426 Hemi! Custom 1962 Dodge Dart Wagon
Dodge built a bunch of station wagons in 1962, but none like this one. This was a Dart 4-door wagon that was transformed into a 2-door pillarless wagon with a supersonic motor under the hood. This is a one-of-a-kind vehicle (unless someone else out there had the same idea). This beauty has street manners but can turn into a beast at the flip of a switch. Located in North Royalton, Ohio, this special Dodge is available here on eBay for $84,900 (Buy It Now; Make Offer function activated).
As the story goes, Chrysler got wind of plans at General Motors that called for shrinking their full-size cars for 1962. So, Dodge and Plymouth quickly went to work minimizing their offerings only to find out later that Chevrolet and the others weren’t downsizing. So, Chrysler was at a competitive disadvantage until mid-way through the 1963 model year. Whether there is any truth to the story or not, at least the 1962 Dodges and Plymouths were better-looking automobiles than their 1961 counterparts. Like this 1962 Dart which has been customized to become a 2-door hardtop wagon should Dodge have decided to build one (Chrysler Nomad!).
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this Dodge here on Barn Finds and it may not have sold when we did a year ago. And the car has made the rounds on the interweb with a variety of stories like this one here. The seller says there are videos out there where two 1962 Darts became one, but we haven’t had much luck finding them. Chances are the seller is correct in that if you tried to replicate this vehicle from scratch today, you’d spend far more money than the hefty asking price this one carries.
The bodywork and white paint look flawless as does the contrasting red interior. The Ramcharger graphics help make the car “pop” although I don’t think that’s necessary. You can easily remove them if you wish. The vintage of the 426 Hemi isn’t known and 1964 was the first year that version of the motor was available in Chrysler products (Richard Petty raced the heck out of them in NASCAR). The output of the big dual carburetors isn’t revealed but at least one horse per cube is likely. To help the auto have manners for street driving, the exhaust has electric cutouts that can be turned on and off for the situation at hand.
So, what we have here is a show quality car of which there may be only one and you can drive it on the weekends without loud noises to aggravate your neighbors. The seller comes across as a dealer of sorts who we gather fixes classics up to return them to their grateful owners. In this case, this automobile was turnkey when they got it – and still is. Here’s a video clip of this beauty and another that shows some slight differences in side graphics.
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Comments
IMHO this would look so much better without ramchargers lettering. Can’t see the beauty because of em.
Yep, lose the graphics and you have a very nice motor car.
Like the build.Should sell well to a MoPar fan.
This `62 really was done well, having seen other detailed photos. Dodge gave up the hardtop wagons after `61, but this shows how well one of them might’ve looked had MoPar built them. And a 2dr.no less! It would make an interesting conversation piece for a die-hard “Ramchargers” fan for sure. And I understand the price; this was no easy build, with a great attention to detail.
Chrysler made 4-door Wagons through 1964, I had a 64 New Yorker 4-dr HT wagon in 1970. Thought I saw a couple Dodge 880 Wagons along the way.
Its perfect the way it is. Great nostalgia ride.
Whats not to like? Seeing pictures, I like it with out the signage ,but there would be times, it woud be cool. Since its removeable, maybe you could print lots of the lettering and get real good at putting it on and taking it off. Depending on where you were going. I know thats stupid, I am just saying.
Get the graphics printed on to magnetic sheets and Bob’s your uncle!
Nice car, and probably FAST!!! But you wouldn’t want to use it as your getaway car at a bank robbery. Sticks out like a sore thumb with that beach umbrella red and white stripes on the top. With that 426 hemi in there, it is worth the asking price.
I want to say I have seen this car on here before. With a slightly different paint job on it. Still an awesome car and lots of attention to detail on this build. I really like it, I bet you could get it for 75 large.
Yep, June 2021. Good eye.
All that stupid bodywork gets in the way of the Ramchargers graphics. I just don’t understand some people.
Like I said the first time!!! The car is nice just the way it is.
One of my neighbors had one of these……or it could have been the sedan.
Sans the gross paint additions.
Guy was just an absolutely terrible driver. Everyone ran off the street, when
he climbed into his Dart.
With the red stripes on white….if there were still traveling Circus’s…..this would be the bomb….to drive around town and advertise the Circus was in town.
Oh well !
People, this vehicle was originally built for the strip and to draw attention. Many paint schemes for the track were over the top and may not be meant for the street. If you put this vehicle on a trailer the immediate thought would be it was heading to a race. If you drove this on the street, the first thoughts by many is that it’s a pretend race car and all for show. You know, the cars that have all the race product stickers all over their vehicles and are bone stock! There are a group of vintage racers, I believe, that race Tri-5’s, that have similar stripes on their roofs.
Most don’t realize the historical significance of the build. It appears to be period correct including the fabled Cross Ram dual quad intake. The amount of work and detail is amazing. It would be nice to own a piece of period correct history.