1960-1961 Dodge Polara Overview

1961 Dodge Polara 4d Hardtop Blue - Left View Picture

The Polara 1960 Dodge in size and other featured styling cues carried over from 1959 models, an evolution of Virgil Exner's "Forward Look" cars introduced in 1957. The top-of-the-line Dodge Polara and Matador continued to ride on the 122-inch wheelbase (3,099 mm) of their predecessors, while a new line-up of even size. Dodge Darts mounted on a short 118-inch (2.997 mm) wheelbase. The Polara was available as a 2-door convertible hardtop coupe, 2 doors, 4-door hardtop sedan, four door hardtop station wagon, and conventional (pillars) 4-door sedan.

 

1961 Dodge Polara Sedan Police Car - Front View

1960 Dodge continued with the characteristics of the brand style of stacked "jet pod" tail lights,  the size of the lights was much higher compared with the bulbs of the previous year, with the lights bottom set on the rear bumper. The project also incorporates the Dodge brand shortened tail fins, which included small vertical tail lens light placed on the vertical surface on the back of the fin, again, the purpose of the fin was shortened to exaggerate the size of the "jet pods" holding the tail lights (vanes Darts seemed longer.) In front, the car featured a small grid composed of eight cells chromed rectangles nested in a massive bumper (and complex) front. As the top model in the line-up, the best characterized Polara interior fabrics and finishing treatments. Polaras also received more trim on the outside of the car, especially a chrome stone guard boxes aft of the rear wheels, a full-length chrome spear, and a chrome base width for the boom boxes on top of chrome headlight .

 

1961 Dodge Polara D500 Convertible Picture - Rear View

1961 Dodge dropped the Matador, leaving the Polara as the only "senior" model Dodge. Darts in the shorter wheelbase continued. Exner's styling department reversed the car fins, making them louder as he ran to the rear window in 1961. As the fins inclined toward the rear of the car, cut a little toward the center of the rear of the vehicle, packing it down and then back along the fender side to form a C-line sharply in chrome. The overall effect made the rear of the car seems to "pucker" angles from the project created. In front, the bumper treatments that had been a huge Dodge brand since 1957 have been replaced with a simple design bar, above which was a huge concave grid shared with the Dodge Dart.

 

1961 DODGE Super D 500 - Front Left View

1961's Dodge style review line-up was different from anything else in the U.S. market at that time and consumers voted in 1961 to restyle your shopping cart dollars. In 1914 fullsize Dodges sales fell to their lowest levels since the founding of the company with only 14,032 units produced in the United States. For the second consecutive year, the brand was carried by the Dart, which saw sales of 142,000 units for the year. Total sales for 1961 Dodge fell 53% over 1960, falling to do from sixth to ninth in the American market place.

1961 DODGE Super D 500 - Rear Left View