Further information just released on the 392 Hemi Commando.
Stay tuned!
Have had some interesting comments. Keep them coming!
Wayne
*****************************
"392 Hemi Commando" is what it says on the white / outlined in
red decal on the single sidemount dual snorkel air cleaner of
the 392 powered '57 Belvedere 2dr hardtop owned by a contractor
near Minneapolis. He says this was an "executive package" and
VERY few were built. The car is Fury sand dune beige with a
gold painted roof and side trim insert (where the
anodized aluminum would be on a Fury). The car was purchased
2.5 years ago by the current owner from a family in Kansas who
had it
for 20-25 years. He says It gives all appearances of a total
factory
installation. The dual quads sit on an aluminum intake w/
Chrysler logo. He has changed to 500cfm AFBs as the WCFBs were
in very poor condition. The car has a full-leather interior and
the 6-way front seat is from an Imperial with sort of a beige
metallic leather. Somewhere on the side of the seat said
"LeBaron". The seats did not color match the door panels, were
dry, and the button tufting irritated the owner so he had them
redone
without the buttons in a leather which matches the side panels.
The exterior of the car has no special ornamentation other than
a pair of Chrysler/ DeSoto '57 "twin-strut" mirrors. It has
heavy duty springs and he will measure the bolt circle to see if
they are Imperial hubs or not. He says this is a 345 HP
hydraulic lifter motor and that the note in Old Cars Price Guide
refers to this package. It is not there currently but I have a
Dec. '98 Guide which has the note. Last summer it was repainted
having
needed some body repair from having gotten into cornfields twice
in its past when the previous owner's kids took it to school.
Before repainting, he replaced the lower front valance with one
from a '58 Plymouth because he never liked that '57 valance.
The car has a 120 speedo, no Sure-Grip, torqueflite.
I have given him the address of Chrysler Historical and he will
send in very soon. He has some older photos of the car, engine,
interior, which he will be sending to a friend of mine who first
got
wind of the car and has permitted me to tell the list everything
we know so far. Also, owner will
provide the motor number so we can verify just what he has.
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