If you have a penchant for horsepower, how do you swing? Do you prefer the lightest, most austere version? The fanciest, stylin’ version? Or something in between? If I took a poll, I bet it would show that most people prefer the version with the chrome, the interior, and the engine, but our Pick of the Day doesn’t demonstrate this popularity when you look at production numbers. This 1963 Dodge Polara 500 two-door hardtop is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in O’Fallon, Illinois.
What’s a Polara? It’s a made-up word that means nothing, but it was supposed to invoke space as the Polaris star is a part of the Ursa Minor constellation. Dodge first used the name in 1960, the same year the Chrysler Corporation utilized Unibody construction for all car lines save Imperial. Unlike earlier years, Dodge had two series of cars on different wheelbases, with the Polara and Matador (also new) being the senior series while the Dart (also new) was on a four-inch-shorter wheelbase. The Polara and Dart continued through 1962, but mid-year, Dodge introduced the Polara 500.
The Polara 500 caught the buckets-and-console wave in the compact segment. By 1962, this theme started appearing in mainstream full-size cars from Ford and Chevrolet. Though generally a two-door hardtop and convertible, the Polara 500 was also offered as a four-door hardtop, though it featured three-across seating with a center armrest. Alas, Dodges had trim proportions thanks to a smaller wheelbase (down six inches from 1961), plus somewhat odd styling that was not satisfactory to the American public, and sales suffered.
A fix appeared for 1963. Dodge grew the wheelbase three inches and stylists removed the side sculpting and made the flanks more conventionally slabbed. The staggered headlights continued, though in inverse form, with the all-new compact Dart featuring similar jutting headlights without the high beams in the grille (which arguably came off as being more handsome). As a result, full-size Dodge production (we’re talking about the downsized cars, not the “true” full-size 880 series) shot up due to public approval, and the good times would continue.
This 1963 Dodge Polara 500 two-door hardtop demonstrates the cleaner look while still maintaining some of the unusual aspects of its styling. However, this one is powered by the drag-oriented Ramcharger 426, commonly known as the “Max Wedge.” There were two versions of this, with this one having the low-compression (11.0:1!) iteration with 415 horsepower. Other features include Torqueflite automatic, AM radio, and 3.91 gears—clearly the original owner wanted to go fast, but also wanted to be stylin’.
Dodge built 962 cars with the Ramcharger 426 in 1963 and, lo and behold, Polara 500s were the rarest of the bunch, with 131 built. If you look at production numbers of cars from the era, you’ll see that the most popular hi-po versions were typically on the fanciest models, but this Dodge bucks that trend. Sounds like the typical Mopar owner, no?
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