Unrestored 1961 Dodge Polara 4 Door Sedan D500 Ram Induction. Hillsborough, NB

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Unrestored 1961 Dodge Polara 4 Door Sedan D500 Ram Induction. Hillsborough, NB

timbuk · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

wow that is one wild ride and rare fer sure

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

It is an odd looking car, not as nice as its 57-59 predecessors, but it is in excellent condition, has some rare for the day options, and that power train is awesome. You have to like it for those reasons!

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

$4290 1960 dollars. That wasn't a cheap car!

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

Interesting and unique car. Nice shape and nice colour combo.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

According to the Bank of Canada, that's $38052 in 2020 dollars.

cdnpont wrote:
$4290 1960 dollars. That wasn't a cheap car!

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Very interesting Super Sleeper. I LIKE IT !!!.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Canadian Poncho wrote:

According to the Bank of Canada, that's $38052 in 2020 dollars.
cdnpont wrote:
$4290 1960 dollars. That wasn't a cheap car!

Yes, that would have been a upper middle class car then. As a reference my dad bought a new 1967 Buick Special sedan with little options and it cost him just over $4,000.

MoboMac · Poncho Master!

Cool car.....but 50k USD......for a crew cab.....is a bit of a stretch....

And I still don't understand why something for sale in Canada....has a price in USD?

Oh well.....Good Luck....with the sale

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

long stroke wrote:
Canadian Poncho wrote:

According to the Bank of Canada, that's $38052 in 2020 dollars.
cdnpont wrote:
$4290 1960 dollars. That wasn't a cheap car!

Yes, that would have been a upper middle class car then. As a reference my dad bought a new 1967 Buick Special sedan with little options and it cost him just over $4,000.

Chrysler identified the Dodge Polara in 1961 as a direct competitor of the Chevrolet Impala and Ford Galaxie 500, hardly upper middle class automobiles.

This car's original sticker price is a reflection on the options added. The engine alone added 11% of the base cost of $2,966 as did power accessories and radio. The Torqueflite added another 7%. The car was basic transportation based price of $2,966.

The real question for me is who ordered this car this way and what was their purpose in doing so? It is equivalent to a 4 dr. Big Block Impala imo except ugly.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Neat car! That ram induction system is a piece of engineering genius. Worked on the natural frequency of the the air/fuel wave to put more of a charge in the cylinders and thus more torque output.

Ram-Induction-illustration-with-graph.jp

There's a rough explanation at this website: https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/secrets-of-chrysler-ram-induction/

I really like the car, though for my weird tastes I like the crazy styling of '61 Plymouth a little better. Exner was throwing everything in the book at those cars to try to make them stand out from other makers - some say he went too far (i.e. they were ugly), but some appreciated the risks he took. The public in general didn't appreciate it so much, and that may be why Chrysler hired Elwood Engel over from Ford. That said Virgil Exner's health was not so good at that point as well, so they may have been just trying to make sure they had someone in the spot of chief stylist who was going to be able to continue the job. After all, Exner was responsible for Forward Look styling that really brought Chrysler out of the basement at the time, so I'm sure there was some loyalty there, but business interests would have to be considered as well.

I too think the price is stiff for this car, but it's really aimed at the enthusiast who will appreciate this car for what it is, and not somebody who would rather have an Impala... Either somebody will buy it or they won't.

-- Edited by MC on Saturday 23rd of May 2020 08:21:40 AM

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

73SC wrote:
long stroke wrote:
Canadian Poncho wrote:

According to the Bank of Canada, that's $38052 in 2020 dollars.
cdnpont wrote:
$4290 1960 dollars. That wasn't a cheap car!

Yes, that would have been a upper middle class car then. As a reference my dad bought a new 1967 Buick Special sedan with little options and it cost him just over $4,000.
Chrysler identified the Dodge Polara in 1961 as a direct competitor of the Chevrolet Impala and Ford Galaxie 500, hardly upper middle class automobiles.
This car's original sticker price is a reflection on the options added. The engine alone added 11% of the base cost of $2,966 as did power accessories and radio. The Torqueflite added another 7%. The car was basic transportation based price of $2,966.
The real question for me is who ordered this car this way and what was their purpose in doing so? It is equivalent to a 4 dr. Big Block Impala imo except ugly.

Ray, i was basing my comment on the total cost out the door not the initial cost figure. The cost out the door was anything but low dollar entry level car. This car would have buried many unsuspecting motorists at the the light in its wolf in sheep's clothing attitude. I like it because it is so different on so many levels and i would spend my time looking at this car at a show, as opposed to looking at cookie cutter cars that no longer hold any interest for me. Cheers.

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

While I will not argue the cost of the car is fairly high the same could be said for a 409 Impala and a 390 Galaxie 500. The price in this case does not change the marketing intent of the model nor the socio-economic class of its intended intended buyer. The old adage applies, a pig with lipstick is still a pig, maybe a more interesting pig but a pig nonetheless.

The only way an Impala/Polara/Galaxie found its way into an upper middle class family's driveway back in the 60's was if it was a second car for the wife or car for the high school kid to drive so they wouldn't drive the Cadillac or Lincoln that Dad drove.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Okey dokey smokey.