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Seventy years later, comparing the 1956 Plymouth Belvedere and 1956 Dodge Royal Lancer at the North Jersey Auto Show!
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So, we have two cars here.
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They're both 1956.
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They're from Chrysler Corporation. Their
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bottom line was Plymouth.
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Then they had Dodge, then they had
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DeSoto for a while,
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then Chrysler, and then at the top, on
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and off again, was Imperial.
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So, in 1956,
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the Plymouth was the bottom of the
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Chrysler offerings. A Plymouth was not
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just a rebadged Dodge. Yes, they shared
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some common things, but even within
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General Motors and Dodges, the engines
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were specific to those
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uh manufacturers. So, our first car is a
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1956 Plymouth Belvedere. This has been
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owned by Paul Pessile. He is a member of
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the Yesteryear Rusty Relics.
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And he has owned this car for 55 years.
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It was his first car.
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He is the second owner, and it is a
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numbers matching vehicle. It was
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assembled July 14th, 1956 at Plymouth's
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first factory, Lynch Road plant in
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Detroit, and it is one of 27,098
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Belvedere two-door hardtops produced in
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the '56 model year.
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The manufacturer suggested retail price
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for this car, for the Plymouth Belvedere
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V8, was $2,170.
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Now, this was a very upscale Plymouth
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because most Plymouths
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would be a six-cylinder. So, this was a
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V8. So, this is a high-end Plymouth.
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So, this car was originally delivered to
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a local dealership in Passaic, and it
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was direct competition to Ford and
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Chevy. So, total Plymouth production in
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'56 was 521,000 cars. Chevy made 1.3
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million cars, and Ford made 1.2 million
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cars. However, back in the '30s,
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Plymouth actually took second place uh
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from Ford at one point. So, this
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specific car has the optional 277 cubic
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inch V8 rated at 187
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horsepower. And that's brake horsepower
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or gross horsepower, not what we measure
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today, a little different measurement.
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And it's the only 56 Plymouth model that
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came standard with with the V8 was the
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Belvedere convertible. Otherwise, it was
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optional. If you wanted to move up from
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this, there was an optional power pack,
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277 cubic inch four-barrel version at
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200 horsepower. So, this is the first
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year that Plymouth division manufactured
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its own V8 engine. So, that engine is
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specific to Plymouth, not other Chrysler
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products.
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It is also the first model year for push
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buttons on all 56 Plymouths with
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automatic transmission. So, you think
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the push buttons or dials or something
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new on modern cars? Nope. Had them back
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in the '50s. So, before the Fury model
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was introduced in January '56, Belvedere
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was the most expensive series, and this
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car came in five body styles, not
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counting the station wagon, which had
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its own series called the Suburban. And
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I think you can see a wooden version of
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that just a little further down the
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line. Belvederes had 12 solid exterior
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colors, 18 two-tone colors combinations
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to choose from, five interior color
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combinations, and four convertible roof
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colors. This car's original colors were
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canary yellow and jet black. It was
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repainted 40 years ago, and the car's
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interior and seat headlining material
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are not original, but they're exactly as
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the originals, and they were replaced 30
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years ago.
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So, in the '50s, just about everything
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was optional, including the heater and
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defroster, directionals, radio,
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day-night inside mirror, outside
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mirrors, vanity mirrors, dual exhaust,
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gear gas tight door bright work, sport
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molding, and rear bumper wings, all of
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which this car has. This is a very
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highly optioned car. The only
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non-factory options on this car are the
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bright work around the headlights,
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fender skirts, and FM radio converter.
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This is also the first model year
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Plymouth to have fins, which the mark
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would retain through 1960. It's also the
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first year that they had uh a different
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hood ornament. It it wasn't ship sails.
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If you look at our 30s Plymouth on the
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side here or 40s I think it is, you'll
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see it has the ship sails of the
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Plymouth on it. Now was the standard
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hood ornament up until this point and
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this is the last model year to use 15-in
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wheels up until the modern era. Hey,
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moving on to our 1956
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Dodge Custom Royal Lancer. Now as we
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said we're following the path upwards.
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You started out with the Plymouth
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but if you were a remote park guy and no
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power no car, you went up to a Dodge.
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That was your next rung in the ladder.
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So this car is also owned by Russ Teague
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Restored Relics, Steve White and he has
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owned this car since 2012. It is a
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numbers matching vehicle. This car has
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been used in three weddings. So this car
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was assembled in 1956 at the Dodge Main
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Assembly Plant in Hamtramck, Michigan
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which is a suburb which is fully
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surrounded by the city of Detroit. It is
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adjacent to Highland Park where the
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Chrysler headquarters were at the time.
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And this car was originally sold at
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Gilmore Motors in New Haven,
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Connecticut. Manufacturer's suggested
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retail price for this car in 1956
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was $2,697.
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It doesn't sound much more expensive
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than the Plymouth but in 1956 dollars
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this was a much more expensive car.
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Total production of Dodge in 1956 was
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only 233,686.
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So they sold a lot less Dodges
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than Plymouths at the time. So maybe a
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little more exclusive, a little more
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expensive.
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This car has the base Super Red Ram 315
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cubic inch poly two-barrel V8 rated at
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218 horsepower.
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The poly V8 was a semi
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semi-hemispherical chamber on the
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engine. Later on they found out that it
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really offered no benefit. They went to
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the wedge in the 60s but this has the
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two-barrel uh
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poly version of the V8. From there, you
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can move up to the four-barrel version
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of the poly V8. That was rated at 230
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horsepower. And then, of course, if you
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wanted to go a little higher, of course,
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you could get a Hemi in this. The Hemi
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was the same block. It's a 315,
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but they put the hemispherical
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combustion chamber head on it. And
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basically, that means it's half a circle
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with the spark plug located in the top.
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And then, you got 260 horsepower, and
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that was in the D500
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that you get that. And then, if you had
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some factory connections, you could get
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the D500-1
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with dual four-barrel carburetors.
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315 cubic inches, also, but that was
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rated at 295 horsepower. So, that was
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basically a race car. If you wanted to
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go racing in NASCAR in '56, this was the
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car to do it in.
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Standard transmission was the
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three-speed manual with overdrive, and
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fully automatic two-speed power flight
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was an option, and this car, again, has
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that option.
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So, that was the two available
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transmissions in the car, and this car
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was a V8 only. There was no six-cylinder
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in the Custom Royal Lancer.
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This was the most expensive in the
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series for Dodge. It came in four body
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styles, two-door hardtop, which this is,
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four-door sedan, four-door hardtop, and
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two-door convertible. And then, you had
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five interior options for colors, and
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four different convertible roofs if you
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had that. One interesting marketing uh
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on this was the La Femme option. This
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was marketed towards women.
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Chrysler noted that, "Hey, 50% of the
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population are women, so why don't we
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market a car directly for women?" It
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would be painted in Misty Orchid and
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Regal Orchid, which in basic terms were
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lavender and white. It had special
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pattern seat covers, headliner,
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carpeting, interior paint, and it came
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with special accessories such as a
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designer purse, and umbrella. So, those
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came as standard with the La Femme
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option. I appreciate your attention and
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hope you enjoyed this presentation.
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