What this 1964 Dodge Polara 500 represents is perhaps the biggest performance bargain we’ve ever seen. It’s rude, it’s crude, but it’s also insanely fast, expertly built, and bulletproof reliable. It’s got race hardware throughout, so you know it’s tough, but there are just enough comfort and convenience features here to keep it usable on the street, making this Polara an apex predator just about anywhere it goes. And oddly enough, despite the race-grade hardware used throughout, this car has never been on the track—it spent all its life on the street, having fun and mostly just hanging out with friends. An unabused race car? Who would have imagined such a thing?

It was built about 15 years ago by a guy who has been racing cars just like this all his life, dating all the way back to the glory years of the early 1960s where you could practically buy a race car from your local Mopar store. Now, this one is well beyond anything that the factory was cranking out, but the point is, it was built buy a guy who was there and knew the hardware intimately. And quite honestly, starting with a 1964 Polara 500 hardtop was a great choice. One of Chrysler’s better designs, it’s clean, chiseled, and perfectly proportioned. It’s a big car, but it wears its size well and looks like a middleweight fighter now that it’s stripped down to the bare essentials. A careful examination reveals that this one is far nicer than most of the race-grade hardware you see at the tracks each weekend, with clean original sheetmetal, nice panel alignment, and no signs of previous issues. While everything underneath may be upgraded or new, the bodywork is nicely preserved and was professionally refinished in Polar White before it went back together. The major surgery on the back half of the car hasn’t changed anything externally, so the lovely cantilevered roofline is still just as attractive as ever, the trunk and doors fit well, and those giant slicks fit behind the quarter panels as neatly as if they were the original 14-inch skinnies. And all the chrome and stainless is not only still on the car but in excellent condition, including the bumpers, which appear to be rechromed, and the dramatic side trim with the lovely gold anodized machine-turned inserts, which are unobtainium today.

The interior is obviously built for speed, with lightweight racing buckets, a full cage, and 5-point harnesses for driver and passenger. On the other hand, there are proper black carpets on the floor, full door panels, and the original dashboard and most of the factory gauges, so it feels like a real car from behind the wheel. The driver grabs a thick steering wheel that appears to be mounted to the original steering column, and there’s a trick B&M ratcheting shifter that falls to hand easily. The factory speedometer is still doing its thing, but it’s augmented by a set of Auto Meter temperature and oil pressure gauges and a monster tach with shift light up on top where it’s easy to see. Original switch gear controls things like the lights, wipers, and vents, although in the interest of lightness, the heater and defroster were jettisoned long ago, along with the original radio. Still, with everything going on in this car, you’re not going to want to be distracted by a radio anyway, because when you step on the loud pedal, things start to happen really, really fast.

Behind the seats is a full back-half conversion, where the original subframes and floor were cut away to make room for a custom-built frame for the narrowed suspension and giant tires. The work is quite professionally done by guys who are familiar with “back half” builds, as the sheetmetal work is simply beautiful. Clean welds, proper reinforcing beads, and a cool Chrysler Pentastar emblem in the rear bulkhead suggest that this was an expensive undertaking done by pros. The cage fits nicely, too, so it’s easy to get in and out of the car (critical on a car made for the street) and still reinforces the tub in all the right places. On the other side, the trunk is just as well-finished, offering a Harwood fuel cell, relocated battery, and more quality aluminum sheetmetal work.

The hood is a fiberglass lift-off piece, so pull all four hood pins and you’ve got unobstructed access to the built 440 cubic inch V8. There’s plenty of performance thanks to an Edelbrock high-rise intake, a big Holley carburetor, and a giant cam inside, which gives it that cackling race car idle. However, it was built to run on pump gas and does retain reasonably friendly street manners. Ported heads were part of the deal and it exhales through a set of beautiful long-tube headers into a three-inch exhaust system with Flowmaster race mufflers. They kept it looking as stock as possible, with corporate turquoise engine enamel stock-style valve covers in chrome, and a factory accessory drive up front. The original radiator is plenty adequate for this engine, and the engine bay is quite neatly detailed with white inner fenders and firewall to really make the engine pop. It starts easily and idles, well, like a race car and it’s a little grumpy when it’s cold, but above 1800 RPM it smooths out and pulls like a freight train.

The transmission is a 727 TorqueFlite 3-speed automatic with a 3500 RPM stall torque converter and a full manual valve body, so it’s involving to drive with lightning-fast reflexes. A custom driveshaft as thick as your thigh twists a narrowed 8.75-inch rear end that’s full of 4.10 gears, so it feels very punchy around town and has the power to put those big Mickey Thompsons to work. A full ladder bar suspension with coil-overs is standard drag car fare with no surprises, but you’ll note that the custom subframe built from 2x4 box section steel is beefy and the setup offers plenty of adjustability so you can fine-tune for track conditions. Factory drum brakes are augmented with power assist so it has reasonable stopping power and the front suspension and steering are pretty stock, so service is easy and it rides and handles like a real car, not a twitchy race machine. Traditional Weld aluminum wheels give it a track-ready look and carry 255/60/15 BFG radials in front and 31x18.50-15 Mickey Thompson drag tires in back.

This is a very clean, straight, well-built car that has led an easy life. Don’t let the heavy-duty hardware fool you, it’s never turned a wheel in anger at the track and as a result, it’s in excellent condition with very few hours on the driveline. No, it’s not for everyone, but at this price it’s probably the fastest car you’ll ever buy and it’s got the hardware to be competitive with some pretty serious machinery. Call today!