--- "Mel_Lester_Jr." <meljr@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I've read about these Plymouths a couple of times.
> I believe Chrysler had a partner in Belgium who
> put Perkins 4 cylinder diesel engines in
> Plymouths for use as taxi cabs in export markets.
> Some may have made their way back to Canada, but
> the overall production was very small. It would
> be very interesting to read a more complete and
> authorative answer to your question.
As Vincent van Humbeeck said, most of these were a
joint venture between Chrysler's Belgian subsidiary
and Belgium's Perkins distributor, Hunter NV. And
indeed, most of these became taxicabs, whch makes this
Savoy surprising, since one would expect a Plaza or
Fleet Special (which IIRC had '54 Plymouth trunklid
script on the fin in place of the series name) for
that. Other sources say the Perkins was not a Belgian
exclusive. References to US-built conversions appear
in Motor Trend magazines of the era, and a Swedish
friend tells me that ANA (the company that assembled
CKD Chrysler products for the Swedish market until the
late '70s) also turned out a few of these. FWIW, Jim
Benjaminson says Hunter is still in business, and
recently converted a Jaguar to Perkins power...
Ross Klein accurately identified the Diplomat grille
on this car, but it's more complicated than that. The
Plymouth Owners' Club's Jim Benjaminson included this
very car in his excellent book "Plymouth 1946-1959".
It appears to be a '56 Savoy that suffered a front end
collision. The hood is from a '55 Plymouth 6-cylinder
and has the straight one-piece Plymouth nameplate used
on the 6-cylinder '55s. (Possibly this emblem was
still being used in some overseas plants in '56. I've
seen stranger things; the export '59 Imperial with
'54-or-earlier "Chrysler" script badly installed on
the hood is but one example.) The grille is from a '55
DeSoto Diplomat, readily IDable by its teeth; the '56
Diplomat had a mesh grille not unlike that of the real
'56 DeSotos (I have a pic showing the '56 Diplomat
grille if anyone is interested). I assume from the
Diplomat grille that the collision happened overseas,
although it's possible given the car's Southern
California location that it may have happened in
Mexico, the closest market other than Alaska/Hawaii to
get Diplomats.
I briefly considered this car, but the thought of
driving all the way back to San Francisco at 40 mph
did not appeal to me at all...
I don't want to restart any of the hostilities that
occurred a few months ago, but I do know Richard Main
has seen this car personally and might possibly answer questions.
=====
Mike Sealey, San Francisco CA
'57 Plymouth Sport Suburban
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