1934 Chrysler Wimbledon

This caught my eye a couple of evenings ago, Listed on Ebay as a 1934 Chrysler (Plymouth) PE Wimbledon,

4 door Sedan RHD. I checked with the owner on the serial # and it's 1891702 with an engine # PF51476, now please put me right, I am under the impression that KD builds came out of Canada with serial # starting 9?

Any information would be helpful to try and understand the thinking of the people behind the Brand

Not sure if/when they started directing all the export stuff from Canada but they did export from Detroit for a long while too. Definitely a Plymouth PF if sold on this side of the pond. I am a little surprised about the Wimbledon name. . . In '33 they sold the Plymouth as a Kew 6 and I assumed they continued that after '33.

​I found this piece of info but can't comment on it's authenticity but agree the serial #, PF Detroit build 1859001-1894740.

" Plymouths were assembled in Mortlake Road, Kew from 1932 to 1939 and badged as Chryslers, being given the names of London suburbs such as Croydon, Richmond, Kew and Wimbledon. From 1934 onwards the engines comprised a 3.3-litre six for the Wimbledon and a 2.8-litre six for the Kew."

I don't know if that car was sourced from Canada, but the Chrysler corporation did have a Canadian factory to dodge import duties, and many export orders to Empire or Commonwealth countries were filled from Canada for the same reason, they paid no import duties because of Commonwealth preference.

The engine came from the US because Canada did not get its own engine foundry until 1938. Other parts may have come from the US as well but chances are many parts came from Canada.

Certain parts such as glass, upholstery, paint, tires, and headlights may have been made in England. Even in an assembled car, 20 to 30 percent of the car could be sourced this way, not counting the percentage paid out in wages to local workers.

By that I mean, even an imported car like the Plymouth, that was imported in knocked down form, could be made up of parts 70% imported and 30% locally made, while the labor to build them would be 100% local. In this way half the value of the car would be local content.

In Britain after WW1, public sentiment favored Commonwealth countries because of the way they had helped during the war. Also, Britain depended on imports of grain, fruit, sugar, tea, coffee and other commodities. And, British manufactured goods were sold all over the world. Exports were an important part of the economy. For these reasons, they negotiated lower tariffs with Commonwealth countries.

I believe the import duty on cars was 25%.

That looks like an awfully nice example in the pictures. 1934 Plymouths had a lot of features the competition did not offer. All steel body, independent front suspension, hydraulic brakes, six cylinder engine with full pressure lubrication and "floating power" rubber engine mounts. I believe the British built versions had nicer upholstery and fittings as well.

Some information on the 1934 Plymouth

https://www.allpar.com/history/plymouth/1934.html

Britain was one country in the Commonwealth that did not give preferential treatment to all Commonwealth goods. Thus the Detroit sourced 1934 Chrysler (Plymouth).

From about 1933 to the end of British car assembly in the fall of 1939, Chrysler GB sold all Plymouths and DeSotos as Chryslers in Britain and were basically CKD units imported from Detroit. Dodge was marketed as a separate make and offered both the US market Dodge and the smaller Plymouth-based export Dodge. No, the small Plymouth-based Dodge was not a Canada-only model. It was also built in Windsor and Detroit for export markets, sold after WW II as the Kingsway.

Dodge UK also offered a Dodge Custom Eight, which was based on the 1938-1939 Chrysler Imperial Eight and used Dodge nameplates, emblems and hood ornament. Sold a couple dozen of them.

After the FEDCO serial number system was dropped, all Canadian-built Chrysler Corp. cars used serial number starting with 9 through to and including 1957. However, not all serial numbers starting with 9 were built in Canada - export 1931-1933 Dodge models, Evansville-built 1937-1938 Dodges, pre-WW II LA-built Plymouths and Dodge Trucks come to mind.

Bill

Vancouver, BC