Restored Coronet stays in the family

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This article was published 26/04/2024 (502 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You wouldn’t know from looking at it, but at one point in time there was a tree growing through the middle of this 1968 Dodge Coronet 440. But it was no match for Nate Buhler’s grandfather, Harry.

“I do think that was his everyday car. He has lots of pictures of it just on various road trips and the like,” said Nate.

Harry rebuilt it so it could be used practically, regardless of the flora growing inside. Once he pulled the Coronet from the bushes in Deleau, he got to work.

The seats and centre console of the car weren’t salvageable, but Harry had solutions. He replaced the old seats with those from a Plymouth Roadrunner, a similar muscle car of the era. As a skilled woodworker who built much of his own house, Harry made the centre console himself.

After spending years going to car shows together, Harry gave the Coronet to Nate last year to take over. Harry bought the car with inheritance from his mother. When he started to get a little older, he decided to pass it down so that it could continue to be enjoyed by the family. Harry and Nate still regularly work on it together — this week, Harry helped Nate with a coolant flush, and they will continue going to shows together whenever they can.

Like the seating and centre console, there are many unique features about the car that Nate continues to find. One impressive customization is the air filter. Harry expertly repurposed a couple of old hubcaps to keep it together.

“I don’t know all of what he’s done to it. It’s kind of as I’m starting to do my own work on it. It’s interesting finding these things that he’s done to it,” Nate said.

Harry installed a bigger alternator than what was in the original because of a few electronic enhancements. He switched the ignition to electronic and installed a better battery.

The original engine was a Slant Six that didn’t work when he first bought the car, but Harry and Nate have heard stories about what it was like from the original owner. She recognized the Coronet at car shows and shared stories. Nate still has her original registration in the glove box.

“She’d pull up to lights and people would see the 440 on the back and they’d think it had this big powerful engine, but it really didn’t, so they would try to race her and it wouldn’t go,” Nate said, laughing.

Harry replaced the Slant Six with a 318-cubic-inch 5.2L V8 taken from an 1980s-era Dodge Diplomat. Nate recently did the calculations, and the engine comes close to 22 miles per gallon, which he explained is pretty impressive for how large it is.

He said that it is not the most powerful of muscle-car engines but makes for a great Sunday afternoon cruise on the highway.

Nate’s favourite thing about the Coronet is the way it drives. He joked that it is a bit like driving a boat, but that it is comfortable. Many cars from the 1960s and ’70s were built with comfort top of mind.

“It’s got leaf springs, which usually aren’t the best for comfort, but in this case it’s like riding on a cloud,” Nate said. Harry always said that was because of how heavy it is, coming close to 4,000 pounds.

Another of the Coronet’s quirks are the side Mopar symbols that ended up upside-down when Harry put the trim back on.

The rims are also a distinguishing feature. Nate said that when his grandfather bought the car, the rims were steel — the kind you might see on winter tires. Now, the rims are one of the most complimented parts.

Lots of what Harry did to the car does not have to be investigated. He made a scrapbook of the car’s history filled with photos of the restoration process. So even though original restoration effort predates Nate, he can still see what it was like to first fix it up.

The Coronet has gone through lots of changes in its lifetime, but there are still original elements. The dashboard is unchanged and the original transistor radio is functional. Even the original heating system works.

The restoration was done so well by Harry that the car requires minimal maintenance. Grandfather and grandson do some maintenance when it comes out of storage from the winter, but it does not require much beyond that. The duo hopes to do a polish soon to get it good and shiny before the car show season starts.

» cmcconkey@brandonsun.com