The Underrated Orphans from the 1950s

I always liked those Plymouth Suburbans, one of the coolest 2 dr. wagons ever.

 

1957 Chrysler Windsor

 

Built in the early 80's. And yes, the four door is the best looking model.

 

Chrysler had a nice palette of colors in that era..........

 

The early 50s Studebakers were at least a decade ahead of their time and the late 50s MOPARS at least 5 years ahead of their time.

Underrated? I don't think so. Ford and GM adopted slower changes to production in an attempt to control costs, the result being that they sold more cars in the long run.

Studebaker spent itself into bankruptcy with rapid changes and Chrysler let Exner's team go for the same reason. You can't sell enough cars to recoup the costs unless you're charging Ferrari prices.

 

Mopars are NOT orphans -part of The Big Three - geez....

 

The kingpin-and-coil-spring cars don't seem to have much in common with the torsion-bar-and-balljoint cars, so in that sense they're kind of orphaned.

I've always liked the '55 Plymouths with the non-sport trim. You never see them, though; which is odd since they were among the five best-selling cars of the model year. They're every bit as good looking as a '55 Chevy or Ford, and perhaps better looking as they're a bit more restrained.

 

Mike - both Loewy and Lowboy are correct. Owners and admirers have been using those two appellations since the '53 stude coupes were introduced. Loewy is obviously used to denote that famed designer, and lowboy was used to describe the stunning profile in comparison to the stodgy sedans of the same years.

dj

 

I always liked the orphans, but stuck with traditionals, [early fords]. But now I would like to have kept my dads ol' 47 Dodge cpe [which I inherited] It was a good 'makeout car', and have since seen some good looking Dodges when lowered etc. One buddy got a 53 Stude cpe, and that day we lowered a bit and cruising Market st. in Riverside we pulled up to a new 57 T bird found we were looking up at it. The new V8 Plymouths were cool, and I wanted a 57 Desoto real bad.

 

As in the '40s Orphans thread, we should remember those makes that were launched in the '50s, and a few others that died during that decade:

Edsel
Henry J
Powell (pickups and wagons made from junk Plymouth parts)
Edwards
Cunningham
Hudson Jet
Aero Willys
Scarab
Continental (as a separate make)

Packard and Hudson breathed their last during the '50s, as did most of the cars on the list above. Edsel, Studebaker and DeSoto wheezed on for another year or three before they expired.

 

Plymouth=Orphan
Desoto=Orphan
.
.

 

1954 Stude HT are also nice, pic below is my dads


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