Car of the Week: 1963 Dodge 880 station wagon

[dodgechargerfan]

For 50 years, Steve Murray’s 1963 Dodge has been like a shadow. A big, black, heavily chromed, nine-passenger shadow.

The car arrived in his family brand new, and after various members of the family took turns driving it into the ground, it has come full circle. It sat forgotten and semi-abandoned for several years, then got the kind of near-perfect restoration that few station wagons will ever see. Today it is simply one of the nicest retro family haulers you’ll ever run across — a decorated AACA show car and a true “feel-good” machine.

“If it wasn’t the family car, I wouldn’t have brought it back,” chuckles Murray, a resident of Broomall, Pa. “The car wouldn’t have existed for me, but I grew up in this car and it has a lot of memories for me.”

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[71ChargerRT]

That's a pretty sweet wagon. I had a '64 880 Custom wagon, the hardtop one, I left it at a family member's house and he crushed it, douche bag... It was there less than a month and he knew the situation.

It was like this, but not nearly as nice... 361 with a push button auto

 

[thrashingcows]

That color combo looks sharp...black car with a blue interior.

 

[Fishy]

How can someone not love the old wagons?! Admittedly, some are kinda plain or just ugly but I dig this one!! :drool:

 

[68R/T]

Cool wagon indeed, but something about the face makes me think of an AMC, the white one that 71Chaga posted even more so.

 

[Stretch]

I thought AMC when I first saw the front end too. I love the black paint & blue gut! The dash/gauge cluster in the '61 cars.

 

[69.5CUDA]

that combo is a beauty....

the only part i dont like is the grill

 

[71ChargerRT]

That grille takes care of my AMC fetish, without having to deal with any of their idiosyncrasies.

 

[MOPAR MARV]

Pretty sweet Ride!

Reminds me of my mothers first car,a '62 Belvedere Wagon,Poly 318, push button auto. The old Poly 318 was three times over the top and still purring when she traded the '62 in for a new '69 Polara wagon[big ugly freakin' tank]. The LA 318 in the '69 needed a complete rebuild at 170,000 miles.


After all the grief I've had with any Mopar product newer than 1978, I'd almost kill for a nice '62 Dart wagon or a '64 Polara wagon with a good old Poly 318 with a push button auto.

But early '60s Mopar wagons are rarer than Hemis up here now. I've only seen one in the last thirty years and the owner wouldn't sell it. A 1962 Fury wagon no less. And a special order factory 413 Max Wedge /drag pack car to boot! I still drool when I think about it! Talk about a killer grocery getter!!!

 

[69.5CUDA]

After all the grief I've had with any Mopar product newer than 1978, I'd almost kill for a nice '62 Dart wagon or a '64 Polara wagon with a good old Poly 318 with a push button auto.

But early '60s Mopar wagons are rarer than Hemis up here now. I've only seen one in the last thirty years and the owner wouldn't sell it. A 1962 Fury wagon no less. And a special order factory 413 Max Wedge /drag pack car to boot! I still drool when I think about it! Talk about a killer grocery getter!!!

so find one out west and either come get it or get it shipped...hunt around for a shipper and it CAN be cheep...i had one sen from toronto to portland oregon for 1200....remember theres a boarder to crss that upps the price

 

[MOPAR MARV]

Sure that would be awesome!

But then what ever I buy would cost a small fortune to bring it right up to specs so that it would pass our BS safety inspections. Any vehicle that has not been previously registered in Saskatchewan has to be inspected before it can be registered here,even antiques.

Just a little something drummed up by the local auto sales and service industry so that they can make even more money.

I can understand this to a certain point because it stops local car lots from buying totalled off crap from outside of the province and patching it up as cheaply as possible and then dumping the crap on unsuspecting folks. But for those of us with interest in acquiring older vehicles that are hard to find locally,it created a shit storm of un-neccessary grief.

And it didn't help that our provincial government hopped right on the "crush everything more than ten years old" train. Yet another attempt by the local auto sales and service industry to encourage people to buy the latest automotive garbage.

Now it is almost impossible to find any autos made before 1975 in this province.

And when you do find something that is more than ten years old for sale, the current owners want an arm and a leg plus your left nut for the overpriced crap they are selling.

It is a sad and sorry state of affairs for the guy who just wants a nice simple,easy to repair, classic automobile to drive.

 

[69.5CUDA]

i tell ya what..i think its time for you to move