It was 2007 and I had just got my learner’s permit. I had been practicing driving in my mom’s 2003 Acura MDX, and my dad’s 04 Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab with the 4.7 v8. I got a job at a local restaurant and I needed some wheels of my own. I had a year ’till I got my real license so I began saving. I was working part time at the restaurant and the guy who worked full time got into a bad ATV accident and I was given all of his hours so I saved my checks. After a few months I had enough set aside to start looking ($1500) for a ride of my own.
My friend had just restored a 1965 Chevy C10 truck with his grandpa; rebuilt motor and paint, and it seemed easy enough that I could too own a classic. My mom specifically told me only car I was allowed was a year 2000 and newer! So I started my search on Craigslist, and after a few weeks came across this ad headline “1965 DODGE CORONET 440 BIG BLOCK AC RUNS!” I was hooked, and called up the old man who owned it. He was local and wanted $800. He didn’t know how to send pictures so I had to fill up my friend with an ’05 Mustang GT to get a ride to see it. As we pull up, we saw it in a fenced in lot with a big sign that read “We Buy Junk Cars”.
So we pulled inside the gates, and there she was, in her primer and surface rust glory. Keep in mind up to this point in life the only classic pre-1980 car I’ve ridden in was my friend’s 1965 Chevy truck. The old man promptly came out of his office and asked if I was the guy from the phone. I replied yes, and then he threw me the keys and said start her up. It was two keys, one was Chrysler shaped, the other was round. The old man said one was the key for ignition, the other for the doors and trunk. I was baffled that the car had a separate door and ignition key, as my parents cars from 1989-2000s always had a single key. So cars obviously advanced and technology got better, or so I thought.
That was until I went to pop the hood. Looked all under the dash and didn’t see a hood open lever anywhere. Old man directs me to front of car and between the slots in the grill you can access one lever that you slide to the right then the hood pops open enough to get the other lever, then voila, the giant square hood opens easily, almost effortlessly, and to my surprise there’s no hood prop rod or air shock holding the hood up; it looked like some kind of spring assisted mechanism that held the hood open.
No missing or broken hood prop rod or no worn out air shock. I then thought why don’t they use this on modern cars? It’s worked flawlessly for 42 years, the springs definitely look like they have went 42 years with no lubrication but they still did their job of opening and holding up that massive hood flawlessly.
So the Coronet had 440 badges on both fenders as well as on the door panels, so the old man assumed it was a 440 big block. I did my research before hand to identify a big block from small block. Soon as I saw the distributor in the rear and the scalloped valve covers I knew it was the polysphere 318. No big deal as I didn’t really need a big block. Turns out the 440 badging was just to designate the trim model, not engine size. The 440 wasn’t even around in 1965.
After hearing her run for a few minutes, and checking all fluids I told old man I’ll call him. That night I went home and convinced my dad to go look at the car tomorrow. He eventually agreed to go look at it. We go, and he ends up liking the car. So we made the deal that as long as I got the money he will get a trailer to bring it home. Brought the beast home the following night.
Of course my mom did not know I was bringing this home. Once I backed her off the trailer I backed it into our covered carport and left it running with the lights on and then went inside to get my mom. Keep in mind it was a cold dark night, so when my mom walked up to the carport, the Coronet was covered in a steam cloud from the exhaust as it was so cold out. She was probably expecting to see an early 2000s Cavalier or Sunfire, but no, to her horror there is the ’65 Coronet sitting there with that poly 318 rumbling, all while surrounded by a steam cloud from the exhaust, so you could really only see the round headlights through all the vapor in the air. WHAT IS THAT OLD DINOSAUR SITTING IN OUR DRIVEWAY!? was her response.
I had the title in my back pocket and there was no way she was getting it from me. She calmed down and eventually came to her senses. After a new Carter 2 barrel carb from AutoZone, she was purring like a kitten. I would then find out how hard it is to get Mopar B body glass as the Coronet needed front and back windshields. After weeks of searching I found a Dr Mopar from Neiderwald, Tx. He has a yard full of 60s mopars. $700 later I had front and back glass being shipped to my house.
The front glass arrived but UPS lady told me the rear glass didn’t make it. Broke During shipment. After a call to Dr Mopar he said that he only had 1 more back glass for my Coronet on his entire yard, so he decided to drive it down to me in the back of his truck personally. You don’t experience life until you have gone 60mph down the road with no windshield. That’s exactly what me and my friend did, we piled into the Dodge, proceeded to kick out the old windshield, and once that was out, I then drove to the street, did a one wheel burnout and got the old Coronet up to 60 mph then ran out of road.
Then I found out when trying to install Glass old windshields aren’t glued in like modern cars there held in with a rubber gasket. My grandpa came out and showed me an easy way to install the windows with a string and the new gasket. I still had a year before I got my real drivers license so I used that time to get her roadworthy. After new headliner, new front seat upholstery, all new bushings in the front end, a rolled-on Rusteoleum paint job, which didn’t look half bad, and a lot of miscellaneous repairs over the course of that year and she was roadworthy. And I had gotten my license.
I drove the hell outta that car and got a consistent 10 mpg no matter what I did. Didn’t really matter as all I had to pay for at the time was gas, so it wasn’t an issue. That car was so spacious with those big blue bench seats front and back. One time I had 8 people sitting comfortably in that car; we had the ac on blast, cruising to the next town. That’s when I realized the exhaust was leaking into the cabin, as after driving 30 minutes me and all 7 passengers had bloodshot red eyes along with a feeling of being intoxicated. I knew we were all getting poisoned by the exhaust but we couldn’t smell it. So down the windows went the rest of the ride and that’s when I also realized how useful those front vent windows were, another feature I wish modern cars had.
Over the next 10 years I went through at least a few dozen cars but always kept the Coronet. Drove that car to high school, drove her to college, a 1 hour commute. Took my future wife on a date in that car, used that car for our marriage car after our wedding, let my daughter ride in her first classic; a lot of memories tied up with that car. I kept it ’till about early 2017 when me and wife moved to another city about 2 hours away. The old Coronet made the trip out there, but then I parked her and after a few months what with my daughter about to start school and me and my wife really having to make it on our own, the Coronet was just money sitting there as I had another project and my daily driver. So I sold the Coronet and my other car. I felt like I had made enough memories in the old Dodge.
The polysphere 318 and torqueflite 727 were a reliable combination. Over the course of 10 years the only major work was heads redone and transmission rebuilt, other than that, and the Rustoleum roller paint job me and my brother did (actually didn’t look half bad) I ran that 318 hard. I’ve towed with that car even, haha, and power or torque were never a problem. The highest I ever got that old car was up to 100 and she still had more to go but the aerodynamics of the body mixed with the 40+ year old suspension made it feel like I was doing a whole lot more than 100 and I didn’t try to go any faster.
Looking back it was a simple car, yet it was the simplicity that made it so reliable. I did upgrade the ignition to the electronic Pertronix ignition because I didn’t know anything about points as they were phased out before my time. Had mostly front suspension problems; that car would eat bearings and even after a whole new front end kit and alignment I could never get it to stop eating the insides of the front tires. Besides those issues it was the perfect car to start me on my long list of future cars, as that 1965 Dodge Coronet set the standards for any car that I got afterward up until this day.
What a great old car to learn on. I had two Plymouth Furys with that engine (a 59 and a 66) mated to a Torqueflite and it was a good day-to-day powertrain. That 10 mpg is just really wrong though, it should have done so much better than that.
On your tire wear issue, the pictures make it look like the front end is sitting very low. Could you have been experiencing too much negative camber due to the front torsion bars adjusted to too-low of a ride height? I never experienced odd tire wear in any of the torsion bar Mopars I had.
There was a 65 Coronet sedan that sat in a driveway near my kids’ high school. I never saw it move but it looked like it could be put back on the road without too much effort.
My guestimate for a 318Poly/Torqueflite gas mileage was 14 to 16 mpg in city traffic?
Unless you tool around town with your “foot on the front bumper”?
I was going to say maybe 12-13-ish in pure city and 16-17 on the highway. The only DD car I can remember that routinely gave me under 10 mpg in town was my 63 Cadillac Fleetwood (7.5 mpg on premium) – and I am quite sure that the carb was messed up on that one as those with the 390 were supposed to be reasonably good on gas for a car of that size.
My Chrysler will get 15 on the highway and 11-12 in mixed city/hwy. That’s with a 383 and it weighs probably 500 pounds more than a B body.
When I was in high school, friends of my parents had a 64 Dodge 440. That one was a station wagon with the slant 6 and three on the tree. Even though my folks had a 64 Country Squire with 289 and three on the tree, I still thought that Dodge wagon was miles cooler.
Dodge and Plymouth built great cars, mechanically, in the 60s but the styling could be hit or miss on many of their cars. If I had been shopping for a mid-sized car in 65 my first choice would have been a Plymouth with the second choice a Dodge. To me, the Dodge is not quite as special looking as the similar Belvedere.
Congratulations! You have owned a prime example of what a late teens, early twenties Baby Boomer actually drove on a Friday night cruise, say about 1968-1973.
Yeah, all those guys with the mint first or second generation Camaro SS at the local cars and coffee claiming they finally got a copy of their high school ride? Damned liars, all of them. If you actually had a car during your high school/early college days back then, it was probably some four door either handed down from a relative, or picked up cheaply. Two doors went for a lot more money back then.
And no big blocks, either. 283’s, 327’s, 318’s or 289’s – assuming the car didn’t come with an in-line six (at which point you kept the hood nailed shut when out in public, lied like crazy, and avoided stoplight drags like the plague).
The only thing missing on your car to do a perfect pre-American Graffiti reenactment is the shackles on the rear springs to jack up the rear end. Made it look like you were at the drags ever weekend. Made the car handle like shit, too, but that wasn’t important. You weren’t going around curves anyway.
This brought back very faded memories of a redneck buddy of mine outside of Erie, PA. In his case it was a ’62 BelAir, with a Stovebolt under the hood and three on the tree.
I agree 100%, so many just “jump on the bandwagon” and buy red, resto-mod, ’69 Camaros, with added SS trim. Just to go to local Cruise Ins to “meet dates”. And they never turned a wrench or got hand dirty.
I prefer to see lots of variety of car brands, models, engines, years, etc at any car show.
+1, or perhaps +2. I drove a 1963 Plymouth Belvedere (a virtual clone of this car) for two years after high school. I put over 40k miles on the car going back and forth to school, back and forth to work, and just going nowhere in particular. The only real differences were that the Plymouth had the 361 CID iteration of the Chrysler “B” series big block and, since this was in the early seventies, my car was still in reasonably good shape. Gas was 25 cents/gallon, or less, back then which was a good thing as the Plymouth managed about 11 MPG in town, and that was with me keeping it in a good state of tune.
Fantastic article. This is the classic American teenager experience that few kids get these days, earning their first car, buying something vintage, then learning how to fix and maintain it (if you’re lucky) under the skilled tutelage of older relatives. Experiences like this are the source of the original American hot rod trend of the early 1950’s. I think there’s a Bruce Springsteen song in here somewhere.
IIRC: Paul’s Father had the station wagon variant of this car?
Patiently waiting to hear what he posts on this thread.
What more can I add that I haven’t said already so many times here? Let’s just say that I used to indulge in flights of fantasy that the 440 stood for the engine. But I knew better.
it was of course the first car I ever drove, illicitly, of course. Full story here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/auto-biography/d-stands-for-drive-auto-biography-part-9/
A high school friend of mine had a blue ‘66 Coronet as his first car, but his was a 2-door with what I’ve heard described as the Sports Roof. This would’ve been about 1978 or so. His was a 318 poly with Torqueflite. No A/C, though.
It even came with the rare “back glass delete” option. 😉 IIRC, he obtained a replacement glass and managed to stick it in there with gobs & gobs of silicone sealant.
Was onboard for a couple of rather hairy speed runs in that thing. How we never ended up bleeding (or worse) in some rural southeastern Ohio ditch is beyond me. Thanks for the memories!
Very nice! I always thought that the mid sixties Coronet was a solid bread-and-butter product that appealed to practical, solid-citizen type folks. It wasn’t as gargantuan as a Polara but not as diminutive as a Dart either. It also has really sharp, knife-edged styling to boot.
About the whole American teenager experience, I do agree. It’s a rare privilege for a teenager to actually purchase a hunk of iron with his own cash and be truly proud of it. My 1962 GT Hawk was purchased as a father and son collaboration (both in experiences and finances), and it has taught me an awful lot about the intricacies of an old car. I probably don’t turn wrenches as often as I should, but my car doesn’t give me enough trouble to actually do it! Again, kudos to you!
I know I should have gotten atleast 15 mpg, but I bought a reman carb from AutoZone and tried throughout the years to get that Carter 2 barell right, but never could get it tuned correctly or something was obviously wrong with the carb, but the thing is it ran great started Everytime so didn’t ever change the carb out. Great car otherwise and relatively rust free
When I was 16 my first car was 25 yrs old. And yours was 42 . . . Wow! I reckon very, very few 16-year-olds in 2007 would have had the privilege of owning an original car from the 1960s as their 1st vehicle.
You spoke of keys; one for the ignition and one for the doors and trunk. I had a key for the trunk and another key for the doors and ignition. Interesting how different car companies determined what they wanted their keys to open/start.
I noted you could get some speed out of your ’65 Coronet; mine wouldn’t sniff 75 mph much less 100.
Got any piccies of the humble Dodge’s interior to upload?
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your story and hope the Coronet went to a good home.
Actually where I live in rural Texas a kid in 07 having a classic wasn’t too uncommon, (even today as my town still has an old jeep DJ5 delivering mail to this day 2018) as u can pick any back road and usually spot 10 plus pre 1980 iron sitting in someone’s driveway or in their field. Like I said my friend had the 65 c10 another friend had 2 early 70s beetles, and another guy had a cherry 71 Camaro and a good friend of mine drove a 71 Chevy truck with flatbed, this is all in highschool between 2007-2010 and all cars I named were daily drivers for my friends.i have a lot more pictures interior pics, wedding day with coronet and all but those are in an old computer in my attic. When I decide to get that computer down I will extract all my photos. The new owner lowered her even more, stuffed some 18s under her, and got a professional dual exhaust for her. I have the video somewhere il have to find it
@sp1990: I grew up in West Palm Beach, FL where the last time it snowed was January 1977 so there was no fear of salted roads causing rust . . . yet when I drove to high school my last 2 years (1989-91) I had the only old car in the student parking area. My ’64 vehicle with its turquoise paint stuck out by a mile in a sea of late-model automobiles (and a few trucks). I think its peachy there was a plentiful supply of old iron where you lived. You’d think there would have been in S FL, but all those older cars must’ve escaped my viewfinder . . .
Once you get out of the snow belt cheap classics were still plentiful in the 2000s. When I lived in Tennessee I passed up a Volare wagon for a princely 120 dollars. My neighbor was selling a 78 F250 for $600. The body was in great shape and the interior was very usable. He said it “ran great” The copious blue smoke told a different tale. I offered him scrap value and described the engine as “shrapnel” A month or two later I saw the truck a few streets over with the hood off and a fresh looking V8 on the ground next to it. One nice thing about dog ownership is you can explore neighborhoods inconspicuously.
Sure was better than my first car. A 1982 Mustang GL. I test drove in the rain and mistook bald tires for power.
Great story. Thank you. The last car grandpa owned was the Plymouth version, maybe one trim level up, a ’65 Belvedere II four door sedan with the poly 318. I guess Dodge was a slightly more premium brand by the quad headlights, just like GMC vs Chevy back then.
Solid and reliable, except for a chronic rear axle bearing problem that was covered by the then revolutionary five year/50,000 mile warranty.
My first car was a 1963 Valiant and my experience was so similar. I learned auto mechanics on it. Over 7 years it required a no work on the long block of the 170 ci slant sixx, one rebuild on the 3 speed non-syncro three speed and one used differential. It lasted me through at least 200k miles, countless adventures, was a steadfast partner in my life from 16 years old on through my early 20’s. It ate front tires before and even after its front end rebuild. I had it painted on a $200 special and I ran it so long that it rusted out a second time. So simple to keep running–really the right car for a young guy on a budget who was learning to keep a car going on a shoestring. Thanks for your great story.
My brother bought one to restore, at 40 and is now 43. He hasn’t had the time or funds. We are selling it. Sad but hopefully another restoration will come his way.