Either four or five four-door Hemi Coronets were built for 1966. Seth explained that the car was ordered by Floyd Cline, who owned Pappy Cline's Dyno Service in Wichita, Kansas. He bought it to drag race. The window sticker reveals that it was never delivered to the dealership, but was picked up from the Lynch Road plant in Detroit.
Found on: http://www.hotrod.com/events/1503-muscle-car-and-corvette-nationals-mcacn-continues-its-streak/
I posted about one other, that came up for auction in 2007 http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2007/01/factory-four-door-hemi-dodge-one-of-5.html
According to Hemmings (http://www.hemmings.com/users/57589/ride/828.html), only four four-door hemi coronets were ever produced. One of them was delivered to my native Finland. Why would anyone order a run-of-the-mill sedan with most powerful powertrain possible? According to the folklore, a couple of guys running a Chrysler dealership in Helsinki just decided to have some fun and order one car with the most low-rent body and options (1966 Coronet 4D sedan, manual steering, manual brakes) but with 426 Hemi. An order was duly made and the car delivered. In the 1970's, the engine was swapped in a MkI Charger, and the Coronet got a milder engine. The ultra-rare car is now undergoing a thorough restoration and receive a numbers matching hemi again in the hands of a Finnish enthusiast, sources say.
ReplyDeleteyes, only 4... why would anyone you ask? Well, that is exactly why they sell Hell Cat Chargers, and why Porsche now makes a 4 door car. Some people like a 4 door with a lot of power. I don't, I prefer 2 doors. But hey, thank YOU for the story on the one you know about! very kind off you to let me know!
DeleteFloyd Cline was taking care of his aged dad at the time and needed a 4 door for his dad to get in an our easier but also wanted a muscle car so he ordered a 4 door dodge with the high performance hemi to take to the drag strip on weekends. I was privileged believe it or not to ride in it one time. Floyd had hes wife take me to my place of employment to pickup my pay check to pay for some carb work he did on my car. Needless to say she drove completely normal all the way there and back, no hotrodding.
ReplyDeletewell, that's some real specific knowledge that fills in the question a lot of people had about why he got a 4 door! Thank you!
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