(first posted 2/7/2015) Lovers of automotive history have written and read many times about the styling renaissance at Chrysler Corporation in the 1950s. Virgil Exner brought about a sea change in the company’s stodgy image with the new 1955 line, and the excitement quotient continued upward for the rest of the decade. But we must not forget that even the new and exciting designs of the famous Forward Look sometimes had to come to us in the form of a black, plain-jane strippo. And here it is.
In 1949, Virgil Exner was hired to run Chrysler’s advanced styling studios. Fresh from his successful (if complicated) stint at Raymond Loewy’s Studebaker studio, Ex brought a new vibrancy to Chrysler’s styling operation. His series of show cars in the early 1950s showed a new direction for a company that had become increasingly – um – conservative after Walter Chrysler’s incapacity in the late 1930s. By 1949, Chrysler was still the number two in the industry, but its brand new line of postwar cars was not performing to expectations. President K. T. Keller was sharp enough to do something about it right away.
Although Exner was able to effect some marginal changes to the company’s 1953 and 54 models, it would not be until the 1955 line that his new look would hit showrooms. Every car, from the new Imperial to the basic Plymouth would be completely new. And, it being the 1950s, it just wouldn’t do to simply describe the cars as “new.” Chrysler would call this new style The Forward Look.
When someone says “Forward Look”, my mind conjures up images of bright colors and gobs of chrome trim slathered across the high-end models. Of course, isn’t this what any self-respecting company of the 1950s wanted to sell? But there remained a type of customer who was too numerous to ignore: Let’s call him Uncle Clem.
Uncle Clem was frugal. “A new car is a waste of money, but a used car is just buying somebody else’s problems.” “A car is just a way to get from one place to another.” “People put all of this extra stuff on cars, but all it does is break and cost you money.” “All that chrome is dangerous because it blinds you in the sun and just makes a car rust faster.” We have all known an Uncle Clem or two in our lives, and have probably ridden in their cars.
My childhood piano teacher was like Uncle Clem. She shelled out for a new 1969 Plymouth Valiant 100 two door sedan. Other than the 225 cubic inch slant six over the base 170 and an AM radio, the car had not a single option. At least it was green and not black, but otherwise the car was as basic as basic transportation gets.
This particular Plymouth is exactly what my piano teacher might have chosen had she been fifteen years or so older than she was. This basic black Plaza was not terribly different from what was on offer at your local DeSoto-Plymouth dealer in 1949. Or 1946. Or even 1940. Flathead six? Check. Three speed column-shifted manual (without overdrive)? Check. Minimal trim inside and out? Check. The only difference is that this one actually had a kind of attractiveness to it that was hard to overlook, even when wearing no makeup.
Of all of the 1955-56 Chrysler offerings, the Plymouth never got much love. The pricier Chryslers and DeSotos are seen quite a bit more frequently, especially in their sexy 300 and Adventurer versions. And Plymouths of the 1957-59 generation have been, of course, immortalized by the Stephen King movie Christine. But a ’56 Plymouth? In fairness to Mr. Exner, Chrysler old-timer Henry King did most of the work on the Plymouth and Dodge designs, so if these seem just a tad less graceful than the higher priced offerings, this might be one reason. But whoever designed the ’55-56 Plymouth, it still seems to have gone down a black hole. Until this one got pulled out of someone’s Uncle Clem’s barn.
I am not sure if it is a strictly legit “Curbside” classic when it is found on a trailer in a mall parking lot, but I say we go for it. We do have some precedent, after all. It’s not like I am overrun with ’56 Plymouths at the curbside everywhere I go. This one is so intriguing to me, in a bipolar sort of way. Is it a sexy, swoopy 1950s dream machine (if in a minimalist kind of way)? Or is it the dowdy, plain basic transport that someone’s Uncle Clem bought because he hadn’t yet heard of a Studebaker Scotsman? I still don’t know. I just know that I really like this car, despite the Scotsman-style gray painted trim around the headlights and taillights.
Plymouth offered its new V8 in every model, even the basic Plaza. But this one surely has the hoary old flathead six that had been powering Plymouths since the 1930s. Without a chrome “V” in sight, the Jet Age on Wheels, this is not. “Nobody in the history of the world ever needed more than six cylinders. And everybody knows that the flathead design is actually superior to these newfangled overhead valve things. They design too much stress into ’em, and by fifty thousand miles, they will be needing an overhaul.” And can anyone tell me why Plymouth named its super-cost-cutter model after one of the ritziest hotels in New York? Maybe even tightwads like Uncle Clem hanker after at least a small illusion of luxury.
1956 was the intro year for the famous Mopar pushbutton controls for the automatic transmission. But not here, because Uncle Clem wouldn’t pop for the newfangled Powerflite. “Why would you only want 2 gears in something that will break and cost a fortune to fix when you can have 3 gears in the same indestructible box they have been building since 1928? Never trust a man who is too good to shift gears for himself.” And just forget about that Highway Hi-Fi. “A record player in a car? I don’t even have a record player in the house. Even a radio’s not a good idea. Draws too much on the batt’ry and distracts the driver besides.”
None of those popular colors, either. “Black is the only color that holds up on a car. All those colors look purty now, but wait until a few years in the weather, then they’re all dull and faded. ” Let’s not even bring up the Airtemp air conditioning or the electric power seat or windows that were offered at extra cost. I can’t even imagine what Uncle Clem might have said about them. Well, I actually can imagine it. I just can’t print it. There was something proudly puritanical about a basic black Plymouth, right down to the sailing ship that could still be found on the car. Even though the ship would be removed from Plymouths by 1960, the brand never really did shake the image that is so perfectly displayed in this car.
After looking this old Plaza over for a bit, I can grudgingly say one thing about Uncle Clem: it looks like he turned out to be right after all, given that this plain black Plymouth probably lasted him the rest of his life. Which is likely more than most of us will be able to say about our own rides.
There is no reason a car of that vintage couldn’t last a lifetime, if you don’t live in the rust belt. You might go through a few engines and transmissions and other mechanical parts, but the body and frame should last well over 1,000,000 miles. Newer cars will usually make it to 200,000 miles if taken care of, but the flimsy bodies, designed to fall apart in an impact, will be falling apart by that time. The steel used for bodys back then was over twice as heavy as what is used today.
Yet the cars of the 1950’s had nowhere near the structural integrity of today’s cars and were, quite frankly, death traps. If the metal was so thick on these cars was so heavy, why were the cars so light?
Do you really need to be told the answer to this? Wiring, wiring, more wiring, some more wiring (it adds up), sound insulation, emissions equipment, leather, big wheels and tires, computer systems, infotainment systems, sunroofs…
And all that safety stuff like door beams too. But I bet if you took an average modern car like an Accord and ripped out all the computer controlled equipment, all the wiring, all the sound deadening, and gave it cloth seats, simple door panels, and 175-series tires on 14×6 wheels, and a non-emissions engine, but left all of the safety equipment in place, you’d probably lose 500 lbs. easy if not more.
As well as reinforcement, reinforcement and reinforcement, which is heavy. Modern cars are enormously stronger and safer than 50’s cars.
Now wasn’t that the 1976 Accord and you would probably lose around 900 lbs.
There is an enormous difference between designing a car to be durable in the face of minor dings, people bashing shopping carts into doors, and minor corrosion and engineering a car to keep the occupants alive in a collision with 30+ mph impact speeds. Modern cars are designed to crumple in (sort of) controlled ways to absorb energy and hopefully keep the occupants from ending up as raspberry jam, with reinforcement in certain directions (such as the vertical) to discourage roof crush and the like. Panel thickness or sheet metal gauge is a trivial consideration when it comes to actual collision safety.
So, he has a point in that regard, which doesn’t change your point that the occupants would be less likely to walk away from a serious crash in the older car.
The other consideration is that cars designed pre-CAD (or even in eras of less sophisticated CAD) often compensated by using more metal than was probably necessary and putting that extra metal (and thus extra weight) in areas that didn’t meaningfully contribute to either occupant safety or structural integrity.
I own a 51 year old car and a 12 year old car, and have worked on much newer cars than that. I made a big dent in the door of a late model truck just by leaning against it. I can get on the hood and trunk lid of the old car without damage. I could probably get on the roof. Since the headliner is missing in the old car, I can see all the bracing that is welded in under that roof. I guess I’ll actually have to measure the thickness of the metal between a ’64 ans a ’14 model to prove it.
Newer cars do have better structural integrity, but they do it by actually being designed to be destroyed in an accident. Still, barring accidents, there is no reason a newer car body cannot last a very long time. The body is not the main problem (if it had some style that made it desirable to own and drive) The problem is the high tech mechanical and computerized electronic parts. While the engine and transmission of a ’56 Plymouth are very cheap and easy to work on and replace, that is not true of modern cars. They simply cost too much to keep going forever, an average mechanically inclined owner is severely limited as to what kind of work they can do on them, and I do not expect parts to be available forever, like with older cars.
It appears that many car collectors and enthusiasts have rejected newer model cars. That is why we now have the proliferation of brand new complete duplicate body shells and chassis for several models of older cars. You can now build a complete vintage car from a parts catalog (if you have the money)
Even I can afford to keep my ’64 and ’72 cars going forever, no way could I possibly do that with my ’01. I can’t even get the engine out of it.
There is more than a bit of me in Uncle Clem. I would like to be able to buy a brand new stripper car, but it would have to have 3 options. A/C, because of the intense heat here in Phoenix. I used to be able to deal with it, but as I get older, it gets worse. It would also need an automatic transmission and cruise control, again due to medical issues I have. I have 2 stick shift cars with no A/C, and they are tons of fun to drive, but only for short distances, about once a week. They would not work for me for daily transportation. But I do not need any kind of electronic options, power windows, door locks, mirrors, navigation screen, bluetooth, or even an audio system. My Pinto wagon has an underdash 8-track system, mostly for nostalgia. The ’64 has nothing. Not even a heater. It is basically a body shell with enough mechanical parts to make it go and stop. I love simple cars, and you just can’t buy them anymore. I also love style, and you can’t buy that anymore either.
Uncle Clem was wrong about one thing. Black paint does not hold up on a car. Here in AZ it ages worse than any other color. It is not uncommon to see a very late model Mercedes with half the black paint burned off it. White without clearcoat is the way to go. It will dull over time, but can be polished back to it’s original shine.
I find myself very much attracted to that black Plymouth. I would paint it white, and put aftermarket A/C in it. It would be a very fun car to cruise around locally in, and with A/C you could cruise around in comfort on the hottest days. I am getting closer and closer to doing just that with one of my old cars.
I daily drove my 66 model car for a few days this week I could do it I guess but spending a lot more on fuel and if anything goes wrong my parts supply doesnt have it could be off the road longer than my 03 regular driver plus though its a solid old car a crash would be very painfull indeed the seatbelts might help but the body structure wont.
Actually, those 1950’s cars are death traps compared with modern cars, all those styling cues and designs while looking nice could easily kill.
A few years ago the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety did a crash test of a 2009 Malibu against a 1959 Impala and the Impala fared poorly.
I’ve seen that one many times. There was no engine in that ’59 Impala. Plus I drive a ’72 Pinto, supposedly a deathtrap. Doesn’t bother me. I also ride motorcycles, and they are 10 times more dangerous. I’m all for safety, but not to the point where it removes all the enjoyment out of life.
Oh, and my ’64 Ford has no backup lights. it did not come with them. Nothing was plugged, it just wasn’t designed for them. Even the turn signals have to be canceled manually.
It came with a manual choke, but I removed it because it wasn’t necessary. The stock carb has been rejetted richer, and even on 30 degree mornings, it fires right up with a couple of pumps on the gas pedal.
I have seen that one too and it made me sick to see them waste such a nice ’59 Chevy just to make a point. Everyone knows that modern cars are designed with many more safety factors built in.
My ’66 Mustang has a gas tank that is also part of the trunk floor and that doesn’t bother me a bit. I have seen several of these and also the supposedly explosive Pintos that have been rear ended without the expected fireball. Too many people watch too many car explosions on TV.
That is an urban legend about the IIHS ’59 Chevy having no engine. The car is still on display at their facility with the 235-cu. in. Stovebolt in its crushed front end! (It would have been mighty hard to put in that engine AFTER the crash.)
Anyway, why would they even crash test it without an engine in the first place. As far as conspiracy theories go it’s just plain silly!
That Impala did have an engine it was a 6 but those 59Chevs were rubbish very little structural integrity and an easy to twist Xframe underneath,
I have a simple 50s car its only automatic feature is self cancelling indicators even the wipers are manual park but being unibody it is remarkably strong and constructed of 1mm thick panel steel all over, Ive rolled one of these at speed and suffered no ill efects the car was still in use months after that event and that was it second rollover crash.
>I’ve seen that one many times. There was no engine in that ’59 Impala.
What’s your source on this?
The IIHS, email them and they’ll send you pictures of the ’59. The pictures clearly show the engine in the car.
Also
Email the IIHS, they’ll send you pictures of the car with the engine in (taken after the crash).
Also, I’ve had several Ford’s from the early, mid, and late 60s, and they all had self-canceling turn signals. Maybe yours are broken?
Also
A sad thing no matter how you look at it .
Those who were there or ever actually drove a ’59 Chevy know it’s basically tin foil, worse than most 1950’s cars but it’s still beautiful to many and as mentioned : Motocycles (I’m crippled from a ‘fatal’ Moto crash and still ride) and older pickup trucks were indeed death traps, so don’t drive them .
Accepting and spreading obvious false conspiracy stories makes a fool of you in a public forum .
Being a junkyard junkie I’ve seen quite a few rear ended Pintos and only saw two that had caught fire, they burned merrily but didn’t burn the passenger compartment .
-Nate
That is truly a serious stripper. First time I’ve ever seen a PICTURE of the shift lever in a ’55 or ’56 Plymouth. Never saw it in reality at all. Always the PowerFlite wand or buttons. Seems odd, since most of the Fords and Chevies I saw in those years were manual.
Also note the blank panels where the backup lights go. Those fillers were super-rare.
I think Uncle Clem tended to favor Ford because Ford still offered a manual choke. One more way to retain direct control.
You make sense Occam24 but I can buy a manual choke kit for $3-4 and put it on in 15 minutes.
JPC it’s amazing that you recorded everything I said so well. You forgot one thing. Plymouth has the slickest 1-2 shift on any 3 speed manual I ever drove. If you google futility it will show a picture of someone drag racing a plymouth flathead six. At least we miss less power shifts. We do miss power.
/s/ Uncle Clem
7 Feb 1956
Great to hear from you, Uncle Clem. I had been meaning to ask – what ever possessed you to spring for the whitewall tires? 🙂
Probably what was on the lot and the dealer ate the cost to make the sale.
Chicks like them.
Narrow whitewalls didn’t come out until 1962, and they were still kind of wide. Obviously the Plymouth had blackwalls originally. That’s what goes with the black rubber windshield and rear window surrounds not to mention cheap hubcaps.
That was all we got here flathead 6 3 on the tree
Your portrayal of Uncle Clem is spot on and hilarious. Haven’t we all had at least one Uncle Clem in our lives? Hell, some days I think I am channeling Uncle Clem!
I’m a dyed-in-the-wool MoPaR guy and a relentless fan of the Exner era cars. As much as I like to see the bright colors and trim of the upscale models, the pure lines of King’s and Exner’s styling come through more strongly on strippers like this one without the distraction of all the glitz.
And how many ’55-6 Plymouths survive for every tri-five Chevie that you see?
I used to be a Chevy guy, now I’m just a vintage American car guy. Don’t like new cars of any brand. Yes I’m a member of H.A.M.B.
Gene Herman… you mentioned the Designer King, who worked with Exner on the 1955-56 Plymouth.
Google: Diary of a New Car Feb 1955 Popular Mechanics
By Arthur R. Railton
Step by step, showed the actual development of these cars from Design Sketches to Clay Models on to Prototypes being being fabricated. From 1952 Thru September 27, 1954 when production started on ’55 Models.
What an well written magazine article.
My opinion, one of the best designs of that era.
Influenced by the ’52 Ford. Great windshield, looks modern, even today.
My mother’s maiden aunt owned a 56 Belvedere 2 door hardtop, it was solid gray on the outside….just like Aunt Teresa, and I forget the interior’s color. It probably had the 6 cylinder engine as Aunt Teresa was most practical, and it had the pushbutton automatic transmission. That Belvedere was probably THE sportiest car my aunt would own and would be replaced by a much more “practical” 64 Savoy….the mid 60s replacement for the car featured here, right down to it’s cocoa brown exterior. Of course by then the Savoy had devolved to the bottom/stripper trim level.
My aunt would therefore own one of the 1st and last of the Plymouths with pushbutton control for the automatic transmission.
Plymouth and Oldsmobile: at one time holders of the number 2 sales position…now gone.
I never completely understood the mass appeal of the mid to late 50s Chevys even though I am a nonpartisan enthusiast. Even the higher end models had a certain cheapness, i.e. multi-piece screwed together bumpers and stamped aluminum grills, that showed through. Even this frugal little Plaza had an aura of quality and grace of line that didn’t exist elsewhere and even Uncle Clem could appreciate that. Maybe it was the early Chevy OHV V8s. But then Chrysler had the Hemi. After ’56 it was Mopar hands down, no contest, at least for me. You couldn’t have given me a Chevy then. Well maybe you could but only to be sold to buy a Coronet or Custom Royal.
HA! Spoken like a true MoPaR man, David. Don’t get me wrong : I actually LIKE 1955-7 Chevies. They’re good cars. It’s just that they’re like belly buttons : everybody has one. I think part of the reason for that is that so many more of them were produced than the Plymouths in those years. ‘Twas ever thus.
Great find and writeup James! I’ve always felt the same way in that these Plymouths kind of got hit with the ugly stick, where the same year Chryslers were beautiful designs. For most of its life Plymouth never seemed to get much love due to its value position, and the fact that unlike FordMoCo’s Ford brand and GM’s Chevy, it wasn’t their “main brand”.
Your Uncle Clem character is hilarious and spot-on.
Compared to the 53-54 models, the 55-56 Plymouths were stunning. At that time, Plymouths were usually sold as a companion line in Chrysler or DeSoto dealerships so that the Chrysler dealer could still put Uncle Clem in a new car rather than seeing him walk down the street to the Ford store. Making the Plymouth a little less attractive kept it from stealing thunder and sales from the more profitable Chryslers and DeSotos.
That ‘companion line’ status always hurt Plymouth. In comparison:
Ford – well, what’s the name on the building? ‘Nuff said.
Chevrolet – GM worshipped Chevrolet back in those days, second only to Cadillac (and even that could be debated). Damn well they should, as all that attention to the marque rewarded the corporation with up to 51% of corporate sales at its height. And made it #1 in sales for decades.
Meanwhile Plymouth was the also-ran. Yeah, the car that still made a sale to the guy too cheap to buy a DeSoto or Chrysler (which is what the dealer really wanted to sell). And then Chrysler caves in to the Dodge dealers and lets them compete directly with a brand that wasn’t saddled with the ‘cheap alternative’ reputation.
The part that hurts is that, with the independence and care that GM gave Chevrolet, there’s no reason that Plymouth couldn’t have done the same for Chrysler. The quality was there, both Chevrolet and Plymouth made Fords look incredibly cheap by comparison. Just grab a door handle (Ford’s hollow castings with no backing), or look at that shift lever shaft on a Ford automatic. Ford did cheap, Chevrolet and Plymouth gave you nicer touches for the same price.
Plymouth’s mishandling was Chrysler Corporation’s biggest Deadly Sin. Because they did it for decades until they ran the brand into oblivion.
I couldn’t agree more with you Skye. There was so much un-utilized potential for Plymouth that Chrysler failed to take advantage of. For many years of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, Plymouth was selling upwards of 700,000 per year, when Chrysler was selling only 1/4 of that, and Dodge about 3/4. Chrysler never had the strategic “steps” that GM once did, and for some reason always favored the adopted child Dodge, over their own born Plymouth brand.
In the later years, the fact that Dodge was its own division separate from Chrysler-Plymouth gave it an advantage, as it got its own marketing, often emphasizing a “sporty” image when in reality its cars were no different than Plymouths.
I have never had a problem with any Plymouth because of it’s name. During the last quarter century it was nothing but a copy of a Dodge, or was it the other way around? The Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager were the same, came off the same assembly line. So were the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon, Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare, and what about the Dodge/Plymouth Neon. It even had the same name from both brands. And there were lots more examples. It was back in the late ’60s/early ’70s when Plymouth made a name for itself, at least for me, with the Road Runner, my all time favorite muscle car. There were very few if any muscle cars I didn’t like, but the Road Runner was king.
Whenever Plymouth got a unique model, like Road Runner or Duster, Dodge got a badge job a year later. Like Super Bee and Demon.
And, Dodge competed for police/taxi fleets, too, making Plymouth redundant in the long run.
Thanks for the post, I especially enjoyed the jet fighter in the brochure shots.
Not only is there an Uncle Clem in every family – ours is called John – but there is a little of Uncle Clem in all of us. “Honest” pickup, anyone?
The jet is the F-86K Sabre, which had a radome on the nose where the earlier variants had the yawning intake more associated with the F-86.
The K was the “export” version of the F-86D. The K also has an automotive connection, as the majority of them were built in Italy under license by Fiat.
This sort of military cooperation with advertisers was fairly common in the ’50s. Today we see commercials with disclaimers stating “does not imply DOD endorsement”.
The Sabre was a big export hit; it was even licensed to Australia & Canada, whose versions were more powerful than USAF Sabres. The Luftwaffe used Canadair Sabres. The Aussie CAC Sabre had more firepower as well, with its 30mm Aden cannon instead of obsolete Brownings. Even the USN was ahead of the USAF in aircraft guns.
SAAB used to advertise its cars alongside its fighters.
The great photographer Irving Penn took the 56 Plymouth ad photos, bringing his modern fashion work to bear with dramatic angles and unusual perspective. A real step up from the good, but conventional 1955 photography.
The ;’56 Plymouth promotional shots, including this one, were taken by the legendary photographer Irving Penn – they are a class above in and of themselves.
Such a wonderful car and this was a spectacular find. Let us hope it remains unmolested and kept as is. This car has such a honest purity to it, something you just don’t find that easily.
The interior shot showing the radio and dial delete plates is terrific, since it is such an unsubtle reminder of having cheaped out when buying the car.
I did have an Uncle Clem – that was his actual name – good as gold, as rough as a mouthful of tree bark.
You echoed my concerns…that someone was taking it home and pulling an “Overhaulin'” on it. Yuck.
“You know what would look sick? Some air bags and Foose rims, and maybe a Gen 3 Hemi, or maybe an LS9 crate motor.” Gross. I wish people would just buy new cars if they wanted new cars. Soapbox rant over.
I have tried very hard to not think about this possibility.
Yeah, it occurred here, too. Scary.
Totally agree with you on that type of modification. However, I see nothing in doing it up with period bits… A Poly can be made to go pretty well…
That black car would look good with a set of chrome smoothies, or even Cragar S/S wheels, in the stock size. Such a car should never be painted the garish colors of today, and certainly not cut up. Those huge wheels are a personal thing with me. They go beyond just bad taste, into the realm of complete absurdity. They look just as ugly on a new car as an old one.
It was back when I was into air cooled VW bugs I first heard the word “restomod” It basically meant a stock restoration, complete with all trim and period correct paint, but with only a few aftermarket pieces, like wheels (stock size) and maybe an exhaust system. I don’t have a problem with that kind of thing, and think it looks good on most older cars (especially the aforementioned ’55/’56/’57 Chevys) and it is totally reversible.
My family owned a ’55 and a ’56 Dodge. My aunt, who lived next door had a ’55 Plymouth. ’56 was the first year for the push-button tranny and I believe also for the 12-volt battery in both cars. If the ’55 had an automatic, it shifted with a lever that stuck out of the dashboard to the right of the steering wheel and the push buttons on the ’56 were in a little pod on the left side of the dash. The buttons were still on the left on our ’59 Plymouth, but by ’59, the steering wheel was no longer round. I don’t whether the somewhat flattened steering wheel first appeared on the ’59 or earlier.
I always liked the looks of the ’55 better than the ’56 Dodge and Plymouth, but thought the ’56 Chrysler and DeSoto looked better than their ’55 counterparts because for me fins worked better on the Chrysler and Desoto than they did on the Dodge and Plymouth.
I also preferred the Plymouth’s styling to the Dodge’s because I thought the Dodge was too busy.
I agree with you. The fin on the 56 Plymouth and Dodge looks so tacked on. It looks finished only in comparison with Studebaker’s efforts. The Chrysler and DeSoto did the fin wonderfully.
Add another with a preference for the ’55 styling over the ’56 Plymouth, particularly the ’55 Plymouth convertible. 1955 was actually a pretty good year for all domestic cars, but especially the bottom-rung makes.
The only downside to the ’55 is the weak 6-volt electrical system. If it wasn’t too tough, I’d consider switching a ’55 to the ’56 12-volt system.
Actually, the six to twelve volt conversion is pretty simple on a 55.
All of the key electrical components like starter, generator, electrical gauges have 12V versions on the 56 cars. I’m seriously considering it when I get back to work on my 55 Belvie.
Dodge’s back then always looked busy (I thought the 57-59’s were by far the ugliest of the lineup) because, being a slightly higher priced car it HAD to show more than Plymouth. The heirarchy was that important back then.
My dad, who sold them, would agree with you. He also preferred the ’55 Chrysler and Imperial to the ’56, but we’ve agreed to disagree on the Chrysler at least – I’m not sold on the rear end of the ’56 Imps.
I do think, like the Fords, that the ’55 Plymouths and Dodges were actually extensive re-works of the ’53-4 bodies on a new, longer frame. They are decidedly stodgier compared to the truly new Chrysler and DeSoto body. The ’53 Plymouth and Dodge had a new body, while the senior cars were a heavily reworked version of the ’49 shell, so that would make sense. Would love to confirm this theory if anyone knows more.
The ’55 body shell is almost equevolant to the 1949 shell on senior Chrysler and Desoto of 1953.
A well styled car, looks good regardless of it’s place in the line up. I myself prefer stripped cars. Trim does not make a car perform better. Options often detract from direct driver input. More importantly, I think the lack of true stripped models have priced cars out of ballpark for a lot of care buyers, regulating them to the used car market…of course it seems everyone has to be wrapped in luxury these days. I must be old, because I don’t understand.
Uncle Clem? Is that you?
I’m with you, jefr
Well –
This Plaza could really pass for one of Christine’s evil cousins. I shall name her – the sinister Dianne.
Dianne looks ticked off in that shade of black. I probably shouldn’t say any more.
Jefr: my thoughts exactly. I’ve read a reference to a Ford Taurus being “totally stripped” because it didn’t have a sun roof or leather seats. Just recently people wigging out because GM is offering a “stripped” Cruze: non painted mirrors, no Sirius radio and no compass.
Uncle Clem lives: Pleased to meet you all
Body-color mirrors just make it harder to find a replacement in the junkyard when it gets knocked off or stolen.
If you read about that Taurus on Curbside Classic, it probably was me talking about my folks 2009 Taurus.
The folks at the dealership could not sell this 2009 Taurus because nobody wanted a base model. My folks bought it for a steal at the model year close out the Ford dealer was having.
The concept of stripper car has change a lot. In the 50’s it was a bare bones car but this 2009 had the following:
power locks,mirrors and windows
keyless entry (the key pad on the door)
remote keyless entry
CD player with aux port
fog lights
color coded mirrors and trim
power seats (driver and front passenger)
In the 1950’s this would have been a top of the line car but in the 2000’s because it did not have leather seats, sunroof or nav it was considered a base car.
Great Read and car. My Grandparents had a 55 Belvedere 4dr sedan in a Peach Color when I was born. Barely remember it since it was traded by the time I was 4. I think it was a pretty well equipped car with even a radio. Grandpap traded it in 59 for a 59 Savoy pretty stripped except for a V8 and Automatic. No radio since I think the 55 must have had charging problems with the 6 volt system and my Grandfather blaming it on the radio. They did not buy another car with a radio until my Grandma bought a 71 Valiant with one. My grandmother never liked the 59 since when Grandpap could not drive anymore she bought her own 65 Valiant which replaced the 59 which she refused to drive. I think she hated the fins.
My Brother and I got a 55 4 door Plaza from a friends Dad in 1975 for 50 Dollars. 3 speed manual and no options with the Flat Head 6. Was good to go down to the Beach at Dauphin Island, about 20 miles each way, and taught my baby sister how to drive a manual on it. She was about 12 at the time. Old car used and leaked oil like crazy but we could always get it to start and saved the oil out of the family’s good cars at oil change time for the 55. Also would put a pan under it at night to catch what leaked out and pour it back in the next AM. Remember that the rear quarter windows would open offering a little extra ventilation in the hot and humid Mobile summers. We kept the car for a year or so and then sold it for 100 dollars doubling our money!
That copper colored show car has a VW Karman Ghia hidden in the middle of it. Obviously the designer had a role in Volkswagen’s Car.
GHIA of Karman-Ghia
Not an ugly duckling in my eyes–while it doesn’t have the classic elegance of the Chrysler designs of the same era, these Plymouths carry it off just fine, thanks. And this one is definitely a time capsule in its level of stripper-dom!
My Dad’s family owned a ’56 Belvedere when he was a child. One picture of it survives; the complex intersection of the two-tone paint always intrigued me!
Count me as a fan.I didn’t see Uncle Clem driving this but a badass with a DA wearing a leather jacket with a flick knife in his pocket
Well, he still wore polka-dot bowties and a varsity letter on his cardigan when he bought it off Uncle Clem in ’62. Dianne has that effect on guys who aren’t set in their ways yet like ol’ Clem.
And if you fast-forward to today, there’s a certain sub-species of hipster who prefers to drive a low-trim old car, probably as some sort of pointed ironic statement about or modern times. I could easily see a mustachioed fellow with buddy holly glasses, tattoos and skinny jeans pulling out his wallet for a car like this.
And if they keep up with the maintenance properly, more power to ’em!
That is part of the reason I drive old cars, though not the main reason. The main reason is that I love their looks and mechanical simplicity. I love working on them and tinkering with them as much as driving them. It’s just icing on the cake that they make the correct statement about how I feel about modern times and especially modern cars. I also have a couple of old 2 stroke manual shift Vespa’s. But being 56 years old, I am certainly not a “hipster” whatever that actually is. I have heard so many different definitions.
There is a certain satisfaction in being able to trace the linkage (be it mechanical or hydraulic) between A and B, and being able to figure out that if you move/push/pull this, then it will have so-and-so an effect on that. I did that quite a bit with my old car, and found myself correcting mistakes others had made along the way (like replumbing the heater hoses so the heater could actually work!) just by taking the time to think it through and apply some logic.
Ha! I misread Gem’s comment as “a badass District Attorney wearing a leather jacket with a flick knife in his pocket.” There’s probably a TV series in there somewhere. 😉
Sounds like my dad was even more of an Uncle Clem than your piano teacher. He bought a ’68 stripper Dart two-door, baby-shit brown with black interior, and he didn’t upgrade from the 170 six. And no radio either, though after a few years he started taking a portable radio along on his long commute to work…at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was a neurologist!
Same here, my father was “uncle Klem”: 1957 Plodge with 230 flathead, 3 on the tree, no power anything, then a 64 Fairlane with the small Ford six (I think 170 ci). But he beat your father with the 71 Dart, which had a 225/Torqueflite and PAS (!). His first car with air con (in Israel, no less) was a 79 Chevy Citation – with an iron duke 4, of course. My uncles had the interesting/luxurious cars (Jeep Wagoneer, Buicks, Corvair, BMW 1802, BMW 3.0 sports sedan, GMC Caballero V8 etc.)…
My parents wouldn’t buy a stripper but they’d nearly always get a car in a horrible shade of green or brown to get a bit off the price.I always associate \Mum with green Fords (and a couple of brown ones)
My grandmother owned and loved her 56 Plymouth Belvedere. Bought new for her by my grandfather It was Blue and White. And fairly loaded. She preferred driving it over the 61 Lincoln my grandfather bought in 61. I remember her stating she would ride in the Lincoln, but she preferred the higher more upright driving position of her Plymouth. It proved to be her last car and lasted her through the 60s, and she would not part with it even after she could no longer drive.
I really dig that chrome plated “plug” cover over the space for the radio is supposed to be.They say that if you can`t say anything good about something,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Forget Uncle Clem, this is my maternal grandfather to a T. First car I remember him driving when I was about 4 yrs old was a ’57 Chev. This was in the late ’60s (I was born in ’64) so it was just an old 50s car then, falling apart and nothing special. Black and yellow with a black and yellow checked vinyl interior, and automatic and not much else. His next car was a ’68 Chev, blue, again an automatic but not much else. And his final car was a ’71 Plymouth Fury 2-dr with an automatic and (get this!) power steering and brakes, because Gramps needed a bit of help by then as he was getting into his seventies with ill health. This was his final car he drove until he died in the summer of 1980 aged 76..
It is very easy to think all cars from this era were two door hardtops with a Hemi under the hood, but the vast majority of cars in the 1950’s were bought as transportation devices. That was doubly true where I grew up in Soviet Canuckistan, where road salt made cars rust to nothingness in only a few years. My own father could be classified as Uncle Clem. His fist new car, a 1961 Chevrolet had only heater as options, and his 1970 Pontiac Strato-Chief only Powerglide and V-8. It didn’t even have power steering or a radio. It was no longer safe to drive after only five years.
I was car nut at a very young age, and I am well aware of the car scene of say, circa 1970. The oldest car I can recall would be from 1963, a Meteor of a neighbour, who didn’t drive it in the winter. Thus, there were loads of strippers sold in Canada, since it simply was not worth making the extra investment for an SS 409 (or whatever). The vast majority of cars sold were simply equipped. A/C was extremely rare, at it wasn’t until the mid 1970’s that power steering was near universal and only on larger cars.
Yet every car show is full of 1956 300’s and SS 409’s. All perfect, and all perfectly boring.
Your last sentence really got my attention. I would like to see more strippers or basic cars at shows.
No, back then we did not see a lot of fully optioned cars even out west. Things started to change by the late sixties when I desperately wanted my father to trade in his 62 Comet four door sedan. Dad bought the car sans radio, automatic transmission and full wheel covers. He did pay for what was practical; plastic seat covers front and back, engine block heater and undercoating. The latter dealer installed item helped the car survive many winters until I put the light blue sedan into a brick wall (ugh).
He did eventually buy a radio. Something from Simpson-Sears they mounted under the dash (ugh).
+1,let’s see a few more miser’s specials
Yes, my Dad bought a ’56 Plymouth Plaza 2 door, doubt it had any options beyond a heater. He bought it after college, at the dealer in Kingston, PA (probably the same one where my Grandfather (on my mother’s side) bought his ’51 Chrysler Windsor. I remember the building it was in, it had a huge clock in the middle of the building. I probably came home from the hospital in it a few years later; my Dad had it in Massachusetts where I was born and later drove it to California where he had it for a few years before buying the first of 2 Rambler Wagons (and the first of several wagons in a row he bought). I don’t know if my mother was able to drive it, she learned to drive the Fluid drive Windsor (semi-automatic) but never was very comfortable with manual transmission that I’m sure the Plymouth had…all the Ramblers had automatics so she could drive them, though she later tried to drive my Father’s ’59 VW Beetle, she was never comfortable doing so.
I wouldn’t necessarily like to see more strippers, as they were very uncommon back in the day. They were odd enough to make a sub-teen car freak go ‘Huh?’ I can only remember three. Most strippers here were sold as taxis. I’d just like to see mid-range sedans equipped as I remember them.
In sixties Australia, this meant a big six, three-speed manual. Automatics added a sizeable chunk to the price tag, so most folk kept shifting their own gears. Accessories? Dad always had heaters in his cars, though our neighbour’s otherwise-identical Falcon had an automatic but no heater! A radio was a luxury for a mid-range model (my uncle had one in his car, but he was a newspaper editor), but you’d often have a sun-visor, perhaps a weather shield on the driver’s door window, and often an outside rear-view mirror. Early in the sixties it would be halfway along the front fender, but by mid-decade they had migrated to the door. Rear windshield venetian blinds were tapering off in popularity.
I have an accessory brochure for a 1960 Aussie Falcon, and it contains a lot of stuff you never used to see back in the day, yet you often see this stuff slathered over restored cars. It just seems wrong to me.
Our Chevys Fords and Mopars all came from Canada and were bare bones models for local assembly a heater was an option stripper models was really all we had for north American cars, that how the Aussie cars got their start more standard equipment due to their vehicle laws same with British cars they were better equipped with disc brakes as standard from the very early 60s and they were cheaper to buy and easier to get,
A great story. As my first car in 1973 was a old couples owned 1956 Plymouth Savoy, this featured Plaza brings back lots of memories.
Unless I missed it, wouldn’t miserly Uncle Clem have pried open his wallet a bit further for the optional overdrive? I would think the savings in gas would have appealed to his thriftyness.
My Savoy with said overdive, flathead six, two tone paint ,factory radio, and yes back up lights seems almost Imperial like options wise compared to this Plaza.
I am of course biased to the looks of the 56 Plymouths compared to the 55s.
I have always thought the 55 Plymouths rears looked like the later 62 chryslers. A plucked chicken
really look at a ’55 stripper in profile then a ’56 Lincoln, thr Plymouth looks like a baby Lincoln.
also 55 models
Relative to new cars, the older I get, the more I AM Uncle Clem….
Must have been quite a few Uncle Clems visiting their Desoto-Plymouth dealers in ’56, 130,813 Plazas sold to folks looking for good, basic transportation, fully 28% of all ’56 Plymouths sold. To truly be the car for Uncle Clem, it should be one of the 3,728 business coupes sold. Fleets bought up most of them but surely a few found their way into the hands of the truly frugal.
“Plaza” marketing may have intended to conjure the image of the ritzy hotel, but in that period of burgeoning suburbs, ‘plaza’ also brought to mind the shopping plaza: that bright, cheery, conveniently modern place where many good valuable bargains could be found.
One wonders what image “Cranbrook” was intended to bring to mind…….?
Boring little town in Kent?
In our part of the world, it is a charming little working class city in the beautiful Kootenai-Elk river valley. With the best powder in North America.
I taught school in the Kootenays in the early 1990’s and without a doubt the whole area is the prettiest place I have ever set eyes upon. Cranbrook is indeed nice, but the Nelson area is simply stunning. The free ferry along Kootenay Lake is breathing, as is the Salmo-Creston summit. My wife, Bagel and I took the Acura on a really nice, spirited romp in the area in 2013, and we plan to return this coming summer.
Wasn’t the Cranbrook a luxury hotel or resort, like the Plaza and Savoy?
Sources differ as to the origin of the “Cranbrook” name for Plymouth but the consensus is that the car was named for the Cranbrook educational community and associated art museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
My father had a lot of Clem in his automotive purchasing; for my dad cars were just transportation appliances and were purchased accordingly. The common denominator for my father’s car purchases were that they were inexpensive.
Cranberry would have been better! 🙂
all series weer hotel names Cranbrook and Belvedere believe were U.K., Savoy and Plaza U.S.A. luxury hotels
The Chrysler show car predated the Karmann Ghia. There was a lot of give and take between designers, attributed or not. On an unrelated note. I bought my 07 F150 as a kind of stripper, base V6 with auto, a/c. Vinyl seats with rubber floor mats and manual windows. I was trying to channel my 66 F250. Four wheel discs with ABS were standard along with power rack and pinion steering which makes the truck a delight to drive.
i would also like to add that the flathead 6 in my 56 Savoy preformed flawlessly during my two years of ownership.
Helping to preserve the flathead I believe was a very stern lecture from my father (a lifelong mechanic) as to what happens when an engine in an older car is abused .
Uncle Clem? Guilty as charged. At least the “stripper” Titan truck I bought in 04 has hand crank windows and manual locks. I did dump the steel skinnies for a set of alloys that were take offs from a higher level truck. And added a hitch and spray in liner. But tilt, cruise control, air bags, carpet, AC, ABS, 4 wheel disc, ABLS, 300+ HP V8, full instrumentation, stereo w/cd, 5 speed auto, PS, all came standard. Old school Uncle Clem’s would be turning over in their grave.
In 1976 my dad marched into the local Plymouth dealer and ordered a base Volare for $3400.00. 225 slant 6, 3 on the tree, no power brakes or steering, no A/C or radio. It was bright yellow with no chrome except the bumpers, because yellow is safe and easy to see. I learned to drive in that car; it was horribly embarrassing to take a girl on a date in that thing.
On the other hand, even at this time, I would have loved this car. The Volare was not a bad car at all once they had them sorted out. They had a great driving position, and this and the M Body had to be the last cars made with a real metal dash. The non-power steering did require plenty of cranking, though!
I would definitely want more options than this example, but do think the base model Plaza is the best of the bunch. Savoy isn’t bad, but that side trim on the Belvedere may actually beat the ’58 Ford in the what were they thinking department.
“We’ve got 4 pounds of chrome strips, we have to put them somewhere, right?”
+1. The savoy is the best looking line, in my opinion. Maybe they were trying to make the belvedere unattractive so if someone came into the dealership with the money to buy a top of the line Plymouth, the salesman could say “for a few dollars more you could have this beautiful Chrysler! “
not shown in brochures an optional trim 55 Belveederes and both 56 PLAZA and Savoy was straight full length trim, also available on 57, 58 and 59 varios series, thought it was cleanest
like this model 57
My parents had that trim on the ’55 Belvedere sedan they received as a wedding present from my grandparents. And no whitewalls!
Count me as a fan of the ’55-’56 Plymouth. I’m just young enough that these cars were thoroughly gone from the scene, and as noted collector interest just wasn’t there for many years. These cars were sort of a discovery for me in recent years.
These Plymouths have certain trimness to them that is very appealing. I’m not sure what the reality is, but they look like a spacious full-size car with a trim footprint. They sit on a 115″ wheelbase, and come in at 204″ in overall length. Not too different from the 2015 Impala at 111.7″ and 201.3″.
Rare even when new with just 17,600 made, a Belvedere four door hardtop would be a top pick for me.
Nice write up.
I wonder how much influence the Chrysler Norseman might have had on Chrysler’s lineups of the late 1950’s had it not wound up on the bottom of the ocean due to the sinking of the SS Andrea Doria in 1956.
This car was very striking for a 1950’s car.
I think it had plenty of influence anyway, or at least it showed what the stylists were thinking. If you look hard enough at the car, especially the curve of the C-pillar and the rear fenders, a 1960 Dodge will appear. (Try it! It’s fun!) There are also hints of the wacky reverse-fin ’61.
I’m curious as to where the pictures of the ’56 were taken. I am very familiar with that particular car. I blew up the rear view to check the license plate. I know the last 2 former owners and know a bit of it’s history. I have always liked that particular car. Ever since I was a kid I have liked all the ’55-’56 Chrysler cars, but never owned one. I did have some good times in high school in my friends’ ’55 Plymouth and ’55 Dodge.
I took the pictures in the parking lot of Castleton Square Mall in northeast Indianapolis. I probably took the pictures two or three years ago. I just happened to be driving through the parking lot as the sun was setting and saw it on a trailer that was attached to a pickup truck. There was nobody around, or else I would have asked about the story behind the car.
If you are inclined, I’m sure I would not be the only one who would love to hear something of this car’s backstory.
Good to hear from you.
The current owner, a friend of mine, must have been trying to sell it at a swap meet , maybe James Dean, when you took those pictures.
The car is not in bad shape but the paint could sure use some buffing.
I used to , in my job, pass through Spencer, Indiana a couple of times a week. This car sat on a used car lot, with a roof over it in that town for several years. Finally a friend of mine here in Washington, Indiana bought it back in the 1990’s and drove it some. At that time he also owned my former ’57 Chevy 150 that I sold to him due to lack of storage after a move. Any way, he later parked it for several years and ended up selling it to the current owner. He also sold my ’57, but that is another story. We are all in our local car club. The guy who now has it used it some to run around town and drive in parades and our local cruise in and car show. A couple of years ago I noticed that he was trying to sell it as he had it sitting on SR 57 at a body shop with a For Sale sign on it.
I think he still has it as I saw it for sale again this summer and he also had it at our car show in September.
He may have taken it to the James Dean show a couple of times, but I am not sure as he also has a ’36 Plymouth street rod.
My “Uncle Clem” was my Grandfather Ozzie, a mechanic for a series of car dealers and truck lines from the 1920s to retirement in the early 60s. First car he bought new was a 52 Studebaker Champion. Second new car was a 59 Plymouth Savoy with a flathead six and three on the tree. He openly expressed his opinion that anything other than the minimum needed to get down the road was “something else to break”
He loosened up a bunch after he retired and started collecting his Teamster’s pension, rather than what that jerkwater truck line had paid him. The 66 Belvedere had his first V8 (318), automatic and power steering. Still had manual drum brakes tho, which he could replace in his sleep.
My Aunt was the big spender. She had a windshield visor on the 50 Plymouth. She had a 56 Plymouth, white over red. I don’t recall which trim or what engine it had, but I always liked that year Plymouth.
My father is Uncle Clem, he was disappointed that his last car could not be ordered without a stereo or a/c.
I was going to laugh, but I just realised my last personal vehicle was a Toyota HiLux with vinyl trim, no a/c and a single speaker AM radio… At one stage it had no backup lights, but that was because someone stole them!
I love this car
If I had it I wouldn’t change a thing
well a poly wouldn’t hurt and maybe a chrome windshield moulding
dual exhaust, but that’s it…….
replace the missing letters on the hood….
Nice little Plymouth .
Clean it , polish it , tune & service the heck out of it then drive the wheels off of it , just like it is , as it was made to do .
Too bad no overdrive as Highway speeds chew up those FlatHeads prettydarnquick .
-Nate
That car looks exactly like one I was tempted to buy on a used car lot near Clay City, KY right down to the missing letters on the hood. This would have been sometime between 1988-1993ish. Sometimes I wish I had gotten it, though my dad would have had mixed feelings about it because he had a ’56 Savoy 2 door that looked just like the brochure car. His car had a 277 V8 with a Powerflite transmission. He said it was not the greatest handler as it had a tendency to crowhop. I would think that modern tires, shocks and some anti sway bars would have helped that a lot. He still has an ’89 Dakota pickup truck that he swears has the ’56 Plymouth frame under it. Years ago, a ’56 was up for sale on eBay where someone had did a frame swap from a Dakota over to the Plymouth so the ’56 car had the complete Dakota drivetrain. It also had the Dakota steering column and I think the heater controls built into a custom console under the dash.
Cars like the feature vehicle have a lot of appeal to me. The only thing I’d want different is for that car to have a 318/727 combo under the hood and power steering and brakes and that would be plenty for me. If this was the car I saw in Kentucky nearly 30 years ago, I was definitely planning on mastering the three on the tree and putting some seat belts in it and enjoying having a Forward Look car.
Come on even without being draped in tinsel you can see that even before the 57 forward look the shape was way ahead of the 55/56 Ford and Chevy with their flat blunt noses and upright Checker cab looks.This car has the sleek dart like profile with the thrusting nose that would be perfected a year later and its just a humble pillared sedan.Ford could not achieve this look even with a hardtop in 1956 and Chevrolet needed a massive facelift in 57 to improve on its uninspired and inferior 1956 update of the 55 model.Why didn’t the Plymouth do better? Were the quality contol issues starting before the 1957 meltdown?
Absolutely beautiful car! If I win the Powerball jackpot I need someone to track this down for me, because I want it very badly. I’d leave it looking just how it looks, only adding the missing letters on the hood like someone else suggested… clean up the interior a little bit, re-upholster the seats, possibly add a factory radio (although that delete plate is way cool), get the overdrive, try to track down the original factory HD suspension/brake/cooling parts or upgrade as close to those specs as possible, and then get the flathead to run and sound like this:
the HD parts were to use Imperial brake and suspension parts, more leaves in r. HDshocks on the lighterr cars it worked.
My father was Clem, only worse. It had to be some special bargain, which is usually for a reason. He bought that Plaza used in 1957. At least it was blue with a white top and had a radio. Not sure if it had the luxury backup lights option, but it did have the clear lenses. I do not remember ever seeing one with plain caps instead before. Notice the flat wings on the trunk trim piece. A V8 would have V-shaped wings.
Anyway, about halfway between then and now I had a 56 Belvedere convertible with PS, PB, auto, V8, etc. No AC, manual windows. Prettier interior. Chrysler PS was integrated from the beginning and 3.5 turns lock to lock. Chevy and Ford were afraid of people not being used to fast steering and also had an added hydraulic piston instead of integrated PS with the steering box, so they could be 5 plus turns lock to lock. Handling was about like a Ford or Chevy of the time, but that PS was far superior. Also famous for no feel, but no big deal to me! My 63 was the same, but much smaller steering wheel by then. Fairly precise, no feel.
One time I went down the Divisadero St. hill in San Francisco in the 56 with about five people in the car and at the bottom I was standing on the wide brake pedal with both feet and hoping it would stop before smashing into cross traffic. Didn’t tell anyone they almost died. My uncle told the same story about going across Route 20 in his 54 New Yorker full of the family and going down a long hill and finding no brakes at the end. Pre-disc brakes, kids.
I like the top models of these kind of cars far, far better myself. But really well written piece and really nice photos and of course brought up the My Dad Clem story above. I’m sure everyone knows about the oldcarbrochures site! (YES?) And you know about the Scotsman! Good job.
Notice the single lonely chrome strip on the side doesn’t quite line up on either side. Original equipment, guys. It wasn’t until later when the Japanese showed Detroit that it was possible to put a car together with things like consistent tight shut lines and trim lining up.
Later Chrysler station wagons sometimes had taillights that went from the fender onto the tailgate. Rarely even close. Sometimes way off.
thetrim on at least 55through59 can be moved up or down to line it up, dealers were supposed to take care of this. Ilined trim up for years on these Mopars, even dads ’56 DeSoto, that i have, after it was hit lined up perfect.
I think it is unusual to see that type of car in black. In my experience most of the stripper 55 and 56 Plymouths I’ve seen have been light blue or light green.
I’m with most people here…I sure hope that black 2-door sedan stays original as much as possible.
Seem to me, dark colored cars in those days tended to have white roofs. I think this was because they usually did not have air conditioning and a dark roof was not comfortable in the hot sun.
In Australia white roofs were very popular through the sixties, and Ford continued to list them as a (seldom seen!) option into the seventies. For those wanting visual contrast by then the vinyl roof had taken over.
This was my father’s first new car…one I probably came home from the hospital in. Bought in Kingston, PA, probably at the same dealership my mother’s father bought his ’51 Chrysler Windsor at, right on Market street (now long gone). He got it after he graduated from college and got his first job…his was 2 door sedan, red, probably with no options (flathead 6, standard transmission, and radio)….he drove it out to California (from Massachusetts) after getting a job there in the late 50’s…he tells the story of carrying some sort of chemical needed in his new job out there with him and running out of dry ice in Arizona…I’m not a chemist like my Dad, but apparently when they found out what he was carrying someone got him dry ice quickly, I guess it could explode if it got hot enough….my mom, sister and I flew out later to live there, but it could have been a disaster had it exploded….my Dad is fortunately still with us (56 years later).
He only had the Plymouth a few more years, due to his growing family (I’m a twin, part of that reason I’m sure) as he replaced it with a ’61 Rambler Wagon which was itself replaced by a ’63 Rambler Wagon. He hasn’t owned a Plymouth since, only 2 other MOPARs (a Dodge Omni and a 600)
Two weeks after I wrote this my Father passed away (Jan 2016), so I can definitively say this was the only Plymouth he ever owned…and it was his first car. He did own 2 Dodges in the 80’s but otherwise no other Mopars.
Back in 2015 I’d also taken him to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles to get an ID card instead of a license…of course he’d had a license my whole life, so even though he hadn’t driven in awhile, it felt odd that now he couldn’t. My mother assumed his Impala, having given up her Escort to my Sister then my nephew who still has it, but tomorrow I’ll be taking my Mother to Dept. of Motor Vehicles to get her ID card. She’s doing better than my Father was 6 years ago (hopefully so..since he passed away less than a year after getting his ID card) as he had Multiple Myeloma and heart problems, none of which my Mother has. She has her own problems, she’s had curvature of the spine all her life, but the pain from it has gotten worse with time, plus she’s so small (4’8″ and 83 lbs) she even has problem with power steering where her shoulders hurt after driving where she has to do lots of turning in a short period. However, she doesn’t really seem to miss driving, as my sister and I have been taking her where she needs to go for several years, and my sister will be assuming ownership of the Impala since you need to have a registered driver to get insurance, and my Mother won’t qualify after tomorrow.
The interesting thing here, is that she has to show up in person at the office, and present all sorts of original documentation that she is who she claims to be, to get the newfangled card with a star on it that says your ID is good. I had my license renewed 2 years ago, not in person, didn’t have to show any documentation, and got the card with the star on it…don’t quite understand why other than they want to see older drivers every 2 years in their office…but she’s no longer going to be a driver, just getting ID card, so not sure why she has to go in person, but trust it will go well..fewer drivers left in my family (though we did add my nephews a few years ago).
Can’t buy a new Plymouth anymore, other marques have taken its place, and even though the Plaza was smaller than Chryslers, it was a standard sized car, which you really can’t find either. Things have changed a lot in 65 years.
A little late to the party. Here’s my ’56 Plodge. (a portmanteau of the names Plymouth and Dodge). Basically a Plymouth with a Dodge front clip.Solid as a rock with 26,000 original miles on the odo. Survivor car. Flat head six and Power Flyte trans.
I remember dad pushin the pushbuttons on his 56 and 60 savoys
rembering my fathers work cars that included the same car as this plymouth—-never drove it as far as i can remember so being born in 1950 must have been around 63-65—my father was a heavy equiptment mechanic (bulldozers and the like for road construction) and used his work car to haul his tools around—–back seat trunk whatever but always a dirty greasy mess—he had a 1950 ford four dr sedan as the first car i can think about he bought from his boss almost new as it had a 6/3sp od and said boss wanted a v8—that ford towed our home a trailer house from job to job for 5-6 years until my parents had a new home constructed in 1957—-about the same time a 1956 studebaker president found its way on to the driveway of new house—anyway first time i lifted up the hood of the plaza and saw that flat head i was like wtf—never seen one like that before around here—-
just photographed this one the other day – 56 Dodge
rear quarter shot
That thar ‘lil black beauty is a Native American “PYUT” -rather a rare little number !!
What would Uncle Clem think of this? 520 cubic inch all aluminum hemi to boot.
In 2015 I commented on this post saying I knew this car as it was local. I knew the owner was trying to sell it at the time. Well, he must have because I haven’t seen it since and I always forget to mention the post when I see him. Our paths don’t cross much these days. Since then he has owned a ’49 Plymouth and he still has the ’36 Plymouth street rod.
In 2015, I commented that I was very tempted to buy that car when it was in Kentucky. Sometimes I still wish I had. At the time, I mentioned my dad owning a ’56 Savoy (his first of many Mopars) and how he always thought the ’89 Dakota had the same frame underneath and handled much the same. My dad passed away a few months after I wrote that post and his ’89 Dakota has been mine a few years with its 4 cylinder and 5 speed manual with overdrive. It’s not hard to imagine how that Plaza must have felt on twisty roads.
The 5,6,7, and 8 Plymouth would tend to rust out the front fenders above the headlights. Dirt would collect there. I had a 57 Plymouth that I put a dual four barrel Chrysler cross ram, engine in with a heavy duty three speed stick. The car fell apart.
I think uncle Clem may have had a cousin of Mediterranean origin, a good engineer who found himself out of his depth “designing” vehicles the other side of the Atlantic.