first class for the bucket - buns Pontiac Grand Prix . Finally , even with its unusual styling , the Polara 500 was destined to be more successful saleswise than its more " normal " 1963 successor .
1963 Dodge Polara 500 Development
When it came time for the 1963 Dodge Polara 500 development , along with the quietus of the 1963 lineup , there was no moderation for the overworked Dodge stylists . Just as there were two 1962 political platform , there were multiple 1963 program .
Nineteen sixty - three was initially to be a face lifting year , with carryover consistence and Modern sheetmetal below the knock . finally , the novel back ending were drop , leaving the 1962s to be freshened up front with a new hood , grille , and fenders . The trapezoidal grille physical body was fling , activate the grille grain to expand amply across the front . Sandwiched between the carryover bumper and a novel , flatter hood , a consistence - colour grille frame group the smart vertical grain into six separate segments .
The outer headlights were raised to the top of the new fenders . As of October 1960 , the initial version showed single seven - column inch lamps . But over the next two month , the conception had been modified to include five - in duals , with the high beams recessed into the outer segment of the grille texture . Thus , in 1963 , the downcast beam were mounted high and outboard , the high beams dispirited and inboard .
For the first metre , turn over signals were amber . The front fender / doorway horizontal leaf blade of the 1962 was discard in favor of a sleeker visual aspect delineated by the outer curve of the headlamp and accented by a slim undercut element sloping from the fender tip into the new front door tegument , where it hooked downward and faded .
As this version of the 1963 Dodge was being styled , Chrysler executive were confident regarding the steering the corp was pursuing . retrieve , the American gondola market was exhibit a decided shift to smaller railroad car . When the Big Three brought out their fresh compact cars , Ford ’s Falcon became the most - successful new machine ever bring in up to that prison term . Even 108 - inch - wheelbase Ramblers and Studebaker Larks were sell well .
Additionally , the new , smaller , 118 - column inch wheelbase 1960 Dart was setting sales event records for Dodge , its popularity eclipsing the larger dodge . Meanwhile , clandestine write up from Detroit - country tooling shops confirmed that intermediate - cost competitors Pontiac , Oldsmobile , Buick , and Mercury were scrambling to add smaller cars to their ware offerings .
Retired production - planning executive Gene Weiss call back that during 1960 , many in Chrysler ’s senior management were convinced they had the 1962 market " aced , " that the downsized , lightweight , fuel - efficient 1962 Dodge and Plymouth would show in a fresh generation of engineering science and styling leadership for Chrysler . The Polara 500 would be the ice on the bar .
By former in 1961 , however , those executives suddenly discovered to their consternation that they had been outmaneuvered . They did n’t have the food market breeze through . On the contrary , raw " spy " reports substantiate that competitors ' big , full - size cars would still be around in 1962 . Their reaction again was to trash the ongoing 1963 facelift program and hurriedly ship on more ambitious changes .
Once again , there was n’t meter to depart over . The nearly finished young Dodge and Plymouth front ends were kept as starting point , but designers were ordered to make nearly new cars from the doors back . Once more , the harry Dodge and Plymouth stylists rack up the extra time in a desperate sprint to figure , release , and tool around new sheetmetal in metre for 1963 output , set to begin in the late summertime of 1962 , a scant year and a half away .
1963 Dodge B-Body Cars
The 1963 Dodge B - torso cars do good from a boastful software than their 1962 first appearance . The wheelbase was enlarged to 119 inch , the same as the Chevy Impala and Ford Galaxie . This was accomplished by moving the rear wheels back three column inch , which , in act , prompt the rear seat rearward , adding 1.5 inch of legroom for the rear - seat passengers , ( Wagons , however , hold back their 116 - inch wheelbase . ) Overall distance was increased 6.1 inches .
Using the new front pilot as a starting full stop , stylists developed a longsighted , smooth bodyside that flowed unceasingly from front to rear , eliminating the " start and stop " looking of the 1962 ’s blade . The undercut detail that start at the headlight turn gradually deeper as it prompt rearward , finally angling down acutely in side view to meet the new rearward bumper . The various bodyside molding followed and highlight this part line to express further continuity .
The bodyside shape of the 1963 Dodge was a luck trickier than it look . A subtle upright peak center on above the outboard headlight widened into a vertical plane whose height increase as it moved rearward , becoming flush with the newfangled 100 - pillar and forming the visual upper side of the torso . Below this sheet , the body surface rolled outboard to meet the cut described earlier , forming a sheetmetal shoulder that spring up gradually from headlight to taillight .
New roof featured wide , slope one C - tower in frank impersonation of the Ford Galaxie ’s Thunderbird - inspired roofline , a course GM was also pursue . At the 1963 auto show , Ford tantalize its competition by proclaiming the Galaxie look as " The Roof That top Them All " – and they were right-hand !
At the behind , the Dodge ’s raw decklid was all-encompassing , abject , and flat , again in an effort to make the railway car look as big as possible . Usable trunk capacity was 10 pct big than in 1962 .
In the thrill to upsize and " normalise " the car , most of the tooling money was pass on the exterior . Consequently , not much was done to the interiors , which made do with new threshold panels and tail end styles , a reworked instrument clump , and more - conventional round - hub steering bicycle . Tooling price for the 1963 B - consistency program for Dodge and Plymouth combined totaled $ 26.7 million , equate to $ 87.5 million for 1962 .
Overall , these new Dodges were a good - looking great deal . When they finally arrive in showrooms on October 2 , 1962 , they would establish – in size and styling – to be a fate more " commercial " than the much - maligned 1962 Dart / Polara . What depose Chrysler styling exec Virgil Exner cerebrate of them is n’t known .
Certainly they were a full renunciation of his original styling counsel . Still , they were plan under his leading and were virtually arrant when Elwood Engel , his replacement , arrive in Highland Park in November 1961 .
1963 Dodge B-Body Cars Trim
Elwood Engel was quite pleased with the styling of the 1963 Dodges . But the novel Chrysler frailty chairman of blueprint did mandate some minor changes for the first manakin year under his watch , including the 1963 Dodge B - physical structure cars . To add more brightwork to the front of the 1963 Dodge B - consistency cars ' trim , the body - colour grille frame was changed to anodized Al . To make the illusion of more breadth , Engel added triangular diecast extension pieces to go along the grille grain beneath the taboo headlamps .
Although most of the cars in Dodge ’s 1963 pressure photos sport these extensions , they never made it to production , credibly because they could n’t be made to fit right .
The live on 1963 Dodge Polara 500 two - threshold hardtop and convertible again wore a prominent color sweep locate above the bodyside " shoulder , " work the full duration of the railway car . Bright sill and bicycle - lip moldings ; a bright , ribbed poop - dialog box appliqué that visually extended the wraparound of the rearward bumper ; and a horizontal extension of the bright drip mould along the foundation of the C - column completed the 500 ’s unique ornament .
( The rearward - after part appliqué was a problem for Engel . As in the first place released , its forward oddment angled rearward , paralleling the side view of the bumper final stage . But this looked affected to Engel , who insisted that the appliqué list onwards , parallel the train edge of the rearward - cycle hatchway . )
While the side trim remain specific to the Polara 500 , front and rearward sentiment lost their unique details . Inexplicably miss was the grille blackout that had provided an single look in 1962 . Though blacken out the vertical bars in the six - segment grille of the 1963 would have been a natural , Engel apparently did n’t favor such treatment . Out back , rectangular light were prepare into a carwide smart dice - drop frame enclose the license plate . On either side , a horizontal lens was separate between taillamp and backup - light function .
This intervention was shared with a revive Polara series that included four - door and station police van model . Thus , although the side trim on the Polara 500 remain singular , from other angles , the 500 appeared no different from a standard Polara hardtop or translatable . With average Polaras in the lineup , the 500 appear to be a mere trim variant .
The 500 ’s pail - seat Department of the Interior , however , kept their typical high - contrast coloring , usable in five two - tone combinations . Alabaster replaced ecru as the primary color . A matching two - tone steering rack was standard .
At the press previews , Dodge oecumenical manager Nichols bragged that " We believe that the 1963 Dodge has been engineered and title so that it meet whole the needs and desires of a majority of American elevator car buyers , " while Chrysler prexy Lynn Townsend key the fresh Dodges as " all - purpose , full - size , representative American kinsperson automobiles . "
Both humans were correct . As 1963 progressed , Dodge dealers began smiling again . The new compact Dart was a self-aggrandizing collision and the large 880s accommodated the older crew .
But the dealers were most pleased with the restyled and exaggerated B - bodies . These were cars they could successfully deal justly up against Chevy and Ford ; they could even reel in Plymouth client , given the Dodge ’s three - in advantage in wheelbase . Further , they were covered by Chrysler ’s newfangled five - class , 50,000 - nautical mile warranty , best in the manufacture . The newfangled barn - body were well obtain , with U.S. product increase to 181,600 social unit for the fashion model yr .
The only sour note was that for some reason , Polara 500 assembly drop dramatically to just 7,256 automobile . By contrast , product of Plymouth ’s like Sport Fury rose to 15,319 units . The price deviation between a Polara 500 and a corresponding V-8 Polara was $ 233 , while the Sport Fury / Fury split was $ 158 – but the 500 had a bigger standard V-8 . Whatever the ground for this declination , it would not bode well for the 1964 version .
1963 Dodge Polara 500 Engines
With the 361 V-8 restricted to the 880 / Custom 880 , the 1963 Dodge Polara 500 engine options set out with the mean 305 - horsepower , two - cask 383 . Also available was a blistering translation of the 383 , fitted with a " Power Pak " consist of a gamey - performance cam , duple - ledgeman distributer , twinned exhaust fumes , and four - bbl carburetion good for 330 horsepower .
Motor Trendtried one of these with a four - pep pill and hit 60 mph from a support scratch line in 7.7 mo and persist the twenty-five percent - nautical mile in 15.8 seconds – even with a less - than - racy 3.23:1 final drive . test at Riverside International Raceway , MT got its 4,400 - pound Polara 500 convertible up to 116 mph on the racecourse ’s backstretch .
put back the 413 were two gigantic , special - ordering Ramcharger 426 - cubic - inch V-8s . The lesser of the two boasted 415 HP , 11:1 compression proportion , " pop - top " aluminium piston , hand choke , and two four - hatful Carter carburetors . Its big brother tote up 10 more horses , 480 pound - feet of torque , and an awesome 13.5:1 comp ratio . High - octane fuel of 102 or higher was required . Dodge warn prospects that " With its 426 three-dimensional - column inch deracination , the 425 HP comes so close to oppose displacement that this one creates an irrefutable skag that speaks with authorisation on any drag strip . "
To increase exponent output in the high - performance ranges above 4,000 revolutions per minute , both engines feature short - subway tup - generalisation manifold paper and upswept fumes . The multiplex assembly was fitted snugly between the two cylinder Sir Joseph Banks , with the bottom side serve as the engine ’s tappet cover . The compactness of the ram manifold paper made possible the exercise of maximum - performance engines within the narrower confines of vitamin B complex - body engine compartments .
Unlike the system used on that year ’s Chrysler 300 - joule , there was no supply for multiplex heating system . While most Ramcharger wedge - head engines were stuffed in peel - down 330 two - door sedans ( in which they carve out an enviable drag - racing reputation ) , five Polara 500 hardtops were ordered with the 426 railway locomotive choice .
Chrysler ’s inner Engineering Data Book ( issued in January 1963 ) listed several additional engine choices . They include exclusive four - gun barrel reading of the 426 engines with 370 and 375 horsepower , plus an 11:1 - compression - ratio 383 with either 320 HP ( unmarried four - barrel ) or 325 horsepower ( twinned four - barrels ) .
Several transmission system were entangle to these engine , include a new Borg - Warner T-10 four - speed manual for use with V-8s , but not recommended for use with the 426 maximal - performance engines . Chrysler ’s own A-745 heavy - responsibility three - speed manual of arms was also offer in four variations , but not with the 426 . This tranny was available from the mill with a Hurst floor - gearstick conversion unit .
Standard transmission with the 426 V-8s was the Borg - Warner T-85 three - speed manual with a Hurst - Campbell level building block for quicker shifting . On TorqueFlite automatics join to a 426 engine , a high - speed regulator was used to delay upshifts to a gamey locomotive engine rpm . All TorqueFlites also feature a new parking pitprop , activate by a lever neighboring to the transmission pushbuttons , to be used in stead of the handbrake to obtain the car in place while park .
1964 Dodge Polara 500 Development
For the first fourth dimension since the 1961 model year , the 1964 design programme was a normal one , innocent of corporate missteps , last - mo changes of guidance , and scare . As the 1964 Dodge Polara 500 exploitation drop dead forward in the early month of 1962 , Dodge hairstylist and locomotive engineer could relax , suffer only to work the usual amount of extra time . The 1964 design was also the first completely under the direction of Elwood Engel , giving him more chance to supersede Virgil Exner ’s ideas with his own .
The program scream for a classic Detroit cosmetic surgery : a new front end plus a new two - room access hardtop roof . Heading the styling action as chief hairstylist in the Dodge studio apartment was the late Bill Brownlie , who moved over from Plymouth during the development of the 1963s . Impeccably tog up and always the valet de chambre , Bill nonetheless was a ardent competitor , always search a design " bound , " that something extra that would put Dodge ahead of both Plymouth and Pontiac .
The front end sported young sheetmetal , including young fenders , thug , and hood . The handsome new grille , designed by Dick Watson , cleverly hire a barbell theme . The knocked out , low - beam headlight were emphasized by being set in oversize bezel , which in twist frame up a full - breadth lattice made up of vertical bar . The high - beams were recessed into the grill directly inboard of the lows .
The radiator grille was basically a bulging variant of the one that had been used on the 1962 Plymouths . Plymouth had walk away from the aim in 1963 , but Brownlie retained a fondness for the subject . The theme was so good that it was used on the all - Modern 1965 - 1966 big dodge and even beyond that .
The raw front bumper , the outer end of which dip accommodatingly under the outer lamp , reinforced the barbell paper . Much more substantial than the 1962 - 1963 design , the new bumper wrapped around the side of meat of the fender for greater protective cover and have a deep skirt that now match the rear . Triangular gold turn - sign lenses mimic triangular inserts containing the Dodge " fratzog " allegory atop each fender . A satin ash gray - and - chrome casting on Polaras and 500s emphasise a concave , vee - influence windsplit on the exhaust hood centerline .
At the rear , the Modern decklid outer stamping sport double , raised wind - splits , accented by bright black - fill moldings on Polara / Polara 500 . The rearward bumper was also fresh , with a recondite doll that eliminate the below - the - bumper eubstance - color goat god of the 1963 . Dimensionally , the 1964s grow 1.6 in in duration and 1.5 inches in width , while the rearward pace expanded 2.1 inches .
Above - the - belt changes admit a unexampled two - door hardtop roof . In 1962 and 1963 , necessity had dictated that the sedans and hardtops portion out the same roof panel , but now there was time and money available for distinct design .
Since the ceiling was to be shared between Dodge and Plymouth , a " bake off " was held between the two studios . One of the Dodge studio apartment proposals was a much - modified variant of the original 1962 Plymouth " Super Sport " roof of which Brownlie was so enamored .
But the Plymouth studio apartment ’s design won blessing . It featured a wedge - shaped C - tower that sharpen to a narrow base , the column ’s surface broken by a insidious crease bloodline . The lower portions of new angled backlite wrapped around to the pillars . Glass area on the 1964s was 1,275 square inches compared with 917 square inches in 1962 - 1963 .
1964 Dodge B-Body Cars Design
The 1964 Dodge B - body railcar , admit the 1964 Dodge Polara 500 , had a new roof for run design . After the plainer , more - perpendicular tower used previously , the new B - torso roof seemed devil-may-care enough , though in fact the pattern was n’t nearly so aggressive as the intemperately promoted semifastback roofs tally midyear on the 1963 Fords and Mercurys . These radically squelch ceiling - business line were driven by the need to improve the aerodynamics of the big cars for NASCAR bucket along . But the inevitable comparing with Ford got Dodge chief stylist Bill Brownlie in a bit of a pickle .
One summer mean solar day in 1963 , Brownlie come back from a press preview at the Chrysler Proving Ground in Chelsea , Michigan , informing his designers that while the automotive newsperson liked the new hardtop roof , there was a problem . One had asked innocently , " What do you call it ? " and Brownlie had no answer . He was due back at the preview the next day and need a name – quick . Stylists spend the better part of the day trying to figure out a suitable moniker , but nothing clicked . In the goal , the new roof persist nameless .
The windscreen was also new . Though not initially in the program , Chrysler pattern vice president Elwood Engel , uneasy to scratch his predecessor Virgil Exner ’s " speedboat " cowl , was able-bodied to tap the money necessary for a new cowl panel , one of the most - expensive parts of a car to peter . Since the unexampled , flatter cowl did not get up to meet the windshield , a new windscreen was require . Glass arena thus rose to 1,304 straight inches , compared to 1,147 in 1962 - 1963 . The novel windshield was also less - slanted than previously , while the A - pillar became narrow and go slightly forward at its top .
These expensive change added $ 3.60 to each car built and were one ground the tooling toll of the 1964s – $ 24.7 million – were nearly as much as the heavily reworked 1963s . Fortunately , these costs could be diffuse out over two model year and four good - trade railroad car – the 1964 Dodge and Plymouth , and the 1965 Coronet and Belvedere intermediate .
The new bonnet required a new instrument instrument panel . Engel , disdainful of Exner ’s minimalist motive with its spare - form bunch pod , mandated a board - uncoiled , full - breadth design with an overhanging lip that was footslog on the Polara 500 . Instruments , telephone dial , and ascendance were pose out in an unimaginative assortment of circle and rectangle .
1964 Dodge Polara 500
On May 8 , 1963 , Chrysler ’s Technical Data Department issue a leaflet describing the salient features of the 119 - inch - wheelbase Dodge for 1964 . The 1964 Dodge Polara 500 account in this home publication was far dissimilar from the one that reach production .
As originally planned , the 500 had unique side passementerie . A diecast , horizontally guy texture draw close in the atomic number 92 - shape on the front pilot , from which flowed a individual molding that traced the duration of the undercut body - side contour line . Bright sill and wheel - brim moldings were carry over from 1963 , except the bumper denotation cast was discarded in favor of lengthening the sill molding aft of the rearward wheel , where it then outline the bumper ending . The Polara 500 nameplate was integral with the front - buffer cast .
There were additional differences . The toughie windsplit molding was all bright ( alternatively of silver and undimmed ) . Out back , threefold square taillights , three per side , were set inside a carwide textured chrome panel , with erect stand-in lamp flanking the permit plate .
Regrettably , this severe , neat - limbed 500 was never produced . On May 23 , a letter was sent to recipients of the original study informing them that in 1964 " the Polara 500 will be marketed not as a separate premium - product line automobile , but as a athletics pick on the Polara highline serial . … " All of the 500 ’s unparalleled outside trimming was thus cancelled .
yield five hundred instead used the more - cluttered Polara side trim contrive by ex - Packard styler George Krispinski . This used the low - furrow 330 - series " trace " molding with a wider , shameful - rouge - filled double - rail molding a few inch below that lead the length of the bodyside , ending in an blown-up portion contain the serial name .
On Polara 500s , the total darkness was replaced with an engine - turned smooth-spoken cut-in while a disjoined " Polara 500 " nameplate was added to the front buffer . The chrome miserable pack of cards panel was retained , but it was add to all Polaras . Red / bloodless / crimson taillight group smacked quite a bit of Chevy ’s Impala . ( At least new bulging wheel covers with fratzog spinner were 500 scoop . )
Even worse , the letter go bad on to explicate that , " Since an locomotive is not include in the bundle , the [ 230 - HP ] 318 - cubic - inch V-8 is the standard powerplant for the new Polara 500 sport option . " Sticker price for the 500 parcel was $ 170 , with the two - drum 383 - cubic - column inch V-8 usable for another $ 71 and the four - barrel job offer for $ 122 excess .
The reason for this seeming demotion was simple economic science . The " take pace " for the Polara 500 had dropped dramatically during 1963 , so Dodge mathematical product contriver felt that the tooling required for the in the beginning design ornamentation on the 1964 500 was no longer a good business decision . In the closing , they were justified ; 17,787 customers opt for the less - distinctive - but less - expensive-1964 Polara 500 , more than three-fold that of 1963 .
Pentastar Logo
A gilt Pentastar logotype – Chrysler ’s unexampled corporate mark – was added to the scummy ripe fender just behind the front steering wheel opening of all the potbelly ’s cars midway through the 1963 Dodge Polara 500 model year . The Pentastar was purposely placed on the passenger - side fender only , inasmuch as this was the curb side and thus more potential to be acknowledge by passersby .
Although its unequalled outside trim was egest , the 1964 Dodge Polara 500 retained its classifiable Department of the Interior . The use of contrasting color on the vinyl radical bucket seats was confined to narrow uranium - influence stress bands that separated the smooth long pillow from the seats ' vertically pleated cut-in . Six introductory midland coloration were available , including bleak . When vice president of designing Elwood Engel get at Chrysler , he was astonished to chance on that there were no black interiors extant and chop-chop made sure black was add together as a color choice in 1964 .
Much to the dismay of the great unwashed who still regarded themselves as sons of " The Forward Look , " 1964 saw the last of Chrysler ’s vaunted automatic - transmittance pushbuttons . On 500s , they were already gone , thanks to a raw floor console that housed four - speed manual or TorqueFlite shift levers , with a provision for a tach at the console ’s forward-moving end . The young B - body console also included a new padded armrest with lockable storage below .
Underhood , railway locomotive choices were essentially sway over from 1963 , but the base 426 - three-dimensional - inch wedge railway locomotive was now a more - tractable interpretation with a individual four - throat carburetor , milder Cam River , 10.3:1 compression ratio , and 365 H.P. . ( When any 426 was ordered , husky brakes were let in . ) A fresh four - focal ratio manual transmittal , the Chrysler - design A-833 , boasted 11 percentage gravid torque capacity than the Borg - Warner T-10 it replaced .
Two special versions of the A-727B TorqueFlite were available for use with the more - potent of the 426 engines . Motor Trendreturned to Riverside in a Polara 500 – this clip with a 365 - horse cavalry 426 four - speed hardtop – and reprised its 7.7 - minute 0 - 60 run from 1963 . The quarter - knot clock time was slightly higher at 15.9 seconds , but top speed climbed to 118 miles per hour .
Dodge’s 50th Anniversary
Nineteen sixty - four was Dodge ’s 50th anniversary as an automaker and the division lionize in a couple of ways : A special exterior body color was extend , appropriately named " Anniversary Gold , " and a special construct car named " Charger " was produce for the auto - show circuit . Based on the 1964 Polara 500 , this first Charger ( which still survives in private hands ) was a two - seat , candy - apple - red roadster with a frameless , cut - down windscreen and a squat ringlet prevention with fair - in headrests for machine driver and passenger .
It was power by the 426 - three-dimensional - inch Hemi V-8 introduced in February 1964 to propel the mightiest Dodges and Plymouths destined for circle - track and dragstrip obligation . Chrysler White House Elwood Engel drove it home one summer Nox , all of his stylists secretly hop it would rain . It was n’t that they hat Engel or wish him ill , but the thought process of " the boss " get in the rain in easy - moving dealings in this partiality , topless automobile was too luscious a picture to disregard .
Introduced at the 3,305 Dodge dealership across the country on September 20 , 1963 ( the earliest intro in Dodge chronicle to that degree ) , the 1964 B - body were a resounding success . Some 248,700 unit were produced in the model year , just 26,000 units behind the related Plymouth . Furthermore , when Dart and 880 assembly were include , the air division top the 500,000 mark for the first time in its 50 - year history , a most 12 percent amplification from 1963 . After the trouncing of two year in the beginning , Dodge was finally smack dab in the heart of that " mainstream " so eagerly sought by Engel and Chrysler president Lynn Townsend .
Still , the 1962 - 1964 efforts to create a Dodge personal - luxury elevator car " on the cheap " failed . Objectively , move over the division ’s other problem , the Polara 500 was never more than a sideline . The automobile was displaced in 1965 by the new premium bucket - tail Monaco head the all - new 121 - in wheelbase Dodge .
An attempt to make the Monaco Dodge ’s personal - luxury entry was jump a year after its launch when the Monaco name replace the Custom 880 , downgrade the rename 1966 Monaco 500 to trim - stochastic variable status . Although a 500 software program remained optional on Polaras through 1969 , it was never the same . desert personal sumptuosity , Dodge planners rather turn to creating musculus cars like big - engine Coronets , Chargers , and Challengers .
From a collectibility view , in general , the 1964 Polara 500 is the least desirable . Not only was the 1964 the most - legion 500 ( and thus lacks exclusivity ) , it was also the least - typical from an coming into court standpoint , reflecting its small status as an choice bundle rather than a model in its own right . to boot , it has the smallest received V-8 .
As for the 1962 and 1963 , it ’s a much closer call . Both had distinctive side embellishment and were separate models . The 1963 was produce in the lowest numbers , but from direct front or rearward , is indistinguishable from less Polaras . The 1962 , with its blacked - out grill and exclusive taillight / backup luminance , is the most - distinctive from an decoration viewpoint . The 1962 Polara 500 has the most - strange styling , but its standard engine was the 361 V-8 , while the 1963 had the orotund 383 .
Of of course , as a gatherer railroad car , any 1962 - 1964 Polara 500 with a 413 or 426 Ramcharger V-8 would be the most valuable , although not as drivable as the more - amenable standard V-8s .
