Isn’t it odd how some old cars disappear, then pop up elsewhere later?
I first saw this Polara 4 door sedan at a small used car lot in town last summer. Here’s a photo I shot then:
I was interested enough to send the photo to my Father, with the following email:
Hi Dad,
Are you tired of the overly complex radio controls in your Escape? If so here’s the car for you, for sale in town for less than $10k, an immaculate 1967 Dodge Polara:
The radio is a snap, because it doesn’t have one. Also doesn’t have A/C which is a definite consideration on a day like today.
Have a great one, stay indoors!
Doug
Not surprisingly my father elected to enjoy the air conditioned if somewhat radio challenged comfort of his Ford Escape. The Dodge was at least stored under a tent like shelter but languished on the lot for months. Old unloved cars like this call to me, and I was starting to squirm under the guilt of letting it sit out over the winter when I drove by one day in the fall and it was gone. Great, hopefully it went to a good home.
Almost a year later, here it is again, un-plated and parked beside a detailing/hot rod shop in another part of town. This time I grabbed a better camera and went in for a closer look.
Ah yes, metallic green 4 door sedan with a brown interior.
Someone obviously took very good care of this car for a very long time. There’s evidence of a repaint at some point and curiously a 1968-69 Motorcycle inspection sticker??
Doesn’t that look like about an acre of green? (Hence the term green acres, although I doubt Eva Gabor ever tooled around in one of these). Unfortunately it’s backed pretty hard into the wall so I can’t get a good photo of the rear. These cars have the best angry taillights ever.
Up front things look pretty serious too. I like this better than the 1966 pinched middle grille version. It’s a bit more formal with the vertical bars in the center section. Even though the grille section is linear those arching chrome eyebrows over the headlights and the bumper crease makes it appear flowing.
I backed my Focus hatchback right up to the wall to see if the Polara was longer. Yes it definitely is, a 1967 Polara is 220 inches long and the Focus is 172. That’s four feet (1.2m) of difference!
I was feeling smugly good about myself, having a polarizing filter on my camera but that only took out some of the reflective glare.
Hard to see, but the interior is in very good shape. The owner added a couple of auxilliary gauges in a small panel beside the steering column.
You can really see how the upper section of the car is plunked down on top of the lower section, with this shoulder at the top of the door. This feature disappeared two years later when the fuselage styled Mopars were released.
The 500 was a step up from the base Polara. In the USA the standard engine was the 383 V8 but Canadian cars like this one could get the smaller 8, and even a slant six.
We’ll finish this one up with a Hankook whilewall tire and a Fratzog on the hubcap. Once again, we appear to have an old car in good condition, not particularly desirable, seeking a caring long term owner. I hope it can find one this year.
Or maybe it’s just in for a paint buff and detail. Next time I see Green Acres I hope it’s on the road, or in somebody’s driveway.
Text and photos original published in 5/9/2019
I used to see an early ’60s yellow Buick Special being driven around town by a teen. From the obvious brush marks, it had obviously been repainted using a paint brush and maybe latex paint. One day I spotted it in a junkyard with entire front end crushed in. I knew it had been recently driven and was just in the yard for body damage. So I dove for that aluminum V8 for my MG Midget.
The yard was having a special that day, all the parts you could carry out for $25. Some enterprising 4 young men grabbed a hood, put an engine on it, and the 4 of them carried it all out for 4 x 25 = $100. I asked how much to pull the Buick motor with clutch and bellhousing for me. The yard said $85 and put it into the bed of my El Camino… LOL!
Interesting car. Interior looks to be from a fury 2 . Identcal to fury 2 my dad had when I started to drive. Remember the stripe down the middle of the seat. That was the property line between me and my brother on family trips. In USA the 500 was a somewhat sporty version with bucket seats, etc. I think the USA version was a bit better equipped than this one is more equivalent to fury 3.
Not a car I’m familiar with but I really like the tail light & rear treatment.
Not a US Fury ip, out version had a totally different dash than the Dodge, much prefer the US Fury version, Dad had a ’67 Fury III 4 dr hardtop from new, first new car I was allowed to drive. That LA 318 would lay the Goodyear bias-ply rubber quite nicely.
Make mine the 67 Polara fast top. No vinyl in turbine bronze or dark poly either blue or green. The 4 door Dodge sedan just a little too conservative for me.