Dodge Lancer Classic Cars for Sale

The Dodge Lancer, which was built by Dodge, is an automobile that was produced from 1955 to 1989. This was a full-sized car at inception in 1955 and the first release was produced until 1959. The Dodge Lancer was revived in 1961 with a different nameplate, the Chrysler A platform, which was produced until 1962. Dodge borrowed a lot from the earlier versions of the lancer to design the later versions, which were made beginning 1960 and the cars that would emerge economically important to the brand for the season. The initial Dodge Lancer was a hardtop two and four-door model.

History of the Dodge Lancer

From 1961 to 1962, the Dodge Lancer received a complete re-design and facelift to offer a versatile car that would compete fairly in the highly dominated mid-size market. The model was launched at the same time when Chrysler officially released the Valiant in 1961, something that left Dodge dealers without a car to sell in that category. The Dodge Lancer borrowed a lot from the valiant and it is from this resemblance the different trims of the car were sourced. The 1961 Dodge Lancer was designed with round headlights and the grille was full-width, unlike the Valiant’s central grille. Note that Dodge did not want to make the two cars too identical despite having similar configuration and technology.

The trim levels that were available for the 1971 versions included the “170” basic and “770” premium trims. The two-door trims were marketed and sold as the Dodge Lancer Sports Premium “770”, which was basically a performance model of the car. In 1962, the Dodge Lancer premium sports coupe was given the tag “GT” and came with two bucket seats at the front, which was different from the bench front seat design that was available for the normal variations. In terms of power, the Dodge Lancer ran on the slant-6 engine which offered a displacement of 2,800 cc and could produce 101 bhp. There was also an optional power package, which came with a 3,700 litre engine that could produce 145 bhp. The Dodge Lancer engine was later modified to use aluminium 225, something that led to the reduction of its weight by 20 kg (45 pounds). Chrysler’s Hyper Pack package was also included as an upgrade that allowed the engine to offer 148 bhp.

Drag slip and competition

During the 1962 Factory Experimental, Wayne Weihe won in the drag that helped to evaluate the performance of the Dodge Lancer, especially considering it had the Hyper-Pak equipment installed to improve performance. He managed to clock 15.67 E.T. Unfortunately, the 1962 sales were not at par with the expectations of the company and Dodge Lancer sold half as much as the Valiant, something that led to the discontinuation of the Lancer name.