But even though it’s overshadowed by nameplates like the Charger, Challenger, and Super Bee, the Polara was an important piece of the brand’s muscle car offensive in the mid-to-late 1960s. Not only was it used successfully at the drag strip by independent racers, but Dodge also added high-performance V8 engines to its options list.Sure, the mighty 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) HEMI wasn’t among them, but Chrysler had more than one beefed-up mill at the time. The 440-cubic-inch (7.2-liter) RB shared with the Charger is perhaps the most familiar, but it didn’t arrive until 1965. Before that, Dodge had the Max Wedge.
Originally displacing 413 cubic inches (6.8 liters) and generating up to 420 horsepower, the Max Wedge was enlarged to 426 cubic inches and tuned to deliver 425 horses in 1963. Only a few hundred cars were built over three model years, so Max Wedge-powered Mopars are quite rare nowadays.
That’s because Mopar offered this engine for the 1964 and 1965 model years only. There’s no specific info as to how many were made, but they rarely show up in public nowadays. The plain-looking 1964 Polara you see here is one of those hard-to-spot gems.
Mostly because it’s been in the same family since 1986 and it’s been babied ever since. And the fact that the owner still drives it regularly makes it that much more exciting.
Check it out in the video below and make sure you crank up the volume when that Street Wedge fires up at the nine-minute mark.
