Vehicle Description
1963 Dodge Polara 500 Hardtop
"Dodge Polara 500 series. The bucket seat Dodge that takes a back
seat to nobody. Here's the hottest of The Dependables. Pound for
pound, inch for inch, the Polara 500 is one of the hottest, most
luxurious automobiles ever fashioned by hands of man. It is
designed strictly for the man who just won't take a back seat to
anything." From the '63 Dodge sales brochure
For consignment, a 1963 Dodge Polara 500 hardtop with a title
verified 138,049 actual miles. Our consignor reports that this was
a California car for most of its life, even dabbling in some racing
at California tracks back in the day.
Exterior
The truth about polar bears is that they are not often pure bright
white. That's the same with our car, here in single stage Polar
White that is more ivory than Frigidaire white. The dual headlight
configuration is distinctive as they're mounted on a slant, with
smaller lights inboard on mock panels made to mimic the grille.
This bit of classic quirkiness is also found in the back where a
ribbed trim piece extends the impact of the wrap-around bumper and
horizontal tail lights hang low, running parallel with the bumper
and almost as wide. The shoulder line trim is a band of light blue
which starts as a spear and widens as it heads back. 15-inch
American Racing Torque Thrust wheels add appropriate sportiness to
the car and the original hubcaps and wheels are available from the
consignor. Imperfections include paint chips, some touches up, thin
paint on the roof, bubbling and primer on a door, cracking paint,
and some general patina.
Interior
Some patina on the door panels which feature electric window
switches, white vinyl layered with blue inserts, plastic armrest,
and grayish carpeted kick panel. Bucket seats share the color mix
with blue inserts with white piping and white borders and along
with the rear 2+2, present in very good condition. Blue and white
also make an appearance on the steering wheel, where we note some
separate of the pieces while a full horn ring is fully intact. The
dash is a cool array of horizontal gauges, indicator lights, knobs,
and an amazing push button shift panel which is mirrored by the
vent and heat buttons to the right, and it's important to remember
which is which. Further away, more buttons adorn the AM transistor
radio with knobs engraved with a four pointed star. The center
storage console is all metal over the blue loop carpet. Over our
head is the white headliner and it's quite stained, while the trunk
has a period vinyl mat that also shows some age.
Drivetrain
Plenty of patina on the underside of the hood and in the bay where
we find the date-correct 383ci V8, topped by a 4-barrel carburetor
and rated at an astonishing 330 horsepower. The 3-speed automatic
is an A727 Torqueflite that routes power to the 8 � " rear axle. To
rein those horses in, power drum brakes are supplied to each
wheel.
Undercarriage
Plenty of patina on the driver quality underside with some typical
surface rust and sooty build up. The pans are dry but we do note
some sling from the transmission end of the driveshaft, some which
built up on the torsion bar ends. Those torsion bars make up the
front suspension of course, and leaf springs are utilized in the
back. Dual exhaust comes from the manifolds, meet at an H-pipe, and
eventually find a pair of Dynomax mufflers before exiting just
under the rear valance.
Drive-Ability
We'll take the sparsity of this early 60's Dodge for the artful
uniqueness of the dash itself with its jukebox looks and push
button shifter. We fire up the 383 and suddenly this squarish
commuter car emits the roar of a muscle car, a solid year before
the term was coined. She provides good power and accelerates
straight aways while the staggered size tires provide good grip
around corners and even tracking. With no stick on the floor,
drivers can focus on the power underfoot and steer this car with
confidence. We note the clock and radio are not working but all
other functions operate as they should. While Classic Auto Mall
represents that these functions were working at the time of our
test drive, we cannot guarantee these functions will be working at
the time of your purchase.
In 1964, the very next year, the Polara RamCharger came along and
is now considered legendary. Well it had its origins in this little
sleeper, the Polara 500 with a good sized V8 under the hood and a
pleasantly pedestrian interior. It's no surprise that there was a
police version of these cars back in the day as unsuspecting
criminals might try to outrun this commuter car with the quirky
headlights, right up to the time it's on your bumper. Okay, who's
ready to wake up this sleeper and take it home?
6432116969
6-Dodge V8
4-Polara 500
3-1963
2-Hamtramck, MI Assy Plant
116969-Sequential Unit Number
FENDER TAG
AB 22-383ci V8
D 4-Automatic
J 5-Power Windows
N 8-Rear Defogger
P 1-
Q 5-AM/FM Radio With Rear Speaker
SO NUMBER 10160290-October 16th
BDY 642-Polara 500 2 Door Hardtop
TRM 652-Alabaster & Blue
PNT WWD-Polar White, Medium Blue Trim Insert
Classic Auto Mall is home to more than 1,000 classic and
collectible vehicles for sale via consignment in a climate
controlled 336,000-square foot showroom (that's more than 8
acres!). The largest single location consignment dealer of classic
and collectible vehicles in the country is located in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, just 1-hour west of Philadelphia off Exit 298 of the
I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. For more information visit
www.classicautomall.com or call us at (888) 227-0914. Contact us
anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in person.
There is no guarantee of mileage. A $299 Dealer Administrative fee
is not included in the advertised price.
With so many great cars, you know we have a lot to talk about, and
we do that each week on the Classic Auto Mall Podcast with host
Stewart Howden. Stewart discusses new inventory as well as trends
in consignments and car prices, while interviewing celebrities and
automotive professionals about amazing cars and their history. Tune
in each week to the Classic Auto Mall Podcast wherever you enjoy
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