This beautiful blue 1966 Dodge Coronet 500 is as fine an example of a survivor car as can be found anywhere. It’s clean, straight, solid, all the numbers match. Best of all, the numbers match up to the 426 Hemi that sits under the hood! It is also for sale. So if you’ve got the money and the nerve to buy and drive one of the all-time great high-horsepower cars produced by Dodge, it’s going across Mecum’s Indianapolis auction block on Saturday May 18th, 2013.

Underneath the hood is the power plant that is truly what high-performance dreams are made of…the early 426 Street Hemi. This is the solid-lifter, dual-quad, wooly mammoth of legend that was really too hot for practical everyday street use. 

The rest of the powertrain is as celebrated as the motor. The big Hemi cranks through a super heavy duty 4-speed box and finishes at the almost indestructible Dana 60 rear end. This combination was considered ‘bulletproof’ at the time and after all these years, it can still take anything that you can dish out!

Chrysler drum brakes are on all four wheels so stopping efficiency is still mired in the 60‘s. On their best days, the skinny little red line tires are no match for the horsepower and torque generated by this combination. However like the brakes, they are period correct for the car. So if you want to go for a cruise and maybe would like to accelerate quickly, stop cleanly or steer rapidly, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to invest in a set of rubber that is more appropriate for the task. If you can afford this beauty, you can surely pop for a separate set of running shoes for it.

Inspection of the body and chassis reveals an unaltered, rock-solid platform. The interior looks great for its age and retains its stock trim save for two aftermarket gauges to help keep a more accurate observation of the engine temp and pressure.

Recently this rolling piece of muscle car history was offered for sale on eBay for an asking price of $74,900.00. Unfortunately for the consignor there were no takers. At Mecum’s Indianapolis auction, it is lot number S105.1 and the car is being offered at no reserve. So chances are extremely good that someone new is going home with a shiny piece of Hemi history. If you had the cash, would it be you?