1963 Dodge 440 Wagon

1963 Dodge 440 Station Wagon for sale on BaT Auctions - ending July 22 (Lot #79,347) | Bring a Trailer

 

Like this car, not sure about the redlines. When did they come out? I was thinking’66-‘67

 

That front end..

"A face only a mother could love."

 

Yeah even then on Payday as Andrew would say! Lol

 

A ten year old could do a better masking job. IMO the 63 Dodge is a contender for the ugliest American car ever but must say I kinda like the style anyway. Probably because my parents bought new a 63 red 330 4dr. Slant 6 auto., manual everything and of course no a/c. May have been ugly but it ran without serious problems until 1970 when they finally got a Dart swinger with air.

 

This is why Virgil Exner was fired as head of design at Chrysler and replaced with Elwood Engel. Compare this to Engel’s 1965 Town & County also on BaT.

 

Yeah, for sure. A '63 Dodge B-body wouldn't be my first choice either, but it's so weird it almost has a strangely endearing quirkiness about it. But let's not forget about the '63 and '64 Dart too, which had similarly oddball styling cues...

1963:



1964:

 

Yeah, by that time he was on the "Virgil" of being fired as head designer.

 

Ba-doom -tish!

 

Interestingly enough, the shell of this car is basically the same as my 64. The cowl and windshield are revised, but the rest of the structure is the same. It never ceases to amaze me how much a little bit of sheetmetal can affect the look of an automobile.

 

Bid to $24,000 on 7/22/22, No Sale
went from at around $11k this morning to where it ended.

 

All said, and given today's market, I think that's a pretty decent price for one of these. I noticed that the body gaps are fairly even, and the panels and trim are nicely aligned, which usually bodes well and at least shows a certain level of attention to detail. It's not a pristine example, and I'm not a fan of the garish new speakers that have been installed in the doors, but overall it's pretty nice, and for that price I think it's well-bought.

 

Cowl and windshield look the same to me as on yours. Can you point out the differences?

I had always assumed the Chrysler mid-sizers, 1962 - 1965 were all on the same basic body, distinguished by the same exact greenhouse. Different front sheet metal from year to year and make to make, and different outer quarters to incorporate different tail lights each year, as well.

 

You are correct about the green house being the same Marshall. But the cowl is definitely different. If you look closely at the bottom corner of the windshield trim, you'll see it sort of notches up a little bit. The cowl raises up with a gentle slope front to back as well. Also the top of the wingwindow is slightly different. All pretty subtle differences from 63-64 but, differences nonetheless.