The name Polara is a reference to the Polaris star in a marketing attempt to appeal to the excitement surrounding the Space Race during the early 1960s.

The 1960 Polara and other full-sized Dodges featured styling cues carried over from 1959 models, itself an evolution of Virgil Exner's "Forward Look" cars introduced in 1957.

The 1960 full-sized Dodges continued with the make's styling hallmarks of stacked "jet pod" tail lights.

This allowed the fin to start on the door and end sooner, relative to the tip of the round tail light, and still appear as long or longer than on the Dart.

The 1961 styling overhaul of the Dodge line-up was different from anything else on the US market at that time (save the 1961 Plymouth, and consumers turned away from the 1961 restyle.

A total of 1,236 units were part of a special order for the State of California Highway Patrol produced in the 999 trim code.

The four-door sedans were essentially low-cost models equipped similarly to Dodge Dart standards, including rubber floor mats, gray vinyl interiors, and limited chrome trim.

[3] However, GM was developing a new mid-sized automobile that would become the 1964 Chevelle, but continued to offer its line of traditional full-size cars for 1962.

As a result, Dodge and Plymouth were marketing smaller cars that the public and motoring press found stylistically awkward.

As a result, development was accelerated for a new full-size car, using the front end from the 1961 Dodge Polara and the body from the 1962 Chrysler Newport.

The basic body of the 1962 model continued until 1964, revised and lengthened by the new Chrysler vice president of styling Elwood Engel.

The Chevrolet Impala inspired the rear-end treatment, and the Polara models now featured six small, square-shaped taillights (three on each side) surrounded by a bright trim panel.

A new "C" pillar for the hardtop coupes, combined with the revised front and rear-end styling, made the 1964s look new, resulting in a significant increase in sales over 1963.

The Polara 500 continued as Dodge's sporty mid-size model, competing with the full-size Ford Galaxie 500/XL and Chevrolet's Impala Super Sport, featuring an engine-turned anodized aluminum trim strip along the car's flanks as well as bucket seats and deluxe vinyl upholstery.

), the Polara, in effect, replaced the 880 and remained a step below the Custom 880, and the new Monaco hardtop coupe was now Dodge's top model.

These Polaras were criticized for low fuel economy, with owners of 383 cu in (6.3 L) cars achieving an average of 13.8 mpg‑US (17.0 L/100 km; 16.6 mpg‑imp).

The 1967 models received a facelift, and the hardtop coupe adopted a semi-fastback roof style with a reverse-slant rear quarter window.

The 1968 model year added outboard front shoulder belts and side marker lights, in addition to the 1967 safety equipment.

The 1969 Dodge Polara models offered a unique "Super-Lite" option, which placed a single quartz auxiliary "turnpike beam" headlamp in the driver-side grille.

Dodge also discontinued the Super-Lite option at the end of the 1970 model year because of a lack of consumer interest and challenges to its legality in some states.

The 1973 models received new front-end styling (reminiscent of the full-size 1970 Chevrolets) abandoning the wraparound front bumper.

The energy crisis in the fall of 1973, spurred on by the Arab/OPEC oil embargo, resulted in a drop in sales of all full-size American automobiles that did not provide good fuel economy.

In Argentina, the name Polara was used to refer to a series of vehicles developed on the basis of the North American 1967-1969 Dodge Dart.

[citation needed] They were hard to sell as gas consumption is high compared to the 4- and 6-cylinder cars the Argentinian consumer is used to.