Curtis Redgap's Inside History of Plymouth - Part 2

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This is the second article in a series. Read Part One by clicking here.

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Hello Plymouth fans. Thanks for your kind support in regards to my writings. I hope you won't mind, but from 1954 on, which is where I begin to have my own strong recollections of things is where I would like to go into a bit more detail, along with more comments by my Dad and Grandpa about the MoPar brands. Thanks again.

When the dust settled after 1954, not more than a few lips were trembling over at Chrysler's Highland Park Board Room. It was an absolute disaster. Plymouth not only lost its traditional third spot, it fell all the way to fifth! Buick and Oldsmobile kicked Plymouth way out of the production scene. The sales slippage had not gone unnoticed during the production run, and to its credit, Plymouth management attempted to stem the slide by offering late introductions of the fully automatic transmission (April '54) and power steering was finally made available about three weeks after the model year were introduced in October of 1953. There were no power brakes available.

The so called semi-automatic transmission was a very late 1953 model year introduction and carried over intact to 1954. My Father hated it. There was no way for a dealer to convert a standard model to the "Hy-Drive" option because essentially under the sheet metal, it was a totally different car! The engine block was competely different, the transmission required substantial changes to the body in the cowl area. The clutch was totally different with substantial changes to the linkage that engaged it. The drive line was not as long, and used a longer, heavier tail shaft to handle the additional torque. The gear ratios were also different. The speedometer cable was much longer. The radiator was larger to handle the extra heat from the transmission. The carburetor used a dashpot to keep from stalling when quick lifts off the accelerator were made. As well the front floor pans were different to handle the increased clearance for the transmission. As well, for whatever reason Chrysler engineers chose to share the engine oil with the transmission! 11 quarts were required when the filter was changed! Granted the intervals were once every six months, but still it was a bother and required that the transmission and engine be drained seperately, although you filled the whole thing through the engine filler tube. As my Dad said, "it was a lot of engineering crap to make a one clunk transmission out of a fluid clutch stick shift. And talk about double trouble... the clutch and the automatic could go to hell at the same time! Try telling some customer about that! Thank God for the Powerflite!"

Yet, even to his chagrin, 75,000 Plymouths got that "one clunk" transmission. [Which is a note to anyone that might find a 1954 with Hy-Drive and seek to restore it. Not much will mix in the driveline with a non Hy-Drive model. As well, the body is different underneath around the pans and cowl area. Better to find the Powerflite model, which required no such extensive fixes to fit.] Even with its late model year introduction of the Powerflite to the Plymouth, 61,000 units were equipped with it.

Not much credit is given to the Powerflite transmission. Probably because it was overshadowed by the absolute best automatic transmission ever built, the Chrysler Torqueflite. Yet, the Powerflite soldiered on even after the introduction of Torqueflite into the 1961 model year. A seven year run. In actuality it was a simple transmission built around a planetary gear set, not unlike the early Model T Ford! It was also very strong, handling any engine that Chrysler built, and it was simple, utilizing far less parts than its competition from Ford, GM, Studebaker, or Packard.

In one of its strangest applications, the Los Angeles Police equipped its 1960 Plymouth Savoy fleet (330 units) with a 318 cubic inch V-8 and the Powerflite transmission. It was unusual because the vastly superior Torqueflite had been around for three full years, and was king of the fleet buyer's specifications. In a rather strange requirement, LAPD specified that the transmission had to share the oil with the engine! (Shades of my Father's nightmare Hy-Drive one clunk unit.) It was an odd demand that lasted several years. Only Chrysler was able to meet the specifiication, and virtually without any changes to the transmission itself. Chevrolet's powerglide could not make it, nor could Ford's 2 speed Fordamatic. Both of those destroyed themselves within a few hundred miles with 20 weight engine grade oil in their reservoirs. The Powerflite and later Torqueflite soldiered on like nothing happened. LA also purchased 303 1961 Dodge Darts equipped the same way as the 1960 Plymouths. No reported extensive transmission problems occured. The Powerflite was discontinued after 1961.

The sales hemorrhage continued unabated. By January 1954, Plymouth was down to just producing 1200 cars per day. By February, sales were down 40% from 1953. With the coming of Spring, traditional car buying time, hope sprang up as sales surged, however, the United Auto Workers took the Mack Avenue body plant to task, and a wildcat strike idled production for a week. Before the factory could get back into shape, Lynch Road went on a wildcat foray that again cut production way back.

Easing slowly back into full scale operations Plymouth was seemingly geared for a good summer run, but sales were languishing with the undisguised outright cut throat factory practices of dumping cars on dealers. Ford and GM were hot at it. So much so, that Congress was forced to pass legislation to insure that customers were given full disclosure on prices by clearly posted window stickers from the factory. However, in the meantime, the independents such as Nash, Hudson, Rambler, Packard and Studebaker could not stand the pressure of the price wars. Many would soon pass from the scene.

Chrysler executives were plainly worried. They did not have the capacity to compete with Ford and Chevrolet. As well, finally, someone in the board room woke up and spoke the alarming words that Plymouth needed its own network of dealers. Shades of heresey. I should have liked to been there at that meeting. Plymouth never had its own stand alone stores. It was and still is, (unfortunately since Daimler has elected to kill Plymouth, we will never know if it would be competitive on its own.) attached to other ChryCo franchises.

There were very few dealers such as my Dad's store that had all the Chrysler brands, so it meant little to him whether you bought a Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler, Imperial or Dodge Truck. You got the same treatment. The best. He also endured a lot of questions from Highland Park during this period about how he functioned and how he would feel about having a separate Plymouth franchise competing against him. (Dad was a direct outlet, and not a franchise, so Chrysler was obligated to keep him ahead of the pack.)

One of the things my father did during the 1930s to survive was to get into fleet sales. Taxi cabs and police cars do not sound very exciting, yet they kept the dealership alive, and Chrysler Corporation officials often called Dad for his advice or listened to him and built the car the way he said to build it. True, if you know the right person on the production line, you could get a Chrysler just about any way you wanted it. I myself recall that in 1958 a certain attorney wanted a Chrysler 300 for his, ah.... well, mistress. She loved the Ford Thunderbird, only because of its sky blue color. They argued throughout the entire sales transaction. He wanted that 300 for its power, she wanted the Bird for its color. Finally my Dad stepped from his office, and without as much as a word wrote on the sales contract, "paint Ford Thunderbird Blue." Sure enough, about 10 weeks later, one of the prettiest 300s I have ever seen arrived. Now, if you could find that one, you'd have a rare and special 300 all right. But, as I recall, the wife found out about the connection, and the car got driven into a canal where it lay hidden for several years, literally crushed beyond recognition by hundreds of passing loaded barges.

At that moment, in very late 1954, in the Board Room of Highland Park, a light was lit, and it was, as the Ford slogan went, "a better idea." And that was to get Plymouth out there competing directly against Ford and Chevrolet instead of against all other Chrysler brand outlets. The conclusion, and the right one, was that Plymouth had always been marketed incorrectly, never fully allowed to compete for its own market share not only against the competiton, but from its own company! From the Dodge-Plymouth Dealer to the DeSoto-Plymouth Dealer to the Chrysler-Plymouth Dealer, the entire Plymouth organization was competing, in essence, against itself.

1955. What an exciting year 1955 was. The country was fully now at peace, and the ravages of the Korean "police action" was behind us. My brother elected to join the US Navy right after his graduation in June, and we didn't receive any direct news from him for the next five years! The economy was booming. President Eisenhower promised "more of the same." The automobile industry had emerged from the shadows of war production with tons of cash, [except for the independents] new design themes, and plenty of outlets to pedal their new wares. 1955 was also the year that all the major companies had targeted to bring out their totally re-designed, re-engineered cars that were some of the first remakes since 1946.

Was there excitement down at my Dad's place? There sure was! Dad had been to a lot of the dealer pre-shows, bringing back pictures of the new models. I couldn't believe that they were from the same company! Especially the new Plymouth models, and that, oh, so special Chrysler, the 300! However, seeing pictures and actually being to touch, feel, see, and sit in an actual car is a totally different kind of experience. Dad began receiving the 1955 models in early November 1954. Grand opening was set for November 17, 1954, across the country. Plymouth was behind Ford and Chevrolet introductions, this year.

Chevrolet debuted its exciting new line on October 28, 1954. The new Chevrolet was every bit as made over as the new Plymouth. Ford beat Plymouth on introductions by just 5 days, coming out on November 12, 1954. Dad wrote in his journal that it was a well planned sales ploy to spark any last minute undecided purchasers to wait until Chrysler brought out its '55s. Whether it worked or not is only up for speculation. However, from the very first night, Plymouth sales took off at a pace that my Dad could hardly keep up with! He sold more 1955 Plymouths on November 17, 1955, than he usually sold in a normal two months! Over 20 Plymouths! And that was only the first NIGHT! And you can't forget the totally made over Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler, and now marketed as its own division, the Imperial. Their sales took off well too!

However, we must not forget Ford and Chevrolet. Ford was sort of a makeover from the 1954 models in resembalance. It had a new line called the Thunderbird, which was generating an awful of floor traffic at the Ford dealers. More so than the Chevrolet counter part, the Corvette. Chrysler had introduced a showcar called the Plymouth Belmont in 1954 with a so called "non-existent" Plymouth V-8! Actually the car had the 14th Plymouth V-8 according to the numbers. As to why this engine business with Plymouth was such secret, only the company knows.

The Belmont itself was a two seat sports car, which the dealers had high hopes for, as being aimed at the Thunderbird and the Corvette. Not to worry. In the usual Chrysler Board mentality, the car and the design was retired before 1955, as being "too old." Plymouth just shook its head and dug in again, working against odds as it went about setting new records, sales, speed, and design for 1955. Possibly, Chrysler had seen the sales figures set by the 1953 and 1954 Corvette and were underwhelmed by them. However, surely after seeing the sales recorded for the 1955 T-Bird, they probably kicked themselves in the rear area a few times.

The 1953 Corvette sold 314 units. The 1954 model sold 3,640 Corvettes, which represented an improvement, but in light of the 1,151,000 total production of the Chevrolet car line alone, the Corvette figures were a bitter pill. To finish this out, 1955 was worse, with only 700 Corvettes being produced! Even with the available V-8. However, over at Ford, much rejoicing was heard since the T-Bird took off with a first year run of 16,155 units! Plymouth raised its eyebrow at the decision makers on the Board. The Belmont, with some minor styling adjustments, would have been a worthy competitor to the T-Bird since it was built with almost the same specifications as the Ford Thunderbird. One can now only speculate, but, Plymouth should have been given the chance!

I am not an expert, and I claim no special experience nor historical significance or accuracy for the above items. I also make no claims, aims, or accept responsibility for any of its misuse, abuse or re-use.

- Curtis Redgap

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