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Old Gold And The Leaning Tower Of Power

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Offered for sale here on St. Louis Craigslist is this 1965 Plymouth Belvedere two-door hardtop. The asking price looks like a smokin’ deal at $975, but don’t reach for your wallet and truck and trailer keys just yet. Old Gold here doesn’t have a title. While that isn’t the end of the world, because all things are possible young Grasshoppa’, it does present a problem that can be expensive to solve, depending on your jurisdiction.

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But for the sake of our discussion, we can all probably agree it has an enormous amount of eye-appeal, that is, as long as you’re a sixties-vintage Mopar fan. The body doesn’t look too beat up, and exterior rust-through appears to be relatively minimal. The expensive and hard to find exterior trim looks to be mostly present. The seller’s description says the car “needs floor pans”, but as we all know, this can mean a wide variety of things, such as a couple of small, soft areas than can both be fixed in a day, and this is including removal of the necessary interior parts, or it can mean that the front seat has fallen out through the bottom and is not included in the sale. I’m pulling for the former, of course, but without better photos or a personal inspection, we’ll never know.

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A good photo of the dash and steering wheel is provided though, in case this will help with your decision. It looks like the front seat is, in fact, included.  A shot or two of the floors would be nice, but since the title is missing, the seller says this is a “parts car.” From the relative safety of my armchair, I’d argue that it’s not.

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Raising the hood reveals our bright red-orange friend, the Leaning Tower of Power in all of its stark reality, and that is the 225 cubic inch “slant six.”  There is no information on the condition of this engine, when it was last running, if it turns, etc. It leads me to the impression that the seller doesn’t care too much about it. If this car were for sale 20 years ago, the only talk about it would be how fast the six-banger can be yanked out and disposed of. But we live in more enlightened times now, you and I. A softer, more gentle time. A time in which the old inline six is a little more appreciated. I’m going to go way out on a limb here and timidly venture forth the opinion that since it appears to be complete, the Tower might be worth looking into. OK, I’ll come right out and say it: I’d get this car running, and roll it as-is. Old man gold color and all. Patina, yeah, and all that. Vacuum out the mouse turds, hose it out, wash the windows, fire up the engine and ride. Maybe a quick look-see at the brakes.

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There are several shots of the inside of the trunk that don’t show much. The old bumper jack, the original rubber trunk mat, a few hubcaps which might be original, and an original wheel with a tire on it that might have seen pavement during the Nixon administration. Other unidentifiable bonus parts may also be included.

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But these are what we have to work with. I love this car. Who’s with me?

 

Comments

  1. Avatar Birdman

    Love the car…would grab it up…I really would…. but what has my attention even more is that…well…nose of an A100 in the background…. Would love to know the story there..

    Like 0
    • Avatar Mike H.

      Looks as though they were getting ready to make it into garage art. . . The A100 was unit-bodied like the Econoline, if I recall, and cut like that it’s pretty much good for patch panels or an outstanding wall decoration.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar grant

    I see jumper cables!!!!

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Howard A Member

    This was one bare bones Plymouth. Looks like the radio was the only option. While I’m a big fan of the slant 6, it’s not the best choice for a full size car like this. Obviously, performance wasn’t on the original buyers mind. A very sought after body style, and the 6 will most assuredly be tossed. A friend had a Dodge like this with a 383, 4 barrel, and it had a lot of steam. I doubt this will be around long.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Rick

    Who needs a title anyway? This is the perfect starting point for a 60s drag car tribute, stick in a 440 or Hemi 4 speed and create your own Mopar quasi-Ramchargers clone or something similar, that way you could rivet in some aluminum floors instead of getting carried away with some crazy rotisserie restoration. But I agree, this car will not be around on C/L for very long.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar skloon

    Hellvedere ???

    Like 0
  6. Avatar flmikey

    …it’s got 3 pedals…which is a good thing…make it run and safe and drive as is!

    Like 0
  7. Avatar RON

    True these were bullet proof strong and very dependable. but as commented by another that is no ball of fire in this car. unless there is a sentimental attachment to one of these or you are looking for a relatively cheap piece of transportation there isn’t much to justify spending this much for this car with what more to get it to a good driver. if it were a v/8 and bucket seats and 4 speed at least the mopar guys would want it

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Jim Mc

    I once had a ’67 Belvedere 4-door with 3-on-the-tree and believe me the slant hauled that thing around just fine. Biggest problem here (other than the title) is gonna be the brakes. Even in the best of times on my old one I had to pump them, and the master cylinder I had was bigger than the one I see here. And if you blow one wheel cylinder, you might as well replace them all cuz as soon as you make one strong, the others are weak and they blow next. So the brakes will need to be thoroughly gone thru and a new master cyl is recommended. Other than that, make sure the engine turns and if it does you can get that thing running again with a weekend worth of work, well…as long as the radiator is still good. And the clutch. Ok, maybe more than a weekend. Still, just clean it up and drive as is. Great car priced right, nice find.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar angliagt

    If you got this & made it into a race car,
    why would you need to title it?Just make sure
    that it’s not stolen,etc. first.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar JW

    The A100 looks more interesting to me even if it can only make wall art status.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar JW

    Or instead of wall art you could make one similar to this.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Barzini

    Next to the Roadrunner, this was my favor Chrysler car from that era. I love the body lines and style.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar RNR

    I had a friend in high school with a (then 10 year old) ’62 Belvedere with a 225 and three on the tree. I can never forget the time he popped the hood to show me that the drivers side motor mount broke, and the slant six was now fully reclining with the valve cover resting on the inner fender and the carb now doing a side draft Webber impersonation. The most amazing thing to me that he had no problem shifting a manual tranny that had rotated 30 degrees or so. He drove it awhile and then bought a ’68 Valiant with the same power train – and a quarter million miles put on it by a local concrete hauler.

    Couldn’t kill those oil’ MoPars

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jim Mc

      Yeah, forgot about that episode on my old B’dere. Blew a mount too, but it kept going. And like the brakes, as soon as I replaced the one front mount, the other gave out within a week. Taught the lesson of do all system(ic) parts at the same time. Make one strong, you make the other(s) weak.

      Like 0
  14. Avatar CAIR 148

    Yeah, Buddy. And a 3 speed to boot! I’ve been trying to replace my ’99 Dakota pickup whose frame is too rusted to pass inspection, and all I can find are automatics! Meanwhile my ’54 Savoy waits patiently in the garage waiting for the last vestiges of road salt to be washed off our Syracuse roads. I’d love to put some TLC onto that ’65, fire up the slanter and shift my way merrily down the highway. We had a ’65 Belvie back when I was first married. That car was more dependable than the Wife was.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar GOPAR

    I love these mid-sixties b-body Mopars. I own one of these, a ’65 Belvedere II with the original 383 4-speed. It’s been restored to as-new condition and has won many trophies. Not only does it look great, but it’s a blast to drive. This is a killer deal on this car! Lots of potential here.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar stillrunners

    for some reason the 65 B-Bodies are not that commonly found in this time and age….looks like a good start for the price…first year of the Satellite…

    Like 0
  17. Avatar rangeroger

    I absolutely love the slant 6’s. Had a ’63 Dodge D-100 for a while. 225, 3-speed on the column. Actually drove it for 3 days once with a broken crank. Vibrated like hell at idle in neutral. Put in the clutch, vibration stopped.
    On days off, pulled bell-housing cover, couldn’t see any problem so pulled the trans. Could wiggle the whole flywheel. Pulled the pan found a break between the #6 rod journal and the rear main. Called San Diego Motor Machine, explained I needed a crankshaft for a slant 6 and no there was not going to be a core. They delivered the crank with bearings to my apartment in Alpine for $200.
    I dropped the crank out of the truck with the engine in place. Put the new crank in and was off to work on time.
    When I had the crank out I could see the honing marks in the cylinders below the pistons. Don’t know if the engine had ever been rebuilt in the past, but if it hadn’t, it was in amazing condition.
    Other than a broken crank,that is.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Mike

    In Missouri the Lost title is not a problem, you fill out a form send in $25.00 and apply for a new title. Cars this old are easy to re-title.
    Nice looking Dodge, might have to make a trip to St Louis and take a look at it.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Marty Member

      Mike, I live in Missouri, and cars with no titles have always been a problem that costs quite a bit more than $25 to straighten out. Please explain the procedure.

      The last registered owner can file for a “duplicate original” title, for $11. That’s assuming we: A: know who that is, B: can find them, C; can persuade them to file for a duplicate, and D; can get them to contact us to sign it over when they receive it.

      Every other situation (that I know of) is considerably more difficult and expensive to solve. A “lost title” is not replaced by the state for $25 if the car wasn’t registered to you in the first place. If you know something different about this, please explain. Thanks.

      Like 0
  19. Avatar BRAKTRCR

    Had a 65 Sattelite with a 361 and the console automatic, bucket seats etc.No rust, but it was a bit tired. Had gobs of torque on hand. It loved to burn rubber. Freeze plugs all leaked rusty water every day… sold it for $500 and bought a new Toyota in 1979… Hanging my head in shame

    Like 0

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