We were just heading out for our late-afternoon walk, when this black Coronet rolled by, with obvious damage to its right rear end. Uh-oh; and I was too slow to get a shot of it. Shoot! Then just a few block later, there it is, parked at the curb. And we got to hear its story.
The youthful new owner’s mother and grandmother were just getting out after their first ride. The big, black Dodge just arrived from the east coast, a gift from his great aunt, who is quite a collector. She gave him this one, because it needs fixing. But it purrs purrfectly, and is in very good shape otherwise.
I love Chrysler products from this era. They’re truly built like tanks, and the quality of materials, fit and finish is so high. And the seating position is absolutely superlative; like a tall throne, and with headroom to spare. All thanks to Chrysler President K.T. Keller, who spelled out his dictum about his cars’ tallness: “We build cars to sit in, not to pee over.”
This Coronet features Chrysler’s Fluid Drive, called Gyro-Matic in Dodge-speak. There were several versions of Chrysler transmissions with fluid couplings, but this is the final edition, also known as the M6 Presto-Matic. It was a two-speed transmission with an underdrive unit, a clutch and the fluid coupling. The two main gears were Low and High range, selected with the clutch pushed in. Normally, one just used High Range, and somewhere above 13 mph, one lifted the gas pedal briefly and the underdrive dis-engaged, the result being top gear. Low Range was intended for steep hills and such. One could use it for a brisker start, but that’s not really what these cars were all about. The 230 cubic inch flathead six was all about low-speed torque, and well suited to this transmission.
This is a large and stately car, with a 123.5″ wheelbase. But I couldn’t get any shots to do it justice, as the sun was dipping directly behind it. But I expect to see it again, and when it’s been repaired, we’ll set up a proper shoot. In the meantime, welcome to CC Land!
My BIL owned that car or one so near to it that my memory has morphed it to this one. He drove it for several years, then went with a V8 chrysler. I want to say a 1954. But the point is that the transmission worked the same way. I was always impressed with how well they both worked. He was sort of a trendsetter in autos as he owned the first Toyota pickup in the county and he could fix just about anything.
A perfect comparison today, with this car right after the 68 Newport. Astute readers will notice that there is but 1/2 inch difference in wheelbase between these two cars, with the Dodge being the shorter (123.5 vs. 124 inches).
I love these as well. A good friend owned a ’51 Dodge Meadowbrook that he used as a daily driver for awhile in the 90s. His was the basic fluid drive which was nothing more than a fluid coupling mated to a 3 speed. The ’49-50 is a little more “old school” in its decorative touches, and I prefer it for looks.
I got to drive the car around the neighborhood. I was told to put it in second and just drive. The torquey six was right in its element. And what a sound. This is another car that I would really enjoy, although I would probably go for a 46-48 if one were available, just for the older style body. What a great experience you had. Color me envious!
While discussing his ’41 Plymouth, Jay Leno claimed that while Walter was alive, Chrysler had higher standards, so perhaps they were still running on his fumes with this one as well.
It’s Back to the Future, in that the center of modern dashes is once more dominant, now with a navigation screen etc. instead of a massive Art Deco tube radio as in the past.
What’s with the name?
We don’t hear or read much about coronets over the past fifty years. Why would a car manufacturer come up with it back in the Post-WWII era? The word Coronet was one that was not at all unusual during this time, for a couple of reasons, one of them being the name of a quite popular general interest magazine found on about 10% of America’s coffee tables over the previous decade, and during WWII.
Coronet magazine was a popular digest famous for it’s beautiful art and photography. It was the sister publication to the still published, Esquire and between the Great Depression and 1960, had a healthy circulation of millions in subscriptions and from stores and newstands.
During the booming post-WWII school years, Coronet magazine launched a line of popular instructional school films, “Coronet Films”. You can view a lot of them on YouTube today.
The name Coronet was also used as a line for cameras during this era, which is not surprising due to the famous art and photography of the popular digest.
The magazine did not go out of business due to a lack of popularity, but due to the high cost of producing such an expensive publication. Imagine a Reader’s Digest with loads of gorgeous photography and art, instead of the black and white print, and you can get an idea of why costs of Coronet were so high, even in the smaller digest size. In 1960, when it ran out of money, Coronet digest still had a circulation in the millions, however with the high costs of publication and the low cost of subscriptions and newstand price, coupled with the 1957-58 and 1961 recessions, Coronet could no longer be produced with Esquire. Folks with subscriptions discovered a Reader’s Digest in their mailbox until their Coronet subscription ran out in 1961.
For Chrysler to consider using the word for a small crown for their top line of new Dodge seemed entirely within the “rhelm” of possibilities. When considering what the auto designers, stylists and millions of Americans read every month, “Coronet” had a nice ring to it.
BTW – The big television event of 1953, (QEII’s coronation), comes after the launch of this car, so while many of us associate the name with Her Majesty’s coronation, the Dodge Coronet was not named for this famous event.
My parents subscribed to Cornet for several years in the 50s. For some reason, it never attracted much interest from me. I found the Reader’s Digest more compelling! Thank you for the background information and the recollection.
I have to admit I’ve never liked these cars very much. As a little kid in the 50s, I thought they were terribly old-fashioned (even the way they smelled inside, mohair upholstery and all) and was thrilled with the new Exner designs in 55. My great aunt and uncle replaced their black 49 Chrysler sedan with a new 55 DeSoto Firedome hardtop coupe in white over baby blue and white vinyl interior – now that was progress!
My experience as well. To kids of the 1950’s, Chrysler products of this era defined ‘frumpy’ before we even knew the word.
Now however I have to say I love the massiveness of this thing. It unquestionably owns the ground it sits on. All it needs is a 100 lb sun visor.
My mother and dad were a microcosm of postwar American society, married in 1946, two new babies, a new job for dad, a new tract house in the L.A. suburbs. But by 1949, growing tired of mom’s pre-war 1941 Plymouth, and wanting to move up the automotive hierarchy, they scrimped and saved and bought a new series ’49 Dodge Coronet, a two-door coupe in a light green color. But they even deleted the heater, not to mention a radio or clock, so enamored were they of moving up the ladder to the more prestigious Dodge. But by the time I was a young child, I was terribly embarrassed among my peers to even be seen in this car, and all the more so since my mother had caught the passenger door handle on a parked truck in an alley somewhere and ripped it off, never to be repaired. I thought all these Chrysler cars were long in the tooth and ridiculously old-fashioned, and I was never happier when they finally sold the Dodge and bought a brand new Oldsmobile 88 Holiday hardtop in 1955. Now I could hold my head up, we had arrived! And at the same time (almost), my grandmother traded in her 1949 DeSoto Custom for a new ’56 DeSoto Firedome Seville hardtop in a charcoal gray and pink two-tone configuration. The whole family was making progress!
Don, your family definitely had arrived. My Dad’s sister and her husband traded in their 53 Nash (frumpy no matter the Pininfarina badge on the fender) for a new 55 Olds 88 Holiday four door hardtop, one of the first of that body style from the factory. I was in heaven the first time I sat in that magnificent car. I think I ran the battery down running the power antenna up and down. And the amazing indicator arrow for the Hydramatic that popped into view when you turned on the ignition. 55 was a very good year for cars and kids.
“No radio, dont want any of those new fangled distractions while driving” I imagine thats what the gray sutied old man thought as he bought this Dodge.
When I was in high school we had a ’51 Dodge Station Wagon. That car actually did have style, for in that year, Dodge shared the wagon body with De Soto and Chrysler.
I learned to drive with that car. It had a drive train that guaranteed I would never get a speeding ticket.
I was impressed with the tailgate and its crank-down window. It had wood paneling and chrome separation strips. Very elegant.
I want that dash to install in my cubicle, so I can sit in front of it at my desk every day.
CA Guy, the 1955 automotive fever extended even further in our immediate family, my mother’s sister and husband traded in their 1949 bright yellow bathtub Nash (even more frumpy and odd than your ’53) on a used ’53 Mercury, and the very next year, my somewhat eccentric uncle traded that car on a used ’54 LIncoln Capri, moving up that carefully crafted hierarchical car ladder that has been written about endlessly. It seemed like everyone and their neighbor were leaving these stodgy postwar automotive relics in the dust by the mid-50’s.
Your recollection about the ’55 Oldsmobile brought back a flood of memories. I remember pestering my dad to buy the Super 88 instead of the 88, because I thought the rocket emblem on the trunk was so cool. And I pestered him to get a two-tone, but they went for the more conservative single color Frost Blue, and I bugged him to get power windows, but that was never going to happen (“you kids will run down the battery playing with those things,” he would say), but in truth any of these appealing options, even though cheap by today’s standards, simply added too much to the bottom line for them (or most families, I suspect) to be able to afford. Great memory about the Hydramatic selector indicator, I had forgotten all about that. I, too, was fascinated the way it would drop down into view when the car was turned on, and then mysteriously disappear when the engine was turned off. Yeah, ’55 was a great year for us car nut kids.
In 2002 I was looking for a cool project car for my 16 year old stepson and I to work on. Bonding experience, I thought. I saw a guy at work with a ’30’s car and asked him if he wanted to sell it or knew someone else with a similar car for cheap. Turns out he knew a guy from his 12-step program who was hurting for rent money and was willing to sell his 1951 Dodge Meadowbrook. My son and I met him the next day; the owner thought it was worth $3,000, but I was looking to spend $1000 and that’s exactly how much he needed to make rent, so we got it! It was black, in good shape, it ran pretty well and I even took it on the freeway during my test drive. This was NOT exactly the car my son was hoping for…
The next day I drove him to school in that car. His friends stared in disbelief – but thought it was cool. A neighbor stopped by who had owned on back in the day – told me all about it – the fluid drive, the bizarre parking brake on the driveshaft…That Saturday my son and I bought and installed 5 seat belts. Felt good. But it was at that point, I think, that my son decided he didn’t like working on cars. I couldn’t get him to put any effort into getting his license, let alone work on the car. As this was before Craigslist, I had trouble even selling it. I think we finally donated it to Salvation Army….