Although the first car that I drove when I got a learner's permit was a 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS 327/Auto, the first car that I owned was a 1968 Dodge Polara 440 Magnum/Auto. The Polara is certainly a big car by today's standards, but it is smaller than an Imperial or El Dorado of the day.
I took a little grief from high school classmates at first when they saw the "full size" Polara, but after a couple of "street showdowns", the attitude changed... the Polara had embarrassed some of the local hot rods. It turns out the 375 HP 440 Magnum powered gal could handle herself quite well, and the only high school car she never beat was a 1968 Plymouth 440 Super Commando (Magnum) GTX. There were certainly other hot rods in the area that the Polara would lose to, but only a few high school cars gave her a tight race. With the long overhang over the rear axle, there was enough weight there to limit tire spin to a minimum with the Sure Grip axle. Totally stock the Polara would turn a mid 14 sec quarter at slightly over 100 MPH...
I quit driving the Polara regularly in the mid 1980s, and it sat mostly outside, with the weather taking a toll on the car. I last drove it in the early 1990s, and finally got it stored inside in 1997. The Polara hasn't run since the 1990s, and looks fairly rough now. I have always planned to restore the 'ol gal, but with all my other projects I do not know if it will ever happen...
In 2001 I bought a 1968 Polara 4Dr HT 48,000 mile "survivor" car as a substitute for my first car. It is the same "Alpine White" color, but is powered by a 383 2BBL... a far cry from the 375 HP 440 Magnum of the original car. It is a lot of fun to drive the now 54,000 mile car, and it gets a lot of attention when I do. Very few people recognize the car, even fellow Mopar fans... one of them asked me why I brought an Oldsmobile to a Mopar meet.
But, I still miss driving the real first car... might have to do something about that in a few years!
Allen
