Monday, November 24, 2014

Berkeley Street Sighting - 1966 Dodge Polara Wagon

Much of the United States is buried under snow as I type this, and I'm again hearing the words "polar vortex" tossed around. So I figured it's as good a time as any for this snow-white Dodge Polara, a wagon big enough to evacuate yourself and your whole family from the siege of bitter winter storms.


The '66 Polara was one of Dodge's full-sized wagons and shared its body with the fancier Monaco. Polara was the mass-market offering, good for middle class families who needed a big wagon with two or three rows of seats. Your $3,000 bought over two tons of steel and a standard 383 V8 to push it around. The key word for Dodge advertising in 1966 was "Rebellion" and the Polara was one of the angstiest-looking cars they offered that year. This wagon wears a coat of white paint with what appears to be maroon or dark brown interior, a color scheme I associate more with a fleet-special 1991 Chevy Lumina than a '66 Polara.
Body and paint are good to fair, clearly a repaint but not all torn up or rusted out. I dig the narrow whitewalls and body-colored steelies with poverty caps. The side mirrors and third brake light on the rear hatch are aftermarket and look a little funny. As a cargo van driver by trade, though, I can attest that mirrors make all the difference when operating a huge vehicle with limited line of sight visibility in traffic or parking, and it never hurts for other drivers to be able to see you when you're stopping.

No comments:

Post a Comment