We’re on the homestretch of a family hike in the Appalachian mountains, the way so many fall Sundays were spent. I’m running ahead, and there it is, sitting by the side of the road in the leaves…the old family chariot, the Dodge Coronet wagon, enjoying its peaceful repose in the sun before it goes back to work while we rest. How many outings and family vacations has it faithfully hauled us on? How many times did I hot wire it and drive it illicitly? And yet what did I do every time I arrived back at the car ahead of the rest of the family? Find a way to snub my father for his choice of the Coronet.
By 1965, there were no less than seven Niedermeyers. Trying to squeeze us all into the little black ’62 Fairlane was now risking the wrath of the Child Protective Services. In a somewhat rare show of facing the facts of his reproductive prowess, as well as facing a family rebellion, he relented and went car shopping for a three-seat wagon in the summer of 1965. Typically, he didn’t heed my advice and recommendations:
This:
Or this:
No, my father was not going there, despite all my lobbying. I could just see myself watching the Rockies go by from that forward-facing third seat with those panorama roof windows, as well as being able to keep up my distant car spotting across the plains of Nebraska.
As if in revenge, he was determined to banish me to rear-facing hell, forced to watch the same stupid car dawdling behind us for an eternity, as well as a vista that never seemed to change. He was only encouraging my inevitable rebellion.
The only two wagons he looked at was a ’65 Fairlane and the Coronet and its Plymouth sister, the Belvedere. The Coronet was chosen because there was a nine-seater available on the lot. I nursed my grudge, and learned to make the most of it, in more ways than one.
One of the goals of CC is to find the cars of my past. I can’t consciously remember seeing a ’65 Coronet wagon since my parents’ neighbors finally gave up on ours (like this one, but cream colored), after having bought it in 1973 when my Mom got her second Coronet wagon. The ’65 must have survived until 1980 or so. Lets just say Dodge Coronets, especially wagons, have never exactly made the collector scene. They were dull and stodgy cars, period; despite Dodge’s racing successes on the NASCAR ovals and NHRA strips. But they were long-lived.
Dodge and Plymouth were just a tiny bit late to the muscle car party that was getting under way. Not that they didn’t have the muscle; perhaps more than anyone. But the presentation was a bit lacking. This Coronet 500 was the “sporty” top of the line, comparable to the Malibu SS. Let’s just be charitable and say that the Dodge’s best assets were under its sheet metal.
The positioning of the Coronet, and its Plymouth Belvedere counterpart was a bit curious to start with. These B-Bodies were direct descendants of the ill-fated full-size cars that appeared in 1962 (above). Chrysler finally got back on the bandwagon with brand new real full size cars in 1965, so the old Bs were just kept on as Chrysler’s competitors against GM’s and Ford’s new mid-sized cars. Convenient, more or less. Thus, the 1965 Coronet and Belvedere were a bit bigger than the competition, and also looked a bit dated and dull. That’s the second time I’ve used that word; maybe not the last.
I went along with him and looked at both Coronets and Belvederes, and the Coronet was chosen purely because a nine-passenger one was in stock. I actually thought the Belvedere looked just a bit less…dull.
Let’s get back to the Coronet’s under-the-skin assets. I would have bet a Benjamin as to which engine I would find under the hood of this 500 coupe, bucket seats and all. The old polyspheric 318 was technically an option, along with the 361, 383 and 426 wedge, but I have never seen a ’65 B-body with the so-called standard 273 LA V8. The 225 slant six was highly popular with taxis and cheapskates, but other than that, the old 318 ruled.
When I say “old” or “polysphere” 318, that’s to distinguish it from the more modern LA 318 that appeared in 1967. The old poly engine A-block engine first appeared in 1956 Plymouths in 277 CID form. Chrysler hemis, as well as the “baby” hemis in Plymouths and Dodges were too expensive to produce to compete in cost against the wedge-head V8s from GM and Ford. So the polysphere head appeared, which required only one rocker but still allowed some of the benefits of a hemi, by canting the intake and exhaust valves in their respective directions of their ports.
Called Red Ram, by 1959 it was developing 290 hp with dual quads and 318 cubic inches. But the A engine was soon eclipsed by the new B engine, which grew into the legendary 383, and its LB variant, the 413 and 416 wedge, as well as the new 426 hemi. The two barrel 318 A engine, rated at 230 hp reverted to being the default V8 in medium and big Dodges and Plymouths of the time.
Certainly a rugged old chunk of cast iron, it was also inordinately wide, thanks to the poly heads. That was one of the reasons it was redesigned as the LA engine, to make it fit in the compact Darts, Valiants and Barracudas.
Now this may seem mighty subjective, but I had access to a new LA 318 powered ’67 Coronet taxi cab simultaneously as our poly 318 Coronet wagon, and the difference was palpable: the ’67 taxi had some genuine hint of urge to it; our wagon didn’t. Maybe it was the tiny gas station where my Dad had the Coronet serviced; “Woody” was pretty inept. I remember my Dad saying “Yes; I got a good tune up from Woody this time”.
As in, Woody’s tune-ups were a rather hit-and-miss proposition, as I found out the hard way when I took my ’62 Corvair to him when it started missing at speed on the trip from Iowa to Baltimore. I suspected burned points, and it took him half the day to come to the same conclusion, after I finally steered him that direction. No wonder my father was always thrilled when he got a “good” tune up.
Anyway, I suspect Woody never got the hang of setting the Coronet’s ignition timing, because it just lacked the punch that taxi had. Man, how I used to work at trying to get our wagon to chirp its tires. Impossible from a standing start. The only place was the the intersection of Joppa and Bosley; it was an odd reverse-camber uphill turn, which really unloaded the inside wheel to the necessary degree. But what a chore! Why didn’t my Dad order the four-barrel 383?
In previous mentions of the family Coronet, I’ve inflamed Mopar fans by my complaints about the Coronet’s handling. The power steering was of course typical Chrysler: over boosted and lacking any meaningful feedback, like twirling the helm of a cabin cruiser. My father’s ’68 Dart six with manual steering felt like a sports car in comparison, even if it did take too many turns lock-to-lock. But at least you felt something other than a greasy plastic wheel spinning freely in your hands.
That’s the steering; the handling was dominated by terminal understeer. The Coronet was a farmer at heart, trying to plow furrows in every curve or corner. I’ve been told I’m full of it for my complaints about the supposedly illustrious handling of these torsion-bar front suspension B-Bodies. What can I tell you? It was no fun at all. That’s not to say we didn’t find ways to have fun in it, but the Dodge doesn’t deserve credit for that. I preferred my Dad’s Dart, which handled quite decently with nothing on its front wheels but a 170 slant six and a manual transmission.
Maybe I didn’t get enough wheel time in the Coronet’s contemporary competitors to draw the right conclusion. Early exposure to my brother’s MGA and his friends’ various Volvos and other European cars didn’t help shape my impression of the Coronet, but there it is, vaunted torsion bars and all. But it was a solidly-built brick in pretty much every way, and was mostly trouble-free except the notorious Chrysler stalling in wet or humid conditions. It took Chrysler’s electronic ignition system in the seventies to finally cure that common malady.
I could go on all day about the memories made in that Coronet wagon, given the crucial years in my life when we had it, from age twelve to twenty. It’s probably a good thing the sun is finally out this morning, because I have more pressing things to do. But looking at it sitting there in that fall setting, with leaves all around, reminds me of so many outings to go hiking somewhere along the Appalachian trail.
I would always walk well ahead,especially on the way back. When I got back to the Dodge, I’d grab a little stick, slip it into the rubber seal of the front vent window, flip up the non-locking “lock” of said vent window, push it open, reach in and grab the inside door handle, open the door, and slide in and close the door. Couldn’t have done that with a GM product.
When my Dad appeared, I’d just be sitting in the Dodge with only a barely suppressed smirk. Oh, the looks…I knew exactly how to get under my Dad’s skin; it was one of those many little ways boys of that age (any age?) have of saying: “you didn’t make the right choice in buying this car, or this or that…”
It takes having a couple of boys to fully work off that karma. Yes, Chryslers of that vintage were the easiest cars to break into. And they weren’t exactly sexy. But I’ve long forgiven my Dad for his choice of the Coronet. Who knows; I might not have left home so soon if he’d bought a Vista Cruiser; maybe his choice wasn’t so random after all.
I’m not going to mess with you people anymore–my guess was a mile out.
I must say, I’ve never understood some people’s desire to spray a red-on-red car with a coat of blue.
Pardon my error–I thought all photos were from the same car. I’ll be quiet now.
This car always struck me as the epitome of generic car from 1965. Like Paul, My dad Had a Blue Dodge wagon in about 1974. I think it was a Coronet as well, It was the Midsize at the Time. It struck me as rather generic at the time as well. Lacking in overall personality. At least it wasn’t a Dowdy Plymouth, was it’s saving grace at the time in my head. It was also the very first Car I drove, during my first two lessons with dear old Dad in Brookdale Park. By the third Sunday said Co. car had been replaced with a 1976 or 77 Royal Monaco Wagon in Grasshopper Green. That was a 3 seater IIRC. It was not as easy to manuever as the Blue Coronet had been, however It did have Power Windows, which I was still fascinated with at 16. Still to this day I don’t want a car without them, if I can help it.
You’re not alone. I believe it was none other than National Lampoon that called the gleam of a newly minted Dodge Coronet a shining example of mediocrity.
+1 on the power windows, though. To a kid, it was one of the coolest automotive features of the sixties.
I seem to remember Miss Hathaway driving a red Coronet 500 Convertible on Beverly Hillbillies for a time.
Miss Hathaway’s first car, in the 1962 season, was a 62 Sport Fury. Then, for some reason, the switched her into Dodges. Oddly enough, they missed the 66 and 67 Coronets, going from a 65 to a 68. He final ride in the 1970 season was a Challenger.
These recycled Full-size into Mid size B-Bodys weren’t sold in Canada for some reason. The usual reason, dealer overlap, didn’t apply here as both Plymouth and Dodge divisions eschewed our market. That’s the reason we didn’t get, for example, the Dodge 880. In Canada, Chrysler was always paired with either Dodge or Plymouth.
So here, Dodge dealers had Newports to sell. Also, Valiants were sold at both franchises, denying us the 1963-66 Dart. Our Valiant in those years was a Dart shell with a Valiant front clip. In 1965, this approach was briefly abandoned,when Chrysler Canada decide to offer both the Canadian version and the US one concurrently.
“These recycled Full-size into Mid size B-Bodys weren’t sold in Canada for some reason”
I didn’t know that — for how long? Are you talking about the 1962-64 pseudo-fullsizers or the 1965+ intermediates?
Back in the 1990’s when I lived in Florida, my best friend’s dad bought one of these to use as a daily driver. It was fully restored, and was showcar quality, yet it was driven daily, and never garaged. After a couple of years he started letting his younger son start driving it. He loved it, and took good care of it. Unfortunately one day he was driving through town and a woman in a large van ran a stop sign and broad-sided him. Amazingly, he survived, but I had never seen a car mangled up so bad! There was practically nothing left of that car..
The family on the next block had a sedan version of this car in that metallic light blue-aqua color that was so common in the 1960s. They had it until the mid-1970s, so it must have been a reliable car. Interestingly, the people who lived two houses up the street from us had a white 1962 Dart wagon. That car looked so odd even then. I didn’t realize the connection between the 1962 Dart and the 1965 Coronet until many years later.
My grandmother had a 1966 Dodge Dart 270 until 1977, and I remember being fascinated by the strange Dodge brand emblem, which Chrysler insiders supposedly dubbed the “Fratzog.”
The Mopar intermediates weren’t hot sellers – if I recall correctly, both the Dodge and the Plymouth were outsold by the Rambler Classic in 1965. The new 1966 models, which were even boxier, sold much better.
Until the advent of the Road Runner and Super Bee and the fastack Torinos in 1968, one always expected to see sensible senior citizens behind the wheel of Chrysler and Ford intermediates. The GM models always managed to seem more youthful and stylish – either as “hot” cars for young folk (Chevelle/Malibu, Tempest/LeMans/GTO and 442) or snazzier, trimmer substitutes for the big barges (Cutlass Supreme and Skylark).
I got a recent issue of Collectible Automobile about the 1965 intermediates and it mentionned then the 1965 Coronet outsold the Polara/880.
The fratzog is a great way to identify the glory years of Chrysler Corporation. If the fratzog was still affixed to a Dodge, somewhere, they were still ‘good’ Chryslers.
As to the stodgy styling of the cars, it was of their own making. Then Chrysler president Newberg’s radical, last minute 1962 downsizing fiasco scared the hell out of Chrysler management (with good reason) and Lynn Townsend had little choice but to go with ultra-conservative Elwood Engel designs that were essentially clones of the last GM model cycle. It was the safest path as another sales debacle would have absolutely ruined the company.
Combined with Chrysler’s superior engineering efforts, the plan worked well enough to keep the company afloat during the solid financial times of the sixties, even if, prior to 1968, they did look like cars that would be driven mostly by older people (the prototypical little old lady from Pasadena…).
I learned to drive on my mother’s 1965 Coronet.
It was a base model 4-door with the 318 and the only options were automatic and power steering. It was so basic that even that nasty silver plastic trim on the dashboard only extended halfway accross and it had rubber mats instead of carpet.
My uncle had a 1966 Coronet 500 coupe and it looked so completely different that there didn’t seem to be any relationship between the two other than the name.
I drove my uncle’s ’66 one night and found out that it drove exactly the same – wandered all over the road following pavement grooves and was just as scary to drive fast.
My mother traded her ’65 for a ’67 Dart 270 and I thought that it was far superior as far as handling and maneuverability.
I like these a lot,what Detroit did so well an everyman’s car.From 6 cylinder misers specials to hemi tyreburners and everything in between.The sedans,wagons,coupes and convertibles all looked equally good few cars can make all body styles look good.
Wonderful story. I have mixed feelings on the 65 Coronet. It is as though Chrysler spent every year wringing the personality out of the car after the initial 1962 model. Of course it needed some personality wrung out of it at first. But by 65, they had gone too far. Even the pushbuttons were gone.
It’s true that we tend to find fault with some of the car choices made by our parents. But look at the bright side – your father could have started with a strippo 62 Ranch Wagon with a 292 instead of the Fairlane, and there would have been no reason to upgrade in 65. The Coronet suddenly seems a lot cooler now, doesn’t it? 🙂
It could be worse my Dad bought a beige Allegro!He sold a Dodge Dart to buy this POS and still kicks himself today.I didn’t want to be seen in it,imagine being a fat ginger girl who had 2 dates at school and a Dad who drove a crap car .My brother and sister felt the same.
The CC effect is in perfect tune. Driving to a graduation party in Brown County late yesterday afternoon and I slowly overtook an old car on Indiana 135 which turned out to be a 65 Coronet convertible. This is some powerful stuff we do here. 🙂
I had about the same fate as you did Paul. In 1958 Momma had twins. That made nine of us to haul around. They bought a Plymouth because it had a third seat. Ford didn’t and even if GM had one Daddy would have walked before buying one of the POS. But at least the Plymouth had some stye to it.
I didn’t like wagons then and still don’t today. Even though I had them for family cars when my five were growing up. It was either that or a van which I hate worse.
Sweet looking car. Being a station wagon fan, I like the 1965 Coronet wagon.
In High School early 1970’s my best bud had several ’65 Coronets , all were from Arizona and had worn out engines that fouled spark plugs regularly .
He still loved them , your comments about MoPars are all 100 % correct , this is why I prefer Generous Motors vehicles even though I like old MoPar products .
You’re a good writer , keep these missives coming please .
-Nate
I still say the 1966 Dodge Coronet 440 hardtop was one of the most beautiful American cars. Change anything and they get less attractive, but that trim level and body style were an ideal match.
+1 one of my favourite American cars.
You know, it’s pretty tough to go wrong with just about any ’65 model car…I kind of dig the hardtop Coronet and Satellite. They seem to be pretty popular in Mopar-land. Of course, with a post-coupe, you can give it the A990-vibe and be extra cool.
Nothing says “bland” like a ’65 Coronet. Although the wagons still had the wacky ’62 rear section to fall back on.
I did like my family’s ’72 Coronet Crestwood in Sherwood Green – except for the skin-scorching vinyl seats after an August afternoon at the pool…
This generation of Coronet may have gotten flak for their dull looks, but on both the 1/4 mile and in late-night street battles, these cars were a scourge. Packing either a 426 cross-ram wedge or the legendary Hemi, these cars were almost unbeatable in their day.
In the 1979 TV movie “Hot Rod” starring Gregg Henry, Pernell Roberts, and Robert Culp, the film’s protagonist drives a Hemi-powered 66 Belvedere that later gets destroyed after being run off the road during an impromptu road race against a 68-69 Olds 442 driven by the spoiled douchebag son of a crooked local racing promoter and soft drink baron.
The 80’s metal band Asphalt Ballet has a single titled “Soul Survive”. In the video, a grungy junkyard worker is shown spending his off time tinkering with a battered ’65 Coronet. It later shows that same car cruising down the mean city streets with a tunnel ram sticking out of the hood.
I like the square lines of these cars but then I prefer the early 60s GM cars to the swollen coke bottle look they took from about 1965.Interesting that Rudiger says Chrysler took a conservative route in styling after the excesses of the early 60s..didnt Lynn Townsend know that the company did exactly the same after the failure of the Airflow in the mid 30s and by the early 50’s its lag in styling put it a bad third in sales behind Ford and GM. Does Chysler ever learn from its mistakes ?
Well, I must say that for the most part, you all seem to have a lot of negative comments about this particular ‘B’ body line of cars. Having been a line mechanic at various Dodge Dealers in the mid and late 60s, my opinion of these cars differ greatly from most of you. Cars are built and sold to provide solid and dependable transportation. That is what these cars delivered. Style is in the eye of the beholder. The good thing about old people, many have the good sense to buy for quality rather than for looks. I have owned a 63 Belvedere wagon, a 64 Dart GT hardtop with a 273 and 4 speed trans. To this day, my son still drives a 63 Belvedere 4 door, kept in mint condition. It has well over 500,000 miles on it.
A friend owns this rare 64 Dodge Polara 500. This is a car with great lines.
Negative comment’s come from GM fan’s who have to keep proving to themselves GM is the best by putting Chrysler down. When I was growing up in the sixties, my dad drove a ’61 Chevrolet, talk about great car. When it rained, the footwell’s in the passenger compartment filled with water. The car didn’t roll down the highway, it wobbled, and it handled like soggy noodle. My dad replaced the Chevy with a new Fury in 1968. What a change. That Plymouth was a far better automobile, and after going to work at a Chevron with a repair shop in the seventies, my opinion will never change. Chrysler product’s are superior. To this day I have owned nothing but Mopar’s and will never change.
Just picked up this 65 one owner with 74k miles on her
would be interested in the 1965 Dodge Coronet if its still available. Hunter54@embarqmail.com