Plymouth Plainsman Wagon: Weird and Rare

You may have never heard of this wagon before- And that’s understandable, because its the only one in the world. Built by Ghia of Italy in 1956, this was a “bold new experiment in station wagon design” as proclaimed by Mopar artist extraordinaire Virgil Exner. The two door wagon was actually penned by Plymouth Studio designer Dave Scott. The Plainsman was meant to be a test bed for new features and ideas like the full power rear-facing third row seat that allowed two small children to sit in style, bringing the seating capacity to eight. She also featured a floating rear roof panel, power tailgate, and a full sized spare hidden inside the right rear fender.

So why did it never make it to production? It’s complicated, but U.S. laws stated that after 18 months, an imported vehicle owner (in this case Chrysler) would have to pay duties on the vehicle or ship it back out of the country to avoid incurring those cost. Mopar management chose the later and shipped the Plainsman to a Cuban Chrysler export manager who then took it to Australia when he fled from Castro, and then eventually back to America. I just can’t figure out if this car is more rare than it is weird, or the other way around… Regardless, there a few good custom car design ideas!

Enjoy the jazzy soft rock, or just hit the mute button: