Dodge does not build many cars like the Dodge Matador: a 2-door hardtop / 4-door hardtop / 4-door sedan / 4-door wagon with 361 CID V8, built from 1959 to 1960 at the height of the post-war boom. Its designer of record is Virgil Exner.
The story
The Dodge Matador is a full-sized automobile produced for the 1960 model year by Dodge. The Matador was the base model, positioned below the top trim level Dodge Polara that also used the 122-inch (3,099 mm) wheelbase platform of the Chrysler Windsor and Chrysler Newport models.
What is underneath
Under the skin sits 361 CID V8; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Kerb weight is 3880 lb approx.. The gearbox is a 3-speed manual / 2-speed PowerFlite automatic / 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 122 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Dodge's history is not in doubt: the Dodge Coronet (Fourth generation) came before it; the Dodge Polara followed it. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Nissan Patrol, the Mini Mini, the Volvo P1800. Nearby in the Dodge catalogue sit the Dodge 1500 and the 1955 Dodge.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Dodge Matador 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.