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Dodge Polara
The Dodge Polara is an automobile introduced in the United States for the 1960 model year as Dodge's top-of-the-line full-size car. After the introduction of the Dodge Custom 880 in 1962, the Polara nameplate designated a step below the full-sized best trimmed Dodge model; the Polara that year had been downsized to what was in effect intermediate, or mid-size status. In its various forms, the Polara name was used by Dodge until 1973, when its position in Dodge's line-up was replaced by the Dodge Monaco. The name Polara is a reference to the Polaris star, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the excitement surrounding the Space Race during the early 1960s. First generation The 1960 Polara and other full-sized Dodges featured styling cues carried over from 1959 models, itself an evolution of Virgil Exner's "Forward Look" cars introduced in 1957. The 1960 model year also marked the first year that all Chrysler models, except for the Imperial, used unibody construction. The to ...
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Dodge
Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above Plymouth. Founded as the Dodge Brothers Company machine shop by brothers Horace Elgin Dodge and John Francis Dodge in the early 1900s, Dodge was originally a supplier of parts and assemblies to Detroit-based automakers like Ford. They began building complete automobiles under the "Dodge Brothers" brand in 1914, predating the founding of Chrysler Corporation. The factory located in Hamtramck, Michigan was the Dodge main factory from 1910 until it closed in January 1980. John Dodge died from the Spanish flu in January 1920, having lungs weakened by tuberculosis 20 years earlier. Horace died in December of the same year, perhaps weakened by the Spanish flu, though the cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver. Their company was sold by their ...
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Convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving experience, with the ability to provide a roof when required. A potential drawback of convertibles is their reduced structural rigidity (requiring significant engineering and modification to counteract the effects of removing a car's roof). The majority of convertible roofs are of a folding construction framework with the actual top made from cloth or other fabric. Other types of convertible roofs include retractable hardtops (often constructed from metal or plastic) and detachable hardtops (where a metal or plastic roof is manually removed and often stored in the trunk). Terminology Other terms for convertibles include cabriolet, cabrio, drop top, drophead coupé, open two-seater, open top, rag top, soft top, spider, and spyder. Consistenc ...
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Plymouth (automobile)
Plymouth was a brand of automobiles produced by Chrysler, Chrysler Corporation and its successor Mercedes-Benz Group, DaimlerChrysler. The brand was launched in 1928 to compete in what was then described as the "low-priced" market segment that was dominated by Chevrolet and Ford Motor Company, Ford. It became a high-volume seller for the automaker until the late 1990s. Plymouth cars were marketed primarily in the United States. The brand was withdrawn from the marketplace in 2001. The Plymouth models that were produced up to then were either discontinued or rebranded as Chrysler or Dodge. History Origins The Plymouth automobile was introduced at Madison Square Garden (1925), Madison Square Garden on July 7, 1928. It was Chrysler Corporation's first entry in the low-priced field previously dominated by Chevrolet and Ford. Plymouths were initially priced higher than the competition, but offered standard features such as internal expanding hydraulic brakes that Ford and Chevrol ...
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Dodge Matador
The Dodge Matador is a full-sized automobile that was produced for the 1960 model year by Dodge. The Matadors were base model equivalents to the top trimmed Dodge Polara that also used the wheelbase platform of the Chrysler Windsor and Chrysler Newport models. Design The Matador, was one of two new models produced by Dodge in 1960 when the marque dropped its long-running Coronet, Custom, Custom Royal, and Lancer models. Sharing the same newly engineered unibody platform as the slightly smaller Dodge Dart, the Matador was designated Dodge's full-size base trim vehicle, with the Dodge Polara becoming the make's full-sized premium model. The Matador line was positioned as a lower priced option to the Polara line to serve as the base-level, full-size car to above the newly introduced and successful wheelbase Dart series. However, full-sized cars in the U.S. market were at their lowest sales level since the end of World War II, and 1959 was not the best time to launch a new ...
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Unibody
A vehicle frame, also historically known as its '' chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car had a structural frame separate from its body. This construction design is known as '' body-on-frame''. By the 1960s, unibody construction in passenger cars had become common, and the trend to unibody for passenger cars continued over the ensuing decades. Nearly all trucks, buses, and most pickups continue to use a separate frame as their chassis. Functions The main functions of a frame in a motor vehicle are: # To support the vehicle's mechanical components and body # To deal with static and dynamic loads, without undue deflection or distortion. :These include: ::*Weight of the body, passengers, and cargo loads. ::*Vertical and torsional twisting transmitted by going over uneven surfaces. ::*Transverse lateral forces caused by road cond ...
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Imperial (automobile)
Imperial was the Chrysler Corporation's luxury automobile brand from 1955 to 1975, and again from 1981 to 1983. The Imperial name had been used since 1926, as a Chrysler luxury model, the Chrysler Imperial. However, in 1955, the company spun off Imperial into its own make and division to better compete with its North American rivals, Lincoln and Cadillac. Imperial would see new or modified body styles introduced every two to three years, all with V8 engines and automatic transmissions, as well as technologies that would filter down to Chrysler Corporation's other models. Background Originally, the Chrysler Imperial was introduced in 1926 as Chrysler's flagship vehicle for much of its history. It was based on extended-length platforms of the company's full-size cars and competed with the likes of rival Cadillac, Continental, Lincoln, Duesenberg, Pierce Arrow, Cord, and Packard. Production started due to Walter P. Chrysler wanting a share of the luxury car market i ...
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Forward Look
Virgil Max "Ex" Exner Sr. (September 24, 1909 – December 22, 1973) was an automobile designer for several American automobile companies, most notably Chrysler and Studebaker. Exner is widely known for the "Forward Look" he created for the 1955–1963 Chrysler products and his fondness of tailfins on cars for both aesthetics and aerodynamics. Exner introduced the Forward Look at Chrysler, which was copied even before the designs hit the road. When GM designer Chuck Jordan spied Exner's hidden 1955 Chrysler lineup, it prompted Bill Mitchell, head of General Motors styling, "to begin redesigning each car line, Chevrolet through Cadillac." Exner's work effectively "change the course of automotive design." Early life Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Virgil Exner was adopted by George W. and Iva Exner as a baby. Virgil showed a strong interest in art and automobiles. He went to Buchanan High School in Buchanan, Michigan then studied art at the University of Notre Dame in Indian ...
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Virgil Exner
Virgil Max "Ex" Exner Sr. (September 24, 1909 – December 22, 1973) was an automobile designer for several American automobile companies, most notably Chrysler and Studebaker. Exner is widely known for the "Forward Look" he created for the 1955–1963 Chrysler products and his fondness of tailfins on cars for both aesthetics and aerodynamics. Exner introduced the Forward Look at Chrysler, which was copied even before the designs hit the road. When GM designer Chuck Jordan spied Exner's hidden 1955 Chrysler lineup, it prompted Bill Mitchell, head of General Motors styling, "to begin redesigning each car line, Chevrolet through Cadillac." Exner's work effectively "change the course of automotive design." Early life Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Virgil Exner was adopted by George W. and Iva Exner as a baby. Virgil showed a strong interest in art and automobiles. He went to Buchanan High School in Buchanan, Michigan then studied art at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana ...
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Manual Transmission
A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission system, where gear changes require the driver to manually select the gears by operating a gear stick and clutch (which is usually a foot pedal for cars or a hand lever for motorcycles). Early automobiles used ''sliding-mesh'' manual transmissions with up to three forward gear ratios. Since the 1950s, ''constant-mesh'' manual transmissions have become increasingly commonplace and the number of forward ratios has increased to 5-speed and 6-speed manual transmissions for current vehicles. The alternative to a manual transmission is an automatic transmission; common types of automatic transmissions are the Automatic transmission#Hydraulic automatic transmissions, hydraulic automatic transmission (AT), and the continuously variable transmissio ...
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Automatic Transmission
An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. It typically includes a transmission, axle, and differential in one integrated assembly, thus technically becoming a transaxle. The most common type of automatic transmission is the hydraulic automatic, which uses a planetary gearset, hydraulic controls, and a torque converter. Other types of automatic transmissions include continuously variable transmissions (CVT), automated manual transmissions (AMT), and dual-clutch transmissions (DCT). An electronic automatic transmission (EAT) may also be called an electronically controlled transmission (ECT), or electronic automatic transaxle (EATX). A hydraulic automatic transmission may also colloquially called a " slushbox" or simply a "torque converter", although the latter term c ...
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Chrysler PowerFlite Transmission
PowerFlite is a two-speed automatic transmission engineered and produced by the Chrysler Corporation and used in their passenger cars from 1954 to 1961. Production began in late 1953 and the simple and durable PowerFlite remained available on Plymouths and Dodges through the 1961 model year. Background Chrysler was the last of Detroit's Big Three automakers to introduce a fully automatic transmission, some 14 years after General Motors had introduced Oldsmobile's Hydramatic automatic transmission and nearly three years after Ford's Ford-O-Matic. Packard's Ultramatic debuted in 1949, and Studebaker's Automatic Drive was introduced in 1950. The PowerFlite was lighter and simple in its construction and operation, with fewer parts than competing transmissions. It was also durable, being used behind every Chrysler Corporation engine from the Plymouth Six to the Imperial's Hemi V8. Chrysler introduced a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic in 1956, but the two-speed PowerFlite remai ...
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V8 Engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and used in cars and speedboats but primarily aircraft; while the American 1914–1935 ''Cadillac L-Head'' engine is considered the first road going V8 engine to be mass produced in significant quantities. The popularity of V8 engines in cars was greatly increased following the 1932 introduction of the ''Ford Flathead V8''. In the early 21st century, use of V8 engines in passenger vehicles declined as automobile manufacturers opted for more fuel efficient, lower capacity engines, or hybrid and electric drivetrains. Design V-angle The majority of V8 engines use a V-angle (the angle between the two banks of cylinders) of 90 degrees. This angle results in good engine balance, which results in low vibrations; however, the downside is a larg ...
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