When I was little I saw a 1971 Dodge Polara 2 door for the first time. It was my fathers daily driver from roughly 1991-2000. Its the first car I remember seeing. Something about the big loop bumper was menacing, yet wholesome. I always thought it was a happy car smiling at me.
His car had an N code 383, it was a base model - economy price class. F3 green with a black top and black interior. Had the cool medallions on the door panels and the all black dash panels. In the center AC vent, there was a graphic equalizer that I vividly remember going along with the beat of Rush and the Foo Fighters.
He would sometimes car pool with guys and leave the car in the driveway. I remember one afternoon I was going to work on dads car and help him out. I got out a hammer and some gold spray paint and smashed his baby moon caps and painted them up. I was maybe 4 or 5? I'm not sure, but my backside still hurts talking about it.
Over the years the car was just his commuter car to and from Caterpillar. He worked second shift and often I would stay up until 12 am just to see Dad before bed. I could always hear him at the intersection 6 houses down and I'd tell mom "DADS ALMOST HERE!" One day he came out to find the drivers door got smashed in the parking lot at work. The car came with doors and full quarters when he got it, they were GY8 and tucked along the far side of our old garage. He went and got "exact match" in a rattle can...the car was F3 and the door ended up being closer to F7 or F8. Whatever, its gonna have to work. Better then Gold. He used part of the old door to fix a rusty spot in the floor pan, and some thick green shag he found at the curb to replace the worn out original carpet. Another time, he lost the tread on the left front tire and it beat the hell out of the fender and tore off the BSM.
We moved in with my grandparents in Fall of 99, he was still driving it to and from work. The extra sheetmetal went to his mothers shed as we didn't have much room for them at our new home.
One of the last memories I have of him driving it, he had to leave it on the side of the road a few miles from CAT due to vapor lock. After a few transmissions and the other issues over the years he was done with it. He drove it home and it sat in the driveway. He listed it in the car trader magazine in spring/summer of 2000. A fella from Joliet came to Plainfield and checked out the car. He bought it for $600 bucks and didn't want the extra parts. He left a 73 Chrysler outside of our house. The last time I saw the car it was Merging onto I-55 from US-30 which was right in front of the house. I watched until it was out of sight, and waited until I couldn't hear the 383 anymore. She was gone. I was crushed but what could I do? I was only 8 years old. The parts in the shed got scrapped. No one wanted them.
A few years later at a Mopar Show/swap at Mancari Dodge in Orland Park, my dad recognized the fella that sold him the car. Paul Hill aka Spanky. He told us he saw the car again...at an Enduro race at Route 66 Raceway. He knew it was the car because it still had the leather wrapped 80s Daytona wheel. I've tried to find pictures of the demolition and Enduro events from that time period but there isn't much out there. These pics are from Paul, prior to my dads ownership...
The internet came out and we got our first computer in 2002ish? I found this website called Moparts. After quickly figuring out how to navigate the site I noticed there wasn't anyone talking about 71 polaras...until I noticed a member named "Polara71" he had a Brown 71 2dr hardtop and lived clear the heck across the country. Oh well. At least I know they are out there still. One day I'll get one.
Fast forward to 2016. The road has been rocky to say the least, but I've grown away from my past. I've had several Mopars under my belt at this point and while they were all great in their own ways. I wanted my Polara. It was time. I scoured the internet on my phone and bought my first car ever sight unseen at wildcat auto wrecking. Figured out how to rent a truck and trailer and set off to the west to get my Polara. When we arrived I was disappointed to find out this solid west coast car...wasn't all that solid. They lied. It was very rusty. The sticker on the quarter window spoke to me. "Without love and the dream, It'll never come true." I thought this Grateful Dead quote was ironic because my first C body, a 78 NYB 4dr hardtop had a grateful dead sticker on the rear window, "who are the dead and why are they following me" coincidence or fate? Some things cannot be explained. I was committed and loaded the car up for the long haul home.
I got the car home and joined this once great site and this Polara71 guy was like "yeah, I would have had that car if they would've called me back." It was the Jersey guy from Moparts. At first I wasn't sure if he was happy or pissed, hard telling.
The gold 71 was a major project and the new site I was on became an addiction. In September of 17 I came across another 71 in Minnesota. I hadta have it. I sold my 05 Magnum RT and went and got it. In no time at all, I had it up and running and got to drive a 71 Polara for the first time ever. Dreams do come true.
In November, I rented a van and made a deal with that Jersey guy. I went out there and got to meet one of my Mopar Idols. He didn't know at the time but without the posts over the years, I would have maybe given up on my hunt. He was keeping the dream alive. I got to ride in the Blue car I've seen pics of doing burnouts and running down the track. I also bought a van full of parts. That afternoon flew by and before I knew it I was unloading the parts into my basement back in Illinois.
In 2018 I hit it hard after a break-up and didn't look back. I've had so many different fuselage Dodges come and go. Hit a few jackpots. Scored some really cool stuff. Met ALOT of great people and made some great memories as well as friendships... I even scored a close twin to the car that started it all. The gold car didn't make it but it served its purpose and died peacefully in 2020.
My current fleet is the following...
69 Polara 9 passenger wagon - the Servprolara 70 Polara Convertible - 440 car - Triple black 70 Polara 9 Passenger Wagon - FQ3 - 383-2 70 Monaco 9 passenger wagon - 440 car - donor 71 Polara custom 2dr hardtop - 360-2 71 Polara Custom 4dr sedan - Squad car - 383-4
I had never seen a C body Polara before I saw my future car roll up to the house I was living in, a 66 base model Polara. Two brothers got it from a burnt out guy they got a boat from. They got it to sell, and I was the broker for the sale. The guy who bought it wasn't the brightest, he showed up with a trailer and two straps. He put it all the way up on the trailer and headed east. I drove the same route, but only halfway, on my way to work. He made it that far. I kept in touch every month or so. He wondered what it would look like with shaved door handles, um, ok. The next time I spoke with him, he had seen a fuselage car, and told me he wondered what it would look like with a chopped top. I instantly told him if he wanted to sell, to call me.
Fast forward a few months, I'm at work at a parts store, and returning form a run, I'm told some guy was looking for me. He couldn't remember my name, but asked for "the Mopar guy". I gave him a call and we agreed on a plan for me to buy it making payments. After six months I got the car. He hadn't done anything but replace the carb with a 750 Holley double pumper, bought an air cleaner and a battery.
Got the car home, and drove it a few times on the weekends to the parts store and other various times. I had a guy following me on the way home one night, and I decided I'd leave him behind me. He stuck close by as I got up to 100 on a straight stretch of road. I noticed the engine wasn't too strong during that jaunt. Pulled the engine and discovered an exhaust valve was burnt. No biggie, I had a 400 ready to drop in. That had a crappy oil pump, and only lasted one summer. I dropped in a 440, put on Stealth heads and had a blast. That engine was never broke in by the seller, and after a few years it broke a rod, but got me home. 440 no. 2 went in, and is still there today. A .484 Purple shaft cam went in, I had already swapped a built 727 in, and tti headers were added as well. I got some big and little slotted mags for the car, and drove the car as often as I could, daily use to work, and anywhere I could go.
I saw an add for a 66 Polara 500 that was originally from California, for a fair price with a rebuilt 383 sitting under the hood. Needed some assembly, a windshield, and some little things here and there. Drove all over the west coast with my stepson to get the car, and got it running six months later. It has bad wiring I haven't figured out, I got more cars that tool my time away from my two Polaras. I'll be getting the 500 squared away next spring, I miss driving the car.
The Polara started my obsession with full size 66 Dodges, and I'm not upset in the least bit. I've gone through several.parts cars looking for those few items I've needed, a concept I had to accept being a C body owner.
My current fleet: 1966 Polara 440/727 3.55 1966 Polara 500 383-4/727 3.23 1966 Monaco 500 383-4/727 2.76 1966 Canadian Monaco 383-4/A883
I'd buy more, if I had money, room, time, ambition, etc.
I love these cars, they helped me keep my sanity several times over the years. I know where my money went, and I can see it, all I have to do is go to the garage and look. They are far from perfect, but fine with that.
Joined: Mon Oct 10 2005, 06:00PM
Location: 5000 ft above sea level
Posts: 1521
This is the car that started it all for me. My Pop pop had a 1968 Monaco since new and then ordered a 74 Monaco but I didnt take notice. Not until dad brought home this 71 Polara in late 75 or early 76. I hated it! I wanted his 67 Galaxy 500 for the rest of my life ( I was 9) The Ford was cooked and sold for the sum of $35.00. The price of a new battery for the Dodge. Around the age of 13 I started to really notice the Polara, it was cool. Im not sure what clicked but when it did Polara Dave was born. The car had a 318, no air, power steering , disc brakes and a AM radio. Sometime when I was 14/15 I started fixing small things and washing it. By 16 I had put those Superior rims on it and amber lights under the dash, under the front seat, above the driveshaft, in the rear wheel housing , over the rear. That was after wire wheeling the whole underside of the car and painting it semi gloss black. Once I got my license I cooked the 318 in real short order. I pulled a 340 from a 70 3 speed Duster and proceeded to cook 904 junkyard transmissions repeatedly. hen I happened upon a 69 Polara 500
I bought this car for $85.00. Drove it home and proceeded to pull the 383 out of it for my 71. The 69 was a rust free bucket seat car, automatic on the column. This was in 1984, just a used car, one of thousands available. As I started pulling the 383 out I saw orange paint under the blue, odd. Turns out it was a late 1971 casting of a 1972 400 HP engine. I switched everything I needed and I had a 71 BB and sold the 340 for $400.00. From the start I had Hooker headers on the 400 but only a 2 barrel . My 4 barrel addition was a Thermoquad. That 400 was topping out at 115 with the 2 barrel but would push the R on the 140 speedo before it maxed out after the T quad went on. Around 1987 I snapped the cam in the 400. Over to the local Mopar guy and he built me a 440-6. Kind of a disappointment and short on funds I traded the 6 pack for a T quad and a brake job. That engine was lame so over to my Racecar mechanic I went and asked him to build me a 440. He did just that, by the time it was done there was five grand in the engine alone. This was in 1987 , I was more than pleased with the performance of the engine.
In 1988 I had the convertible bug. I was able to locate two local 1970 convertibles, one the owner wasnt selling even though it was in the weeds on flats. This was the white interior car with superlite, Roadwheels, K5 paint and a white top, thats another story. The other was a green car painted white. At a local dealer my pockets were bone dry. I was chasing girls not monetary dreams. So I found a 69 Sport Fury ragtop, local for $700... I couldnt keep both cars so the 440 came out of the Polara and into the Fury and the polara went to the boneyard in the sky. Oddly enough the engine that was in the Fury was also a 400.
The rest everyone knows ....
Rose Bowl car
The nicest know survivor
1970 383-4 buckets / console
Thanks for inspiring me over the years Fred! You've been a great Polara sounding board.
Wyatt has also picked up with the inspiration when I need it. He recently told me STFU and fix it, so I did.