This 1968 Monaco 500 two-door hardtop is not often seen in a world of Chargers and Challengers, which is one fine reason why it’s The Pick of the Day. The mighty Mopar is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealer in Morgantown, Pennsylvania.
In 1965, Dodge introduced the Monaco, a car to do battle with the Pontiac Grand Prix. Only available as a two-door coupe, the Monaco suffered the fate that so many models experience: the name was mainstreamed into a full series including four-doors. But the spirit of Dodge’s personal-luxury coupe lived on as the Monaco 500 from 1966-70. Through 1968, the Monaco 500 was its own model but, starting in 1969, it lost its model status and instead became the “A75” Monaco 500 Ornamentation Package, which included bucket seats and console or buckets with fixed center cushion and armrest, but not much in the way of visual distinction.
Through 1968, the Monaco 500 featured distinctive trim, with this example displaying the wide, brushed longitudinal sill moldings that weren’t shared with regular Monacos and Polaras. “A wonderful example well cared for and only driven on Sundays by a grandmother to church … it has been used by our consignor over his 25 years of ownership,” says the seller. The Burgundy C-body features the standard 383 2-barrel paired to a console-shifted 727 TorqueFlite automatic. “Just a pleasure to test drive, and she fired right up. No complaining when I pushed the accelerator in gently, then firmly after a nice warmup lap”
According to the consignor, the paint appears to be original though with a few touch-ups. Seller adds that the body is “wonderfully straight” though “while there are numerous chips, scrapes and scuffs in the finish, no invasive rust is seen.”
Glance inside at the odometer and you’ll see 72,115 miles of pavement have passed underneath the Dodge, though there is no claim whether it has flipped over once. The black bucket seat interior shows it age: “All of this seating is showing wear and degradation in the form of seam splits, tearing and repairs made with black tape.”
Dodge built only 3,393 Dodge Monaco 500s in 1968, so that may explain why they don’t appear often on the street or at a show. Of course, there are rarer cars that seem more common, but that’s because they’ve been on collectors’ radar for years, and the Monaco 500 never had that luxury. At $19,500, maybe it’s your calling to contribute to its preservation?
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
Sweet Car. I wished I owned it !
More pics please.
Follow the links to the ad for the car and you’ll find plenty of pics.
Great car, just bought mine 2 weeks ago here in the Netherlands, same color, 383 with the 4barrel, originally from Texas, love it.
I have a document from Chrysler Historical Collection, that says the count for 1968 Monaco 500 was 4568.
This is what I can tell you:
A lot of Chrysler info fails to discern between US-specs and Total production. I do have a great library of production numbers but, at the time of writing, it was in boxes due to a move I made. Hence, I can’t tell you for sure which resource I used to obtain my numbers. And, guess what? Due to a cabinet project that’s stillborn, I still have yet to unpack my automotive library, so I can’t cross-reference your number with what I wrote.
For what it’s worth, I have seen Chrysler Historical documents with wrong production numbers too.
Thanks for writing!