Vehicle Description
1965 Plymouth Belvedere II
In 1963, the muscle car wars were raging and engine power was
everything. In January of that year, the Beach Boys recorded "Shut
Down" - a song about a drag race between a 1962 Super Stock 413
Dodge Max Wedge and a 1963 fuel-injected Corvette Stingray, and
that pretty much summed up the action on American streets and
strips for the era. Drag racing was the hot competition, and every
American automaker wanted to win NHRA titles in the factory stock
classes. No expense was too high to put muscle on the strip. That
commitment led to some legendary low-production factory-built
racing cars.
Starting out life as a mild-mannered slant 6, this Belvedere has
had a healthy engine upgrade, and a factory matching respray, along
with some other goodies thrown in for good measure, and pure tire
burning excitement. Original interior with a matching seat
recovered and I've taken the way back machine to 1965.
Exterior
A 12 year old factory matching respray and clear coating is on
straight steel panels with nicely minded gaps all around. Chrome
and trim work is all good and re-chromed to the tune of $1,000 each
on the bumpers! A chrome and white painted spear runs the gamut on
the sides and presents itself at the belt line, and does a
beautiful job of breaking up the medium blue steel slabs. A
pristine front grille flanked by single headlights on either side
and a P L Y M O U T H badge resting on the front of the hood. Take
a close look at the side of this car as that B pillar is standing
still but looking a lot like its moving forward as it forms a V
from the rear glass and back window. Square taillights are on the
back along with another rechromed bumper and there is enough room
in the trunk to rent out as a 1-bedroom apartment! 14-inch Mopar
road wheels are on all 4 corners and looking racy as well.
Interior
Nearly perfect two-tone blue door panels greet us with a swing of
either door. A dark blue panel is on the uppers and lighter blue on
the lower 2 thirds. Within this is a metal armrest with a medium
blue vinyl padded topper, a lever door actuator not often seen, and
a window crank. Inside more two-tone blue with dark blue tuck and
roll inserts and smooth bolsters in lighter blue for the split
front bench and solid rear bench. These match the original layout
but have been recently recovered. The dash and all other panels are
original to this machine. It presents as a curved in aluminum panel
with a black insert for the rectangular design instrument cluster
temp controls are push button and are on the drivers right along
with the factory AM radio. A blue headliner in vinyl is above and
shows slight soiling but remains tight, and blue carpeting is on
the floors and looking great.
Drivetrain
All clean and green under the hood in the restored engine bay now
with a turquoise painted block and valve cover 383ci high
performance engine which the consignor states was rebuilt in 2019.
It has an Edelbrock 4-barrel carb on top under a shiny black air
cleaner covering. An A727 Torqueflite 3-speed automatic
transmission on back. An 8-3/4 rear axle spins the tires. Very nice
under this hood with no corrosion, and supple hoses and wires.
Undercarriage
Bottoms up as they say and here we see rust free steel all painted
black with some road dirt showing up, but structurally sound. A
fairly heavy undercoating but all good and solid underneath that.
Independent torsion bar front suspension and leaf springs on back
along with power drum braking on all 4 corners. New old stock
mufflers are now on and gleam against the black floor pans.
Drive-Ability
My cohort and I fought tooth and nail to drive this one and turns
out we spent the better part of an hour going over this car and
driving it. It played well with nice acceleration, quick bias free
braking, and good handling. All functions were working as they
should, and the interior presents as nearly showroom.
A beautifully performed restoration with some massive power under
the hood in the form of a beefed 383ci V8. A really nice interior
looking just like the original would have looked, and in snappy top
tone blues. A not oft seen example gracing our hallowed halls here
at Classic Auto Mall ripe for the picking.
VIN DECODE
3351240165
3-Plymouth
3-Belvedere II
5-1965
1-Detroit, MI Assy Plant
240165-Sequential Unit Number
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 650 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.