A few weeks ago, I made a 100-mile round trip in my ’53 Buick to grab a Vernors, which in reality was just an excuse to exercise the Buick and alleviate some of my stir-craziness. Aside from the obvious allure of open-window cruising on a beautiful summer day, I was able to do some car spotting, and one car that’s never on your car-spotting bingo card is this 1965 Dodge Custom 880 6-Window Sedan. But because I’m unlikely to find another, it might be the ultimate Curbside Classic.
I wonder if there’s ever been an academic study on car-buying habits based on region. As I’ve mentioned a million times, most of Michigan is GM country, where the legacy of hundreds of thousands of loyal GM employees still weighs heavily on our traditions. “Up North,” however, I anecdotally have always seen a lot of Chryslers for some reason. Down in Henry Ford’s hometown home of Dearborn, it’s likely that more than one out of every two cars you’ll see is a Ford.
That’s why finding a reasonably solid basic Dodge sedan had me dodging 60-mile-per-hour traffic to take pictures of this Custom 880, which was parked out in front of a used parts business; I just don’t live in a Chrysler area. The Dodge didn’t have a for-sale sign, but being that it was parked out in front of what looked like a Mopar salvage yard (mental note made for parts shopping for my ’65 Dart), it might be up for grabs. I certainly hope it’s not tagged for parts.
Whatever the geographic ramifications for buying a certain make are, you’re unlikely to spot a Custom 880 6-Window Sedan anywhere: Dodge only sold 9,380 of them, a really bad showing for a bread-and-butter full-size car. You might blame the Newport, the basic Chrysler that cost two-dollars less than the “posher-than-a-Polara” Custom 880. Chrysler moved 61,054 Newport 6-Window Sedans, which was good for them, but it undermined the Dodge Boys. Plymouth also sold quite a few Fury sedans, making the big Dodge the odd man out.
The Dodge’s interior was what you’d expect from a big family sedan on a 121-inch wheelbase, and although this one would need some definite door panel and upholstery work, it could be driveable as it sits. All 1965 full-size Chrysler products had great dashboards, and Dodge’s take involved two sporty-looking round binnacles to house the gauges and warning lights. Much to the chagrin of the pushbutton crowd, the 1965 Dodge was the first since 1955 to use a gearshift lever for the automatic transmission. The column-mounted shifter selected ranges for the 727 TorqueFlite.
I don’t make it a habit to touch other people’s cars, so I’m not sure what’s under the hood of this Custom 880, but I would make a friendly wager that it’s the base 270-horsepower 383 with a two-barrel carburetor. If that’s true, the rear axle ratio is probably 2.76:1, which means that this would be the perfect 61-year-old car for long trips, maybe to get a Vernors (or your beverage of choice).
Given this car’s lack of rust and paint fading up top, it must have come from a drier climate than ours, and it’s certainly a rare find. I hope the proprietor intends to use this Custom 880 as a cool daily driver, or else pass it on to someone who will.
And while I’d absolutely choose a Monaco Hardtop if I were on the hunt for a full-size 1965 Dodge, sometimes the best Curbside Classics are the basic sedans that nobody kept; I know I was certainly happy to see a basic Dark Green Metallic Custom 880 in my travels.
Related Reading
Vintage M/T Review: 1965 Dodge Monaco – “As Rugged As It Is Rich” (by Aaron Severson)
totally agree!
To me it seems counter-intuitive for the model range to go Monaco > Custom 880 > Polara. Perhaps I’m bearing in mind Ford also had a full-sizer called the Custom which brought up the rear in their hierarchy. Add to this Chevy and Plymouth both had models called the Suburban, and in 1972 who *didn’t* have a “Brougham” ? I wish automakers were more like the SAG.
I’m not sure that’s accurate, at least for the Monaco’s inaugural year of 1965. I think it went Custom 880 -> Monaco -> Polara.
It was a little more puzzling from 1962-64 when the Polara rode on the new B-body chassis, with the lower trim Dart for 1962 being replaced by a non-Custom 880 for 1963-64. Those were some quite confusing years for Mopar naming and hierarchy.
In effect, the Monaco would become the entry level full-size Dodge when it would usurp the Custom 880 as the latter was cancelled for 1966.
For 1965, the Monaco was the Dodge equivalent of the Pontiac Grand Prix, and was available only as a hardtop coupe. The Polara was the lowest ranked full-size Dodge.
For 1966, the Custom 880 went away, and the Monaco was expanded to become the new top-of-the-line series with a more complete range of body styles.
Yeah, Chrysler sure did a lot of juggling of models, and the Dodge line-up seemed like the worst. When the mid-trim Custom 880 went away for 1966, the Monaco took its place, with the Monaco 500 being the top-trim Dodge full-size, while the Polara now occupied the low end.
So, for 1966, it became:
Polara -> Monaco -> Monaco 500
It was way easier with big Plymouths being:
Fury I -> Fury II -> Fury III -> Sport Fury -> VIP
Canadian line-up of the full-size Dodge for 1965 is different.
Monaco, who was also available with a convertible version https://www.oldcarbrochures.org/Canada/Chrysler-Canada/Dodge/1965-Dodge-Full-Size-Brochure/slides/1965_Dodge_Full_Size_Cdn-04-05.html
Polara 880 instead of Custom 880
Polara 440
330
And the 1965 Canadian Dodge got a Plymouth dash, thus being a “Plodge”. https://www.oldcarbrochures.org/Canada/Chrysler-Canada/Dodge/1965-Dodge-Full-Size-Brochure/slides/1965_Dodge_Full_Size_Cdn-06-07.html
This one seems to have some shiny, chrome. Perhaps a bit a restoration? Didn’t realize the “880”, survived into “65”.
That is a fine looking car in a nice colour. It looks pretty solid and all the expensive bits intact. It would indeed make a nice classic driver.
I’ll contribute my sighting.
Ah, yours is a hardtop…even better!
Love learning new things about Mopars, didn’t know the 6 window sedan body was available on a Dodge till today.
This would be a great car to have, especially if it had the 383. I prefer these over the Plymouth 65s mainly because the rear end styling is very attractive. The instrument panels were much nicer on these as well. The Australian Dodge Phoenix that were really Plymouths, had the Dodge instrument panels.
It has at least a 383 two-barrel, as that was the standard engine. The question is if it has an optional engine, such as a 383 four-barrel, 413, or even a 426 (probably not).
woops, yes I was thinking Plymouths
Round the turn of the millenium my daily driver was a 65 Monaco coupé…383, ps,pb, ac, no vinyl roof, four buckets and console, the little chrome bullets on the end of the front fenders for the turn signals, excellent car, the modern crisp razor exterior with the last of the jet-age dashboards…my wife noticed the two round gauge clusters looked like a prominent part of the female anatomy, right down to the little chrome points in the middle of each gauge…never saw one of the 65 sedans before…looks like it had the same dash layout…
I love the old standard sedans .
I prefer the two doors now that I’m old and no longer carry passengers .
This looks like a nice project / hobby car that needs under $10K to whip into really good shape, if it has AC that’s fairly simple to fix and God knows it’ll freeze you out in Death Valley =8-) .
-Nate
All the Dodge model confusion of the era, was probably caused by the 1962 Dodge and Plymouth downsizing, when their full-size models suddenly became intermediates. Dodge rushed the 880 to market to fill the void, Plymouth dealers had tough it out for a few years. This 880 is a rare find, although I prefer the 66, much better looking car