[1]Images: eBay Motors
Everyone in the muscle car hobby is familiar with all of the more mainstream Mopar muscle; such as the Dodge Chargers, Challengers, and of course the Plymouth ‘Cudas. But many often overlook and some (younger) enthusiasts have absolutely no idea of what a Polara, Monaco or even a Coronet is.
It’s time to change that, and starting today we will kick things off with this ’68 Polara 500 convertible, that’s packing a 440 Magnum under its hood, and a 4-speed manual in its transmission tunnel.
The Polara was originally introduced in 1960, being named after the Polaris star as a marketing attempt when our country was involved with the Space Race of the 1960s, and was one of the first cars Chrysler built that utilized uni-body frame construction. After coming across this rare find on eBay, we decided to share with you the details of this often ignored, full-sized Chrysler C-body. The seller claims that it’s “One of six ever made in the USA.”
[2]What exactly he means by that we haven’t the foggiest notion, as the Polara 500 convertible was actually a fairly common car to see cruising the boulevards in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and it came in a variety of colors and drivetrain combinations; the 383 2-bbl, 383 4-bbl, 440 Magnum and either the TorqueFlite auto or a 4-speed manual gearbox could back any of the aforementioned plants.
In fact as further proof of its original vast availabilty, one Coronet 500 convertible was even featured in the very first episode of The Brady Bunch. Don’t ask us how we know that…
Anyway, it wasn’t the fastest model in Dodge’s fleet with the 440/4-speed car only capable of quarter-mile times in the low 15’s, so it wasn’t exactly Scat-Pack material [3]. As a result hot-rodders, collectors, and most enthusiasts pretty ignored the big Dodge like it didn’t exist, unless they needed its engine to go drag racing or as a date-code replacement block.
Also, with an MPG rating only slightly hovering above the single digit mark courtesy of its massive size and weight, it wasn’t exactly economical either. This made it far too easy for owners to ship the ol’ gas hog to the scrapyard during the oil crisis of the ‘70s.
Because of this, anybody could pick up a one of these (if you can find one) for a very reasonable price. We found this example with 108,000 miles and what the seller describes as a “strong engine” on eBay with a Buy-It-Now price of $10,000. With a current location of Madison, Florida, we wouldn’t be surprised if the car had lived in the South its entire life, as evidence of very minimal rust on its body and undercarriage. For the Mopar loyalist wanting a solid project, and maybe something a little different to pull into the parking lot on cruise night, this is definitely a great find!
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