Drag Race Ready: 1963 Dodge Polara
This 1963 Dodge Polara with a 65 fiberglass front end is a straight up, purpose-built drag racer. An asking price of $12,500 is the number needed to bring it home. There are no miles listed and there is no title. The location of the car is actually in New Mexico, but it is listed on a Florida Craigslist. Thank you K. James for the tip.
The engine powering this straight line speeder is a 493 stroker with all sorts of parts. It has Indy aluminum heads and single plane intake, Dominator 1150 carburetor, 440 crank scat rods, and forged pistons. A 727 transmission with a trans brake and electric shift, transfers power using a heavy duty drive shaft with 1150 universal. It has a Ford 9 inch rear end with 4:11 gears and Mosley axles.
The car is also running with 4 wheel disc brakes and a Cal Trac rear suspension. The interior is stripped bare save for a racing seat and roll cage. There are two batteries located in the trunk. The steering wheel is removable. The dash is simplified to the necessary gauges to race with.
On the side of the car is “Blue None” and an American flag. It is a fittingly patriotic ride. Sifting through all the details in the listing, it doesn’t actually say if it runs and drives. There is a lot of information that you might want to know, especially ironing out the location. But, once all that is done, this might be a fun weekend warrior.
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Comments
Looks like a 64 , and looks like a lot of money
sooner or later as these cars become more and more scarce someone will have to pay the price and truth be told most cars that have been raced the last 35 yrs are going to be in pristine cond ition , low use, trailered and stored when not in use. In other words nice shape
It has some good parts, but is too pricey. It’s not turn key, it will need a few thousand dollars to make it track ready for items like new brakes, tires, fuel lines, seat belts, and who knows what else. I’d say it’s more reasonable price is in the neighborhood of $6,000-8,000 as a generic race car since competitive turn bracket cars can be found for around $10,000 with a little patience and effort. Only a Mopar purist will approach the asking price.
Being located in New Mexico, which isn’t a hotbed of drag racing, doesn’t help the sellers cause either.
Steve R
’65 front end. ’63 back end. No title. Blue Nope. Lots of work done, obliviously.
Correct. `63 from the cowl back, but a `65 Coronet front clip. All I see is a skull and crossbones; I wouldn’t go near this cobbled up mess.
1965 coronet front end…..ugh…
If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around to hear it……..does it make a sound?
If an old, probably tired and out of date race car with no apparent provenance can’t find a buyer……..does it matter?
Like Steve says, some interesting parts there, that engine at one time would have been a gnarly lump. But where’s the market now? Being a C/L listing we may never know.
That may not be the case.
There are a lot of beginners that are in love with the idea of racing that buy or build cars then realize it’s not for them. I see this all of the time. I have several friends that wanted to race, they are fans, but had never run a car down a track. I told every one of them to run their street car for a season just to learn the ropes and see if it’s something they enjoy. None have ever taken that advice. Most never won a on elimination round, they eventually get tired of losing and sell or park their cars.
A friend bought a Nova from someone that had a car built so he could go racing when he retired. He had $75,000 plus into the car and trailer, ran it twice, then figured out racing wasn’t for him. My friend bought everything including the guys helmet and drivers suit for $25,000 and is still racing the car.
This car just has that feeling. It looks like a faithful bracket car, but not used up and abused.
Steve R
Part of me hopes you’re correct, and much of your examples ring true. There are lots of people who talk about interest in some phase or other of the older car hobby, but when it comes down to the commitment of time/effort/money they pull up short of their talk as you noted. This car is a lot like your Nova example. Lots of name parts in a stroker that might have cost more for just the engine than the ask for the whole thing. But it is now dated tech and condition unknown. Little River Dragway is just a short distance from me and while still a reasonably active strip (both 1/4 & 1/8) , as they say, it ain’t what it used to be. Hopefully the right guy will come along and he and the seller can come to terms and this ol’ warrior will have a few more contests in him.
That’s true, interest isn’t what it used to be. It looks like a decent bracket car. Those don’t have to be state of the art to win.
It may wind up with a grudge night it T&T lifer, that’s the direction a lot of tracks are going. Lots of scary people with marginally dangerous cars like to run those, most racers won’t go near those events.
Steve R
Change the name to “color me gone” or paint it white with red stripes and call it the “candymatic”. Nostalgic drags always interested me the most, whenever they had them at Carlsbad raceway, these early Mopars were a force to be reckoned with.
Mean looking cars too.
Many years ago I purchased an old Go Kart and went racing. I quickly found out that racing consumes a lot of time and MONEY. With very little to show for it. After six races I hung up my helmet, racing suit and stayed with riding quads in Glamis
I believe many of you are missing the boat on this one. Any vintage drag racer will tell you this was the hottest stick in it’s day. I think it’s “tubbed” and somebody knew what they were doing in the 60’s or 70’s. It doesn’t have a parachute, meaning, it isn’t under 10 seconds( I was told) but I bet it wasn’t far from that. That took skill to get a car like this in the 10’s or 11’s. Of course it’s horribly out of date by todays standards, but there are vintage drag meets from time to time, and showing up with this would make old drag racers smile once again. Very cool car. Be a wild ride, for sure.
Parachutes are tied to MPH, not ET, as you were told. The threshold is 150mph, which would be somewhere in the mid to low-9’s. It’s not state of the art, but by no means is it out of date. It’s pretty typical of cars that are currently running brackets at every track.
Steve R
Nice looking project. But are you sure it’s a 63 Dodge Polara? Judging by the front of the car, it looks to me like a 65 Dodge Coronet.
It said in the FIRST SENTENCE!”63 with a 65 front end” jeez nobody read that.
Today is not a good day for Mopars on Barn Finds.
I’ll bet someone has a ton of money and a lot of time in this one. BUT why no title?
That car at the time would have only had a current vehicle registration for it, most people probably do / didn’t realize that. Most states with pre title cars are sold with vehicle registration(current or expired is no issue) and Bill of Sale only.
The later nose was a common practice in the day to keep the car year legal in the UDRA and IHRA tracks.
Moser axles not mosley 😃