Photo: RK Motors
An apparition the likes of which we rarely get to see, capable of both making an impression at the drag strip, and turning some heads at various other events. This is the monstrous 1965 Dodge Coronet, available in detail in the photo gallery below.
Introduced in the years after the Second World War as Dodge’s first new body style of the peace era, the Coronet was the brand’s highest trim line at first, then moved to become a standalone model. Finally, in the mid-1960s, it evolved into a more muscle car-like apparition.
As part of our Muscle Car Month coverage, we’ve talked about plenty Coronets this month, most of them still functional, others in horrible barn find conditions. The one here certainly tops them all, though.
Part of the 1965 model year, it has been extensively modified to successfully race on drag strips, but it can also be shown at events. Having started life as a plain Coronet, it has been modified in the early 2000s so severely that it’s hardly anything like its former self.
The first thing one notices is the lack of rear doors. The new form of the body, which also includes a steel trunk and hood, rides on a modified wheelbase (chassis is 111 inches/282 cm, five inches/12 cm shorter than what the car had when it left the factory doors), supported in its turn by a custom suspension.
Under the steel hood, with velocity stacks sticking out into the air as eight sore thumbs, is a massive 511ci (8.4-liter) HEMI V8. The monster is linked to a 3-speed automatic transmission and is rated at 488 hp, all properly sent to the rear wheels.
The interior has been heavily modified as well, stripped to the bare minimum and featuring just two bucket seats and a fiberglass dash to hold the instruments.
The modified Coronet is for sale for a little under $100,000, and has been on the open market for quite some time yet, but so far failed to find a new owner.
As part of our Muscle Car Month coverage, we’ve talked about plenty Coronets this month, most of them still functional, others in horrible barn find conditions. The one here certainly tops them all, though.
Part of the 1965 model year, it has been extensively modified to successfully race on drag strips, but it can also be shown at events. Having started life as a plain Coronet, it has been modified in the early 2000s so severely that it’s hardly anything like its former self.
The first thing one notices is the lack of rear doors. The new form of the body, which also includes a steel trunk and hood, rides on a modified wheelbase (chassis is 111 inches/282 cm, five inches/12 cm shorter than what the car had when it left the factory doors), supported in its turn by a custom suspension.
Under the steel hood, with velocity stacks sticking out into the air as eight sore thumbs, is a massive 511ci (8.4-liter) HEMI V8. The monster is linked to a 3-speed automatic transmission and is rated at 488 hp, all properly sent to the rear wheels.
The interior has been heavily modified as well, stripped to the bare minimum and featuring just two bucket seats and a fiberglass dash to hold the instruments.
The modified Coronet is for sale for a little under $100,000, and has been on the open market for quite some time yet, but so far failed to find a new owner.
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