The Dodge Coronet: father of the Super Bee
by David Zatz
The 1949 Coronet was, with the Wayfarer and Meadowbrook, one of the first Dodges with distinctive names. There was really just one Dodge car at the time, wearing three names to show which trim level buyers had chosen. The Coronet, as one may expect (a coronet is a small crown worn by royals and aristocrats), was the top of the line.
The Coronet differed from the Dodge Wayfarer and Meadowbrook in trim, options, and minor styling changes; all three used the same flat-head six cylinder engine, with 103 gross horsepower at 3,600 rpm, solid lifters, and a Stromberg single-barrel carburetor, a powertrain it kept through 1953.
The engine continued unchanged through 1953, when the Coronet gained an optional 241 cubic inch V-8 engine, the first of the Hemis, producing 140 gross horsepower at 4,400 rpm with a two-barrel Stromberg carburetor. The Hemi-powered Coronet set over one hundred land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
The 1954 Royal was slotted in above the Coronet, taking away the first-place status; the Royal came with a standard Hemi ("double-rocker") V8. The 1954 Coronet Six went up to 110 horsepower, through tuning changes.
There was good and bad news for the 1955 Dodge Coronet buyer. On the one hand, a two-barrel Stromberg carb pushed six-cylinder power up to 123 hp. On the other, neither the Wayfarer nor the Meadowbrook had made it past 1954, and the top Dodge was not the Coronet, not even the Royal, but the new "Custom Royal." Status-conscious 1953 Coronet buyers could not have been happy about this!.
New buyers, though, must have appreciated the engines choices: the polyspherical-head Red Ram and hemi-head Super Red Ram, pushing out 175 and 183 gross horsepower respectively. The Super Red Ram's optional power package - four barrel carburetor, dual exhaust - put it well ahead of the Red Ram in terms of power.
The Coronet station wagon was also renamed, to Coronet Suburban, and the hardtop coupe was dubbed the Coronet Lancer.
A new car: the 1955 Dodge Coronets
The 1955 Dodge cars were new, with a 120 inch wheelbase, wraparound windshield, and clean lines; they were 212 inches long, 6.6 inches longer than the 1954s. The V8 engines were 270 cubic inches, with a poly and a Hemi for two different price and power classes (the 230 six remained). Buyers could get the cars in two-door and four-door sedan form, with V8 two-door hardtops, wagons, convertibles, and four door wagons. The La Femme was added mid-year.
Coronet wagons were badged "Suburban" rather than"Coronet." The hardtops were Coronet Lancers, but had Coronet badges.
Mike Peterson wrote: (From the Walter P. Chrysler Club magazine - first printed 1980. Reprinted by permission.)
1957 and later Coronets
In 1957, Forward Look styling was added, with a longer wheelbase and fully modernized styling. A hot new D-500 version was added as a separate model/engine option. The base six pushed out 138 horsepower; the Red Ram V8, 245 hp; and the D-500, 285-310 hp. Significantly, this was the first year of Chrysler's dual torsion bar front suspension used through the last of the classic rear wheel drive cars.
1959 was the Coronet's last year as Dodge's entry level vehicle; it was dropped, along with Royal and Custom Royal, as a new naming scheme appeared, with the new models called Dart Seneca, Dart Pioneer, Dart Phoenix, Matador, and Polara.
The Coronet showed up again in 1965, in a much different Dodge; gone was the tradition of "one basic car per brand." The Coronet was now above the Valiant-based Darts, and below the Polara, Custom 880, and Monaco. Coronet was sold in a base model, 440, and 500 series; the base engine was the slant six, with the 273 V8 optional (it was standard on the 440 and 500, and in wagons). Though Chrysler would make a 440 engine, it did not make one in 1965, so the Coronet 440 name was perhaps misleading but not yet as confusing as it could be.
The Coronet was still new, but got a facelift in 1966, moving to the Elwood Engel trademark straight lines and edges. A two-door hardtop model would appear in 1966 under its own name, Dodge Charger - and would quickly take away the limelight from the Coronet, albeit without taking many sales away. (1966 Coronet sales were about 170,000. Charger sales were 37,300.) The 440 and 500 series names would remain for some years; the Deluxe was added in 1966, the R/T in 1967.
Using the new Coke-bottle styling and a larger, redesigned body, the 1968 Coronet R/T was as hot as the first Hemi Coronet back in 1954, with a 375 horsepower 440 cubic inch engine (in mid-1969, supplemented by a 390 horsepower Six-Pak model that had triple two-barrel carburetors, and by the infamous 426 Hemi). Despite the Charger, the Coronet itself was available as a two-door hardtop, as well as in convertible and four door sedan form. Coronet sales still easily trounced Charger sales, even in the Charger's best years; the Charger would only have its revenge years later, as resale prices turned out to be insanely high.
<a name="superbee"></a>Dodge Coronet Super Bee and more: 1968-74
Even with the Charger and Coronet R/T, Dodge added the Coronet Super Bee, a frank theft of the Plymouth Road Runner idea, midyear in 1968; it had a standard 383 with 335 horsepower, and not much else other than a heavy-duty suspension. The name was a clever play on the B-body chassis ("Super B.") The Coronet R/T had a bigger engine, but with numerous comfort-and-convenience features it also weighed more and cost considerably more. Super Bee page.
List price for the Coronet R/T two-door hardtop was $3,442. That included the Magnum 440 engine (with four barrel carburetor), automatic, Red Streak tires, heavy duty suspension with sway bar, drum breaks, various interior lights, "Rumblebee" stripes, pedal dress-up, dual horns, vinyl trim with front air-foam seat cushions in the bucket seats, and rear armrests.
Some options included the Super Track Pak package ($256), Rallye cluster (shown in the photo below) for $90, center console (again, shown below, $54), four-speed manual (no-cost option), bigger alternator, tinted glass (for windshield only, for for all windows), right-side mirror ($7), rear defogger ($22), three-speed wipers ($5), ramcharger air scoop ($73), AM radio ($62), power steering ($100), and "sports" steering wheel (also shown below, $27). The cars came with a side stripe (taped) but that could be deleted.
Dodge made a stupendous 196,242 Coronets, including taxis, Super Bees, base models, and all other forms and trim-lines, in 1968. For 1969, Super Bee information was tracked separately, with fewer than 28,000 made - compared with over 84,000 Road Runners! But Coronet sales remained high otherwise.
Annual styling changes continued with changes to the grille and rear in 1969 and 1970.
by David Zatz
The 1949 Coronet was, with the Wayfarer and Meadowbrook, one of the first Dodges with distinctive names. There was really just one Dodge car at the time, wearing three names to show which trim level buyers had chosen. The Coronet, as one may expect (a coronet is a small crown worn by royals and aristocrats), was the top of the line.
The Coronet differed from the Dodge Wayfarer and Meadowbrook in trim, options, and minor styling changes; all three used the same flat-head six cylinder engine, with 103 gross horsepower at 3,600 rpm, solid lifters, and a Stromberg single-barrel carburetor, a powertrain it kept through 1953.
The engine continued unchanged through 1953, when the Coronet gained an optional 241 cubic inch V-8 engine, the first of the Hemis, producing 140 gross horsepower at 4,400 rpm with a two-barrel Stromberg carburetor. The Hemi-powered Coronet set over one hundred land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
The 1954 Royal was slotted in above the Coronet, taking away the first-place status; the Royal came with a standard Hemi ("double-rocker") V8. The 1954 Coronet Six went up to 110 horsepower, through tuning changes.
There was good and bad news for the 1955 Dodge Coronet buyer. On the one hand, a two-barrel Stromberg carb pushed six-cylinder power up to 123 hp. On the other, neither the Wayfarer nor the Meadowbrook had made it past 1954, and the top Dodge was not the Coronet, not even the Royal, but the new "Custom Royal." Status-conscious 1953 Coronet buyers could not have been happy about this!.
New buyers, though, must have appreciated the engines choices: the polyspherical-head Red Ram and hemi-head Super Red Ram, pushing out 175 and 183 gross horsepower respectively. The Super Red Ram's optional power package - four barrel carburetor, dual exhaust - put it well ahead of the Red Ram in terms of power.
The Coronet station wagon was also renamed, to Coronet Suburban, and the hardtop coupe was dubbed the Coronet Lancer.
A new car: the 1955 Dodge Coronets
The 1955 Dodge cars were new, with a 120 inch wheelbase, wraparound windshield, and clean lines; they were 212 inches long, 6.6 inches longer than the 1954s. The V8 engines were 270 cubic inches, with a poly and a Hemi for two different price and power classes (the 230 six remained). Buyers could get the cars in two-door and four-door sedan form, with V8 two-door hardtops, wagons, convertibles, and four door wagons. The La Femme was added mid-year.
Coronet wagons were badged "Suburban" rather than"Coronet." The hardtops were Coronet Lancers, but had Coronet badges.
Mike Peterson wrote: (From the Walter P. Chrysler Club magazine - first printed 1980. Reprinted by permission.)
The Inside Dodge Main page tells what had to be done to make the 1955 Dodges.
1957 and later Coronets
In 1957, Forward Look styling was added, with a longer wheelbase and fully modernized styling. A hot new D-500 version was added as a separate model/engine option. The base six pushed out 138 horsepower; the Red Ram V8, 245 hp; and the D-500, 285-310 hp. Significantly, this was the first year of Chrysler's dual torsion bar front suspension used through the last of the classic rear wheel drive cars.
1959 was the Coronet's last year as Dodge's entry level vehicle; it was dropped, along with Royal and Custom Royal, as a new naming scheme appeared, with the new models called Dart Seneca, Dart Pioneer, Dart Phoenix, Matador, and Polara.
The Coronet showed up again in 1965, in a much different Dodge; gone was the tradition of "one basic car per brand." The Coronet was now above the Valiant-based Darts, and below the Polara, Custom 880, and Monaco. Coronet was sold in a base model, 440, and 500 series; the base engine was the slant six, with the 273 V8 optional (it was standard on the 440 and 500, and in wagons). Though Chrysler would make a 440 engine, it did not make one in 1965, so the Coronet 440 name was perhaps misleading but not yet as confusing as it could be.
The Coronet was still new, but got a facelift in 1966, moving to the Elwood Engel trademark straight lines and edges. A two-door hardtop model would appear in 1966 under its own name, Dodge Charger - and would quickly take away the limelight from the Coronet, albeit without taking many sales away. (1966 Coronet sales were about 170,000. Charger sales were 37,300.) The 440 and 500 series names would remain for some years; the Deluxe was added in 1966, the R/T in 1967.
Using the new Coke-bottle styling and a larger, redesigned body, the 1968 Coronet R/T was as hot as the first Hemi Coronet back in 1954, with a 375 horsepower 440 cubic inch engine (in mid-1969, supplemented by a 390 horsepower Six-Pak model that had triple two-barrel carburetors, and by the infamous 426 Hemi). Despite the Charger, the Coronet itself was available as a two-door hardtop, as well as in convertible and four door sedan form. Coronet sales still easily trounced Charger sales, even in the Charger's best years; the Charger would only have its revenge years later, as resale prices turned out to be insanely high.
<a name="superbee"></a>Dodge Coronet Super Bee and more: 1968-74
Even with the Charger and Coronet R/T, Dodge added the Coronet Super Bee, a frank theft of the Plymouth Road Runner idea, midyear in 1968; it had a standard 383 with 335 horsepower, and not much else other than a heavy-duty suspension. The name was a clever play on the B-body chassis ("Super B.") The Coronet R/T had a bigger engine, but with numerous comfort-and-convenience features it also weighed more and cost considerably more. Super Bee page.
List price for the Coronet R/T two-door hardtop was $3,442. That included the Magnum 440 engine (with four barrel carburetor), automatic, Red Streak tires, heavy duty suspension with sway bar, drum breaks, various interior lights, "Rumblebee" stripes, pedal dress-up, dual horns, vinyl trim with front air-foam seat cushions in the bucket seats, and rear armrests.
Some options included the Super Track Pak package ($256), Rallye cluster (shown in the photo below) for $90, center console (again, shown below, $54), four-speed manual (no-cost option), bigger alternator, tinted glass (for windshield only, for for all windows), right-side mirror ($7), rear defogger ($22), three-speed wipers ($5), ramcharger air scoop ($73), AM radio ($62), power steering ($100), and "sports" steering wheel (also shown below, $27). The cars came with a side stripe (taped) but that could be deleted.
Dodge made a stupendous 196,242 Coronets, including taxis, Super Bees, base models, and all other forms and trim-lines, in 1968. For 1969, Super Bee information was tracked separately, with fewer than 28,000 made - compared with over 84,000 Road Runners! But Coronet sales remained high otherwise.
Annual styling changes continued with changes to the grille and rear in 1969 and 1970.
1970 | Coronet R/T Hemi |
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