1968 Dodge Polara

1968 Dodge Polara 2 Door Hardtop Unless you've owned a car as luxurious as this one, you've missed something. It begins with a pride of ownership. The knowledge that you are the custodian of a precisioned road machine put together with great care. Not just a means of transportation. But a way to carry you from one point to another in unabashed style and comfort. From the 1968 Polara sale brochure. For consignment, a 1968 Dodge Polara 2 door hardtop with a title verified 46,987 actual miles. After the mid-60's, Dodge took a less polarizing position on design and while the slanted headlights of the earlier generation are ultimately classic today, it is the newly refined Polaras from 1964 on that saw sales surges. Exterior Imagine you had a square of Silly Putty and stretched it wide. You might get something that resembles the body lines of this Polara as narrow bands of stamped steel not only create long panels, but retain some character lines that accentuate its length. The presentation is helped by the Pale Blue Metallic paint that reflects light and highlights shadows. The pillarless cabin is topped with a black vinyl top that flows back in a streamlined fashion sending air across the huge decklid and out past the incredible, ribbed light bar in back. Up front, the attitude is stylish but serious with vertical bars in the grille and quad headlights that look fearless with a pointed feature on the hood that means businesses with turn signals and fender trim that lines the proud shoulders all the way back. Imperfections include some bubbling, repairs, and holes in the vinyl top, a chip in the door handle chrome, rough surface of the rolled body edges, dings in some wheel arch trim, some paint chips, bubbling, blemishes in the rocker trim, scratches in chrome bumper, and damaged rubber on bumper guard. Interior Shades of blue vinyl are used on the door panels and the seats, all showing a touch of patina. The split bench has some discoloration and a couple of tears while the rear bench is intact and slightly discolored. Our simple steering wheel and its horn ring are intact if not slightly aged, and fronting a fully horizontal presentation of gauges in keeping with the elongated theme of the car and the 60's in general. Polished trim frames black plastic all the way across and houses an AM radio and A/C panel while the ribs of the tail lights are referenced in the trim on the mid panel. The dash pad is cracked in several places but the blue carpet below remains in good shape followed by a nice headliner. A period plaid vinyl mat covers the trunk floor which is in nice condition underneath. Drivetrain Under the insulator equipped hood is a 383ci V8 with 290 horsepower and a 2-barrel carburetor. It's mated to an A727 Torqueflite 3-speed automatic transmission that routes power to an 8 ¾ rear axle. Power brakes, power steering, and air conditioning are all on board.  UndercarriageThe solid underside might not be show worthy, but all the bones are there and mostly clean with some of the typical surface rust and some sludge build up on the rear differential. Dual exhaust runs cleanly through FlowMaster mufflers on their way to a dramatic twin chrome tip exit well beyond the bumper. Power drum brakes are at all four corners and suspension consists of torsion bars up front and leaf springs out back.  Drive-Ability The trusty 383 comes to life after some right foot encouragement, and around the loop we go on this wide, sleek Mopar. With 215/75R14 tires, you're not going to win any slalom races, but this car excels in the cruising forward mode where it demonstrates some surefootedness and decent power, the front window providing a movie screen sized view of the road. Other than the A/C, all functions operate as they should and we roll this Polara back to the showroom. While Classic Auto Mall represents that these functions were working at the time of our test drive, we cannot guarantee these functions will be w