Favorite Bizarre International Perverted Mopar

[Kevin68N71]

Several years back I did a bunch of computer installations at the Mazda USA R and D center in Irvine, CA.  There was a guy who worked there that was a car nut and we would always talk about cars.  He said, you know, Chrysler made a 6 cylinder hemi engine.  And I was thinking to myself, oh oh, don't tell me this is another "440 Hemi" guy.  But he pulls out the first book that I ever saw about the "down under" Valiant Chargers with the 6 cylinder hemi engine and "6 pack" Weber carburetion.   I always loved that.

However, just a few years ago, I uncovered what is certainly my new favorite.  It's gotta be Argentina's totally bizarre Polara R/T.  Yes, you heard that right.

And no, it's not a Dart with a different grille, but a body unlike anything else.  There was also a strange GTX version that I think used this body.  Anyways, they have some data and old, bad pictures on Allpar but I will occasionally find a gem of a pic on the net of someone's car.

I would LOVE having this just for how surreal it is.  Of course, I cannot imagine what one does to get parts.  Not to mention, it has some weird, high performance version of the inline 6!!!!! (although, I think a 318 was an option)

[Kevin68N71]

I promise you, you will feel like you are in another dimension when you watch this.

I am not kidding.  I knew about this one already, but never saw it quite like this.  Best get the kids out of the room when you turn this thing on.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/1976-brazilian-Charger-RT_142982.htm

[Kevin68N71]

Oh, and for the record, in the US they DID make a Dart Charger.  No, I don't mean a show car.  They made a Dart Charger.

Don't make me prove it to you.

[Kevin68N71]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq15hyN4Aco

You don't have to know what they're saying to know what they are saying!

[kab69440]

There used to be an Argentine kid who hung out with us in the chat room, La Maquina was his nick, I believe. He sent me a vid of his friend's Polara R/T painted up like the General Lee doing donuts in a field while a bunch of them sang the Dukes theme song in broken English to a mariachi sounding acoustic guitar. I nearly passed out laughing while I was watching it. I wish that kid was still around, he was a riot!

[C_stripes]

I love the A-body chargers. I wonder why no one has them over here?

[Kevin68N71]

When is a GTX not a GTX?

When it's this GTX.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mp0qR943gN8&feature=related

[Ghoste]

The American Dart "Charger" though was not really a separate model, it was more like an emblem that was attached to certain Darts in 64 if you bought the 273 "Charger" V8 for them.  It was the engine they were referring to as Charger, not the car line.

[Shakey]

Mopar also made 4 cylinder Hemi's!

[Kevin68N71]

The American Dart "Charger" though was not really a separate model, it was more like an emblem that was attached to certain Darts in 64 if you bought the 273 "Charger" V8 for them.  It was the engine they were referring to as Charger, not the car line.

You're right.  I'll tell you a funny story.  In 1985 I lived in Huntington Beach and a neighbor across the street really liked my Charger, which I was using as a driver at the time.  He said, you know, the made a "Dart Charger" don't you?  And I was going, yeah, sure.

The next day he shows up with a Dart Charger emblem, and says, here you go.  He said there was a wrecked one in a junk yard and he bought this emblem off it.  It pretty well remained a mystery to me until I saw the following article.

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/featuredvehicles/1965_dart_charger_273/index.html

Seems that the early 273 engine was referred to as the "Charger 273", and it seems some western US dealers ordered a special package (seems like way less than 500 were made) for the Dart, a "Dart Charger".

You can argue that it wasn't a "real car", but it was as real as checking the "Super Bee" option in 1971, which was a Charger with trim.

I think its an interesting rare piece, and I included it because so many other "Chargers" seemed to be Dart based.

[Kevin68N71]

There used to be an Argentine kid who hung out with us in the chat room, La Maquina was his nick, I believe. He sent me a vid of his friend's Polara R/T painted up like the General Lee doing donuts in a field while a bunch of them sang the Dukes theme song in broken English to a mariachi sounding acoustic guitar. I nearly passed out laughing while I was watching it. I wish that kid was still around, he was a riot!

KAB---I think there is a quick shot of that very car in the videos.

It's funny.  Someone there wants to make their Polara R/T look like the General Lee, and I would think most of us here would want to see it the way it looks stock.

How many of you would take a Polara R/T with that six banger in it?  I know I would!

[Nacho-RT74]

Kevin, welcome to the international Chysler divisions.

You can make a quick search wnd will find the Brazilian Chargers and Lebarons ( and couple more, tuned to ethanol gas ), Argentina Polaras and GTXs, Aussie Chargers, Spanish Darts.

They are not ugly on the extension word, just that weird if you are not used to see them. Of course. I think in fact Brazilians Chargers are kinda cool point of view of a Dart. I never have seen personally one. Lucky or not Chrysler Venezuela assemblied same USA cars ( not all of them ), with just some minor differences on equippment options

Will find each of those at Allpar.com. That will be a start, but there is LOT of resources about them, advertisings included

Don't worry, is not a surprise. I think fist time we got that thread was around 2003-2004 on our old Dodge-Charger.com board

[Brock Samson]

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,32701.0.html   Brazillian

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,17911.0.html    Aussies

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,37364.0.html    Yo the wicked phat Dart Charger yo,.. 

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,24110.0.html    more furrin mopes...

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,8167.0.html     Natch chimes in...

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,9553.0.html     Jude chimes in...

http://www.dodgenews.com.br/mopargirls/mopargirls.html                 a bonus feature...   

[Kevin68N71]

Kevin, welcome to the international Chysler divisions.

You can make a quick search wnd will find the Brazilian Chargers and Lebarons ( and couple more, tuned to ethanol gas ), Argentina Polaras and GTXs, Aussie Chargers, Spanish Darts.

They are not ugly on the extension word, just that weird if you are not used to see them. Of course. I think in fact Brazilians Chargers are kinda cool point of view of a Dart. I never have seen personally one. Lucky or not Chrysler Venezuela assemblied same USA cars ( not all of them ), with just some minor differences on equippment options

Will find each of those at Allpar.com. That will be a start, but there is LOT of resources about them, advertisings included

Don't worry, is not a surprise. I think fist time we got that thread was around 2003-2004 on our old Dodge-Charger.com board

Thank you Nacho, as a coincidence, your footer about your car is what inspired me to start the thread and remembering these cars.

My first exposure to this was the "1976 World Car Catalog".  Anyone remember those?  Well anyways, on pages 250-251 they have the Brazilian Dodge Charger R/T, wiht the headlights behind the grille, the Road Runner stype hood on the Dart body.  I think they look great.

And I'll say it again, I would love a Polara R/T.

[Nacho-RT74]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7y0j3GpkYQ&feature=related

[Spike]

I love the Aussie Charger.
Here is Oz Hemi's from Moparts.

[pettyfan43]

I love the Aussie Charger.
Here is Oz Hemi's from Moparts.

I LOVE those cars, I think the musclecar could have lived on through THIS car if Chrysler had imported these things as Chargers or Challengers in the mid 70s! normal stuff in OZ but would have been WAY ahead of its time here. I've seen a  few of these up close, and they are EXTREMELY cool.  Can you imagine that thing with a REALLY nice 340 !!!

[69*F5*SE]

Very cool  looking indeed. 

[Ghoste]

You can argue that it wasn't a "real car", but it was as real as checking the "Super Bee" option in 1971, which was a Charger with trim.

Except that the Charger Super Bee in 1971 was a separate car and was indicated as such in the vin.  It wasn't a trim option, it was a different car.

[Nacho-RT74]

You can argue that it wasn't a "real car", but it was as real as checking the "Super Bee" option in 1971, which was a Charger with trim.

Except that the Charger Super Bee in 1971 was a separate car and was indicated as such in the vin.  It wasn't a trim option, it was a different car.

yes well I think we can handle some diff opinions about that. Charger R/T, or 500 was diff VIN to than Charger etc...

But I'm agree with Kevin. Is about packages to me a diff car is A NOTICEABLE DIFF CAR, not a car with some extra trim added or removed, no matter what VIN says.

Is just about opinions

[70s Style]

Several years back I did a bunch of computer installations at the Mazda USA R and D center in Irvine, CA.  There was a guy who worked there that was a car nut and we would always talk about cars.  He said, you know, Chrysler made a 6 cylinder hemi engine.  And I was thinking to myself, oh oh, don't tell me this is another "440 Hemi" guy.  But he pulls out the first book that I ever saw about the "down under" Valiant Chargers with the 6 cylinder hemi engine and "6 pack" Weber carburetion.   I always loved that.

However, just a few years ago, I uncovered what is certainly my new favorite.  It's gotta be Argentina's totally bizarre Polara R/T.  Yes, you heard that right.

And no, it's not a Dart with a different grille, but a body unlike anything else.  There was also a strange GTX version that I think used this body.  Anyways, they have some data and old, bad pictures on Allpar but I will occasionally find a gem of a pic on the net of someone's car.

I would LOVE having this just for how surreal it is.  Of course, I cannot imagine what one does to get parts.  Not to mention, it has some weird, high performance version of the inline 6!!!!! (although, I think a 318 was an option)

The car you are showing in that photo its a 1974-77 Dodge Polara RT . The tail lights on that one are from an earlier model Polara ( 70-72) . The RT came out in `74 as a hot rodded version of the Polara Coupe.
Basically there were three versions of these cars manufactured in Argentina: The GTX  available with the 1 BBL-225 Slant Six or V8 318 2bbl.  The Polara Coupe with Slant Six and The Polara RT with a High Perf 2 BBL slant six.
Here in Argentina street machiners upgrade Slant Sixes the same way americans play with V8s. But in the last years the V8 bug attacked too,  so some guys are replacing their sixes with souped up 318s.
These cars were developed exlusively for our  country using an A BODY platform from 1966.
I own a 1975 Polara RT with a small block 318.       

[RD]

man that is sinister looking... i think i would like to import one of those in, if'n i was a millionaire

[Nacho-RT74]

welcome to another  south american member!!!!

[konigcharger]

man that is sinister looking... i think i would like to import one of those in, if'n i was a millionaire

if i had the money, i would assemble a whole collection of south american mopars...,  i'll take one of those aussie chargers too. 

[WingCharger]

Several years back I did a bunch of computer installations at the Mazda USA R and D center in Irvine, CA.  There was a guy who worked there that was a car nut and we would always talk about cars.  He said, you know, Chrysler made a 6 cylinder hemi engine.  And I was thinking to myself, oh oh, don't tell me this is another "440 Hemi" guy.  But he pulls out the first book that I ever saw about the "down under" Valiant Chargers with the 6 cylinder hemi engine and "6 pack" Weber carburetion.   I always loved that.

However, just a few years ago, I uncovered what is certainly my new favorite.  It's gotta be Argentina's totally bizarre Polara R/T.  Yes, you heard that right.

And no, it's not a Dart with a different grille, but a body unlike anything else.  There was also a strange GTX version that I think used this body.  Anyways, they have some data and old, bad pictures on Allpar but I will occasionally find a gem of a pic on the net of someone's car.

I would LOVE having this just for how surreal it is.  Of course, I cannot imagine what one does to get parts.  Not to mention, it has some weird, high performance version of the inline 6!!!!! (although, I think a 318 was an option)

The car you are showing in that photo its a 1974-77 Dodge Polara RT . The tail lights on that one are from an earlier model Polara ( 70-72) . The RT came out in `74 as a hot rodded version of the Polara Coupe.
Basically there were three versions of these cars manufactured in Argentina: The GTX  available with the 1 BBL-225 Slant Six or V8 318 2bbl.  The Polara Coupe with Slant Six and The Polara RT with a High Perf 2 BBL slant six.
Here in Argentina street machiners upgrade Slant Sixes the same way americans play with V8s. But in the last years the V8 bug attacked too,  so some guys are replacing their sixes with souped up 318s.
These cars were developed exlusively for our  country using an A BODY platform from 1966.
I own a 1975 Polara RT with a small block 318.       

I have a new favorite MoPar!!!! THAT IS A AWESOME CAR!! That is a mean looking car!

[Kevin68N71]

I just think its obvious that the "South of the border" divisions and Chrysler Australia had alot of talented and creative people on board.  That Dart makeover to a Charger could have been a disaster...but they make it work.  They only had the A body to work with and they made something really cool out of it.

The Polara is a wonderful looking car that is just a pleasant design.  These all are truly fascinating cars.

[69charger2002]

that polara definitely has some styling cues from the 68-70 roadrunner and charger.. it's a sweet car, i'd love to have one too. much better than our dreaded ugly polara's were

[White trash]

I love the Aussie Charger.
Here is Oz Hemi's from Moparts.

I owned an E38 Charger, almost indentical to the one pictured. Mine had a black interior however. Worst car in the world to tune, there's only a handfull of guys who can tune the carbs correctly but best car in the world to drive. Chrysler replaced the E38 with the 4 speed E49 (easily distinguishable with a large "4" in the R/T stripe on the front fender) and untill 2003 was still the fastest accelerating Australian bulit car ever made. 1/4 in 14.1 if memory serves me correct. Not bad for a 265ci that came out of a '50s Dodge truck, in 1971, took thirty years to go quicker. With modern rubber and a low gears in the rear my 3 speed ran a 13.95.

Thes cars are now so hard to get in New Zealand and Australia. They're commanding serious dollars.

[White trash]

I love the Aussie Charger.
Here is Oz Hemi's from Moparts.

I LOVE those cars, I think the musclecar could have lived on through THIS car if Chrysler had imported these things as Chargers or Challengers in the mid 70s! normal stuff in OZ but would have been WAY ahead of its time here. I've seen a  few of these up close, and they are EXTREMELY cool.  Can you imagine that thing with a REALLY nice 340 !!!

Chrysler built it. Google E55 Charger and see what you get. Unfortunately, Australia went through a huge media fed "Supercar" scare in the 70s. The E55 was Chryslers last ditch effort to knock the mighty GT Falcon off its perch at Bathurst. The media started making noises about the morals of 155+mph street cars that Joe Average could purchase for not much coin. Afraid of a public backlash, the three major players Holden (GM), Ford and Chrysler backpedalled faster than a pre-schooler getting dropped off at "Neverland". Ford canned it's proposed Phase IV GT Falcon, Chrysler knobled the E55 with a hideous 3 speed Borg Warner Auto and dumbed down the performance. Instead marketing as a luxury coupe rather than the dragstrip killer it could have been.

Sad time for Australian car enthusiasts as it essentially killed the muscle car development.

[skip68]

Welcome to the site White trash.    Were those aussie Chargers ever sold here in the U.S. ?

[White trash]

Welcome to the site White trash.    Were those aussie Chargers ever sold here in the U.S. ?

Thanks for the welcome.

To my knowledge, most of the Aussie muscle cars were only sold in Australia, New Zeland and very limited numbers in South Africa. They never made them in left hand drive although if you tried hard enough you could convert to left hand using local parts. They also only built like 150 E49R/Ts for example, they're fetching over AUS125K now for a good one.

Another good car to do some searching on is the GT range of Ford Flacons, particularly the XY Falcon GTHO. This was the pinacle of Australian muscle cars and for some, the most desirable Australian car ever built. I hate the things because the Chargers couldn't quite ever beat them in Australia although here in New Zealand, our Chargers were untouchable. GTHO had a 351, shaker hood, 4 speed, genuine 155mph wrapped in a 4 door body you could fill with the family and tow the boat to the lake for a weekend.

Here's one

[skip68]

It would be nice to find one of those around.   

[Ghoste]

Weren't there a handful exported to the UK as well?

[White trash]

Yeah, they might've exported a few to the UK but there wasn't a hell of a market for those types of cars over there. They're all into European sports cars that handled well and stopped, rather than big cars with big power.

I was originally keen on getting another Aussie car to restore now that I'm not racing bikes anymore, but seeing as I've never had the good fortune of owning an American vehicle, I've decided that's the way to go. Something I can spend some time on with my new born son over the coming years and a little different to the norm here in NZ.