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Golden Royalty: 1972 Dodge Monaco Wagon

This princely car is a 1972 Dodge Monaco Wagon, what a unique, stately, beautiful design – at least in my opinion. This full-sized wagon is listed on eBay with a current bid price of over $6,000 and the reserve isn’t met! And, there are still five days left on the auction! Wow, wagons are hot! This hot wagon is in Denver, Colorado.

The Principality of Monaco is famous not for just being located in the gorgeous French Riviera, but for being host and home to all sorts of royalty, either actual royalty or celebrity-type “royalty”. What better name for a top-of-the-line car model! This is a second-generation Dodge Monaco and 1972 was the first year that the hidden headlights appeared, or the first year that the headlights didn’t appear.. or, well, you know what I mean. It really gives this car even more uniqueness. Can you think of another wagon with hidden headlights?

This wagon is long, very long; almost 19-feet long. So long that there are only a couple of photos showing the entire length in a single photo, which is a bit disappointing for such a nice car. Most of the photos are close-ups and snippets or details. Those are great to show the quality and details but more overall photos are always better than fewer of them. Speaking of detail photos, there are no interior photos other than two close-up shots, which baffles me to no end. Thankfully, those two photos show an immaculate interior, but who knows what the rest of the interior looks like. I’ve learned to never assume that everything is perfect just because some other areas of a car look perfect. I did not expect to see a dark green interior on a gold car, whoa!

The seller mentions that they had some rust repaired and had the portion below the woodgrain repainted, so maybe why it looks so good. The engine also looks good, fairly clean and that new master cylinder looks real good to me, it means one less thing for the next owner to do. This is Dodge’s 400 cubic-inch V8 with 190 hp and 310 ft-lb of torque. This car weighs almost 4,700 pounds (!) so less than 200 hp is somewhat disappointing, but it would definitely move this car enough to keep up with modern traffic. It looks like it’s had the famous “quick-wipe” detail, I’d want to really clean and detail this engine. The seller says that it has “old car drips” from sitting, I’d want to fix those leaks, but that’s just me. Have any of you owned a Dodge Monaco of this vintage? I really like the look of the hidden headlights on these cars.

Comments

  1. Avatar Sam

    Very cool wagon…better and better every day! Always liked the unique sound of a Mopar starter. You’d think a dealer would have taken better pictures. Is that a cemetery, universty, museum or park in the background?

    Like 0
  2. Avatar Mrmark

    Wow, I had the ’73 version of this car. Same gold and di-noc outside, brown interior and the mighty 440 with a carter 4bbl. What a cruiser, it had 60k on the clock and drove like a new car. Here’s the kicker, I bought it for $800 bucks during gas crisis 2 in 1979 when you could hardly give a car like this away. I drove it for a year and a half, put 20k on it and sold it for $1400. All in all a great deal coming and going!

    Like 0
  3. Avatar ed p

    The wood graining is in an odd place. The fuselage cars are great for highway cruising.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar BarnfindyCollins

    I love station wagons!! Ford/Mercury had an earlier version with hidden headlights briefly but I’m thinking it came back in 1973 as seen on Ford LTD Country Squires. Really like the front end of this wagon and the color is super. Dig it man!!

    Like 0
    • Avatar gbvette62

      The 68-69 Ford LTD Country Squire wagons, and the 68-69 Chevrolet Caprice Estate and Kingswood wagons, both came with hidden headlamps. I think it was 75 when Ford brought the hidden headlights back for their wagons.

      A local speed shop chain (the Ben Pilla Performance Centers) had a half dozen black 68-69 Caprice wagons with wood grain, mag wheels and big block engines, that they just as delivery vehicles. They were very cool wagons, but got pretty used up as parts chasers.

      That Monaco is sharp, but I could live without the wood grain!

      Like 0
    • Avatar jrmedsel

      Growing up, our family had a 1969 Country Squire with hidden headlights. By the time mom and dad traded it in on a 1972 Country Squire, the headlights weren’t hidden anymore. Both had the cool side-facing rear seats that us kids fought over. I can still smell the carbon monoxide wafting through the open rear window…. Better than the smell of cigarette smoke in the front seat.
      Times have certainly changed.

      Like 1
  5. Avatar Wayne

    Looks good except for the ridiculous Woodgrain treatment. I don’t mind fake wood, but this is overdone.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Matt ferenchak

    I just picked up this 71 fury, fresh from the Lemons rally. Needs work, but pretty solid overall. My first old school mopar.

    Like 0
    • Avatar wuzjeepnowsaab

      I’ll say it needs work. It’s upside down!

      :)

      Like 0
      • Avatar Dan

        He must have paid way too much for it.

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      • Avatar ed p

        The greasy side goes down.

        Like 0
    • Avatar Stiffler4444

      Irony that it’s at a gas station?

      Like 0
      • Avatar ed p

        It has it’s own pump.

        Like 0
    • Avatar Oatmeal

      Wasn’t this car in Fuel Injection Sucks (Youtube Channel) coverage of the rally?

      Like 0
  7. Avatar Vince Habel

    Had a 75 Royal Monaco Brougham SW. It had the 400. Was a nice cruiser but would not get out of it’s own way. Gas mileage was not as good as the Buick SW I had with a 455.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar rando

    Love the woodgrain. Makes it all period correct. The really fancy folks had the woodgrain wagons when I was a kid. Others were just pretenders. lol

    Like 0
  9. Avatar irocrob

    We had a small chain of variety stores in the 1970s and always had a big dodge wagon like this for hauling stock around. Flop the back seat down and they held a ton of stock. They were a real workhorse. Think we had a 1972 and 1974.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Loco Mikado

      My father in law owned a clock shop. He always had a full size wagon or two because they wouldn’t beat the delicate clock mechanisms of grandfather clocks when transporting them, in comparison to a van or covered PU. Plus they were easier to load and unload the grandfather clocks. Dodge. Plymouth, Chevrolet, Pontiac, etc he had them all over the years.

      Like 0
  10. Avatar JBP

    Look a bit like a 66 Tornado with these head light.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Matt Member

      I thought the same thing.

      Like 0
  11. Avatar CCFisher

    68-70 and 75-78 Country Squire, 70-72 Plymouth Sport Suburban, various 72-73 and 75-77 Monacos had hidden headlights as standard equipment (I think). 68 Impala and Caprice, 69 Kingswood and Kingswood Estate, 70-71 Torino and Montego all had optional hidden headlamps.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Dave

    The 5th gen Mercury Marquis Colony Park Wagons had them as well.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Dave Member

    Cool beast. It looks like it was shot in City Park – just a few blocks from my house.

    Like 0
    • Avatar wuzjeepnowsaab

      That was my thought as well, Dave. And not far from me too!

      Like 0
  14. Avatar Bruce Fischer

    Got to LOVE it.Bcause its a wagon!Bruce.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Dave Member

    Hey wuzjeepnowsaab, I run a shop, Automotive Revival, here in D-town on the west side. Come check us out sometime!

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Stiffler4444

    I personally love the unique wood grain on this beast

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Stiffler4444

    Someone stop me. Please. Oh wait, I’ll just show it to my wife.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Rolf Poncho 455

    Cool wagon like it

    Like 0
  19. Avatar Jubjub

    Great looking wagon. Love the colors and wheels. And I personally like the wood treatment on these. Doesn’t look as cluttered as many other “woodies”. Never considered the Toronado influence, but yeah, I’ll go with that.

    Now with all these wagon with hidden headlamp firsts, couldn’t a ’66 Coronet wagon have been optioned up with them?

    Like 0
  20. Avatar Tom Driscoll

    This seller also had a beautiful matador wagon listed, but ended the auction early with a sale…kinda bummed me out :(

    Like 0
  21. Avatar Scotty Staff

    Auction update: this wagon sold for $8,400!

    Like 1
  22. Avatar RS

    No air conditioning? Not even remotely interested.

    Like 0
  23. Avatar John Member

    69-70 Mercury Colony Park was the best looking of all of them -the Lincoln like coffin nose and hidden headlights was classy .

    Like 0

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