WHAT COULD BE ORDERED AND WHAT COULDN'T BE ORDERED ON
MOPARS???? HARD COLD FACTS
When I got into collecting and
drag racing Plymouth Fury's in 1957 the High Performance Era was just beginning.
When you ordered a new Chrysler Product there was a list of option and almost no
one asked for something that was not on the list. ( times were different then,
98% of the buyers went by the rules.)
However, if you
were knowledgeable and up to date on what options were in the planning
stages and determined and told the dealer you would buy a GM or Ford product if
you did not get that special interior, special color, special engine, etc,
etc, and if the dealer was a big dealer that sold a lot of cars and had a lot of
pull with the company -------------then you got it even though it was not
available. Now here is the thing that throws people off---------it was
not documented most of the time and there were no window stickers
and the dealer invoice did not show it in the place it should be shown.
Instead there was sometimes a little asterisk with a foot note saying
something like " not offered option" and sometimes there was nothing
mentioned but you got what you wanted. Remember, back then buyers were
special, not just numbers like they are today to a dealer. Naturally this was
not something that everybody talked about and it surely was not advertised
that you could get things not offered as an option.
Chrysler really
bent the rules for buyers that were in law enforcement, especially in the Dodge
Division. They loved giving a special set up to a law enforcement agency with a
agreement that the agency would give them a report on how it was working and any
problems that might experienced. ( it was like having someone pay you to test
your equipment for you. (Example--CHP--California Highway Patrol and
Dodge Division) Chrysler did not have the extra money back then and
that was the main reason why they made so many interchangeable parts
which really kept the price of manufacturing down.
So if you
are a Mopar guy that only believes what he has read or seen or heard ----
please don't be a "know it all." The fact that you did not know it or did
not ever hear about it is just that. It does not mean that the world and the
things that have happened in the past will conform to your limited
knowledge. If for any reason you doubt what I am saying then find an old
Mopar new car salesman that worked at a fairly big dealership and ask him if
they ever got something in their dealership that was out of the ordinary things
that could not be ordered? Then watch his old face as he starts to laugh
and starts to tell you a few treasured true stories of things you will find very
interesting.
Back then,
in 1961 I talked to an assembly line worker who told me the assembly
line supervisor could put almost anything together for himself or someone in
a upper position within the company. However, he said, "most of it was
not documented because documenting it might get you a reprimand."
Nonbelievers think,---- humans are human and no one was policing what we are
talking about. The final inspector worked for the line supervisor and lots
of times they were good buddies. So when you hear of something you never
heard before and find it hard to believe just think of the Canadian cars and all
the different parts and part numbers and how different they were and say " Well,
to the best of my knowledge I never heard of that type of thing".
Last but not
least, (hypothetical situation) can you picture a employee telling an
upper management big shot that he can't have the 1957 Hemi 354 inch engine in
his late-in-the-year produced brand new personal 1956 Dodge 500
because it is not going to be released for a few months for the
1957 models as a special option, or because it might confuse some guy
50 years from now when he is doing research on that type of car? That would be
like you telling your bosses boss how to run the company. You don't do it now
and you definitely did not even think of it back then. This is not how it is
today--------this is how it was back then. Believe it or not. In December
of 2006 I will be celebrating my 50th year of collecting Chrysler
Products-----what more can I say.!!!
Brutal Realist,
Ron Allyn Swartley
PS. Did any of you know the New Jersey Highway
Patrol in 1957 & 1958 used Chrysler 300 C's and D's as police
patrol cars on their 4 lane expressways only. They were for high speed
pursuit and if you were smart you did not try to out run
them.
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