1933 Dodge DP RS Coupe

[Kev33]

I just purchased a 1933 Dodge Rumble Seat Coupe. I know there are very knowledgeable people on here and am looking for info on the color on this car and the rear luggage rack. The previous owner had the car since 1960 and said this car came black with red stripping but he restored the car from 1960-62 and painted it this cream yellow color that he said was an option for this year. I’m not aware of any such color for 1933 Dodges but it does look good on the car. Also, he said the luggage rack came on the car when it was bought new and it was on it when he got it in the spring of 1960. I’m also wondering if this is really original. Can anyone identify this luggage rack? Thanks for any input on these questions.

Edited July 30, 2013 by Kev33 (see edit history)

[Taylormade]

Wow, great looking car! I'm a 32 guy, but I'm sure the 33 experts will chime in before long. I'm amazed this wasn't hot rodded.

[keiser31]

This is the luggage rack I usually see on the 1933 Dodges....

[30DodgePanel]

WOW that's a beaut !! Love the suicides with the rumble seat. Congrats

[Kev33]

Thanks for the comments! Keiser31, that's the one I usually see as well. This is why I was asking. It could be off another old car or an old after market. It's been on the car for over 53 years so it may be hard to identify. Any thing on this color? Was there optional colors like this?

[keiser31]

Thanks for the comments! Keiser31, that's the one I usually see as well. This is why I was asking. It could be off another old car or an old after market. It's been on the car for over 53 years so it may be hard to identify. Any thing on this color? Was there optional colors like this?

Go here for some paint information.

Color Chip Selection

[1935EB]

Kev33,

That luggage rack is a great example of a 1934 Master or Standard Chevrolet rack. It probably fits Pontiacs and small Buicks as well. The Chevrolet emblem goes between the two Stainless Steel strips at the top of the rack.

The Dodge is beautiful and I hope it runs as well as it looks. Your avatar shows a 1933 Plymouth PD, are you working on one of these as well? It amazes me how similar the 1933 and 1934 Plymouths and Dodges really are. In 1933 Plymouth had the PC and PD. The PC had the shorter headlight buckets like on this Dodge. Did Dodge have a major change up in 1933 models like Plymouth did? Chris

[keiser31]

Kev33,

That luggage rack is a great example of a 1934 Master or Standard Chevrolet rack. It probably fits Pontiacs and small Buicks as well. The Chevrolet emblem goes between the two Stainless Steel strips at the top of the rack.

The Dodge is beautiful and I hope it runs as well as it looks. Your avatar shows a 1933 Plymouth PD, are you working on one of these as well? It amazes me how similar the 1933 and 1934 Plymouths and Dodges really are. In 1933 Plymouth had the PC and PD. The PC had the shorter headlight buckets like on this Dodge. Did Dodge have a major change up in 1933 models like Plymouth did? Chris

So THAT'S where I saw it before....

[dep5]

Car appears to be missing the sidemount tire hold down hardware

[Kev33]

Chris, looks like you nailed it according to the pic that Keiser31 posted. (Man, is he handy!) So it obviously it is a 34 Chevy rack. I now have to decide to keep it on there or remove it and sell it. It kinda looks good on there even though it is not correct. As far as any major change up in the '33 Dodges they did extend the wheel base in April of '33 from 111 1/4 inches to 115 inches at the same time the Plymouth PD came out. But as far as I know there wasn't any model name change and no redesign just a longer wheel base which had a longer hood and running boards. My Dodge is the earlier short wheel base. The 33 Plymouth PD in my avatar is for sale in the buy/sell section on this site. Thanks for the info, Kevin

[keiser31]

Car appears to be missing the sidemount tire hold down hardware

Good eye!

[TomP]

This is a 33 Plymouth rack which to me looks the same apart from the emblem

​If they are the same and sure someone will soon tell us , it could make your search easier for a replacement.

Sure is a nice looking motor.

Edited August 2, 2013 by TomP (see edit history)

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Kev33,

Very nice car. I'm with Keiser and owning a 34 Dodge it did look a tad large when I first saw your pics. Go to "our restoration projects" and have a look at the restoration of Landmans 34 business coupe which will give you more detailed shots of your luggage rack. out of interest how are the spare wheel surrounds held on place ? are there holes in the cowl / mudguards for the hardware to pass through ?

ian

[keiser31]

Car appears to be missing the sidemount tire hold down hardware

Maybe on those, the hardware did not show.....here is another that looks to be original without the hardware showing....

[zeke01]

It may not make any difference, but that is an eight cylinder car. I saw that car at Hershey a few years ago and it looked more Chrysler than Dodge. z

[Guest 33chrysler]

The brackets that include the frame brackets would be the same for 33-34 dodge, plymouth and 34 chrysler. The rack would be the same for 32-34 dodges. I have seen some brackets on ebay recently. It's up to you how original you want the car to be but 99% of people will not know the difference. On a side note my monitor makes that color look like the original color on my 33 Chrysler Convert.

[Kev33]

The side mount is attached to the car as you can see in the attached photos. The tire surround looks to go about 95% around the tire. I havn't had either tire off but you would have to install the surround before installing the spare on the car. I've seen sevaral factory photos that show side mounts that look just like mine including the attached photo. There are no holes in the cowl and never has been (I checked) so apperently some cars came with the attachment to the cowl and some did not so I really don't think this car is missing anything on the side mounts. 33chrysler, The color of the car on my monitor looks just like the color in person so it really could be a 33 Chrysler Corp. color and a option for 33 Dodge just like the man said.

Edited August 5, 2013 by Kev33 (see edit history)

[Guest DodgeKCL]

For many years all the Chrysler vehicle clubs,CPDD, have been saying that you could only have your car or truck painted in a standard color OR any other color that Chrysler offered in any other in-house marque for an additional fee. This is not so. My Dodge KCL Commercial Car was built in Hamtramck and painted there ,on the line, in the basic livery color of it's Toronto Ont. department store purchaser. My build ticket states the paint as 'eaton blue' the color of the companies trucks. (The custom body installed in Toronto has red panels on it's upper sides and white pinstripping, to complete the red,white and blue livery.) The overall blue was a registered color called 'T. Eaton Co. Commercial Blue'. The paint was most likely sent from Toronto from the companies repair shop on Hater Ave. Chrysler Historical has been following my restoration of this rare vehicle,one of 10 they tell me, and has phoned me at home to discuss it. They know the 10 were painted in an 'outside' color as part of the order. So this puts the kibosh on any color having to be only available from the in-house Chrysler color list. Your Dodge coupe may have been this color or any color when new. Apparently Chrysler would do anything in the Depression to sell a vehicle.

Edited August 5, 2013 by DodgeKCL (see edit history)

[Kev33]

Very interesting, thanks for the info!

[Guest 33chrysler]

Without the spare tire clamps on my car the cover would be loose and rattle around. Maybe yours fits the tire tight enough to not move around? The wood air wheels were a lot wider but the factory photo has wire wheels. The Chrysler DeSoto had a short rod that went from the top of the big tube mounted to the frame to the cowl bracket. The Dodge Plymouth went from the cowl bracket all the way to the fender. The clamp was different for cars with covers or without.

[Manuel]

My spare is attached the same way as Kev33s pics.

Manuel in Oz

[Landman]

Hi Kev33,

Very nice car. I'm with Keiser and owning a 34 Dodge it did look a tad large when I first saw your pics. Go to "our restoration projects" and have a look at the restoration of Landmans 34 business coupe which will give you more detailed shots of your luggage rack. out of interest how are the spare wheel surrounds held on place ? are there holes in the cowl / mudguards for the hardware to pass through ?

ian

Maybe these will help. It is for a '34 Chevrolet Master, the American version. Just mount a nice cloisonné Dodge emblem and it will "become" a Dodge rack

[TomP]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]207032[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]207033[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]207034[/ATTACH]The side mount is attached to the car as you can see in the attached photos. The tire surround looks to go about 95% around the tire. I havn't had either tire off but you would have to install the surround before installing the spare on the car. I've seen sevaral factory photos that show side mounts that look just like mine including the attached photo. There are no holes in the cowl and never has been (I checked) so apperently some cars came with the attachment to the cowl and some did not so I really don't think this car is missing anything on the side mounts. 33chrysler.

The side mount covers, when fitting to the wheel are they in 2 halves where the chrome strip is or is the hole which passes over the tyre the same size as the tyre. Why I ask is that my 33 Plymouth should have the covers with the steel rod and clamp from the bottom of the fender to the cowl. Now being UK based it's going to be nye impossible to get replacements, so over a period of time I am gathering info to reproduce them.

[Kev33]

@TomP: they are in 2 halfs @Landman: you're right, only if I could find an extra winged dodge emblem like on the grill shell but those are hard to find..........anyone have a extra???

[bostonhemi]

Great find. Fine looking car.

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Kev33,

I have two spare emblems. One is the grill emblem that someone chromed to within an inch of its life and the guy that restored mine said he was unable to glass enamel it. The other I think is from the luggage rack and with a bit of playing around could probably be restored. Mine are in pretty good shape and are on the car but you are welcome to luggage rack one if you think this is the correct one. I've attached photos for you. I would rather give it to someone that can use it and complete a project than sit on a shelf. All I ask in return is to keep you eye out for a 1934 rear 1/4 vent wind out window seal for the left ( driver in the USA ) side.

Cheers

Ian

[TomP]

Kev that's what you call a result, put Ian on the Christmas card list.

Like your style Ian, wonder if youv'e got anything I need.

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Tom, always happy to help if I can. I don't have a lot of parts but unless you ask you never know. If he does want it I hope that it can be glass enamelled but I'm just not sure of the process and if its possible.

[Chrycoman]

For many years all the Chrysler vehicle clubs,CPDD, have been saying that you could only have your car or truck painted in a standard color OR any other color that Chrysler offered in any other in-house marque for an additional fee. This is not so. My Dodge KCL Commercial Car was built in Hamtramck and painted there ,on the line, in the basic livery color of it's Toronto Ont. department store purchaser. My build ticket states the paint as 'eaton blue' the color of the companies trucks. (The custom body installed in Toronto has red panels on it's upper sides and white pinstripping, to complete the red,white and blue livery.) The overall blue was a registered color called 'T. Eaton Co. Commercial Blue'. The paint was most likely sent from Toronto from the companies repair shop on Hater Ave. Chrysler Historical has been following my restoration of this rare vehicle,one of 10 they tell me, and has phoned me at home to discuss it. They know the 10 were painted in an 'outside' color as part of the order. So this puts the kibosh on any color having to be only available from the in-house Chrysler color list. Your Dodge coupe may have been this color or any color when new. Apparently Chrysler would do anything in the Depression to sell a vehicle.

But in your situation it is a truck, not a car.

Trucks were purchased for commercial use and were done in the colours of the company that purchased/used it. That choice of colours predates the auto industry and goes back to the era of horsedrawn wagons. A fleet buyer, such as Eaton's, could purchase trucks and have them done in their colours. As did gas companies, electric companies, coal companies, breweries, telephone companies, municipalities, etc. I have a book from DuPont Canada with all the paint colours used on cars and trucks from 1949 to 1979, and the list also includes hundreds used by companies in Canada for their corporate colours. Eaton's Red is listed as DUR-315 for DuPont Canada and 2333-8638 for C.I.L.

And it is known Chrysler painted cars in corporate colours over the years for fleet buyers including police and taxi cars. Chrysler charged extra for the special colours, naturally. Don Butler's book on Plymouth has photos for 1933 to 1936 Plymouth coupes done in Swift's colours.

In the case of your Eaton's van, the paint probably came from the same paint company that supplied Eaton's and the companies that sold vehicles to Eaton's over the years. That would have included DuPont, Sherwin-Williams, Ditzler, Acme, C.I.L., etc. The colour may be registered, but paint companies would have the right to mix the colour for Eaton's and the companies building vehicles for Eaton's.

Given that Chrysler did do special colours for fleet buyers, why the restrictions on purchases for personal use vehicles? You would pay extra, of course. In the computer age special colours on cars were coded 999. In the era before the '999' code, if you run across a colour code not on the authorized list of colours, you probably have a car done in a special colour. The build record would confirm the code, although not the actual colour.

[Guest DodgeKCL]

How do you know that Dodge painted any truck in the color wanted by the end buyer and not a car? Where is it written down or in what Chrysler document does it say they would not paint a car in an outside color? I have a ream of Plymouth Bulletins from those years and bulletin after bulletin contradicts the previous bulletin as the company tries to keep up with sales demand for different colors. First no black cars,then black cars if a 'car load' is ordered and then finally ,near the middle of the year, any car in black! (Just buy the damn thing it appears they were saying.) Yes Chrysler Historical tells me mine was a special order. I have the order number "Inquiry 15439". This number is grease pencilled on the inside of the firewall under the noise/heat mat and also on the build ticket. (As far as I can tell by the same person. The writing is identical.) The paint was registered but no I wouldn't think it was restricted to Eaton's although Eaton's may have got upset if they saw another company using it. This may have been what 'registered' meant. The Eaton blue is distinctive and still is. I have found a different name for the red-fire red. The Eaton's truck shop told me that before the company went under. They also told me they use arctic white for the pinstripping. I'm using the fire red and arctic white. But from what I can tell in Chrysler factory photos and such, the chassis normally came in black. The humpbacks as well. Which is what my truck would have been if Dodge had installed one of their inhouse bodies. That or a pick up. I still say we will never know for sure if Chrysler would not have painted a car an outside color to get a sale. I can't see them turning down a sale in the middle of the Depression. And if they would clean out their guns and reload with an outside color for 10 T.Eatons' chassis,because these were only cheap $395 cowl and chassis (even shipped sans rear bumpers), you would think they would do the same to move a car.

Edited August 11, 2013 by DodgeKCL (see edit history)

[Kev33]

Ian, thanks so much. I have been away from the computer all weekend and just now seeing these messages. I sent you a private message. Thanks again, Kevin

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Kevin,

Can you check your private messages. Each time I send one it dosn't say I've sent anything.

Cheers

Ian