Plymouth's "Transitional" 1930 30U
Historically speaking, 1930 was not a very exciting year for Plymouth - or for anyone else in the automobile industry for that matter. 1929 had been a banner year, the best year ever in the industry's history to be exact, despite the fact that the stock market had crashed in October, plunging the world into the worst depression ever known by man. But the real effects of the Depression were just really starting to be felt.
Plymouth entered the market with a car that can best be described as "confusing" - it was almost a totally new car, yet it was very much the same old car it had been in years past. It sat on a new frame, it had a completely revised engine, a new wide band radiator and most importantly, an all steel body; yet with the exception of the new radiator shell, it looked almost identical to the cars it was to replace. And as the model year continued, the car changed ever so slightly, in some cases incorporating items that were being developed for the totally new car that was to replace it, the Model PA.
Production of the Model 30U, as it was called, began just three short days following the shut down of production of the model U on April 5, 1930. As was Chrysler's practice at the time, the 30U did not carry a model year designation - for the first 21/2 months the car was considered to be a 1930, then on July 1st with car serial number 1530245, the car became a 1931 model and would remain so through to the end of production on June 8, 1931. The Model 30U enjoyed a 14 month production run, one of the longest in Plymouth's history (surpassed by the P15 built from late 1945 through the spring of 1949), yet it was one of the few Plymouths for many years where sales did not exceed those of the previous year. By the time the last 30U rolled off the assembly line, only 75,510 cars had been built (serial number sequences give a figure of 75,513 while body production figures show only 75,208 units, but that figure does not include bare chassis), down considerably over the Model U cars built.
While other makes were struggling to survive, Walter Chrysler was forging
ahead, plunging $2.5 million into an all new car (which would result in
the PA), yet he did make one shrewd move to insure that more prospective
buyers would see his new Plymouth automobile. Previously the Plymouth had
been the sole property of Chrysler franchised dealers, but effective with
the Model 30U, the car would be sold by all franchised dealers selling
Corporate car lines --by Dodge and DeSoto dealers as well. It was a prudent
move at the time, but in the long run it may have backfired - but more
on that later.
To reduce production costs, the 30U shared many components with the DeSoto Model CK and the Chrysler Model CJ, although both of these cars were six cylinders while the Plymouth remained the Corporation's only four cylinder line.
On its introduction day to the public May 10th, 1930, the 30U offered the buying public six body styles, including a four door sedan, a sport roadster with rumble seat, a phaeton, a business coupe, a rumble seat coupe, and new to the Plymouth line, a true convertible coupe with rumble seat. The convertible offered the buyer the best of both worlds, that of an open or a closed automobile. With the top and windows down, it was as airy as any open car, but with them both raised, it offered the warmth and comfort of an enclosed automobile. The convertible was easily distinguished by its fixed windshield posts and folding landau arms. The true "die- hards" could still opt for the rodaster with its snap on side curtains for use in inclement weather but such open body styles were fast losing their popularity with the buying public.
Business Coupe prices were sl ightly reduced by the time the 30U achieved 1931 model status plus two more body styles were added, a two door sedan and a business roadster without rumble seat (the windshield posts on the busi ness roadster were fixed while those on the sport roadster were hinged). And for some reason long forgotten, the phaeton suddenly became the "Sport Phaeton "
Also added to the line was a short lived Commercial Sedan - - in reality a two door sedan with a door fitted into the rear of the body. The interior consisted of a gutted body with accomodations for the driver, while the rear quarter windows were fitted with blanks on which the business name could be placed. This vehicle had a second purpose however, as it was designed with the small businessman in mind- -the type of fellow that could only afford one vehicle but needed it for two different purposes. For a slight extra cost, the buyer could purchase a rear seat to convert the vehicle into a Sunday passenger vehicle. The window blanks were easily removeable and outside of the extra door at the rear, the car took on all the appearances of a normal two door sedan. However the high initial price tag of the Commercial Sedan, $750 to start with, later reduced to $675, did little to attract any large number of buyers and only 80 of them were sold. The idea did not lose its appeal with Chrysler however, and the Commercial Sedan con- versions would re-appear in 1935.
While still retaining the styling flavor of the Q and U models which it replaced, the most striking difference of the new car was the wide chrome radiator shell and an externally mounted horn on the headlamp bar. It is hard to conceive today that Chrysler's thin band radiator shell had been controversial but bowing to public pressure the 30U once again looked like the rest of the cars on the market. The external horn, a Klaxon Model 16, has left restorers of the 30U in a small dilema- -where was it mounted? Unfortunately for Plymouth, many of the published "photos" of the car were actually artist's renderings - and these artists in many cases took liberties with the actual looks of the cars. In many cases the horn was shown mounted dead centered on the headlamp bar, while others showed it hanging beneath the bar. In reality, the only mounting was above the bar.
The hood louvers were now stamped into a flat side panel rather than in a raised panel, another of the "major" differences of the 30U over the U. The louvers were split into two groupings, the front group containing 15 louvers while the rear contained only 14.
The new "Airwing" fenders closely resembled those of years past, but they were made of slightly heavier material, although some body styles such as the roadster and phaeton used the same rear fenders as the Q and U. Other body parts would also be used between the model years, including the doors and rear half of the phaeton body and the splash aprons above the running boards if the car was equipped with sidemount fenders. While the Qand U Plymouths had been built using a composite type body (metal skin over a wood frame) the 30U became the first Plymouth to feature an all steel body. Although the parts books indicate different part numbers for such items as doors there remains some question as to whether or not 30U doors will interchange with those of the Q and U models.
Another interesting aspect of the 30U Plymouths is the rear window shape - -early cars were built with a rectang ular rear window while later cars were fitted with an oval shaped window (which would be a PA trademark). Exactly when in production this change took place is not known (30U owners are asked elsewhere in this issue to fill in a questionnaire on their car to determine when these and other changes took place).
The headlamps remained basically the same as those of previous cars,
only the lamp buckets were now painted rather than chrome plated while
early cars were
fitted with the old style "P" hubcaps, while later cars (around serial
number 1558573) got the new style that featured the word "Plymouth" inside
a raised parollelogram design. Wood wheel equipped cars saw a change from
the demountable type rims at the same designated serial number. Wire wheel
equipped vehicles saw two changes -- cars up to serial number 1518228 utilized
a 5 lug bolt wheel, while most cars after that (with some exceptions) to
car 1558001 used a 6 lug bolt pattern- -cars built after 1558001 returned
once again to a 5 bolt wheel pattern but there are undocumented changes
in these two 5 bolt wire wheels.
Under the hood the venerable old four was completely revamped, starting with a 1/4'" increase in the bore, to 3%". With a stroke of 41/4", piston displacement rose to 196.1 cubic inches. With a 4.6 to 1 compression ratio the horsepower was increased from 45 to 48 at 2,800 rpm. Torque was 120 ft.-lbs. at 1,200 rpm. The crankshaft and camshaft were both beefed up and would see use through the 1932 PB models and after engine number U276061, all pistons were fitted with four, rather than three, rings for better oil control. Early 30U engines were stili cooled by thermo syphon cooling while fuel was supplied by a vacuum tank, but by July the engines had been fitted with fuel (possibly around car number 1517571) and water pumps (again, exact change over dates are not known- -although the parts books indicate there was some type of changes at engine number U220883 and again at engine number U223883).
The new Plymouth carried a U series engine but to differentiate between the old U engine and the new, beefier U engine, engine numbers ran in a different sequence. The '29 U numbers ended at U110,000, while the 30U's U series engine began at engine number U200,001 and ran to U277,000.
All 30Us were fitted with the spur gear type transm ission of years past while power was transm itted from the 87/8" single disc clutch plate to the semi floating spiral bevel gear differential (4.3 to 1 ratio) via fabric universal discs, rather than more conventional universal joints. These discs, which may have provided less "shudder" at take off, had to be in perfect balance or the car would set up a vibration at any speed, a fador which has kept many of these early cars from seeing regular "road use" today. (It was an easy matter to substitute some Chrysler pieces to convert the 30U to a regular U- jointed car, a move which people that have done it claim greatly improves the car and does away with the vibration problems).
Other changes to the 30U included a frame that was just shy of 2" longer than that used previously, the redudion of the radiator capacity from 31/2 to 21/2 gallons and an increase in the engine oil capacity from 4 to 6 quarts. Tire size remained at 4.75x19", the same as that used on the later model U cars.
The car was sprung on all four corners by semi-elliptic springs; the front axle remained the same as that used on earl ier cars but two styles of drag links were fitted, the early 30U sharing the double spring type as used on the Q and U, while later 30U's switched to a single spring type which would continue in use through the PB models. At the rear of the frame hung an 11 gallon gas tank; inside the car on the instrument panel sat a new electric fuel gauge, the first such gauge fitted to any low priced automobile. Although 30U Technical Advisor Bob McMulkin feels that all 30U cars were fitted with the fabric universal joints, the parts books make unspecified notes of change to the drive shaft beginning with car number 1562183. Again, hopefully our owners survey will reveal more information on this subject as well.
The change to an all steel body was not a first for the low priced field (Ford and Dodge had both had all steel bodies for many years) but it was a change that the entire industry would eventually adopt. All body panels were now welded together into single huge panel s resulting in one rigid structure- -gone forever would be the problems of wood rot underneath the sheetmetal panels. The all steel body also resulted in a much safer automobile and Plymouth would soon capitalize on that, displaying various Corporate cars being rolled over or driven over the side of cliffs, only to be driven away under their own power with minor damage to the vehicle itself. The all steel body, with Plymouth's four wheel hydraulic brakes, would become major seiling points of the car for years to come. (As a note, General Motors wouldn't switch to all steel bodies until the late 30s; Chevrolet finally switched to hydraulic brakes on its Master series cars in 1936 while Ford wouldn't get hydraulic brakes until 1939).
Bumpers front and rear were of the twin bar variety similiar to those used in years past and were an option--that is, although probably all cars shipped were equipped with bumpers, the cost of the bumpers was added to the advertised cost of the car (this would be a practice that would continue well Into the mid-thirties). The interior of the 30U remained much the same as years past, although the instrument panel was slightly redesigned, the gauges nestled in the center of the panel in delicately designed nacelles.
One item missing from the panel was the medallion type Fedco serial number plate. Effective with the 30U models, the Fedco system of serial numbering was abandoned in favor of a strict numerical system, with the serial number plate attached to the right front door post where it would remain until after World War Two. Upholstery was in mohair, although open cars were fitted with leather, as were the rumble seat cushions. It is assumed that buyers could also get leather in sedans for additional cost. Early car buyers could improve the ride of their new car by opting for the extra cost hydraulic shock absorbers but these became standard equipment as production continued.
The values and virtues of the new Plymouth did not go unnoticed by the dwindling number of new car buyers. Plymouth had ended the 1929 sales year in 10th place. Despite the poor sales showing of the 30U in comparison to the U, Plymouth still managed to climb two notches, to 8th place by the end of 1930 - but the stage was set for Plymouth's dramatic take over of third place that would occur in 1931. The availability of the new Plymouth in Chrysler, Dodge, and DeSoto dealerships had not hurt, either. The new setup meant Plymouth now had a network of some 7,000 dealers (some sources claim over 10,000 dealers by this time); there is little doubt that Walter Chrysler's marketing strategy helped the new Plymouth in the market - - and also helped keep alive some of his other dealers, who, no doubt, would have gone out of business in the ensuing difficult years had they not had a low price car to offer to what few new car buyers there would be. Years later, this arrangement would work a sort of reverse strategy - when a prospective Plymouth customer entered the dealership, any smart salesman would soon steer the prospect to a higher priced Dodge or DeSoto to increase his sales commission. Special Interest Autos would come to dub the Plymouth as "Always A Bridesmaid, Never The Bride". Even worse, the Plymouth would lose it own separate identity, becoming a "Chrysler-Plymouth," before disappearing entirely. It was a sad thing to happen to the Corporation's bread and butter car.
