Here’s one I posted about two years ago and that has recently reappeared after missing for some time; a 1965 Plymouth Belvedere wagon. And unlike some other CC follow-ups, looking pretty much as I saw it on that first occasion. Not only was I glad to meet again this rather original example, but this time there were fewer people on the street to talk me out of picture-taking. So, for once, I managed to take quite a few shots with calm around this worn but still running old Plymouth.
From previous posts of mine, you may remember that this location became my favorite ‘curbside find’ spot. Here’s where I captured in relatively quick succession a Fiat 127, a ’70 Plymouth Satellite, a ’69 Camaro, a VW Thing, and today’s Belvedere. Then, all came to a stop for a couple of years. As in ‘nada’, not one interesting vintage vehicle to show up at all. Not even Japanese ones, which are the most common of vintage metal around here.
After that long lull, the ’65 Belvedere wagon is the one that reappeared. Was the classic car fellow away on a trip? Visiting relatives in the US? Searching for an impossible-to-find 1960 Simca Aronde somewhere in the Central American jungle?
It’s a little mystery I’ve yet to crack.
The wagon has seen some slight improvements since last I saw it. For one, while on my previous encounter the car had a couple of deflated tires, now all four are fully pumped. Granted, it is the smallest of ‘repairs’, but shows the vehicle is getting some use. Otherwise, it looks pretty much the same, down to the not-yet-fixed hand brake.
Thinking of the many vehicles that have passed through this owner, I guess that the wagon is the chosen one? Also, two of the vehicles have been Plymouths from the 1960s. Have I found a Plymouth enthusiast here in San Salvador?
In my previous post, I talked quite a bit about the meshing of Engel-Exner styles on this wagon. The vehicle is, for all purposes, an unintended remnant of the tumultuous transition between Chrysler’s two VPs of styling. While the rest of the ’65 lineup had gone fully with Engel’s boxy styling, wagons were a different matter. Something that isn’t rare or unusual, as wagon body parts tend to stick around longer; often grafted onto new forward sections. Such was the case with these ’65 wagons.
As I told that time, I for the most part enjoyed seeing the mixing of the two styling schools. The wagon features some of Exner’s whimsical shapes, tamed to fit Engel’s new tenure. While not a wholly consistent work, a curious amalgam that I found rather interesting.
Last time I didn’t get a shot of the interior, so here it is finally. I know the image is highly contrasted, but looks like there’s some more of the car’s trim messily stored behind the front bench. So, this is a work in progress?
Elsewhere, like many cars in the region, this is a manual; a 3-speed column-shift unit. Then, the added instruments under the dash would indicate the originals died a while back. Not rare, nor strange to find such a mod around here. After all, you know how hard is to find Plymouth parts from the ’60s in this nation?
I’ve no idea what may be under the hood, but considering tradition and local economics, I’ll make the educated guess that it’s the 6-cyl. mill. If so, it’s the Slant Six in 225 displacement and offering 145 HP. It wouldn’t be the first 6-cyl. powered Plymouth I have found in San Salvador, and they seem to have had a good customer base in this region back then.
Nice hood emblem with the stylized Plymouth sail. And I better clarify before some reader wonders about the rivets on the ‘O’ and ‘U’; they’re rather common fixes to prevent stealing, a once common petty crime in this city that is finally starting to decline.
Still, I know, the damage is done…
Wait, no rivets on that Belvedere emblem? And we’re missing some of it too. Do you now see their importance in the streets of San Salvador?
What we’re missing on that badge is the ‘I’ or ‘II’ identification, signaling the two Belvedere lines for 1965.
For ’65, Plymouth’s Belvedere intermediate model came in ‘I’ or ‘II’ lines. Now, while the badge is missing, the side trim says today’s find is a Belvedere II, the top of the line for the model; offering more options and features.
However, I didn’t check if today’s find was the 6 or 9 passenger version. In either case, there were 9K units of these Belvedere II wagons sold in ’65.
Talking about sales, Engel’s new conservative approach was doing its work for Plymouth. After the doldrums of the early ’60s and the disastrous ’62, sales for the ’65s shot up to about 700K units; a new record for the marque. With that, it held at a steady 4th place just below ’60s trendsetter Pontiac.
It’s always a treat to find a car from the ’60s, in any condition. And such encounters are a bit of a revelation today. Against modern traffic, these old cars seem like alien creatures; low to the ground, wide and looong. Or better said, very long-looking. Proportion-wise, unlike anything today. Hard to think this was the automotive norm for the longest of times.
Now that it’s back in the neighborhood I may get to find out the story behind this old Belvedere. Or not. After all, it may just disappear without a trace once more. For all I know, the owner is still looking around for some other odd vintage car, and a Simca Aronde has just appeared for sale in the local FB Marketplace. So I may be coming across that Simca soon enough; past events would even suggest so.
Related CC reading:
1963 Chrysler New Yorker, Virgil Exner Comes Full Circle – by JPC
1962 Plymouth and Dodge: The Real Reason They Were Downsized PN
I like his parking brakes. I’m sure they’re easy to adjust!
Lovely automobiles and nice to see it again. The front end facial expression calls to my mind Dr. McCoy’s look when Spock lights him up.
I’ve always like the soon-to-be-called B-bodies beginning in 1962 thru ’65. Grammy had a ’62 Dart 440 he loved so Dad test drove a ’62 Dart wagon in Fall of ’62… would he abandon his Ford wagon tendency after a ’57 and ’59? Sadly no, he ended up with a ’63 Ford wagon from Thorne Ford in Catonsville. Sad because that Ford was handed down to me in college. I always really liked the intermediate Mopar wagons, they were lively and nimble for the times.
The guy who was director of the summer camp in NY that I went to in Summer of ’64 had a ’63 Dodge 440 wagon that I really liked, in my mind they were a better car than our ’63 Ford, which was a bit of a lump with it’s 352 and Cruise-o-matic.
Grampy’s ’62 had a poly 318 but felt much more sprightly. To me the one big let-down of all the mid-sized Mopar wagons of the era were their cheap flash-chromed plastic dashes that invariably faded to yellow in a few years. To find a mint one now is nigh impossible. Still, to me these were some of the best wagons of the ’60s. Hope you can get the story of this one Rich! And what a great color too!
My dad took me along when he decided we needed a 9-seat station wagon in 1965. He had test driven a ’65 Fairlane, but gave it the thumbs down, somewhat surprisingly. So he changed his gaze to Chrysler, as he seemed to have an anti-GM bias at the time, although he did buy a ’65 Opel Kadett just a few months later.
We first went to the Plymouth dealer where we looked at a Belvedere II like this; it was buried in an old storage garage jammed with a dozen or more other cars. He passed, not sure why. And then we went to the Dodge dealer and checked out a Coronet 440 wagon; this time he went for it.
Undoubtedly the only reasons he bought the higher trim 440 version was because the 9 seater only came on in that trim level as well as the Belvedere II. Otherwise it would undoubtedly have been the base version.
I once watched one of these idle into a car show and gained a new appreciation for its fluid shape. I am glad you came back to this one.
I would join you in betting on a slant 6 under the hood. A V8/3 speed seemed to be a very uncommon combo in Moparland of this era.
While not a wagon, I have fond memories of a ’65 Belvedere II. It was the last car my paternal grandfather would drive, a metallic turquoise four door sedan, 318 poly V-8 and column shift Torqueflite. His first V-8 since the ’32 Ford flathead he hated “V-8’s overheat and burn oil”. Traded in was a brown Studebaker Lark that I was embarrassed to be seen in, 1960’s viewpoint. I also got to drive the Plymouth.
I found a Simca Aronde station wagon hunting for Morris Minor parts around the Huon valley, those are ultra rare, it wasnt for sale it was among 20 or so other old cars parked on a bush property, they likely also knew how rare it was.
Nice survivor and looks in VGC to boot .
Maybe leave a note on it asking and mentioning your a car enthusiast ? .
-Nate
To be honest, I never really warmed up to the intermediate sized Belvederes. My grandfather worked for the Chrysler Corporation for 35 years when my family lived in Detroit. He always drove Plymouths, his last one was a 1958 bronze 2 door Belvedere. It had a black and white interior, and a great looking instrument panel. It lite up at night with a very vivid green color. He drove it to California when the entire family picked up their kit and moved their entire Kabootal. I was only 3 years old at the time, but I really loved cars. He kept the 58 until 1962, He traded it in for a light blue 62 Valient. I was still learning how to be a total American car Gearhead so it don’t remember what engine was under hood, but I know it was a V8 with Chrysler’s famous Tourqueflight automatic transmission. I really liked that 58 Belvedere, so when Chrysler made the Belvedere an intermediate sized car, I never really warmed up to the intermediate sized Belvederes. To me, whenever I saw one it was a big disappointment, not to mention the LAPD started using them as their prowl cars. I would stare at them wondering how I could improve their looks. I know they were good cars because they were made by the Chrysler Corporation. I did like the full-size Furys a lot. From the 65 model year up to the early 70s. My high school driver training cars were 71 Plymouth Sport Furys. I really liked those. My family continued to drive full-size Chryslers and Valients until the mid-70s, but then switched to Fords, Mercurys and Lincolns and never looked back. Will say the fuelsage styling was one of my favorites. My dad had 1969 Chrysler 300. It was great looking, plus it had 440 under hood. That 300 had fantastic power. In 1976 he traded the 300 for a new 1976 Lincoln Town Car. I was beautiful inside and out. The Cadillacs of that era were just big and boring. Chrysler discontinued the mid-70s and made the New Yorker their flagship car, they were very nice, and between the New Yorker and the Cordova, they covered their luxury cars.. But the full-size Lincoln Town Cars were a force to be reconded will. They captured the tradional American luxury car look and feel. I grew up as a Mopar boy, so I will always have a place in my heart for the Chrysler Corporation. Chysler brought us some great automotive engineering that today are industry standards.