Description:
"Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" was the word in the mid-sixties, and Chrysler was locked in a battle for domination on and off the track. Plymouth's Sport Fury had been "up-trimmed" out of the racing category by 1965, so they turned to the tried-and-true Plymouth B-body family in use since 1962. Chrysler had been successful on the race circuit in 1964 with the monstrous 426 Hemi "elephant engine" and they needed something lean and mean to keep ahead of the pack. so with a few styling changes the new Series AR, more commonly known as the 1965 Belvedere, was born. The new Belvederes featured a new Fury-inspired grille with only two headlights, and was now reclassified as a midsize body even though the 116-in wheelbase remained the same from the year before. Belvederes ran from the performance-minded Belvedere I and II to the high-end Satellite. The Belvedere I and II featured a 225ci slant-six or a 273ci 180-hp V8 as standard; other options included a 318ci V8 with 180hp, a 361ci V8 with 230hp, and finally the massive 426ci V8 delivering 365hp. Advertisers dubbed the Belvedere family "The Roaring '65's".
Belvedere is offered two and four door sedans and a four door station wagon. Belvedere IIs offered both hardtop and convertible coupes, a four-door sedan, and two wagon variants. The Belvedere I was also available in a Super Stock R01 hardtop coupe, with an exclusive Super Stock 426ci V8 rated at 425hp but realistically delivering upwards 490hp. No official production numbers exist for the R01, and it was dropped as an option in model year 1966. Significantly in 1965, Chrysler replaced the dash-mounted push-button automatic transmission shifter in all models with a column-mounted shifter arm, which it had previously abandoned in 1955. Mopar enthusiasts may disagree why, but whatever the final reason, the trusty push-button shifter was gone forever.
In another shrewd engineering move, Chrysler moved the rear axles forward in order to gain traction by moving the drive wheels closer to the engine. These were still officially factory-produced cars, and were legal for racing, even thought the configuration looked "funny". Thus, a legend was born and the altered-wheelbase cars would forever be know as the first "funny cars".
Features of this Item Include:
Diecast Body
Opening Doors
Opening Hood
Opening Trunk
Steerable Wheels
Engine Wiring
Engine Hoses & Belts
Working Suspension
Soft Carpeting
Detailed Gauges
Cloth Seatbelts
Manual Transmission
Display Base
Condition:
This item is considered to be in excellent condition. This generally means that the item is in "factory-mint" or like-new condition. It may have very slight flaws, which were present from the factory. It was probably never displayed. Nothing is 100% perfect, but this is as close as it gets.
The packaging for this item is considered to be in very good condition. This usually means that the
package is very close to excellent but might have a small sign of shelf wear or a slightly dinged corner. You will have to look closely to find any flaws.
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