Here’s a Dodge that I forgot about, a 1962 Lancer. It was a compact that competed with and was similar to, Plymouth’s Valiant. I knew this class of Dodge as the “Dart” but the Lancer moniker preceded it. What caught my attention, besides the fact that these hardly ever surface is this car’s clean condition and its rather ah, standout styling. Henderson, Nevada is home to this final year Lancer and it’s available, here on craigslist for $18,650.
This 66K mile example, assembled at ChryCo’s Los Angeles, California assembly plant, is one of 64K Lancers produced in ’62 and one of 26K Lancers wearing 770 trim. It essentially has “new everything” going on which seems unusual for such a car. The exterior is a respray and the underside has been stripped and repainted too (check out the seller’s website link below). The chrome and stainless trim shine and not a thing is out of place. Styling is always subjective, of course, and I’ll leave it at that. The exterior presentation, I’d wager, is as good as it gets!
The interior is absolutely remarkable. As hinted at earlier, it’s all new and the white vinyl upholstery, highlighted with a maroon stripe, just grabs one’s attention. The carpet, kick panels, door panels, dash, instrument panel – all of it, is a real knockout. I’ll run with the assumption that this interior environment, as presented, is a reproduction of how it came about in ’62 – and if so, it’s substantial for a car of this stature. And…this Lancer is A/C equipped!
Originally, a 145 gross HP, 225 CI “slant-six” engine powered this Lancer. Old “Ironsides” is still on duty but it has been rebuilt and outfitted with a throttle-body fuel injection system – one that doesn’t alter the engine’s exterior appearance. I’d like to know more about the system’s specifics but nothing is said via the listing or on the dealer’s website www.atomicmotors.net. The listing does suggest, “This car runs and drives wonderfully and will make a fun cross-country trip with the new fuel injection“. A push button activated Torqueflite automatic transmission makes the rear wheel connection.
I really appreciate the effort and investment that has gone into this Lancer – the outcome is spectacular but…still, I wonder why do all of that to a not-so-popular, or particularly rare, four-door sedan? The paint, interior, engine rebuild, etc. consumed a lot of time, effort, and $$$ and a ’62 Lancer just seems to be an unlikely recipient. Regardless, I’m glad it was all done; now the trick will be to find a wanting buyer that’s willing to part with $18 large, right?
I should gave them my ratty Dart convertible. This unit is nice except, I hate white painted dashes. The ultimate in glare.
I have to admit it’s clean. And being a `52 Lancer, you are not likely to find another this nice. Not to pick nits, but the upholstery was re-done to the owner’s tastes and not what the factory built. (This car probably had red vinyl/cloth originally.) The F.I. can only help the performance, and sounds like a welcome addition.
Im a Chrysler man but these things are just not my cup of tea. The 62 Polara and Furies are good looking but these are hedious.
These cars are hideous. But it is nice. And I think $18,000 will find a buyer. I know you Dodge guys are loyal to the brand. Someone probably loves this styling.
I agree with you, these cars are UGLY!
Make that FUGLY
I just dropped into the comments to see how many other people think these Dodges were ugly. Interior very nice, engine trick, but what kind of message is that front end sending?
A face only a mother could love.
How do you feel about the forward leaning grilles of the new cars today ? Lexus, Audi, BMW, Toyota…..shall I go on ? Cool car. Spacious interior, and the Slant 6 will run forever. Cool wings on the rear quarter panels. Very 60’s. Put some cool wheels on this car, tint the windows and you will definitely draw attention.
Exactly, Art. Only the Studebaker/Packard was as plug ugly, although the 62 Plymouths and Dodges gave them a run for the money. I guess the French gave them a contender with the Citroen Deux Chevaux.
I don’t know what it was about these cars but they were very popular with my family. My mother had a pea green 61 4 door Valiant, my grandfather had a Brown 4 door 62 Lancer and an uncle had a red 61 2 door Valiant. As a kid I loved the fake spare tire in the trunk lid and cat eye taillamps of the 60-61 Valiant. Today, I’m not so sure about them.
Many people thought that fake spare tire lid looked like a toilet seat. Probably one of the reasons why this car was considered ugly. With that being said, my brother was the owner of ’62 Valiant and said the slant six was virtually bullet proof.
I just don’t understand how Chrysler went from the Forward Look in the late ’50s to Last in the Toilet of the early ’60s so fast.
My parents had a1962 Lancer GT. I hated the fake spare tire on the Valiant ‘s trunk and on the Imperial ‘s. They used to be called ” toilet seats”( sarcasm). I agree with that.
I think everyone knew someone who had a Valiant. My high school friend called hers “Prince”. Get it?
Looks like a thorough, and therefore not-cheap, restoration on a car which doesn’t seem to have much interest today. Like Jim says, I wonder what is the back story. I like it because it is different and rarely seen.
I drove a Dart Lancer with the aluminum slant 6 at the local dirt track many years ago
When you re-do an interior and do what
YOU want, your pool of buyers shrinks.
That’s true of just about anything you do to an old car that isn’t the way it came from the factory. If you’re gonna keep it, do it like you want. If you’re gonna try to sell it, stock-ish is better. There’s always somebody who asks “Why did he do THAT?!”
The styling is subjective case in point a high-school friend got one as his 1st car from his dad who worked at chrysler parts in Central Florida & he hated it & it had a the slant6 well I look back on this & cringe on the way my friend handled it but let’s say not we’ll & I always felt bad for his dad who was a class guy but worked for everything he had even built his own house! Always a chrysler man but his son was well something else!
Oh, the memories… My 1st car was a white ’63 Belvedere 4 door with a 225 slant six and push button automatic. I sincerely doubt this was the original interior color scheme. Mine had the red vinyl/cloth, as Will Fox noted. I do have to say, this Lancer’s styling makes the Belvedere’s look understated and handsome – and that’s saying something! LOL
Pretty nice car.I remember this body style was pretty good on the stock car track against the Corvair and Falcons.
So, ugly proponents, what are we talking here? Aztec ugly? Modern car ugly? Balderdash, these, and the sister Valiant, were beautifully styled cars. The F.I. is a nice touch, but nothing wrong with the old Holley 1 barrel. People that think these cars are ugly have been driving their Hyundai too long.
I agree, sir! A properly tuned/maintained 1 barrel is fine… That fuel injection system is probably from Holley as well! They do make 1 barrel throttle body based retro-fit for 1bbl carburetors. Pretty trick system.
JTH
In 1960, I was 5 years old and already on my way to being a lifelong Gearhead. I was born in Detroit in 1955. My dad’s side of the family all worked at The Ford Motor Company, and mom’s side at Chrysler’s Highland Park headquarters. My grandfather worked for the Chrysler Corporation for 35 years, I was to young to know what he did but I know he was a real Chrysler fan. Most of the family all drove Chryslers and those that didn’t drove Fords. GM, not so much. In 1958, my grandfather retired, and with that we packed up our kabubal and moved the kit to Southern California, but not before they all bought new Chrysler products to make the treck to L.A. By 1960 we were settled in the San Fernando Valley. In 1960, my dad was the first in L.A.county to buy a just released white with red and back cloth and vinyl interior 1960 Valient. It of course had the Slant Six under hood with a 3 speed manual transmission with a floor shifter. Other than a pod like instrument cluster, but the rest of the dash was an angled metal panel in red.and brushed metal. It was the first small car in our family. In 1960 each of the Big Three released their version of the new compact car craze. Chrysler had the Valient, followed by the Dodge Lancer, GM had the Corvair and Ford, the Falcon. Falcon proved to be what the buyers wanted, Ford sold hundreds of thousands of them. It didn’t take long before the Corvair’s mechanics to develop a bad reputation for a few reasons. The Valient was a big hit, and continued to be a crowd and government fleet favorite and remained that way until the mid-70s.The Valient became our families favorite compact car, they were all over the place. A few of my aunts had them, even some of the neighbors had them. The styling was interesting, we called them Howdy Dudy cars. In 1964 my parents added a new white with red interior Valient station wagon. By then the styling became more conventional. They were nice little sedans that were tough as nails.In 1963 or 64, the Lancer became the new Dodge Dart, and they too became another favorite American compact car. My grandfather traded in his 62 Valient door sedan for a dark green metallic with tan interior 1968 4 door sedan Valient V200. It was the last Valient to join our family. After reading the comments left here by other posters, it was clear you guys didn’t much like the Valient/Lancer, soon to become Dart. They were Chrysler’s best sellers with a loyal customer base that had somewhat conservative followers. By the way, I 100% agree that if you’re going to restore a vintage car, you do so in as close to it’s original factory condition. I learned that when I was just a teenager. Sometimes people’s tastes are their worst enemy. That said, I have to agree the interior in this Lancer definitely not something that came from a Chrysler assembly plant. And while the FI is nice, that little one barrel Holly carburetor was just fine, I knew them to be very reliable, a perfect fit to the famous Chrysler Slant Six. I’m sure most of you Gearheads already know the Slant Six was designed at the 30 degree Slant to allow for a lower hood profile. In any event people either loved the Valient Lancer, Dart, or they hated it.But no one would deny them of their solid reputation they earned over the years and the credit they brought to the Chrysler Corporation.
Butt ugly, Howard. Stunningly ugly, compared to anything of any era.
Outstanding. Outstandingly ugly, that is.
JMO.
Back in 1962 I took my drivers education from my local High School. They had 2 of these Dodges as student driver cars, both were red and both equipped with slant 6 and three on the tree. of course as a 15 year old kid I didn’t like them, after all they weren’t new Chevy 409 cars that all us pre aged cool dudes thought were the height of car ownership. Life is funny how we change our opinions over years. These days I’m quite happy with 4 cylinder turbo charged Ford mini van. Keep on driving what you got and keep the wheels on the ground and not toward the sky.
God Bless America
Nice restoration, but I would not have painted the dash in white. But still, you just don’t see ’62 Dodge Lancers anywhere today… especially a four door, which normally were not saved.
I had an aunt and uncle who had one of these in the 60s and my aunt I swear her face kinda looked like this car and she wore those cat eye glasses 👓 of that era and she had huge eyebrows also and this car and her will forever be engraved in my thoughts 💭 throughout eternity so when I saw this masterpiece I immediately thought of her lol 😂 RIP 🪦 Aunt Mildred are you trying to tell me something lol 😝 🤙🤙🥃🥃🥃👀🫵💚
Thanks for listing this rare relic! I can’t remember the last time I saw one on the road. Somebody did a great job of making it looking like new. I bet that you would get a LOT of attention at the local car show or cars and coffee.
I haven’t seen one on the road lately either? the last one i saw was in 75. the brakes failed and the toilet seat was the only thing visible after someone drove it through the glass door at a gas station in Chicago. now? Lexus, Audi,BMW, and Kia. are driven through windows weekly. guess brake failure is common in autos in Chicago?
My first car – a white 4 door ’62 just like this. Of course by 1971 it had seen some wear and tear, so I painted bricks all over it. Hey, I was 18 and I wanted everyone to notice my $100 car!
I am a fan of both this and first gen Valiant. The interior of this one would have been best done up as original. Too, isn’t the rear wheel offset too far to the rear? Perhaps a trick of the camera angle.
Ah, the Lancer! Back when Chrysler designers used a dart board to make styling decisions.
Apologies to Virgil,… but l think your only demo is blind guys named Lance….
Shortly after these cars appeared, ChryCo stole a Ford designer.