I was flying down I-35 just north of Dallas, TX on Tuesday when I spotted a custom in the corner of my eye coming from the opposite direction. I whipped my head around just fast enough to see a white '48 Plymouth sporting whitewalls on chrome reverse... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
I've been asking myself the same question. They are out there and they aren't that expensive. Several guys in HS drove them and once lowered they look pretty good. I may have to swap my 47 aerosedan for one.
I have always dug that body style mopar. There is a blue primered one with a packard grill out of Cali(don't have a pic on my work computer) that is really bitchin.
These coupes are pretty nice looking, with that slanted B pillar. This one looks great (except for the side pipes!) There was one featured not too long ago in TRJ that was very similar to the one you show here in light blue with '55-'56 Lancer caps; just a perfect little hot rod.
These cars have many advantages over the more popular Fords and Chevys of the same era: they are cheap...ah...and they are cheap, too. On the minus side, they need everything to bring them up to modern, roadworthy standards. There are simply no half-measures. So, if you can find a really clean stocker and will be happy with a mild custom with stock running gear, go for it. Otherwise, start with anything but a MoPar. Oh... Here's mine. The only thing stock about it is the sheet metal. I've had it for over 25 years so I must love it...
i always thought the 1941 mopar business coupes would make for some nice customs... maybe i just need more big asses in my life.
I'd like to find an older resto and add dual carbs and exhuast ,a finned head , lower it a bit with steelies and wide whites and drive the snot out of it.
Bloodyknuckles is probably having a Heart Attack right now. He loves these oddball cars and is a die hard Plymouth freak. I think there are a great deal of possibilities for a lot of cars other then fords. I also think that it takes the right person to own and build them for is to take notice.
My first classic was a 1950 Plymouth fastback. Looked great slightly lowered, ran well with the original 218 six. Fun to drive, cheap to own, great lines. Wish I still had it.
those old Plymoths are nice looking cars. I would even go so far as to say from a purely stylistic point of view they are even better looking than Fords or chevys of the same era. I'd say the lack of popularity would be due to the motor... lots of people love flathead Fords, and the Chevy six has quite a following, flat mopar 6's... not so much.
I have got a 50 business coupe...Basically the same car mechanically. I dont think they changed anything on those cars from 38-52...I am planning on doing some mild stuff to mine...or I have been thinking of going the other way and putting an early hemi in it...You Plymouth guys know that that will be a ton of work..
This one may look familiar to Bloodyknuckles...... 47 Plymouth convertible. Old school hop-up. 51 Dodge flathead 6 with Fenton finned aluminum head, Sharp dual-carb intake, Fenton headers through dual pipes with 24 Smithys mufflers. 51 Dodge overdrive transmission. Stock body with fender skirts, 41 Buick skirt trims and blue dot rear lenses. Where?... London, England. Bloodyknuckles went touring the City in it, last week. Owned by a good friend back home....
One of my favorites. I own one that was passed down to me from my Dad. It's been in the family more than 30 years. It's basically stock and I ran it at the HAMB Drags a couple of years ago (25 secs. with a little miss). Blowed a rear wheel cyl. after the second run. Hopefully I'll get her in better shape the next time I take her down the strip. Plus my wife loves the car.
I've been building my 48 Plymouth for about two years. Here's the color I like but not too crazy about the wheels. I pulled these pics off of ebay last year. I really like what the guy did with the car. That LeCarra steering wheel is just about perfect.
I'm with ya Ryan...I have always loved those but I tend to gravitate towards the odder stuff...go figure...
I'm a big fan of '46-'48 Plymouths, my '46 Business Coupe; it's got the goodies Jack Thomas mentioned and dropped spindles and disc brakes. It's a fun driver and the duals with Smithys really sound great.
The model name was the P-15, and some guys have been sounding off on the HAMB in the past few days on what they are doing with their projects. Check it out! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=365423&showall=1
I had a 46 Plymouth Special Deluxe business coupe that I got for a graduation present from college in 1991. I drove it for a bit but then the brakes went south and I didn't have the money to fix them. Plus, this was the early 90's and finding the parts was dang near impossible. Still, I kept it until about 5-6 years ago when I finally realized I was not likely to ever get to that project. It ultimately wouldn't run any more either (electrical somewhere stopped working and it didn't spark any more). I still wish I had it, though. I always loved the lines and proportions on those cars.
I agree, there really is hot rod life other than Fords + couple popular brands. For some reason unclear to me Mopars have been the underdog, but they do have character also, and can be built quite nice. To my eyes my '46 Fatass design is far smoother even in stock form than a Ford from same year. I love them all though. Could one reason be the manufactured amounts, during '46-'48 less than 10000 Dodge business coupes were build each year. I wonder how many still exists? And maybe another explanation that since there isn't any worldwide famous Customs build back the old days, by Barris or the likes, they never gained the reputation to have any potential. Plymouth total production is slight bigger, but not by mile. I'm happy Moparist, but wouldn't share a tear trading to '41 Willys Coupe, with Hemi, and alky, and...
It has always made me wonder why they are'nt more of them fixed up,,basically the same shape as the Fords yet,,no one ever seems to want them.
there's a 49 Chrysler right up the street from me that someone could pick for cheap if they knocked on the door. I walk by it a lot thinking about what could be. Thanks for the post Ryan. Can you find that local Tx car and send some pics? Jon