My grandfather bought a new '55 V8 Plymouth (I am unsure of the model,
although I suspect it would have been a Savoy or Plaza as my grandfather
was quite frugal) when he retired from the copper mines in Butte, Montana.
He and my grandmother drove that Plymouth all over the country for a year
before deciding to buy a farm near Dallas, Oregon. Their only mishap
came in Kansas when, after several hours of driving on highways without
any curves to speak of in a freezing rain, he could not steer because
the inner front fenders were caked with ice!
He must have liked it quite a bit, however, because he bought a new '56
Savoy Coupe (V8 3 speed with overdrive) for my uncle who was staioned at
March AFB in Riverside and a new '56 Deluxe 2 Door Surburban (also V8 3
speed w/overdrive) for my parents. Despite the name, the Deluxe was the
low end station wagon, but it was my folks first new car and became part
of the family.
One interesting thing about our Suburban was that it was ordered with no
side trim at all -- not even the fender spears. It gave us good service
for many years and miles until a tire chain broke loose one PA winter and
damaged the quater panel sufficiently that road salt and moisture soon
gave way to terminal, cancerous rust. When my folks traded it in on a new
Fury in 63, you could see daylight through the rear floor pans and bottom
of the tailgate.
mel - in soggy Oregon
Mel Lester Jr. meljr@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.connet80.com/~meljr
Plymouths:
56 Suburban Deluxe 2DR SW (2) 56 Savoy 2DR Sedans 56 Suburban Custom 4DR SW
56 Savoy 4DR Sedan 63 Sport Fury Convert. 63 Fury 2DR HT (440)
63 Fury 4DR HT Race Car 65 Belvedere II Convert.
Dodges:
73 Dart 340 Sport Pro St. 74 B300 CarryVan 76 D100 Adventurer SE PU
76 D100 Warlock PU 79 D150 Custom PU 89 Shelby Dakota Race Truck
93 Viper RT/10 98 Dodge Intrepid ES
Others:
63 Austin Healey 3000 71 Triumph Spitfire 81 Fiat 2000 Spider
84 Chevrolet Caprice wagon 00 Honda Ace Tourer 01 Triumph Trophy 1200
On Wed, 31 Oct 2001, van Hoy wrote:
> My ol' maid aunt bought her first car at age 44, a new 1956 Savoy
> sport coupe in dove grey with irridescent charcoal top and no
> Sportone. She special ordered it that way from Billingsley Plymouth,
> Portland, OR because she didn't like the zig-zag side trim and "gaudy"
> upholstery of the Belvedere. It was a very attractive car.
>
> --Roger van Hoy, '55DeSoto, '42DeSoto, '66Plymouth, '73Duster, '81 Imperial, Washougal, WA
>
|
|
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network