Start with what the Dodge 600 is: a 4-door sedan (1983–1988) / 2-door coupe (1984–1986) / 2-door convertible (1984–1986) with 2.2 L Chrysler K engine#2.2, built from 1982 to 1988, in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. What it meant takes a little longer.
The story
The Dodge 600 is a mid-size car that was sold by Dodge from the 1983 to 1988 model year. Serving as the replacement of the Dodge 400 coupe and convertible, the 600 also included a four-door sedan. Within the Dodge car line, the 600 was slotted between the Dodge Aries (later, the Dodge Lancer) and the Dodge Diplomat.
The 600 coupe/convertible used the Chrysler K platform, shared with the Chrysler LeBaron; the four-door used the Chrysler E platform, an extended-wheelbase variant of the K platform. The 600 was a counterpart of the Plymouth Caravelle, the Chrysler E-Class, and the 1983–1988 Chrysler New Yorker. Chrysler assembled the 600 four-door at Jefferson Avenue Assembly (Detroit, Michigan) and the two-door/convertible at Saint Louis Assembly (Fenton, Missouri). For 1989, the 600 was replaced by the Dodge Dynasty in the United States; in Canada (where the Dynasty were badged as a Chrysler), the 600 was replaced by the Dodge Spirit.
What is underneath
The engine is 2.2 L Chrysler K engine#2.2; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Drive goes through a 5-speed A520 manual / 5-speed A525 manual / 3-speed A413 automatic / 3-speed A470 automatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 100.3 in (coupe/convertible, 1984–1986) / 103.3 in (sedan). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
In the Dodge line-up the Dodge 600 has a clear place: it replaced the Dodge 400; it handed the line to the Dodge Spirit (Canada) / Dodge Dynasty (United States); the factory was Detroit, Michigan. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Nissan Micra, the Porsche 944, the Opel Corsa. Nearby in the Dodge catalogue sit the Dodge 1500 and the 1955 Dodge.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Dodge 600 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.