The 1962 Dodge Polara 500

The early 1960's saw the birth of the personal luxury car. Personal luxury meant bucket seat interiors with plenty of convenience features and plenty of performance under the hood. The Dodge Polara 500 was Dodge's first entry into the personal luxury market.

Chrysler was in a period of design transition in the early 60's as they were trying to find the next look to follow up the many spectacular designs of Virgil Exner. Following what turned out to be false information that Chevrolet was going to be downsizing its cars for '62, Dodge designers and engineers working on the '62's were ordered to downsize the existing designs that were set for '62.

Virgil Exner was unhappy about the redesigned '62's going as far as to call them "plucked chickens." Ultimately Exner was held responsible and was replaced in late 1961 by Elwood Engel.

Some of the unusual styling features of the '62's included the high-beam headlights that were tucked into the corners of the grill and housed in chrome bezels, while the low beams were under the fender blades. The rear of the car featured a staggered lamp look. The rear fender had a sculptured arcing curve that began in front of the rear wheel and ended at the higher rear tail light.

For the Polara, unique features included a long diecast rectangle that was fitted with the new Dodge triangle logo and a series of bright louvers. The background was painted in the cars accent color. In the front, Polaras were given a blackout treatment on the grill, where the narrower vertical bars were painted black. Finally, Polaras were given unique wheel coves that included protruding spinners.

The interior is what gave the Polara's the personal car look. The seat cushions and backs were trimmed in saddle-grain vinyl and a pattern of vertical pleats that contrasted in color to outside seat vinyl. Front buckets were divided by a chrome trimmed console that featured lockable storage, dual ash trays, lighter and a courtesy lamp.

Under the hood the Polara 500 was equipped with a 361-cid, 305-bhp V8 with a four barrel carb, hight lift camshaft and dual exhausts. Later in the year engine choices were expanded to 330, 335-bhp; 383, 380-bhp and a 413-cid that led the pack with 410 horsepower.

1962 Polaras were offered as two door hardtops, convertibles and four door hardtops. The four door hardtops had a more conservative interior, with a 3 passenger front seat with a fold down center armrest replacing the bucket seats.

Although the 62 Dodge's were a styling and sales disappointment, the Polara 500's performance was praised, with one car magazine calling it "The performance car of the year."

If you're looking for a 1962 Dodge Polara 500, you can expect to pay $15,000-$20,000 for a excellent 2 door example. Convertibles will cost $20,000 - $32,000 for a car in excellent condition.

About the Author

Dean Wicklund is a classic car enthusiast and owner of collectorcarads.com. You can find classic cars for sale and dodge polara for sale at Collector Car Ads