Fast Facts
Owner: Robert Lane, Hertfordshire, England
Body: '63 Dodge Polara 500
Color: Vermillion Red
Engine: 426 Max Wedge magnesium cross-ram, MP ignition, and heads reworked by Indy Cylinder
HeadTransmission: 727 TorqueFlite push-button transmission, Cope Racing Transmission 3,000-stall converter
Rearend: 3.91 Sure-Grip, 831/44 rear, Super Stock leaf springs
Exhaust: Original manifolds and pipe, detachable exhaust cutout plates
Wheels/Tires: 14x6 steel rims with Polara 500 hubcaps
Making every inch count was the name of the game in the early '60s. With every bump in production engine size, the weekend warriors, street racers, and professional-sponsored cars ran out to blast the leading competition out of the water. The answer to Chevrolet's 409 in 1962 was Chrysler's potent 413 cross-rammed wedge. Soon, the Brand X'ers got wise to Ma Mopar's secret weapon and snuck out the ultra-rare Z11-a 409-headed 427 big-block. Not to be outdone, Chrysler released the 426 Wedge with the Ramcharger package, new for the '63 model year. The Max Wedge offered superior intake and exhaust flow thanks to the horizontal tunnel-ram intake and lengthy race-bred exhaust manifolds. Only five '63 Dodge Polara 500s were optioned with the Ramcharger 426 Max Wedge option, but this Vermillion Red 500 isn't one of them, it's just a really dead-on clone.
Robert Lane of Hertfordshire, England, caught the Mopar bug a few years back when he purchased a '69 Plymouth Sport Satellite. Not content to putt around in a 318-powered ride, Robert extracted the worn and lazy small-block and promptly dropped in a freshly built 440. The massive B-Body sticks out like a sore thumb in the narrow streets and causeways of Great Britain, but with the recent frenzy over big-block late-'60s and early-'70s Mopars, Robert wanted something a little more unique.
He began his search at the Mopar Euronats at Santa Pod Raceway, the British equivalent to the Mopar Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. Robert was intrigued by the early '60s B-Bodies and their history. When he realized the original 426 Wedges carry a hefty price tag, Robert decided to go with a clone.
The B-Body Robert found is a tale in and of itself. Originally a 361-powered car wearing yellow and black plates from California, the Polara 500 was optioned out with the two-tone red-and-ivory interior and excessive chrome trim indicative of the early '60s. The Polara was transported from California to Texas in 1989, then to Pinehurst, North Carolina, in 1991. Trading hands once more, it was shipped across the state to Greensboro in 2001, where Robert found it a few years later. the Polara had been repainted its original red in California. It also had received a headliner, carpet, and covering for the driver seat.
Cosmetically, the car was returned to its factory condition, but mechanically it was anything but. When it comes to building a 413 or 426 Max Wedge clone, most find the task of hunting down an original block and heads daunting and far too expensive. Usually, people opt to dress up a 440 to closely resemble a Ramcharger, and leave it at that. In Robert's case, the previous owner found a date-coded block (10-10-62) and started from there. factory manifolds were also located, along with the option-correct, detachable exhaust cutouts. Robert admitted the Polara's conversion couldn't have been in better hands since the then-owner was a Mopar connoisseur. Thirteen other rare, high-dollar musclecars shared the air-conditioned quarters with the Polara, including four Chargers, one an original Hemi R/T, a '6911/42 Six-Pack Super Bee, a Six-Barrel '70 Superbird, and a '67 R/T Coronet.