I must admit that, having spent my life owning and working on GM products almost exclusively, I don’t know my Chryslers very well. But I’m pretty sure I know what this one is.
The yard inventory had this listed as a 1965 Dart. As far as I can tell, the badgeless hulk is indeed a ’65, but it’s no Dart. Since this B-body is surely not a Belvedere, nor a Satellite, it would have to be a Coronet (CC here).
The sad thing is, by rust country standards, this thing looks somewhat savable. Too bad it had to end up here, with its VIN now permanently black-balled by the DMV and its final day of existence likely already chosen.
Would that be a 273, or a 318? No idea. (I can ID certain Chevy and B/O/P mills just by seeing a handful of the hardware removed from them, but other brands tend to stump me much easier.) Hopefully one of our resident Mopar fans will pick out the tell-tale signs and comment below with a verdict.
Though much of this car will likely meet the crusher in another month or so, rest assured that many of the parts have been going back out the door. In fact, in the time it took me to walk the rest of the yard, another guy was nearly done removing its three-speed automatic.
It was a slow week at the U-Pull. Not much in the way of new arrivals – so I took a moment to snap this rather unremarkable sight.
Camaros and Firebirds appear regularly around here, almost always thoroughly kid-beaten and on their umpteenth motor/tranny/front clip. But since the steady stream of them will likely dry up in the next few years (just like the seemingly endless procession of second gens that stopped about five years ago), I figured it was worth a shot or two.
Somehow I doubt this carbureted mouse motor started life under the hood of this Camaro. It’s conceivable that this could be the 4-barrel, 155-horse 305 that was available that year… but if I had to bet, I’d say it was just another V6 car whose owner decided to drop in something bigger.
Like many such F-bodies, this one has been subjected to multiple paint jobs, copious parts swapping, and untold amounts of hooniganism over the years. As a result, it’s a difficult to tell at a glance how the car was originally optioned.
The fact that it was just a base Sport Coupe didn’t stop the previous owner from swapping on these 16″ wheels from a ’91 or ’92 IROC, either – yet another maneuver commonly seen on this generation of Camaros.
This car had four rims earlier in the day, but now one is missing and three more are on the ground. If I had to guess, I’d say someone carted off one wheel and all the caps (to break up the set and thus reduce the appeal of the remaining three) with plans to return later for the rest. An interesting alternative to the more common tactic of stashing them in another vehicle, which itself is no guarantee of safekeeping… but hey, whatever works!
That, or they just needed one – in which case I’d have to question their junkyard etiquette.
Next week’s post will take us out of the big corporate operation you’ve been seeing so far, and into an off-the-map yard that’s a real blast from the past. Stay tuned!
Looks like the 273 LA in that Coronet. Which is a bit unusual, since for some reason most of the ’65 V8 Coronets seemed to end up with the poly 318. It may have been that the 273 was production constrained.
Agreed – this engine lacks the scalloped outer edges on the valve covers that was on the Poly.
My uncle had a ’66 Coronet with a 318/Torqueflite. He wisely didn’t trade it in when he bought one of Chrysler’s rolling disasters, a ’79 Volare. The Coronet outlasted the Volare after getting a paint job, rebuilt engine and transmission at 300K on the clock. It could still be running around rust-free Arizona for all I know.
Of course there were lemons in any model year, but with the Volare/Aspen it’s reasonable to consider the 1976/1977 models as having numerous quality control and recall issues. But the 1978 through 1980 models generally had a much improved reputation for longevity. Closer to the ruggedness reutation of the Dart/Valiant.
Ouch – that Coronet hardtop in the junkyard really hurts.
“The fact that it was just a base Sport Coupe didn’t stop the previous owner from swapping on these 16″ wheels from a ’91 or ’92 IROC, either – yet another maneuver commonly seen on this generation of Camaros.”
This particular wheel style was used on the RS and Z-28’s late in the 3rd generation run. The IROC wheels were 5 spokes but were concave.
Thanks for the clarification. I had a twinge of doubt as to whether they were IROC wheels or not, but didn’t have a proper reference to confirm or deny it.
Looking forward to your next ‘mom and pop’ yard tour.
Looking at the good condition of that Coronet suggests to me that it was well maintained
for a very long time, perhaps 25 to 35 years. I’m guessing by the time it started to become neglected, it was already a desirable old car. That’s when I find it disappointing that it never found an owner who cared for it at that point.
The presence of a cheap pop-up sunroof, and a “big foot” gas pedal (not pictured) suggest children had their hands on it when it was last roadworthy. The tree soot all over it suggests that was several years ago (wild guess, at least ten but less than twenty?).
It’s a shame when immature owners get their hands on a previously well-kept car and undo a lifetime of care in months. But, sadly, it’s a story that unfolds every day, and will continue to for as long as grandparents and elderly neighbors have old cars to retire.
It’s doubly unfortunate to find such a car in a yard such as this. They have strict policies about not releasing cars whole. Smaller yards might be swayed, depending on if you can bend the ear of someone with authority. But not here. So once you see something like this, in a yard like this one, it’s already too late.
One Sunday afternoon in 1988 or 1989, I took a walk to a used-car dealer near my house, to see what they had sitting on their lot. This was a lower-tier lot with a lot of “cheap junk”, but as a kid in his late teens without much disposable income, I wanted to get a sense of what I might be able to afford if I bought a car.
This being Massachusetts, and this being a distinctly lower-tier lot, their inventory was heavy with cars from the mid ’70s to mid ’80s. But I vividly remember that they had a somewhat rough-looking ’65 Coronet four-door sedan sitting in the back row (to be fair, a lot of their cars could be described as “somewhat rough-looking”). It really stuck out as it was easily the oldest car there. Even in the late ’80s, daily drivers from the ’60s were getting scarce around here. It was surprising to see such an old car on a used car lot, especially one that was just an ordinary used sedan, not something in immaculate condition or a model of possible interest to enthusiast/hot-rodder types. I’m not sure if I even recognized what it was at first, as the ’65 Coronets have noticeably different front-end styling from subsequent years. Even then the sedate-looking ’65s were much less commonly seen than later years which had more muscle-car friendly styling.
Anyway, anytime the topic of 1965 Dodge Coronets come up, I always think of that car. I can only remember one other car they had on the lot that day: a 1977 Dodge Royal Monaco station wagon.
Down the street from the high school where my kids have gone, there is a house that has had a 65 Coronet sedan sitting outside for YEARS. It seems to be a very straight old car, not really rusty, but the metallic turquoise paint is quite dull. I have always wondered why they don’t either do something with it or sell it.
Junkyards are a source of spare parts, interesting cars and sadness in seeing a rare or hard to find on the road car that is still savable ready for the maw of the crusher.
However sometimes a Curbside Classic can be spotted waiting for their owner to come back from a day of junk yard adventure in the junk yard parking lot. A few weeks ago I spotted this pristine early 1980’s E70 Toyota Corolla Liftback in the parking lot. It had regular MD tags and not a Historic tags and it looks like a daily driver. That is amazing since those cars rusted just by looking at them and Maryland is rock salt happy so this “daily driver” should have departed this earth years ago. Even the interior was pristine. It was gone when I came out so I did not get a chance to talk to the owner about it.
Curbside Classics be around everywhere
Very nice car. These were rare when new.
Interesting find… and yes, I too sometimes catch a peek at something cool in a junkyard parking lot (not every time, more like an occasional treat). More future article ideas!
Speaking of Coronet, someone upgraded a 1965 Coronet with the current 5.7L Hemi.
http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/video-5-7l-hemi-swapped-65-dodge-coronet-up-for-sale/
Aw, I need EVERYTHING off that (Atlantis?) Blue 2nd-gen F-body next to the Dodge. 2nd-gen Firebirds/Camaros are about extinct from the yards around NC. I can’t even locate a set of leaf springs locally.
the 3rd-gen cars are drying up fast here too.
I didn’t even bother with that one. It was a Camaro. “Was” is the operative word here… the thing was super, super rough (you could practically stand in the cab or trunk without your feet leaving the ground), and partially stripped upon arrival.
I’m very tempted by a complete, running ’65 Newport two-door at a salvage yard in my area for $850.
It could keep your GMC Sprint company 🙂