Curtis Redgap's Inside History of Plymouth - Part 8a
I am by no means an expert, and I cannot make any claim to accuracy for the materials that I have used to make these articles. In some cases, the journals go back 50 years, and I nearly cringe each time I open them as they appear so fragile. I could choose to copyright, but I do not, as I feel that this material should be sent far and wide as to show that PLYMOUTH should be allowed to survive, and finally stand on its own! This is designed for the reading pleasure of folks that love MoPars. Any resemblance to persons, places, things or dates is purely coincidental. If you like what you are reading, please make sure to contact Dr. David Zatz, or leave me an email message "PlymouthRIP62801@aol.com." Thanks for your many kind comments.
Installment VII, Section 1
The 1959 models arrived at the end of October in 1958. Introduction day was about the same experience that we had of that of 1958, except we scored a couple hits that night, which was a good sign. Grandpa had come up from Florida to help with the introduction, hoping for another start like we had in 1957. He drove his 1958 "D" model 300, now his "old" car. He had people standing in line asking if he was going to trade and when they could buy it. He wasn't quite sure yet. He thought he would give up his performance image for the Imperial 2 door hard top we had on the floor. It was the lower priced Southampton model, but it had every gadget on it that Chrysler built. It was obvious that DeSoto had broken his heart so that it would no longer be his car of choice after so many years of driving the cars of that marque.
Just prior to the January introduction of the 300 "E", Grandpa did decide on the Imperial. He called the 1959 300 "E" models, "eunchs." "Chrysler took its balls away." Of course, he was referring to the replacement of the 392 Hemi with the 413 cubic inch wedge head V-8. For some reason, even some car magazines panned Chrysler for discontinuing the Hemi. Yet, again, the 413 was a stupendous engine in its own right.
With a very short 18 month development into production, it is a testament to the enginers that the 413 was not laden with problems. As it turned out, it proved to be one of Chrysler's best, powering luxury cars with smooth efficient power, to becoming a National terror on race tracks and drag strips.
Our friends over at Motor Trend put a 1959 300 against the 1958 model. It was no match, really. The new 413 put out more torque in the lower end of the scale, where you needed it and felt it. Besides being about 120 pounds lighter, it was less costly to manufacture. The "E" was quicker in all tests at any speed except absolute observed top end. It ran to 60 in 8.2 seconds. It pulled the 1/4 mile in 17.2 seconds and was running 92 miles an hour. Top speed, flat out, hair on fire, balls to the wall, was 142 miles an hour. Not bad for a 5400 pound sumo type.
The "D" took 9.6 seconds to 60 and 17.9 seconds at 89 miles an hour for the 1/4. It had an observed top speed of 145 miles an hour. Andy Granatelli, in the only bright spot for the "D" had set a Bonneville Salt Flat record of 157 miles an hour in a specially prepared 1958 model.
The quality control methods were discernably better on the 1959 models. Seats, interior materials, paint, trim match, and other highly visible quality items were all far better than the previous two years. They should be. Engineers had worked their hearts out making running line changes to get quality back under some semblance of control. The 1959 models were just heavily "face lifted" remakes of the 1957-58 models. The chassis were the same. The body shells underneath were the same. There were improvements throughout the entire line, but to call them totally "new" stretched it a bit.
Just as an example of the chaotic bureaucracy, 1959 saw the introduction of the venerable 383 cubic inchV-8. One for the Chrysler line, and another for the Dodge line. Did you hear me say two? Yes, two different engines with the same displacement. Was anyone paying attention at the forge plant? At the Production level? At the Board Room? If they were, did anyone seem to care?
I sure knew that the mechanics cared because Mr. Greene, who was our warranty administrator and Chief Mechanic cussed every time a new 383 Chrysler went out the door. (Fortunately, like all Chrysler engines, it proved to be extremely reliable and did not suffer us any warranty worries). Apparently not because the Chrysler 383 was a special raised block that continued for two years before it sunk in somewhere that the Dodge 383 was the superior engine.
The Dodge boys took the 361 "B" block and bored it out to 383 cubic inches. Not only did it make more torque, it was less expensive to produce. It soldiered on until 1971 where a rebore brought it up to 400 cubic inches and it was certified as a "smog" engine. So just a note to you 59 and 60 restorer types. If you get a Chrysler 59 or 60 model with an original 383 engine, it will not match up to the corporate parts numbers should you seek to rebuild it. The same goes for your DeSoto persons that get a 1959 or 60 model with the 383. This is the Chrysler design RB and will not match parts for the Dodge or corporate 383. My advice is to just switch to the Dodge engine. Even though you purist types will howl, it will be much, much cheaper to rebuild the corporate 383 as opposed to the RB Chrysler 2 year only 383. Otherwise I wish you: Good luck.
The one good thing though about the RB engine type was out of that family came the now famous "413". So, I guess in a way the Chrysler 383 was like a "debored" 413. Then, which came first? Given the push to develop the wedge engines to replace the Hemi, I suspect the 413 was developed first. A bit of a debore gave them the 383, which were both introduced in 1959.
Other than facelifts, excepting the wedge engine controversy, Chrysler bascially stayed pat in 1959. However, Virgil Exner's tail fin influence had run amok on other car lines. The most garish, and outrightly stupid finned theme was undoubtedly the 1959 Chevrolet. Who ever was responsible for that should have never been allowed to draw another line for a car design. It was just outrageous! Yet, somehow they managed to convince 1,428,962 people to buy one! WHY?? Ah, but Chevrolet wasn't alone in stupid fin design in 59. It had a brother in Cadilliac and a close cousin in Buick. Over at Studebaker, the Hawks were spreading some funny looking tail feathers of their own, and American Motors Ramblers needed help.
Everyone that was aware of trends, was just about "finned" out with the 59 models. Not yet a clear message to the ChryCo board room, however. Virgil Exner's 1960 models were already approved with the machining being built to hammer them together. But we had to get through the 59 models yet.
Dad had been doing quite a bit of flying around, visiting dealers, parts suppliers, truckers, and outside vendors of aftermarket parts. He was not pleased at all with some of the things he was finding out. In fact, he was outright distressed. Politically, he told us, he had the fuse to tons of TNT. It appeared that many of the top Chrysler Brass had nifty little arrangements with people making supplies and parts for the Chrysler Corporation as a whole. Instead of demanding a fail rate of 4%, some of the suppliers were getting top bucks for junk that was failing at 20% or higher! Warranty claims were through the roof on things like windshield wiper motors, switches, knobs, cigarette lighters and ash trays! They were cleaning up on both ends. None of this was his intended collection of facts. He had been drumming up support for letting Plymouth go as per the agreement that the board had made back in 1954!
Plymouth was apparently on the right track, holding 3rd production spot now for 1957 and for 1958. Given the level of sales for the 1959 models, it looked right on track to hold 3rd for 1959. It was support for not letting Dodge get that Plymouth sized car. However, it was tough to beat Dodge. They always held sway, and they were facility wise, the biggest stick. The rest of the Divisions depended upon Dodge for their engines, axles, and other major components. The Dodge dealer association also seemed to have a bigger court. They claimed that they had "made" Plymouth what it is, not only by building them at first, but by selling the product along with their Dodge line.
Dad was upset that the ChryCo board had not kept their word. With the resurgence of Plymouth in 1957, there were only some experimental stores that were set up and they were scattered around the country, perhaps 4 or 5 that Plymouth stood alone in. That really wasn't any indicator. That was akin to a very small bone being tossed to a very large dog to keep it quiet while the next move was planned. The plan was that Dodge would be competing on the same level, with the same size, same price niche car of their own! Dad just couldn't see how the Board could let it happen. I feel that the "fix" was already in against Plymouth. Apparently, because the decision had been made some 2 1/2 years ago, whereby the car was ordered up already for production! So, he was in a predicament. He had plenty of evidence of the collusions with outside suppliers, along with the production numbers of failed parts from those same suppliers. However, he didn't have enough stuff to be able to stop the Plymouth kicking Dodge. His only hope was to get Plymouth out from under everyone.
He had another concern that tended to trouble him too. He was long an industry insider, and the rumors were rampant about Ford's Edsel. Sales were dismal, public reaction was non existent to it. But down in his heart, he saw the same thing happening with DeSoto. Even his own father had not driven a DeSoto for the last two years. Grandpa was one of the first to buy a DeSoto, and drove them every year since, up to 1957, and he almost didn't take one that year either! With Grandpa, of course, it tended to be his perception of the product. With DeSoto itself, even Chrysler's own car lines were squeezing DeSoto out. If something were not done, there was no way to keep the car marque competitive.
Chrysler had also done something that was coming home now to roost with the 1957 line. The DeSoto Firesweep was in essence a Dodge! It was introduced to be a low priced alternative to the larger DeSoto, but it rode on the 122 inch Dodge wheelbase, powered by a 325 c.i. Dodge V-8. That's right. The 1957 model really blurred the distinction between the two, even though it had DeSoto styling, it shared just about everything else with Dodge. What concerned Dad at the time was the price spread. In his dealership, all the lines were there for comparison. It was tough or easy, as to which side you took, to explain the minor dollar differences in car prices, marque to marque. For instance, let's look at similar 1957 model 4 door sedans, the bread and butter cars of Detroit.
- A 1957 Windsor (low line Chrysler) 122 inch wheelbase, 4 door with power brakes, power steering, Torqueflite, radio, heater/defroster, carpeting, standard 285 horsepower 354 c.i. Hemi V-8, and light kits would run about $3,180.00.
- A Saratoga (mid line Chrysler) 126 inch wheelbase, 4 door with power brakes, power streering, Torqueflite, radio, heater/defroster, carpeting, standard 295 horsepower 354 c.i. V-8, light kit would be $3,714.00.
- A DeSoto, Firesweep,(low line DeSoto) 122 inch wheelbase, 4 door with power brakes, power steering, Torqueflite, radio, heater/defroster, carpeting, standard 325 cubic inch Polysphere V-8 at 245 horsepower, and light kits would run about $2,775.00.
- A DeSoto, Fireflite, (mid line DeSoto), 126 inch wheelbase, 4 door with power brakes, power steering, Torqueflite (standard), radio, heater/defroster, carpeting, standard 341 c.i. Hemi V-8 with 270 horsepower, standard light kits would run about $3,487.00.
- A Dodge Coronet (low line Dodge) 122 inch wheelbase, 4 door with power brakes, power steering, Torqueflite, radio, heater/defroster, carpeting, standard 6 cylinder 230 c.i., 138 horsepower, light kits would run $2,683.00.
- A Royal (Mid line Dodge), 122 inch wheelbase, 4 door with power brakes, power steering, Torqueflite (standard), radio, heater/defroster, carpeting, standard 325 c.i. Polysphere 285 horsepower V-8 would run about $3,091.00.
Do you see the problem that my Dad saw? The price ranges began to almost merge together. With cars that even look almost the same, it was difficult sometimes to explain the price difference. Hard when a person wanted the bigger car at the same price as the cheaper car. Easier when the person stepped up to pay the extra price from the less expensive car to get into the bigger car.
Name recognition and prestige still play a big role in today's market. But, the main barrier is that $500 difference. That even remains today. 500 bucks is a lot of money. People balk when you get into that range. Mostly, you can get people to agree, after a little selling, to step up a couple hundred dollars. But, trying to get them over that 500 dollar barrier is like pulling hen's teeth!
But, Chrysler marketing forgot all about that. It was worsening in 1959.
Here I am Mr. Potential customer looking at a nice DeSoto Fireflite,4 door sedan. It has all the right equipment on it that I want. The sticker price is $3,754.00. Next row back, however, is another 4 door sedan, but it is a Chrysler. Man, though, it is that real pretty Chrysler Blue that my wife likes. Shuffling forward I see the window sticker. Hey, wait a minute, same car. Same engine, wheelbase, same everything. And it is a Chrysler! It is only $275 more at $4,029! Man, I must be the luckiest guy on the lot to spot this mistake!
Unfortunately, though, it was no mistake. DeSoto was getting clobbered. It got it from Dodge as well. Same customer, same lot. Looking at DeSoto Firesweeps, looking to move up from a Plymouth. Spots a nice 4 door sedan. Got the equipment I want, V-8, automatic, and all. Not a bad price either, $3,254.00. Then he looks up and spots a 4 door hardtop car in the next row. It is loaded, and has that beautiful hardtop look, as opposed to the 4 door sedan posts. Hey, wait a minute, look at the sticker, and not only that it has the hotter 361 4 barrel with duals too. It is a Dodge Custom Royal Lancer, the absolute top of the line... and HEY... look at that sticker price... I don't believe it... $3,279! That is only 25 more, and I get the BIG Dodge. I must be the luckiest guy on the lot to spot this mistake!
Nope, not a mistake. Just Chrysler in Chaos... and DeSoto in decline.
Then, on top of all else, Dad picked up a rumor that there was some sort of plan to introduce a "watered down" version of the Chrysler 300 in the spring, either March or April to coincide with the usual upsurge of sales when warm weather arrived. Supposedly it would consist of only a hardtop and a convertible built on the Windsor chassis with the small wheelbase of 122 inches. It was to be euipped with upgraded interior, special identifying trim packages, and a high performance version of the new RB 383 c.i. "Golden Lion" Chrysler V-8. He hit the roof. "Here we are not being able to sell the real thing, and some knothead over in marketing wants to swamp us with a weak knee cousin that you probably couldn't give away"!
He spent the next two weeks practically living on the telephone to nail down this "300-X" project. When he did confirm that plans were in the works for just such a car, he mustered his dealership forces, along with the heavy hitters in stock holdings, and got the idea and the car nixed.
Gentlemen from the Mid-West area, named Mike, served on the Board. Like the Mike in the cereal commercials, he hated everything, and he surely hated the 300-X concept. Funny thing, though. About the time of the January introduction of the "E", we got a bunch of phamplets describing the 300-X. It set Dad off all over again, until we discovered that it had all been a mistake. The things we got were supposed to have been burned. We should have received the new 300 "E" model brochures, but, guess what... they went to the incinerator!
Of course, there were some people that wanted that car, and wanted it badly. When they figured out who was truly responsible for its demise, a sort of state of undeclared war occured. They kept right on beating that drum which resulted in a decision shortly after the cancellation of the "300-X", to introduce the "300" in 1962! Dad had made some powerful political enemies, even though he felt he was doing the right thing. However, he didn't take too much time to contemplate that situation. He was concentrating on getting Plymouth independent.
I can remember seeing the next car that I would own come in the dealership in 1959. It was an all black on black Sport Fury, completely loaded with options, including that silly spare tire thing on the truck lid. Called the "toilet seat", it held some sort of fascination for Virgil Exner in some of his designs. I never saw much use for it except as an excellent spot for rust to start. Shortly after I acquired the car in 1964, I had the trunk door replaced with a plain model. I thought it improved the looks of the rear of the Plymouth. Funny how things work out sometimes.
I was really enjoying my '58 Belvedere during 1963. However, every once in awhile I would see that '59 Fury around town, and I couldn't help but fall in love with it all over again.
Along about May1964, my brother shows up from his station in Virginia Beach. He and 3 other drunken sailors came whizzing home in a 57 Pontiac Star Chief that he thought was the hottest ticket on wheels. No, he and Dad never did see eye to eye, and anything other than a Chrysler was what my brother would drive. Dad never said too much after the argument they had when my brother was about to graduate. One afternoon as I was coming home from school, my brother blasts up beside me. I have to admit that I was a bit ticked off at him anyway. However, he was about 1/2 in the bag and trying to show off to his buddies. He wouldn't leave me alone. Finally, my temper got the best of my reason and I stuck my foot straight into the carburator on that rebuilt 361 I had in the Plymouth. Never saw my brother again. Oh, he hung on the left rear fender until the Torqueflite hit second gear... then it was adios! I was determined to give him an earful the next day, but fate stepped in. I guess after getting shot down by me, he and his friends continued on their daily activity of trying to drink all the bars out of booze while they were here. Very late, or early, depending on your perception, and very tanked, they all piled into the Pontiac. My brother was way beyond driving, being passed out in the back seat. One of his companions came under severe scrunity of the local law enforcers. He managed to give some of our finest the "slip." As he eased his way out of town, he took a country road that had a severe 90 degree turn in it. At about 50 miles an hour, they left the road, flew about 100 of so feet over a small embankment, and ended up in a grove of scrub trees. By then, everyone was awake. Not too sober, but awake. Recognizing that their predicament could get them all in big trouble, not only with the law, but with the Navy, my brother goes down the road and got a farmer that lived along there to come with a tractor to get the car out. He charged them $40 too, which served them right. Had a heckuva time getting them out. When it was all over, the Pontiac was not drivable. So, hat in hand, dragging that piece of junk along, he goes to Dad for help. The prodigal returns, right? Not. Dad tried to arrange financing, but the bank said "no." Then my brother comes up looking at my car!
I was so livid, I wouldn't even talk to him. However, after sleeping on it, I came up with an idea of my own. Early the next morning, I went over to see the owner of that '59 Fury. Still in beautiful shape and it only had 23,000 miles on the odometer. Of course, the people that owned it knew me. They had been thinking of a new car, so I came at the right time. They wanted $500 cash. I smiled all the way home. When I got there, my brother was still at the breakfast table. I told him if we wanted my car, I needed $750 for it, but it had to be right now! He whined and complained, but I didn't budge. Call that professional training from watching all those car deals.
He coughed up the money. I went over and got my '59 Fury. Turned out not to need much at all. I changed the brakes to the non-organic linings. I also increased the wheel size to the Police 15" wheels from the Dodge package. It had started to bubble from rust around the top of the fender "eyelids". I some bondo and fixed them on a Saturday afternoon. I ended up replacing the dual exhaust system. It was still basically in place, but just paper thin. I knew that with a couple of my maximum performance take offs, I would probably blown the mufflers into the next county. I don't think in the 5 years that the car had been on the road that the secondaries to the 4 barrel had ever been opened up.
On my first heavy throttle application, the engine sputtered, bucked, hiccupped and refused to run much over 45. I knew what I had to do then. Took it in and had Mr. Greene give it his master touch tune up, which, by the way, I did NOT get a price break on! It cost me 28 bucks! The spark plugs were choked with carbon. So, when he got it all tuned, he took it out back and ran about a quart of kerosene through the carburetor. It created a huge cloud of white smoke, but the carbon was gone. I backed out into the ally and with a heavy single punch of the accelerator, the 361 c.i. roared up to 45 in first gear! Man, was I ever happy! So, my brother went back to Virginia Beach in "his" 1958 Plymouth Belvedere, and I had my 59 Fury. My Dad didn't ask too many questions for some reason. But, he smiled a lot the next few days. Little did I know that in less than a year, things would drastically change.
Fleet sales in 1959 were good. Word was getting around. The State Police, Sheriff, and the City all choose the Plymouth for 1959. Several other Sheriff departments also choose Plymouth this year. However, one of the southern counties had chosen Dodge Pursuits for 1959. It was one of the first Dodge Pursuits to come through our store. Poor Plymouth. Selling thousands of their Police Packages, and a dozen Dodge Pursuits were still the talk around the store for weeks. The Plymouth State Bid was the 4 barrel 361 c.i. engine with dual exhausts, Torqueflite, heater/defroster, 12 inch brakes, heavy duty chassis, heavy control shock absorbers, sway bars, and upgraded 15 inch wheels from the Dodge package. So equipped the 59 Plymouth Pursuit would run to 60 miles an hour in 8 seconds. The 1/4 mile was 16.4 seconds and 84 miles an hour. Observed top speed was over 125 miles an hour. The secret was that the Plymouth easily kept up to its big brother Dodge. The 383 equipped Dodge Pursuit needed 9.3 seconds to 60. It pulled the 1/4 at 17.1 seconds at 88 miles an hour. Top speed was observed at 131 miles an hour.
As the end of summer approached, it looked more and more like Dad had lost his campaign to get Plymouth seperated from everything else. About the only thing that was decided that Dodge would stand alone, instead of Plymouth. I still do not understand the ChryCo board reasoning. They let Dodge go on its own, BUT only when it had a Plymouth niche car of its own. I
also believe that it was at this time that a conscious decision was made to make Dodge the biggest division. Otherwise, why would they have given the Plymouth size car to Dodge? More troubling news came out of Highland Park at the end of the 1959 model run. After 22 years of operating its own exclusive headquarters and producing cars from its own factory, DeSoto was being moved to the Jefferson Avenue Plant to be manufactured right beside Chrysler. DeSoto as its own division in actuality died in the summer of 1959.
It could have been an excellent cost cutting move, which should have saved the line, IF ChryCo Board had put sufficient investment into DeSoto to set it apart from its lookalike mate Chrysler. Yes, the entire spectrum of medium priced cars was getting very tight, however, if General Motors kept Oldsmobile alive, then Chrysler should have followed their lead in developing DeSoto as a direct competitor. It would have given the marque a goal and helped it hang on until further development was put into the marketing scheme. However, I think Chrsyler, like evryone in the industry was keeping their eye on Ford's Edsel and holding their collective breath.
It was very obvious by the end of 59 that Edsel was a flop of tremendous proportions. Ford lost millions on that car. Seeing that, it may have just been sufficient enough evidence to justify not spending funds on medium range cars. DeSoto's fate was then sealed, right along with the Edsel. Dad had suggested to the Dealer Association that DeSoto get back into the fleet business in a big way, going for the taxi, police, and limo business, as well as the specialty market for ambulances, hearses vehicles and tourist stretch cars. With two different wheelbases, they could have given DeSoto a unique appearance for each size. Then develop, as Chrysler was always doing, a different size, unique to DeSoto series of engines. Using Chrysler's tremendous marketing share of the fleet business, DeSoto could have easily been sold to taxi and Police departments. It made sense, and would have been enough to keep DeSoto alive. We were never sure where that proposal went, however, nothing ever came of it.
The usual round of dealer introduction meetings were going on in late summer. Dad was flying to two or three meetings a week. He was also bringing back a lot of material, phamplets, and best of all, pictures of the 1960 models. He also had some "stills" for the proposed 1961 models, as well as the 1962s. One brand new model in particular had everyone sort of talking. That was the Valiant. It was going to be marketed as a stand alone brand to compete against the Ford Falcon and Chevrolet Corvair. As we had seen in 1958, the Valiant was based on the "XNR", secret special that Virgil Exner had designed. Out of that special was developed the "S" series of cars.
Exner was under the gun now. He knew, like everyone else, that the tail fin was a styling gimmick. It was also dead. He had to come up with a total restyle of the entire line. Most of the cars were 70% finalized for 1962, based on this "S" series out of the "XNR." In many ways, most of the entire line took its cue from the Valiant. As my Dad had said, the Valiant was odd in its lines. It lacked symmetry. While it was a good car, the design took some getting used to. Unfortunately, the 1962 "S" series would have taken a whole lot of getting used to as well.
Christmas 1959 was another pretty good year at the store. Not anywhere near the record levels of 1957, however, the bonus checks were big enough to put smiles on everyone's faces. Grandpa had left before Thanksgiving to return to Florida. He drove his new 2 door Imperial down. He was happy with it because it still had a 392 Hemi V-8 under the hood. The final tally for 1959 was: Imperial we sold 86 units. Chryslers we found homes for 140 of them. DeSoto was not good at only 46 cars. Dodge did a little better than last year at 157 units. Plymouth we sold 458 units, a little short of last year. Of these, there were no Adventurers, only 2 "E" model 300s, and of course the Fury was just another model in the line up. Total cars: 887. Up slightly from the 871 of 1958.
Of course by the time Christmas of 1959 had arrived, the October 9, 1959 National Introduction Day for Chrysler's 1960 line was some 10 weeks old. What a year!
