Thursday, July 26, 2007

1950 Plymouth Deluxe


50_Plymouth_Frt_RH_Qtr_High.jpgSince I continue to get emails from readers expressing skepticism that all the DOTS cars were actually spotted while parked on the streets of Alameda (today's is #47), I'm going to say it again: Unless I state otherwise, every single car you see in this series was found street-parked on this one-by-five-mile island in the San Francisco Bay. So, let's get on with today's car, a very clean '50 Plymouth.

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Not only is it very clean, it's very maroon.

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Even though the '50 Plymouth had a list price of only $1551 (comparable to the cost of similar Ford or Chevrolet sedans), it came with snazzy touches like this weighty chrome license-plate light mount.

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The engine fitted in these cars was a 97-horsepower flathead six. Nothing spectacular, but enough to get the job done.

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Yes indeed, the Plymouth brand has quite a heritage for Chrysler to draw on for future cars. Oh, wait...

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The crystal doorknob on the three-on-the-tree shifter fits right in with the Victorians in this car's neighborhood. What, no great big tube radio?

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Like most sedans of its era, the '50 Plymouth packs some serious trunk volume. For some reason I'd thought that Richard Nixon used a '50 Plymouth sedan for campaigning during his first run at the Senate, but his car was actually a '49 Mercury wagon. So much for bringing up the Plymouth trunk's capacity for suitcases bulging with small-denomination currency (but if I find a '49 Merc I'm going to bring it up again).

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It's great that a 57-year-old car can still survive on the street, though I don't know how much regular driving duty this car sees.

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Ah, the days before Ralph Nader, when taillights could be small and pretty (and damn near impossible to see at night).

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Good as this car looks, I think it could benefit from losing a few inches of ride height and gaining a few inches of tire width, plus maybe a few other modifications. Nothing crazy, mind you... unless you consider dropping in a blown 331 Hemi crazy, that is.

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