Dodge built only 55 Coronet WO23 Super Stock cars for 1967, and every one carried a 426 Hemi. That tiny run sums up the Coronet’s strange double life. For nearly three decades, the same name sat on comfortable family sedans and on some of the fiercest factory drag cars Detroit ever sold.
The Coronet started at the top of Dodge’s range in 1949. Later, it slid to the entry level, and then it came back as a mid-size muscle platform. Most Coronets were sensible buys. However, a handful of them got the details just right.
These are our picks: seven Coronets that, in our view, Dodge absolutely nailed. Only the Hemi cars here can claim true rarity on paper, and we give the numbers where a source does. The rest are well-kept survivors of models that rarely turn up today. The verdict is our opinion, while the years, engines and figures come from period records, auction listings and reference sources.
1. 1967 Dodge Coronet WO23 Super Stock Hemi
WO23 was an order code, not a trim name. It turned a plain Coronet into a ready-made Super Stock racer for weekend drag racers. The package added only performance parts, such as a 4.88:1 rear axle with Sure-Grip, and it moved the battery to the trunk. It also dropped the front anti-roll bar and some of the sound deadening.
Dodge built 55 of these cars for 1967, all with the 426 Hemi. According to RM Sotheby’s listing for one survivor, just 16 had four-speed gearboxes. That same car came with a letter saying the cars should not be street-driven and carried no warranty. It sold for $104,500 at the auction house’s Fort Lauderdale sale in 2013.
In our view, the Coronet WO23 is the purest Coronet ever built. It looks like a plain family hardtop, yet it was designed for the quarter-mile. The Petersen Automotive Museum keeps one in its basement Vault collection. Mopar Insiders described that car as a real 426 Hemi with a column shift and a bench seat. If you ever see a Coronet WO23 for sale, check the paperwork closely, because that order code is what matters.
2. 1949 Dodge Coronet Gyro-Matic
The Coronet name first appeared in 1949, and it marked the top of Dodge’s line. The Wayfarer and Meadowbrook sat below it. Dodge introduced the restyled range in April 1949, and the new cars were longer and lower than the 1948 models.
Every 1949 Coronet used a 230-cubic-inch flathead six rated at 103 hp. The interesting part was the transmission. Fluid Drive, a three-speed semi-automatic setup, was standard. Gyro-Matic was the optional semi-automatic variant. As a result, Dodge could offer some automatic convenience before its fully automatic PowerFlite arrived in the 1950s. The Conceptcarz model history notes that the Coronet and Wayfarer helped Dodge sell nearly 300,000 cars and place second in the medium-price market.
We think Dodge nailed the brief here. It built a solid, dignified car for postwar families, with clever tech that made city driving easier. Buyers could also choose from coupe, club coupe, convertible, sedan and wagon bodies. A Gyro-Matic survivor is a rare sight today. If you buy one, find a mechanic who understands the fluid coupling before you need one.
3. 1966 Dodge Coronet 500 426 Hemi Hardtop
For 1966, Chrysler did something bold. It offered the street version of its 426 Hemi to ordinary buyers, partly so the engine could race legally in NASCAR. Dodge’s advertising asked a simple question: “Why not drop a Hemi in the new Coronet 500?”
The Street Hemi used two four-barrel carburetors, hydraulic lifters and 10.5:1 compression. Chrysler rated it at 425 hp. Yet very few buyers ticked the box. Hagerty reports that only 738 of nearly 251,000 Coronets sold that year had the Hemi. The option cost $457 when new.
That gap is why we rate the 1966 car so highly. Dodge put a race-bred engine into a crisp, restyled mid-size hardtop and left the body nearly plain. The Coronet 500 added the nicer cabin, so the result felt upscale and wild at once. In our view, it is the definitive sleeper of the early Hemi years. For the bigger picture, see our ranking of Hemi engines we’d rank above everything else. If you shop for one, verify the engine’s history with a Mopar specialist, since many cars have been re-engined.
4. 1968 Dodge Coronet R/T 426 Hemi
Dodge redesigned the Coronet completely for 1968. The R/T sat at the top, priced at $3,353 for the hardtop and $3,613 for the convertible. Standard equipment included bucket seats, dual exhausts, heavy-duty brakes and a TorqueFlite automatic. Under the hood, a 440 Magnum V8 rated at 375 hp came as standard.
The Street Hemi was a $605 option. According to Old Cars Weekly, buyers ordered it in just 230 R/Ts. That breaks down to 94 cars with four-speeds and 136 with the automatic. Hemi cars also got a heavy-duty suspension, and air conditioning was off the table.
We think the 1968 R/T is the best-looking Coronet of the muscle era. The new body was rounder and tighter, with a power-bulge hood and optional bumblebee stripes. It also kept the Coronet 500’s interior, so it never felt stripped. Meanwhile, the cheaper Super Bee arrived in early 1968, which left the R/T as the better-equipped pick. Our advice: check the build paperwork carefully, because clones far outnumber the real Hemi cars.
5. 1959 Dodge Coronet Lancer Four-Door Hardtop
The 1959 Dodge line debuted on October 10, 1958. Writing for Hagerty, Thomas Klockau called it “basically the 1957 model with heavy makeup.” The ’59 was longer, lower and wider, and even the base Coronet wore far more chrome.
Every Dodge hardtop that year carried the Lancer name, so this pillarless four-door was the Coronet Lancer. Dodge did not offer the six-cylinder in this body. Instead, a 326-cubic-inch V8 rated at 255 hp was the starting point, with optional 383 V8s rated at up to 345 hp. Buyers could also order swivel front seats. These pivoted outward to about 45 degrees, which made climbing in under the low roof much easier.
Dodge built 151,851 cars for 1959. In our opinion, the four-door hardtop is the body that shows off this design best, because the open side windows stretch those long fins even further. It is pure late-1950s excess, and we mean that kindly. If you find one, check the chrome and trim first, since replacing it can cost more than the engine work.
6. 1958 Dodge Coronet Two-Door Hardtop
The 1958 Coronet arrived in a tough year. A recession hit car sales, and Dodge’s production fell from 281,359 cars in 1957 to 133,953 in 1958. Chrysler even launched a spring specials program to tempt buyers. Dodge’s share of it included new belt-line trim, a fresh grille emblem and new fin caps.
Visually, 1958 brought quad headlights and a more conventional grille. The Coronet was still the entry-level Dodge, and it was the only line with the 230-cubic-inch Getaway six, rated at 123 hp. Buyers could step up to a 325-cubic-inch Red Ram V8 instead. Every Lancer hardtop also carried a lance-and-shield emblem on each fin.
We think the two-door hardtop is the sweet spot of the 1958 range. It has the full Exner-era shape, with no center pillar and those big fins, in the least expensive series. Sales were weak that year, so the 1958 cars get less attention than the 1957s. In our view, that makes a clean one a smart find for anyone who loves late-1950s Mopar style. Before you buy, inspect the lower body and trunk floor for rust, and budget for trim.
7. 1955 Dodge Coronet Lancer
For 1955, Virgil Exner’s restyle turned Dodge’s lineup into lower, wider and longer cars. Meanwhile, the Coronet dropped to the base of the range, below the Royal and Custom Royal. Its hardtop coupe was officially a “Lancer,” but it wore only Coronet badges.
The Coronet was the only 1955 Dodge line with the 230-cubic-inch six. However, buyers could also order a 270-cubic-inch Red Ram V8, which gave the cheapest Dodge real pep. The PowerFlite two-speed automatic used a lever on the dashboard that year. For 1956, Dodge switched it to push buttons. Chrysler’s Hemi story started a few years earlier, as our piece on the 1951 FirePower Hemi explains.
Why do we think Dodge nailed this one? It offered the full Exner look, a pillarless roof and an optional V8 at the lowest price in the Dodge range. That is a lot of style for the money, even 70 years on. A 1955 Coronet Lancer with the V8 is the one we would look for. Check the badges and body tag, though, since the Lancer name never appeared on the car itself.
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