Collector-Owned 40 Years: 1962 Dodge Lancer
On the heels of Plymouth entering the compact car market in 1960, Dodge quickly followed suit. The Dodge Lancer would largely be a rebadged Plymouth Valiant, but with a higher level of creature comforts. The car would be produced for just two years before taking on the Dart name in 1963 with a redesign. This 1962 Lancer looks to be in pristine condition, something you might not expect to find after 60 years. Located in Earlysville, Virginia, this Mopar is available here on craigslist for $12,750. Another interesting tip from T.J.!
Dodge didn’t try hard to segregate the Lancer from the Valiant. The wheelbase and body shell were identical, while the Lancers featured round taillights and a full-width grille instead of the Valiant’s “cat’s eye” taillights and central grille. Two trim levels were available, the base 170 and the premium 770, of which the latter appears to be the selection of the seller’s car. Lancer production was smaller than the Valiant with 75,000 copies in 1961 and another 64,000 in 1962.
At 41,000 documented miles, the seller’s Lancer is either a remarkable original or a well-done restoration. It has a 170 cubic-inch “Slant Six” motor although a 225 version of the same engine was optional. We’re told the machine runs and drives as it should, helped in part by a more recent rebuild of the carburetor. The car shifts gears through a 3-speed automatic transmission with Chrysler’s push-button operation that was common in the 1960s.
This automobile has belonged to a collector and has spent much of the past 40 years in a garage, attested to its “show quality” today. The body, paint, and brightwork all seem to be flawless. And the interior looks as though it was hardly sat in. These cars are rarely seen today and showing up at Cars & Coffee with this classic is bound to generate some looks.
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Comments
We all have our tastes, eclectic as we sometimes are. This chariot is simply exciting me for one reason-the color! It really does excite me! One request; whoever buys it, please, please drive it carefully! I shudder to think of it having crumpled metal.
I do like these cars in the ’63 through ’66 iteration. I had 4 or 5 of them, and they were great cars: well designed, attractive, and well built. The ’61 and ’62 versions? I’ve seen better things come out of my neighbor’s dog.
This. Is. Fabulous.
Looking at the stylistic lines of this car it’s hard to believe only twenty years the square box Dodge Aries K car would take its place.
And in my case 23 years to my Dodge Lancer. :(
(Unfortunately the worst car I have ever owned or hope to own. It had the potential of being one of the best if only Chrysler put in the “good” engine seals, and other quality parts.)
Mike, having worked as a mechanic for most of my adult life; most all of the vehicles created in those eras before and since leaked oil because engine sealing was a distant afterthought of most engineers/manufacturers…just sayin.
@ Greg.
That’s probably true, but I still recall Chrysler saying (late eighties or early nineties) that they would be starting to use higher quality engine seals that don’t leak. Having replaced almost all of the seals on my 85 Lancer at least once, hearing that did not sit well with me at the time. Plus I know my sister did not have the same issues on her 85 Accord – perhaps Honda was using the “good” seals at that point?
Well put. This was and elegant offering as was the Corvair. If making the choice for ’60 I’d give the Valiant the nod after a long contemplation. Splendid lines the Mopars. And then came the K cars Gag!
Valiants and Lancers 1960-62 are very few and far between these days. If you do see them, they are seldom this nice. This `62 is about as nice as they get. It does make me wonder where this car was found in such nice condition. I myself would love to have it. It represents an era of change, and these weren’t shunned quite like the `62 Furys and Darts were having been downsized.
….looks like a Frog…..love it !
Beautiful.
When introduced, the design was polarizing, you either loved it or hated it. Nowadays the looks grow on you, kinda like a boil.
The “Kennedy for President” bumper sticker is a little dated.
Has it been set up to run on unleaded fuel or do you need to add lead substitute?
We had these at Clark AFB as taxicabs.
Beautiful car! These Lancers/Valiants were in many ways superior to the Ford and GM counterparts of the day- too bad they didn’t sell better…
Very nice car in great original condition. Surprised it hasn’t been sold. Had a black 2 door Lancer in the late 60’s. Replaced the slant six with a 273. Ran great but had transmission problems but I blame not knowing much about torqueflite trans than the transmission itself.
This Lancer is also listed on Ebay right now with additional photo’s. Beautiful car and guaranteed to be the only one at the next car show.
Here is the link:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304507305567?hash=item46e60cbe5f:g:UqEAAOSwpQVik22C
The Ebay listing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304507305567?hash=item46e60cbe5f:g:UqEAAOSwpQVik22C
SWEET! But I like the deluxe early Valiants’ grill and fake spare tire better!
Bill Jarrett,
I was at Clark from 02/67 thru 09/68.
When were you there? The Valiant/Lancer cabs were black as I recall.
My grandpa had a ‘61 Lancer with a slant 6 and a 3 on the tree. He’d start out in first, skip 2nd and go straight to third. When I was 8, he taught me how to drive his tractor (it had a foot clutch and a floor shifter, just like a car or truck). He also shared his Beachnut chewing tobacco with me and always had candy and gum in his pockets When he was 80 years old, he drove from Ohio to visit us in Washington state, and even got a speeding ticket for, you guessed it, going 80 mph. He finally quit driving at age 84 when he ran off the road and grandma got thrown out (she only received minor injuries, thankfully). After grandma died (not related to the crash), he lived with us until his death at age 91. 46 years later, his memory still brings a big smile to my face. There’s my Memorial Day story.
Skipping 2nd gear on the shift must have been an old person’s thing back then. My granddad did the same thing. He was a Mercury man demanding manual tranny w/overdrive. Said he built enough RPMs in 1st gear that he could skip 2nd a save gas…go figure.
Sweet looking car. It’s nice to see an original survivor. If only more pictures were posted on Craigslist.
Never saw a slant six that color before.
I have a 62 Valiant with the same engine… and it’s painted the exact same color
I had a mid 60s van, 66 Satellite and drove taxi for a company with a fleet of slant sixes. They were all turquoise/aqua color or is my memory colorblind?
Never saw a slant six that color.
I’ve never seen a 62 Dodge Lancer before. I’ve seen Plymouth Valiants of the same vintage (between 1960 and 1962), but never a Dodge Lancer.
That Kennedy sticker on the rear bumper is an odd choice of adornment. The election was in Nov. 1960, at least a year BEFORE this car could’ve been built!
Mom drove a 61 Lancer wagon, bright red. She and Dad bought it new at Empire Dodge in Commack NY. She loved that car. It was still going strong in 1968, right after my sister was born. She refused to park it in the street in front of the house for fear of it getting hit, but that summer, they had the driveway seal coated, and it had to be parked in the street at the foot of the driveway, just for a day, till the sealant dried. You guessed it – just after she’d entered the house with an armload of groceries, she heard a huge crash. Some kid in a 59 4 door Impala took a curve in front of the house too wide and too fast, plowed into the back of the Lancer, knocked it onto the next door neighbors front lawn, while the Impala landed on another neighbors lawn across the street. I was too young to remember how much, if anything, Dad got from insurance, but I remember taking a ride with him soon after to Lyon Ford in Coram NY to get a used car for Mom. A family friend worked there as a bookkeeper, and she said they had some decent used cars there. Dad wound up bringing home a 64 2 door Ford Custom, straight 6 automatic, but no power steering or brakes. It was $500. Right next to it on the lot was another 64 Ford, a 4 door Galaxy with a V8, and power steering and brakes, which Mom would have preferred for the ease of steering. But it was $700, and in 1968 dollars, it was a stretch Dad just couldn’t make financially. Mom always joked for years afterwards about how driving that car made her develop shoulders like those of a truck driver!
Damn! That had to have hurt her big time! I’d feel sick to my stomach had something like that happen to my car.
Yeah, she was so upset. She was even more upset when a neighbor down the street said she felt so sorry for the kid who was driving the Impala!
Can’t make these things up…
My wife from the 70’s wanted a Volvo. We looked at one we couldn’t afford. Months later, after some kid had owned it for a short time, she could afford the same car. She loved that Amazon.
Then one day she was stopped behind a car waiting to turn left.
She was rear ended by a young man in a big bumper Buick, pushed into the car in front of her. She went to see which taillight was broken. Saw the taillamp housing against the back tire and hears the kid “I just got my license this morning. My brakes went out 3 blocks back and I didn’t know what to do.”. I think she would’ve beaten the kid if there hadn’t been so many witnesses.
I’d feel sorry for both the driver of the Impala, I’d hope he’s unhurt, but I’d also feel sorry for the owner of the Lancer.
UncleAL funny that you say that, I had a 61 Valiant that I called “Thunder Frog”, because it looked like a frog to me, lol. I loved that car, spent a year freshening it up with rebuilt Slant 6, new paint and interior, then went too fast in a curve, hit a driveway culvert and flipped it end over end. Only car I ever cried over!
I had a 62 Dodge Lancer with the 225 slant six a few years back. It was one of the few with a 225, but what made it even more rare was that it had an aluminum block slant 6! I had sooo many people tell me I was “full of s–t, they they never made an aluminum block slant-6”. so I kept a magnet in the glove box and told them to stick it to the block to prove it. It was a fun discussion topic at car shows.
When you sold your Lancer did you get more for it because of the aluminum block 225? I’m wondering because I currently own a 62 Valiant with the same aluminum block. Even some Mopar guys tell me they’ve never seen one before in person.
Had one of these…..but not in this condition. It was a rust bucket but ran like a top. We called it the green toad!
in some ways it seems this body style (or pieces more correctly) went thru 4 companies. Studie, AMC, dodge’n plymouth