1970 Dodge Polara Convertible 383

[ayilar]

I’m the second owner of this car, it was a Xmas present for wife back in 1969

Great find! So, can you tell us more? Did you buy it at an estate sale?

From the tag, it does not look like a Canadian-bound car. Do you have the paperwork going back, like the window sticker or order papers by any chance? Would love to see those.

she drove the car sometimes in the Sommer and the car was parked for many years before I brought it.

Oh wow — is this a low miles original then?

Is a pretty good looking car in my opinion and solid as it can be never driven in the rain or winter even the top is like new.
The only thing is it needs a new dashboard top. All windows work perfectly and all the gages.

From the pics you’ve posted, other than the dash (which you noted is cracked), it looks pretty much spotless. Any evidence (or tale by the seller) of work in the lower areas or of any repaint? I don’t see any, which is why I’m asking to confirm.

And again, great find!

 

[detmatt]

Man what a beauty!

 

[polara71]

From the tag, it does not look like a Canadian-bound car.

Disagree, The C in the Order number tells you it was destined for Canada from conception.

 

[CBODY67]

Which I never understood why. I bought the color selection book 24 years ago and said "WTF".
So many 69s with white bucket interiors. You would think the sun / heat thing would have come into play and they would have made it available.

It was observed on Challenger plastic door trim panels (well before the repros were available) that the black ones held up better than the white ones did. The white ones were all crazed and crumbly, but the black ones were not. As I found out on my '67 Newport "23". with the Pearl White vinyl buckets, as the pearl aged, it became dirty looking. No amount of soap/cleaner would make it look better. Mainly on the tops of the front seat backs, where they'd been touched and the pearl had worn off in a few spots.

With the black buckets in a convertible, on the hot days, use a colorful plush bath towel to sit on. Just as with a 440+6 car on a road trip in the middle of July.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[CBODY67]

Disagree, The C in the Order number tells you it was destined for Canada from conception.

Does the car have a kph speedometer rather than mph, installed at the factory?

Just curious,
CBODY67

 

[polara71]

Does the car have a kph speedometer rather than mph, installed at the factory?

Just curious,
CBODY67

No .

 

[300rag]

Does the car have a kph speedometer rather than mph, installed at the factory?

Just curious,
CBODY67

Since KPH was not in effect until the 1977 model year, I'll say it is MPH. KPH speedos were available as an option for us on some models in '76. They were not dual marked, but strictly metric.

 

[polara71]

It was observed on Challenger plastic door trim panels (well before the repros were available) that the black ones held up better than the white ones did. The white ones were all crazed and crumbly, but the black ones were not. As I found out on my '67 Newport "23". with the Pearl White vinyl buckets, as the pearl aged, it became dirty looking. No amount of soap/cleaner would make it look better. Mainly on the tops of the front seat backs, where they'd been touched and the pearl had worn off in a few spots.

With the black buckets in a convertible, on the hot days, use a colorful plush bath towel to sit on. Just as with a 440+6 car on a road trip in the middle of July.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

I had a 72 Challenger with a white interior and all the hard plastic was chalk, that was in 92.
They offered buckets in a hardtop on the Cs. Being a convertible shouldn't have made a difference in deterioration if didn't hold up well .
Then it begs the question why would Ma care if the interior didn't hold up in ten years?

 

[ayilar]

Disagree, The C in the Order number tells you it was destined for Canada from conception.

Indeed. But what about Y05 — built to USA specs? Just saw another thread where @fc7_plumcrazy noted this point too.

@Tobias74 — would the Y05 code make it easier to import into the States?

 

[CBODY67]

What I mentioned (chalked white vs. still-good black plastic molded door panels) was what members of our Mopar club determined from their quest for better interior pieces than what they had. And that was in the later '80s and earlier '90s. Everybody wanted to see them in repro, but it didn't happen until later.

When I started to frequent local salvage yards in search of future-need items, it became obvious that the interiors of Chrysler products were in better conditrion than same-model-year GM cars. Chrysler obviously chose better materials that held up better.

Consider, too, that Chrysler typically did not service soft trim items after the first model year of production, whereas GM and Ford did. So if the car got out of the initial warranty period, there typically was no need of those parts by customers, so no need to stockpile such parts as GM did. Resultingly, they had to be better to start with so they ended up lasting much longer into the vehicle's total life. Seat covers got a burn hole? To the trim shop. Other things, the salvage yard.

As for white seats, I normally wear blue denim jeans. Even get a bit sweaty in them, too. When damp, that blue will transfer to other things, like seats (cloth, vinyl, or otherwise). Once there, it's hard to get off/out. Which makes darker grays/black shades a much better option for me. One year at the Fort Worth new car show, there was a new Lincoln SUV there, with the white interior. After two days of being on display, with people getting in and out of it, the white leather driver's seat already had a blue tint to it, especially on the outer edge of the seat cushion. I laughed when I saw that as I knew where it had come from. Certainly not from slacks.

Y'alls sensitivity to such things might be different than mine, which I respect. Certainly, a white interior tends to look more open and expansive than other colors. Many look really nice, too. Ever wonder why the white seats were usually paired with black carpets?

Just some thoughts and observations,
CBODY67

 

[FK3 Sport Fury]

Man,that is a nice find and what a great color.Is that a Saskatchewan plate on the front? Is that where the car came from?

 

[Tobias74]

Man,that is a nice find and what a great color.Is that a Saskatchewan plate on the front? Is that where the car came from?

Yes it came from Regina , I’m trying to find out how many are made in that Color combination with 383 and Center console

 

[polara71]

Yes it came from Regina , I’m trying to find out how many are made in that Color combination with 383 and Center console

You won't get that precise with available records.
It is safe to say , a handful at best.
Kevin gave us numbers on some colors but for whatever the reason excluded Q3/B3/B5/B7 and a few others. Those numbers are percentages from the options and accessories report from ( I believe) sept 1970.
I'd have to go through all of the 110 cars I've located over the last 40 years but I'm struggling to recall another Q3 car, well maybe, one other. Once you throw in the console, that drops the number considerably .

 

[ayilar]

Here is another. DL27L0D110005 was equipped similarly to your car (with A/C and a tilt wheel in addition, but with a buddy seat instead of a console). It was in very rough shape when posted for sale a few years ago.

I have no idea what has happened to that FQ3 Polara ‘vert since. I had misunderstood @fc7_plumcrazy and thought the car had gone to Sweden, but it may still be in West Virginia.

 

[polara71]

Here is another. DL27L0D110005 was equipped similarly to your car (with a tilt wheel in addition), but it was in very rough shape when posted for sale a few years ago.

I have no idea what has happened to that FQ3 Polara ‘vert since. I had misunderstood @fc7_plumcrazy and thought the car had gone to Sweden, but it may still be in West Virginia.

Thats exactly the one that popped into my head ( very sad really).

 

[ayilar]

I’m trying to find out how many are made in that Color combination with 383 and Center console

Kevin gave us numbers on some colors but for whatever the reason excluded Q3/B3/B5/B7 and a few others.

Not quite right: while AFAIK Kevin indeed did not provide Canadian color breakdowns or US figures for blue-painted cars, he did provide info re: US Q3 cars (light turquoise). Here is therefore a partial answer for Tobias, based on information initially posted by @Bill Watson and @kmccabe56 in 2007 (on the sadly defunct Yahoo Board I believe) and re-posted on FCBO in 2013 by @Fratzog with credits given to Bill and Kevin:

1970 Dodge Polara CVs for sale in Pittsburgh

See Fred's post for the full info. Here is what's relevant to the present car from "the CANADIAN option & accessory report for 1970. This report is dated 'August 70' (no day of the month) and indicates that 144 Polara convertibles were sold in Canada."

318 3spd on the column: 1
318 auto 96
383-2v auto 41
440-4v auto 6
--> Total 144

As for options, assuming there was no typo on Kevin's list, yours may be the only Canadian car with fender repeaters (Edit: I checked the registry started by @polara71, and Fred's car has the L31 repeaters -- but, as Dave pointed out below, Fred's car is a US car originally so the "1" below might well not be a typo):

Console 16
Fender mounted turn signals 1
Power windows 54
AM/tape radio 16
Rim blow wheel 16

As for colors, I am not aware of a breakdown for Canadian cars, but here is what it was for the USA:

Light turquoise 25
Black conv. top 353

 

[polara71]

Fred's car isn't a Canadian car...


I didnt recall there being color breakdown on the Canadian list.






Remember these are percentages so its possible 1 could be 2.

 

[polara71]

Not quite right: while AFAIK Kevin indeed did not provide Canadian color breakdowns or US figures for blue-painted cars, he did provide info re: US Q3 cars (light turquoise). Here is therefore a partial answer for Tobias, based on information initially posted by @Bill Watson and @kmccabe56 in 2007 (on the sadly defunct Yahoo Board I believe) and re-posted on FCBO in 2013 by @Fratzog with credits given to Bill and Kevin:

1970 Dodge Polara CVs for sale in Pittsburgh

See Fred's post for the full info. Here is what's relevant to the present car from "the CANADIAN option & accessory report for 1970. This report is dated 'August 70' (no day of the month) and indicates that 144 Polara convertibles were sold in Canada."

318 3spd on the column: 1
318 auto 96
383-2v auto 41
440-4v auto 6
--> Total 144

As for options, assuming there was no typo on Kevin's list, yours may be the only Canadian car with fender repeaters (Edit: I checked the registry started by @polara71, and Fred's car has the L31 repeaters -- so the "1" below must be a typo):

Console 16
Fender mounted turn signals 1
Power windows 54
AM/tape radio 16
Rim blow wheel 16

As for colors, I am not aware of a breakdown for Canadian cars, but here is what it was for the USA:

Light turquoise 25
Black conv. top 353

Wait! So 25 of 144 cars came in Q3?
353 of 144 cars came with a black top?

 

[ayilar]

Fred's car isn't a Canadian car...

You're right, of course -- DL27G0D255646 was initially sold in Illinois. Looking at the registry, indeed I don't see any Canadian car with the L31 code.

Remember these are percentages so its possible 1 could be 2.

I don't think so. AM Radio is 123 and Deluxe Wheel Covers is 120, which cannot be percentages.

This said... What about DL27G0D106999, which went from Ontario to Ohio a few years back? It has the L31 code. Or Cam Frederickson's L-code in Lethbridge (I don't have much info about his car, but Cam's profile info for "Bert and Ernie" says that his car has the L31 repeaters)?

Wait! So 25 of 144 cars came in Q3?

No, 25/700 (or 703) US cars.

 

[polara71]

So Q3 is listed?

Going from memory..