I worked at Harry Summers Chrysler Plymouth in 1964 (after school). I saw a dark blue 1964 Imperial 4 door hardtop with a 413 4 speed and bucket seats on the showroom floor.. The saleman told me it was ordered by a young doctor. He wanted muscle while his wife wanted luxury. What a compromise!!!!!
untill 1965 heaters where an option. a friend had a camaro big block and a powerglide another had a biscayne 4dr 427 turbo 400 posi-track no special trim or badges skinny tires small hub caps. i worked at dealerships and would change or add crest at the owners request also aftermarket mag wheels,tires, headers,and traction bars that were added to the selling price. vans and 4x4s were worst
My best friend had a 70 Plymouth Satelite convertable with a slant six and a 3 on the tree. The guy he bought it from was a salesman who ordered it that way cause he wanted a convertable with good milage. Try to find a repacement for that trans- it was not the same as used in the duster/demons!
There are more of them around than you might think. I have run into 3 or 4 of them over the years. The cheapest full size sedan with no options except the biggest engine they made, and maybe a radio. Bought by some old retired dude who wanted to tow a trailer. I bought a 68 Buick Electra 225 2 door hardtop years ago that had NO options except the 365HP 430 engine. With 10:1 compression unleaded gas was murder but it still had lots of power even with the timing turned back. It had hand crank windows etc but it was a beautiful looking car with no vinyl top, unusual for an expensive hardtop back then. Have also seen a stripped 75 Dodge Monaco with the HP 440. Some years back a Mopar magazine documented a couple of 66 Coronet sedans ordered with Hemis, which was not a catalog option in a sedan. I think they built 12 of them to special order, at least one was to an old guy who wanted to tow a trailer with it.
My old man never got to complete a hot rod or muscle car, but he came close with the first new car he ever had. In 1972, my dad, brother and I go to the chevy dealer. My brother and I are eyeballing the Vettes and Camaros. We grab our dad and show him the new Vette. He smiles, but explains why a family of six can't have a Vette. When the day came to pick up the car, my dad comes driving up and the whole familys outside to see the BRAND NEW car. My dad opens the hood and tells my brother and I that he couldn't get the Vette, but he got the next best thing. He had ordered it with the 454ci option. Man, he loved that car.
The story I heard about the '66 Hemi Coronet sedans was that the FBI special ordered them, and that Chrysler only built 2 of them. I know 1 is (or used to be) in Don Garlits museum and the other is supposedly in the midwest somewhere in pieces..
Every body is asking why the 3 speed transmissions.. The Insurance company's would charge about 3 times the premium for a 4 speed car. I know of several who installed 4 speed trans before their new car was 60 days old.If you lied to the ins co they would check the vin or look at the car. I had a friend who had a 4 speed car he installed a 3 Speed knob and got by the agent. I bought a 67 chevelle 327 {250 HP} 4 door with a factory 4 speed. and 12 bolt. Being the dumb ass that I am I junked it out and used the parts on a 64 chevelle..
I had a older friend who ordered his last car in 75. At this time he was close to 80 years old. He said he would never own a car with automatic as he said " I want to be able to push off to start the engine. The car was a 4 door 74 Chevelle 350 with a 4 speed trans.
A friend of mine has the same thing - plus it has a factory 8-track and power windows. He didn't order it special; just found it in the showroom that way and bought it. He still owns and drives it; it's a bit tired-looking but it has 220,000 on the odometer.
All of our (Australian) assembled Chevs and Pontiacs had Chev running gear. When you wanted parts from the U.S., you never mentioned that your pontiac had a 327, because it confused the hell out of them, not to mention that the car was right hand drive.
OK, here is what's real on the '66 Coronet 4-door Hemi cars. A white and a red car were bought new from a dealer in Wichita, KS. Both went to buyers that wanted to pull a boat or a camper. They were ordered a couple of months apart. One is a bare-bones Coronet, the other is a Coronet Deluxe. I've laid eyes on both cars, and have pics somewhere in my stack that I took in the mid-'80s of both vehicles. Both have dash tags from Chrysler that say to the effect "Specially built by Chrysler for _____________" One car is in Don Garlits' museum in Ocala, Florida. There is a third car (blue) that is currently in Sweden. All three cars are intact and restored. NONE were ever, ever FBI cars, cop cars, or anything of the sort!!! There are also two Canadian-built '66 Hemi Coronet four-door cars, so that makes five total. In 1966, you could order a 426 Hemi in any body style or trim level. In 1967, that changed. Same thing with the 1961 Chevy SS cars - they could be ordered with any engine or body style, as there are a couple of known 1961 Chevy SS station wagons that exist that are the real deal.
In 1966 I had an auto mechanic teacher who ordered in 1965 a 1965 Chevy SS turquoise with white interior, bucket seats, console, with a 283 220 hp with 3 speed on the column and overdrive with in dash tach (if I remember right about the tach) but it did have a vacuum gauge in the console. I had a white with black insert blue interior 61 Chevy Impala (not an SS) 348, 4 barrel, 4 speed bench seat. I put 57 Chevy spinner hub caps on it I bought from my cousin who had a 57 Chevy convertible black with black interior that had 3 speed overdrive converted to hurst floor shift with the two round plastic end caps instead of a ball knob. He had a 327 with 3-2"s in it. The teacher wanted to trade me the 65 for my 61, go figure, I didn't do it. Both cars were very nice. My cousin's 57 was great. Kenny
Duly noted. I think it was an issue of Mopar Muscle magazine that said they were ordered by the FBI, did sound fishy, but stranger things have happened..
The Jalopy Journal
