Always liked the '62 Dart, I thought the designers did a GREAT job with the rear quarters and tail lights!

My great aunt, a fearless menace behind the wheel, had a purple '62 Dart. She was ancient, odd, and beyond cool, so it was the perfect match.

These car are nicely designed. Don't know why they some didn't like them.

Dad had a 62 330 wagon 318 torqueflite Bulletproof, never an issue in all the years he owned it. I loved the styling!

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

I bought a nine year old, 1962 base model Dart sedan. It had a 225 six, automatic, radio, heater, whitewalls and a dealer installed air conditioner. It was one of the best cars that I ever had.

I had a couple of relatives with 4 Dr. Hardtop '62 Darts. They only differed in slight differences in trim. One had the Star hub-caps and the rectangular steering wheel hub. The one I drove had different and less-flashy hub-caps and the hub of the steering wheels was completely round with a shiny black plastic disc and logo. It was white with a red vinyl interior. I was able to drive it on numerous occasions and even with the base V-8, I found it to be quick and nimble, easy to park, and even in Miami, the air conditioning was very effective. The air conditioning outlets were very well positioned and there were two outlets on top of the dashboard that you could raise or lower, that I thought were very well thought out. It had power everything, so pretty optioned-up for a Dart in those days. I always thought the push-button automatic was a nice feature and got the shift handle out of the way. The only draw-back was the strange styling. Even new, it stood out, and not in a nice way. By the time they were 3 or 4 years old they looked just plain weird!

My gramma traded a 1958 Belvedere for a 1962 Dart 440 with the same 318 that was in the Plymouth.. Ugly as a mud fence, but it would FLY! I had a 1962 Lancer GT. Great little car I'd like to have again.

I ve always like the 62 dodge styling. Thought it actually looked better than the 62 full size chevy, which I m rather neutral.

I was 17 yrs old, senior in HS..... I had a dart 4 door in high school with 318 2 b carb. Rumor was it had some options like bigger rear diff and spring package (police car options?? it was a fast car & I was dumb and wrecked it.

Well this is my kind of channel. I hope you do more videos using brochures. I remember these cars well. My hometown had a big Dodge dealership. Two of my parents’ friends had ‘62 Dodge wagons. One owned a pet store. They had 4-5 kids and their wagon was a 440, white with red interior. I thought it was pretty. I remember they had a horse in their backyard … and they lived in a regular neighborhood. Zoning must have been different back then. 50 years later, one of their sons became mayor … and they still own the pet store. Another 62 Dodge owner went to church with us. They had nine kids and drove a light blue 330 wagon. The dad was a Fuller Brush salesman (anyone remember those). I remember the car was either full of kids or full of sample boxes. One day, he came to our house to bring something … and the car was painted fire engine red. Nothing was wrong with the original paint. But the dad had gone and painted it … HIMSELF … WITH PAINT BRUSHES!!!! More than half a century later and I can still see it sitting on our driveway. The paint was thick, you could see brush strokes, and wherever there was chrome badging (Dodge, 330, etc.) you could see the original blue as he didn’t do any detail work. I was just a little kid at the time - already a confirmed car nut - and this incident completely shocked me. All these years later, when someone mentions painting a car, my mind instantly goes back to that blue/red 330 wagon. And the interior was still blue. It looked awful. I don’t know what happened to that family. They seemed to disappear … either changed churches or moved away. Hard to believe how long ago that was … and how old I am now. 😮

I had a babysitter and they had a black 440 sedan. It was traded in on a '69 Charger Super Bee. Bronze with black vinyl, top and interior. The father bought back the '62 from the dealer because he missed it so bad.

Cool cars !

My family had a 62 Dart 4-door. Not sure of the submodel. It had a slant 6 and a push button automatic. I was 5 when we bought it. It was grey and white 2 tone. I logged a lot of back seat time while we had that car. Good times!

Hi Char, nice video! I am 63 years old. I agree that the 1964 Pontiac GTO was not the first High Performance Automobile, or "Muscle Car" that most people say. It is just that the GTO was the first heavily advertised High Performance Automobile, due to John DeLorean, chief of GMs Pontiac Motor Division at that time. You see, John DeLorean stopped at nothing to bring people to Pontiac(s) showroom floors, and he did just that. Pontiac Motor Division was hurting, GM was considering to cancel Pontiac if DeLorean could not save Pontiac. DeLorean's idea was to market a exotic automobile that the average person could afford, but in the mean time, they would drive off in a more expensive Grand Prix or Bonneville. DeLorean contracted Ronny & the Daytonas and The Beach Boys the top 40 song "Little G.T.O" and Jan & Dean "My Mighty G.T.O." and it worked. The GTO sold way more than ever expected. The Monkeemobile used in the 1966 TV series "The Monkees" was donated by GM. All of the Monkees actor/musicians where donated brand new 1966 GTOs. The 1966 GTO was the highest production GTO ever. In the mean time, DeLorean brought Pontiac sales right behind the Ford Motor Company in 1966. If you notice, I use the term i.e. "High Performance Automobile" vs. "Muscle Car" because Muscle Car is a figure of speech, and I spell "High Performance Automobile" with capital first letters. Please reply. Dave...

The max wedge engine 413, were the fastest cars of the time. This was a factory built race car, not a muscle car, meaning it had no styling appeal, only high performance was important. No carpets, no radio, some had lighter fenders and bumpers. Muscle cars were built for more a mainstream customer, nice wheels and emblems to let you know it was a higher performance model, fast but not a monster like the max wedge cars! They were a very interesting part of car history!

I had the '62 Dodge Lancer (sister to the '62 Plymouth Valiant. I'd love to see some background on those two cars sometime. Thanks!

I think the GTO wins out on affordability. Also a readily available 4 speed stick.

In 1962 Virgil Exner almost killed Chrysler. The idea was to give their cars a totally new look for the 1960s. Well Exner did that. Problem was most people would rather buy the look cars used to have. 2 pairs of headlights, with those lights placed next to each other and maybe some small tail fins. Chrysler's 1962 cars just looked too weird. In 1960 and 1961 there were some compact cars, like the Falcon and the Corvair that sold well. The theory was that people wanted a smaller car. Well they didn't really. If they were paying for a full size car they felt cheated if they got a car that was a little bit smaller, like those '62 cars. Chrysler had to bring back the old looking big cars for 1963.

I just loved the style.. bland, it was not!

I'm one of the (apparently) few who does not dislike the styling of the '62s. In my opinion they were much better than the '61s which were oversized and truly ugly.

Don't be mad at me here, but I'm one of those folks who didn't care for the Dart. Just too boxy and utilitarian looking for me! But, I do appreciate that there's plenty of you out there that did love the Dart 😊

My father brought home one of these ugly Dodges. My mother was appalled. A year later we were driving a beautiful Impala. Moral: Happy wife, happy life.

The '62 Darts were UGLY! I bought a new 1964 Dart because it was the best looking of the cheapest cars. If I would have waited a few months, I would have been a Mustang owner. The Mustang looked better, but the Dart was far superior in every other way. More headroom, rear seat legroom and much more trunk room. The Dart handled more like a sports car than the Mustang. You're correct. Mopar set the standard for muscle cars.

The Darts sure did "morph" over the years. I restored a 1969 Dart GTS and had it for about 11 years. That was a fast car, I had to sell it, or I'd still have it today. Numbers matching 340 x block and heads, 4 speed car.