1965 Dodge Coronet 500 Shines Bright and New, Sports All-Original Forgotten V8 Treat

Chrysler found the strength to fight back and began its ascent back to the podium of the Big Three. By the mid-60s, it gained ground when its Dodge division introduced the new Coronet model. The nameplate was familiar to American motorists from the 1949-1959 period when the maker used it to promote the new postwar body styles.

In 1965, the Coronet respawned as an intermediate-sized automobile, and it was an instant success, selling some 209,000 units for the initial year. Over 205,000 of total production was reserved for the domestic market, and the remaining thousands went across the border to Canada.

Interestingly, Chrysler Canada did not market the Coronet, so buyers would have to place a particular order for a car. Nearly six decades later, classic ’65 Coronets wearing a maple leaf license plate are probably even less frequent than when they were new. Nonetheless, one example is a bright red over white convertible Coronet 500.

The 500 was the top-of-the-line trim level, with the other two being the intermediate 440, while the base spec didn’t have a number attached to it. The 500 was a V8-only, two-door body style, available in either hardtop or convertible guises. The production for this trim level accounted for nearly 33,000 units, and less than one in ten came with a ragtop.

The numerical code is not, in fact, a cubic-inch displacement indicator – so the Coronet 440, for example, does not sport the fabled 7.2-liter big-block heavyweight that would later be standard equipment on the R/T. Correspondingly, ‘500’ has no ties with engine size.

Since we came to the piston end of the business, Dodge offered seven engine options for its Coronet line-up, ranging from the economical 225 cubic-inch inline-six (3.7-liter) all the way to the 426 CID (7.0 liters) pair of big-block muscle. And yes, two mills were within the same weight category – the 426 Wedge and the HEMI introduced the year before.

The two monsters were the biggest plants available in America for that year in any mid-sized automobile. The other big-block options were the enduring 383 (6.3 liters) V8 and the debate-starting 361-cube (5.9 liters) eight-pot. (By the way, which side are you taking on this topic – is the 361 worthy of the ‘Big Block’ medal of distinction, or is it just the ugly duckling left out from family reunions?)

Regardless of what gearheads might think of it, the middle-of-the-road engine was still an option in 1965 (just one year later, it was discontinued in favor of the aforementioned 383), and this particular Coronet 500 is proud to show it.

The car was saved from its barn retirement some two decades ago (photos in the gallery show its previous fate), and today, it is a prized possession of the gentleman you see in the video. Fortunately, the car wasn’t in a tear-bursting condition when the current owner found it, so the body and drivetrain are original. The paint, however, isn’t, and neither is the air conditioning system.

The cool factor (pun unavoidable, I’m happy to say) was fitted during the restoration – together with all the correct dashboard instrumentation. One note about the interior: while the mid-60s styling played the KISS tune (‘Keep It Short and Simple’) on the outside, the interior was brilliantly extravagant.

Literally – watch the video, but put on a pair of welding goggles, lest all the chrome and white upholstery temporarily blind you. As we can see, the three-speed automatic gearbox console-mounted shifter doesn’t hide an oddly-placed tachometer – because this particular Coronet didn’t come with the optional RPM gauge.

Nonetheless, the dual exhaust is loud enough to tell the mild tale of the two-barrel-carbureted 265 hp and 380 lb-ft (269 PS/515 Nm). Not the most impressive figures – perhaps this might be one reason the 361 V8 was phased out the following year.

Depending on engine size, body style, and air conditioning option, a Coronet could be spec’d with no less than ten different gearing ratios for the rear axle. Ranging from 2.76 to 4.89, there was a suitable diff for just about any driver.

In case you’re wondering what that outrageously drag-strip-hinting high gearing was used on, it was the 426 main gun, the famous Hemi-Charger. Eight different rear axle ratios could be ordered with the cataclysmic 425 hp / 490 lb-ft V8 (431 PS, 664 Nm).

Ironically, the Coronet can claim the glory as being the Mopar that envisioned both muscle car icons that bore the Dodge name: the Charger (which arrived in its fastback form in 1966, one year after the Hemi-Charger Coronet) and the Challenger. The latter was first used in a limited-edition addition to the 1959 Dodge Coronet line – the Dodge Silver Challenger model.