Seven weeks before Ford came with the Fairlane, Chrysler introduced the first ‘intermediates’ in the industry late September 1961, believing that Chevrolet would come with a model to fill the gap between the Corvair and its full-size models, that appeared to be the compact Chevy II, conceived in 18 months after Ford’s Falcon outsold the Corvair, built on the success of the air-cooled, rear-engine Volkswagen Beetle, but Chrysler also expected that America didn’t want the grown full-sizers any longer, after the 1961 models suffered a drastic decline in industry production share from 9.8% to 7%, most probably due to the Dodge’s reverse-slanting fins.
So, the 1962 Dodge Dart/Polara and Plymouth Savoy/Belvedere/Fury ‘standard-size’ models rode on a 116 inch wheelbase, 2 inches shorter than the year before, while the width was reduced from 78.7 (Dodge) to 76.5 inches, and later to 75.6 inches, and resulting in a further industry production share drop to 5.1%. Again, the Plymouth’s styling caused sales at a higher level than at Dodge, which possibly would have been tempered if Dodge had used the wagon’s rear quarter panel treatment for the other body styles as well, or at least had given the upward sloping body crease a more horizontal slope.
Keeping its reduced width, the 1963 Dodge 330/440/Polara, losing the Dart name, now granted to the reshaped compact cars, grew in wheelbase to 119 inches (except for wagons), while the Plymouth intermediates were kept at 116 inches. The 1963 Dodges in Canada were named 220, 330 and 440, with the 220 the most popular. Canada’s standard V8 engine through 1964 was the 313 cu. in., vs 318 in the United States. The Polara name was here abandoned by 1961.
All this was the work of Elwood P. Engel who became chief designer at Chrysler Corporation in November 1961, as the successor to Virgil Exner. He started designing at GM before the war, and after the war, Engel worked for the noted design company George Walker and Associates in Detroit and was part of the team that designed the new 1949 car for Ford, that he joined in 1955, creating the 1961 Lincoln Continental, that became so successful that the Ford Group did not discontinue the Lincoln brand after 1960 as originally planned.
Engel also gave the 1963 big Chrysler the ‘crisp, clean, custom look.’ He was responsible for the design of the Chrysler Corporation models up to 1972, among which the Dodge Charger and Challenger, and he also developed the so-called fuselage styling for Chrysler's 1969 full-size models, that was supposed to be reminiscent of an airplane fuselage ‘where body and frame are one’ (‘unibody’ applied since 1960 vs body-on-frame at the competition).
This 1963 body change, together with Dodge’s wheelbase stretched to full-size level let Dodge sales again surpass those of Plymouth but the next year Plymouth led once more, not counting Dodge full-sizers, and counting these, the industry production model year share was 6.2% in 1963 and 7% in 1964. Dodge intermediates, with the wheelbase difference reduced to one inch outsold Plymouth intermediates from 1965 until 1970.
The basic shape of the intermediates would last through 1965, using the same front (size according to number of doors) and rear door outer panels for all models, while the wagon’s roof was the same from 1962 on (except for the windshield’s end by 1964), and the other roofs within the 1962 and within the 1963 model years, were identical, but, as discussed above, the front and rear roof end changed for 1964, while an enticing 2-door hardtop roof was all-new, largely contributing to the share rise, especially at Dodge, the more distinguishing make of the two. 1965 was the year that the (2-door) hardtop share in the United States exceeded that of the (4-door) sedans.
This 2-door hardtop industry share had grown to over one-third, thanks to the Mustang, after it had been over one-fifth in 1955 (but down to under one out of eight in model year 1960, due to the Falcon). By 1969 the 2-door hardtop share was at its top of 45%, severely dropping the next years, mainly due to the arrival of the Maverick and Pinto.
The 1965 Plymouth intermediates (Belvedere/Satellite) actually were face-lifted 1964 Savoy/Belvedere/Fury models, and industry production dwindled from 297,000 (3.5%) to 159,000 units (1.8%).
Not as heavily at Dodge, where an inch to the wheelbase was added before the rear axle with the wheel-well slightly flattened, the intermediate Coronet looked like a new vehicle (the 1965 Coronet wagon was just a facelifted 1964 330/440) and the figures went from 248,000 (3.2%) to 209,000 (2.4%). At the same time, the 4-door hardtops (that were the smallest in the industry) were reserved for the new full-sizers, that were granted the Polara name at Dodge, and the Fury name at Plymouth, where the Savoy was deleted. Dodge 330 and Plymouth Savoy names were used for the full-size entry level models in Canada in 1965 when the intermediates were not sold there.
Taxicab drivers in the United States realized at once that the intermediates were big enough to fulfill their duties, after the regular sized models had outgrown in the second half of the 1950s, and Dodge Coronets on a 117-inch wheelbase were popular taxis in the second half of the 1960s. Only when Chevrolet had their full-size models downsized to a 116-inch wheelbase by 1977, forced by the Saudis, Chevrolet would become a major player again in the taxi field.
With new full-sizers released again, 1965 saw the Dodge/Plymouth production share, without compacts, rise to 9.1%. Up to 1970, at Dodge, the intermediates outsold the full-sizers, while at Plymouth it was the other way around.
Almost four out of ten was a Plymouth Fury, one out of four a Dodge Coronet, one out of five a Plymouth intermediate and one out of six a large Dodge.
More roof variation occurred at the 1966~1967 and 1968~1970 models, though again, the wagon’s roof was identical during these 5 years. Within 1966~1967 and 1968~1970 the same front door (size according to number of doors) and rear door (different for Plymouth and Dodge) outer panels were used for all body styles, except at the 1968~1970 Charger (unique panelling as well) and the 1968~1970 wagons where the smooth rear door outer skin became shared with the 1970 Plymouth sedans which then lost the attractive curved front and rear side character lines.
The reshaped 1966 intermediates, with the Coronet now adopting curvier rear fenders, saw their share grow close that of the standard size models, 10.6% combined, down to 9.7% the next year. Six out of every ten Mopar intermediates was a Coronet in model year 1966.
The still curvier 1968 intermediates did this share rise to 12.9%, when, thanks to the Charger, the Dodge intermediates sold more than twice the full-sizers. 1968 was the year that the standard size model share in the United States fell under 50%, while the intermediate share grew to over 25%.
The combined intermediate/standard size percentage reached 12% in model year 1969, but fell down to 8.7% in 1970, with both the Duster and Challenger eating in house.
The totally revised 1971 Coronet/Charger and Satellite saw the combined intermediates share drop from 4.1% to 3.9 % and 3.1% the next year, but back again to 4.1% in 1973. 1971~1974 Coronets were on a 118-inch wheelbase, while Satellite sedan/wagons’ wheelbase measured 117-inch, and the 2-doors (incl. the Charger) stood on a 115-inch wheelbase. Compare this to 116-inch and 112-inch for the 4-door and 2-door GM intermediates.
The 1973 Dodge intermediate share rose with one-third vs 1972, while the Plymouths’ share even jumped with a half, partly due to Chrysler’s (built to be seen . . . but not heard) ‘Torsion Quiet-Ride’ but mainly because of the 2-door models’ reshaped roof, of which the window edge of the C-pillar was moved into a nearly vertical position, while the lower body character ridge was eliminated. The Charger underwent a comparable restyling, but here the roof became more classical in the way of the earlier Satellite.
This changed emphasis of the 2-door models were an answer to GM’s popular 116-inch wheelbase 2-door Monte Carlo, Grand Prix and Cutlass Supreme ‘specialties’.
Over four production years, the Coronet sedan/wagon came close to 300,000 units, while the comparable Satellite topped this mark. Likewise, the Satellite 2-door hardtop topped the 350,000 mark, to which the Charger came close. The total of 1.3 million is the production for the United States market, all total production topped 1.4 million units. Total production figures for the 3-year run previous generation were marginally higher. The over 250,000 number for the 1973 Satellite (vs under 150,000 the year before) was not reached before at Plymouths’ intermediates after 1964.
|
1962 |
Dart/Polara |
Savoy/Belvedere/Fury |
|||||||
|
116 |
S24H24
W4 Cv2 |
116 |
S24H24
W4 Cv2 |
||||||
|
(220)/330/440/Polara |
wagon |
Coronet |
Savoy/Belvedere/Fury |
Belvedere/Satellite |
wagon |
||||
|
1963 |
119 |
S24H24
W4 Cv2 |
116 |
|
|
116 |
S24H24
W4 Cv2 |
|
116 |
|
1964 |
119 |
S24H4
H2 W4 Cv2 |
116 |
116 |
S24H4
H2 W4 Cv2 |
116 |
|||
|
1965 |
|
S24
H2 W4 Cv2 |
116 |
117 |
|
|
S24
H2 W4 Cv2 |
116 |
116 |
|
1966 |
|
S24
H2 Hf2 W4 Cv2 |
|
117 |
|
|
S24
H2 W4 Cv2 |
116 |
117 |
|
1967 |
|
S24
H2 Hf2 W4 Cv2 |
|
117 |
|
|
S24
H2 W4 Cv2 |
116 |
117 |
|
1968 |
|
S4
C2H2 Hf2 W4 Cv2 |
|
117 |
|
|
S4
C2H2 W4 Cv2 |
116 |
117 |
|
1969 |
S4
C2H2 Hf2 W4 Cv2 |
117 |
S4
C2H2 W4 Cv2 |
116 |
117 |
||||
|
1970 |
|
S4
C2H2 Hf2 W4 Cv2 |
|
117 |
|
|
S4
C2H2 W4 Cv2 |
116 |
117 |
|
identical
roofs grouped |
|||||||||
|
Hf2:
Charger (68~70: semi fastback) |
1968~1970
2-dr also Road Runner, GTX |
||||||||
|
USA
industry production share by model year |
||||
|
standard |
standard |
intermediate |
intermediate |
|
|
Dodge |
Plymouth |
Dodge |
Plymouth |
|
|
1973 |
1.4% |
2.7% |
2.0% |
2.1% |
|
1972 |
1.5% |
2.9% |
1.6% |
1.5% |
|
1971 |
1.4% |
3.3% |
2.0% |
1.9% |
|
1970 |
1.2% |
3.4% |
2.1% |
2.0% |
|
1969 |
1.5% |
4.3% |
3.4% |
2.8% |
|
1968 |
1.8% |
4.3% |
3.8% |
2.9% |
|
1967 |
1.5% |
4.0% |
2.5% |
1.9% |
|
1966 |
1.6% |
3.5% |
3.3% |
2.2% |
|
1965 |
1.5% |
3.4% |
2.4% |
1.8% |
|
1964 |
0.4% |
3.2% |
3.5% |
|
|
1963 |
0.4% |
2.5% |
3.3% |
|
|
1962 |
0.3% |
2.2% |
2.6% |
|
|
1961 |
3.4% |
3.7% |
||
|
1960 |
5.8% |
4.0% |
||
With
thanks to American
car brochures and Ward’s Automotive Yearbooks