Dodge Monaco
The Dodge Monaco was a full-size automobile built and sold by the Dodge division of the Chrysler Corporation (now DaimlerChrysler) between 1965 to 1978 and 1990 to 1992.
The Dodge Monaco was originally designed to compete with Pontiac's Grand Prix model in what came to be known as the personal luxury market. Introduced in 1965 as a hardtop coupe, the Monaco was based on the Dodge Polara two door hardtop coupe. The Monaco received special badging, different taillight and grille treatment, and a center console.
In Canada, the Monaco was Dodge's version of the Sport Fury, available in hardtop or convertible body styles. Unlike the American Monaco, the Canadian Monaco could be had with the 318 in³ V8 or even the slant six.
For 1966 the American Custom 880 series became the Monaco and the former Monaco became the Monaco 500. The Canadian Dodge hung onto the "Monaco" name for the Sport Fury equivalent and Polara 880 for the Fury III competitor.
In 1967, the Monaco name was applied to all premium trim level, full-sized Dodge products (sedans, coupes, and station wagons) in Canada, replacing the Polara 880 at the top of the Dodge line. Taking the Monaco's place as a premium full-size model was the Monaco 500, which was available only as a two-door hardtop and convertible. Dodge terminated the Monaco 500 at the end of the 1968 model run in the United States and 1970 in Canada.
Chrysler Canada Ltd. fielded a Dodge Monaco in Canada, which was also available as a convertible. However, Canadian Monaco’s were equipped with Plymouth dashboards in 1965 and 1966.
In 1969 Dodge Monaco and Polara models offered the "Super-Lite" option, which placed a quartz road lamp on the driver side grille for better visibility. Despite the fanfare, Dodge dropped the light option at the end of the year because of lack of consumer interest and various challenges to its legality in certain states.
As a result of the 1970s' energy crisis, Chrysler shifted the Monaco nameplate to the midsize B platform in 1977, retiring the Coronet name. For 1977, the older, larger Monaco remained available and was called the Dodge Royal Monaco. The nameplate disappeared at the end of the 1977 model year and was reincarnated as the Dodge St. Regis for 1979. The St. Regis was gone at the end of 1981.
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