1965 DART GT 273 4BBL

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I have seen one window sticker for a '65 Formula S that had the disc brakes listed. I saw the car still in the hands of the original woman owner in the fall of 1990. The car has changed hands a few times since then. It was also a special order paint color. She kept the window sticker in the glove box.
 
cudamark said:
Does anyone have a 1965 model with factory disc brakes? I've never seen a window sticker or broadcast sheet with that option listed. My understanding is that it was a dealer installed option that model year. I have one of the earliest '66 Barracudas (Aug 17th 1965), and it has factory disc brakes.
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It seems the it was a dealer option from April/May 1965 but factory equipment from late June/early July.
 
65dartcharger said:
It seems the it was a dealer option from April/May 1965 but factory equipment from late June/early July.
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When did they shut the line down in 1965 to tool up for the '66 models? Was it the same date for all plants? How many cars were actually made in June and July of 1965?
 
In the many times I have been around the block in my 71 years I have never seen a 65 A body with factory disc brakes- or an 8 3/4 rear. Including a 65 Valiant 100 with Commando and 4 speed that was exclusively an F/Stock drag car before I bought it in 1966. Because of the 7 1/4 rear breakages- they upgraded to a 66 with 8 3/4
 
Gib Warnick said:
In the many times I have been around the block in my 71 years I have never seen a 65 A body with factory disc brakes- or an 8 3/4 rear. Including a 65 Valiant 100 with Commando and 4 speed that was exclusively an F/Stock drag car before I bought it in 1966. Because of the 7 1/4 rear breakages- they upgraded to a 66 with 8 3/4
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In my 69 years I never have either. However, I do have a couple of old road tests of 65 Barracudas with disc brakes, so I'm satisfied that at least a few of them existed.

As for a factory-installed 8 3/4 rear in 65 A bodies, I personally have not seen any evidence of such, but am aware that some have claimed they exist. Whether they were for sure factory installed is another matter. I've learned never to say never about any Mopar combinations, but I would note that my April-built 65 Barracuda has had an 8 3/4 rear since the early seventies. Only reason I know that is I've owned it that long. Looks factory installed, but it's not what it came with. The number of people who were around back in 65 and were able to make contemporary observations of what rear end was actually under these cars is getting smaller every day. Heck, I wasn't even old enough to drive back then myself, and had zero experience with 65 Barracudas until I bought my own in August of 68.
 
I remember someone saying awhile back that after awhile the factory began replacing 7 1/4 rears with 8 3/4 rears due to all the breakage on 4 speed cars-....may be a technical service bulletin floating around out there...
 
Back in 1966 I offered to pay for a 8.75 limited slip diff in my 65 Dart 273-4 if my 5-50 warranty would be retained. Factory service rep said no. Any change from factory drivetrain equipment would void warranty. Seemed silly to the dealer service manager at Chuck Hutton Dodge in Columbus, GA. The factory would rather pay to replace spider gears in my 7.25 than warranty the 8.75 I paid for.
Might just have been that particular zone service rep, but that was his decision or the factory, I don't know.
 
Gib Warnick said:
I remember someone saying awhile back that after awhile the factory began replacing 7 1/4 rears with 8 3/4 rears due to all the breakage on 4 speed cars-....may be a technical service bulletin floating around out there...
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I think the 5-50 warranty covered 7.25 rears that broke and replaced them with 8.75 in manual trans only. Rumor mill talk, but makes sense.
 
pishta said:
I think the 5-50 warranty covered 7.25 rears that broke and replaced them with 8.75 in manual trans only. Rumor mill talk, but makes sense.
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Did you read my post?
The opposite was true in my personal experience in1966 at Chuck Hutton Dodge in Columbus, GA. Other zones may have had different experiences but not in the Atlanta zone.
 
65ChargerDart said:
Back in 1966 I offered to pay for a 8.75 limited slip diff in my 65 Dart 273-4 if my 5-50 warranty would be retained. Factory service rep said no. Any change from factory drivetrain equipment would void warranty. Seemed silly to the dealer service manager at Chuck Hutton Dodge in Columbus, GA. The factory would rather pay to replace spider gears in my 7.25 than warranty the 8.75 I paid for.
Might just have been that particular zone service rep, but that was his decision or the factory, I don't know.
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Jim! I assume there are many differencies between all the dealerships in U.S.! I talked with a guy who sold these cars new. He said to the customer to get an 8 3/4 rearend instead. The service manager said no!! So the customer got back said it could not be done. The customer traded in the broken car and they never heard of him anymore! Sad!
 
Gib Warnick said:
In the many times I have been around the block in my 71 years I have never seen a 65 A body with factory disc brakes- or an 8 3/4 rear. Including a 65 Valiant 100 with Commando and 4 speed that was exclusively an F/Stock drag car before I bought it in 1966. Because of the 7 1/4 rear breakages- they upgraded to a 66 with 8 3/4
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Gib, you have any pictures of that Valiant in F/Stock?
 
65dartcharger said:
Jim! I assume there are many differencies between all the dealerships in U.S.! I talked with a guy who sold these cars new. He said to the customer to get an 8 3/4 rearend instead. The service manager said no!! So the customer got back said it could not be done. The customer traded in the broken car and they never heard of him anymore! Sad!
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Ulf, Chrysler replaced 5 spider gears in my original '65 Dart before the warranty ran out. It was a ridiculous and expensive decision to put a 7.25" diff in an A body with a 273-4bbl and 4-speed. I was running 13" cheater slicks and the diff couldn't handle the stress. Of course I removed the slicks when I had the car towed to the dealer for warranty repairs but the service guys knew I was racing with slicks at Phenix City Dragway because they were there and helped me set up my Dart for maximum performance.
 
65ChargerDart said:
Ulf, Chrysler replaced 5 spider gears in my original '65 Dart before the warranty ran out. It was a ridiculous and expensive decision to put a 7.25" diff in an A body with a 273-4bbl and 4-speed. I was running 13" cheater slicks and the diff couldn't handle the stress. Of course I removed the slicks when I had the car towed to the dealer for warranty repairs but the service guys knew I was racing with slicks at Phenix City Dragway because they were there and helped me set up my Dart for maximum performance.
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Thanks for sharing your story Jim!
 
Hyper_pak said:
Gib, you have any pictures of that Valiant in F/Stock?
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No sorry- It had been returned to original when I bought it off a small used car lot- I didn't know it's history until I put it on a lift and noticed where the inner fendedrs had been patched - with original metal- they did a really great job under hood. BTW- I broke the rear on the 20 mile trip home- doing multiple burnouts- It had a 4.33 gear in the rear- (7 1/4). Fun on the 6.50 13 tires. They replace it with a rear out of junk yard- 3.23 with no posi-( what we called it then). Not nearly as much fun.
 
Thanks for sharing.
On my 64 barracuda, I put a set of 13 inch wheels back on it for fun.
It would turn a tire 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. But it ran out of steam trying to run at interstate speeds.
 
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