49 Plymouth 2 Door Special Deluxe Nicest in the World!

[alsancle]

Relive some of my childhood trauma with me.    As a 14 year old,  I was trying to figure out how to save enough money for my next snowmobile.   My dad comes home one night with a HUGE smile on his face:   "I bought you a car!".    I said:   "Awesome!,  Is it a GTO?   Camaro?   Mustang?".   He says  "Better!,  a 49 Plymouth 2 door special deluxe with 9k original miles,  and I only paid 500 bucks for it".     I said:  "Does this 49 Plymouth thing have a V8 in it with a four barrel?".   He says "Nope!  Unless you drop this car out of an airplane you won't get going fast enough to hurt yourself".    I said:  "Super".

 

I'm not lying to say the car my dad bought home was a nice as this one.   He couldn't help himself,  so instead just blocking out the perfect original gray paint he had a buddy spray it in blue enamel,  threw white walls on it and vinyl seat covers.   It was nice and obviously I appreciated the gesture being a kid with about 150 dollars to my name.

 

Advertisement:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1949-Plymouth-Special-Deluxe-Club-Coupe/193996493466

 

Have you been searching for a classic car that will separate you from the countless others out there? Are you sick & tired of seeing the same old Fords & Chevys everywhere that you look? Well, I have the perfect classic car for you!

‘Red Hills Rods & Classics’ is very happy to offer you this absolutely gorgeous 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe Club Coupe! How many of these beauties have you seem around lately? This vintage Plymouth is an absolute show-stopper folks! Plymouth had a banner year in 1949, increasing their sales nearly 50% over the previous year, and found themselves w/ a firm hold on third place in the overall sales race, right behind Chevy and Ford. Why was the '49 Plymouth such a big hit? A fresh & beautiful new design on the eve of a bright new decade, along with plenty of engineering advances that they touted in all the sales ads.

Being from California for the majority of its life, this gorgeous example made its way here to Southern Utah a couple of years ago and has been restored to its factory original glory. Countless man-hours were spent making sure that all of the sheet metal is super-straight all the way around, and Dynamat sound-deadening materials were added to the entire body, including the roof and the trunk. It was then finished in its factory correct Bolivia Green paint, which looks outstanding on this car, and the paint has been polished to a lustrous shine. All of the chrome & stainless steel trim has been completely restored and is in show-quality condition throughout. Many of these chrome pieces, ornaments, lenses, etc., are extremely hard to acquire, and lots of time & effort were spent to make sure everything was correct on this car. She sits just right, on the original 15” black steel wheels w/ full chrome Plymouth hubcaps, wrapped w/ P215/75/R15 white-wall tires. You can walk around this car a hundred times and it simply looks outstanding from every angle.

Open the driver’s door and you will find an absolutely gorgeous original-style interior that will take your breath away. Interior features include: the correct multi-color cloth upholstery w/ matching door panels, beautiful woodgrain dash w/ chrome trim, chrome dash insert & chrome control knobs, original AM radio, original steering wheel (beautifully restored), and green loop carpeting throughout. Extremely simple, yet very elegant, this beautiful interior is simply a wonderful contrast to the Bolivia Green exterior. The color combination is out of this world! All of the gauges, lights, blinkers, etc., are in working order, and even the original AM radio sounds great. Heck, even the lighter gets hots! Absolutely nothing was overlooked during the restoration process. The trunk area is fully restored as well, including the matching spare wheel & tire, jack assembly, and original service manuals.

Pop open the hood, and nestled inside the beautifully detailed engine bay resides the rebuilt 218ci Flathead-Six motor, lathered in silver paint w/ all of the correct MOPAR components throughout. Again, lots of time & effort were spent on the motor, making sure that all engine components are as correct as possible. An upgraded stainless-steel radiator was installed to keep her running as cool as possible, as well as a new Interstate 6-volt battery, but other than that everything appears to be factory correct under the hood. The 218ci Flathead-Six is linked to the original 3-speed manual transmission (on-the-tree of course), which feeds power to the original rear end. She fires up instantly, settling into a nice smooth idle, and she runs & drives beautifully in every way. This is a wonderful driving classic car that gets more attention than you can ever imagine. People are just not used to seeing a beautifully restored ’49 Plymouth Coupe cruising the streets, and every time that I drive it, folks are snapping photos w/ their smartphones.

Again, if you are sick of the same old classic cars, and want something unique to park in your home garage, then you will want to take a very close look at this gorgeous 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe Club Coupe!

[suchan]

Sharp!

We're so used to seeing these cars subjected to a half-a$$ed "refreshing" that we forget how good they can look.

Not sure even the best example is worth $38K, but you never know.

Thanks for posting.

[plymouthcranbrook]

Well I certainly hope he gets $38,000 for it as a rising tide lifts all boats, or in my case a 1952 four door.

[alsancle]

I think if you were you going to over pay for a 49 Plymouth this might be a good candidate.   However, I think I would surprised by anyone stepping up this high.

[58L-Y8]

A late friend had a theory why some fellows restore such a common, prosaic car model to a high state of restoration quality.   Since this is a family-friendly, gentlemanly forum, it had to do with an initiation right of passage generally experienced in youth which took place decades prior in a car of the same make and model... 

[alsancle]

39 minutes ago, 58L-Y8 said:

A late friend had a theory why some fellows restore such a common, prosaic car model to a high state of restoration quality.   Since this is a family-friendly, gentlemanly forum, it had to do with an initiation right of passage generally experienced in youth which took place decades prior in a car of the same make and model... 

 

Steve,  I'm going to politely disagree.   I drove my Plymouth almost exclusively through junior and senior year of HS.  First car I ever drove to a drive in,  cruising on Friday/Sat night,  first car I drove on date, etc.

 

GREAT memories.   Zero interest in owning another.

[58L-Y8]

AJ: You were likely more of a gentleman than to engage in the activity on a date to which my late friend was referring... 

[neil morse]

Here's what I don't understand about cars like this: if you're going to spend a fortune restoring a "run-of-the-mill" car like a '49 Plymouth sedan, why not at least make it 100% correct?  Right off the bat we see the incorrect interior on this car -- not that it looks cheap, mind you, it's just not correct.  Also, odd narrow white-wall tires.  Also, new incorrect radiator.  And probably many other things we can't see from these photos.  It just seems to me that you end up with a car that is neither "fish nor fowl."  If you want to make a resto-mod, you might as well drop a chevy V-8 in there.  But if you want a quality, authentic, correct restoration, why cut corners?  I just wonder who the projected buyer for this car might be.

 

Don't get me wrong -- I love the MoPars from this era, as I have said many times on this forum.  But it's hard to imagine anyone paying $38K for this mixed up car.  (Except maybe someone who appreciates things like the "countless man-hours" spent and engine "lathered" in silver paint.) ☺️

 

Okay, rant over.

[The 55er]

This is a very attractive 1949 Plymouth but I see it as more of an object of art than as an authentically restored ("Lots of time and effort were spent to make sure everything is correct") antique car. It was refurbished to suit someone's individual tastes and to them it really is the Nicest In The World. IMO it's a display piece only, too nice to actually drive, use and enjoy and the price (38K) is outrageous. 

[neil morse]

But here's the thing: yes, the price is  "outrageous" in terms of the value of the car, but I would be willing to bet that they actually spent a lot more than that to create it.   So I think the take away here is that people obviously can spend the money to create whatever kind of car they want, but if they expect to get their money back from a sale, they are going to be bitterly disappointed!   (Unless of course they manage to find the one other person in the world who has the same sentimental attachment to that particular car.)

[alsancle]

The correct interior is mohair which is horrible.

[alsancle]

The cars are all practically free relative to the money spent on the restoration,  so I too would like to know why they didn't start with a convertible or business coupe instead of the 2 door sedan.

[plymouthcranbrook]

I had several Plymouths in my life, many that I had a pretty strong attachment to. But in all honesty I would not pay $38,000 for all of then together alined in a row.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Meanwhile, an hour and a half to the south, I worked dad enough to let me drag my 41 Plymouth home with an odometer reading of around 9,000 or so, the only question was once or twice around. 

 

Inspired by my pal doing a nut and bolt restoration on his 39 Chevy I had visions of the same.  While that never happened we did get this prior dog house running and roadworthy.  Not being of driving age I did a lot of testing up and down the driveway and...  A great time till I decided to join the herd and seek out a decent 60s, 70s car.

 

Love this one but what are your alternatives at that price?  AJ may be the only buyer for this one, maybe he can knock a couple grand off the price and just like that, 16 again. 😁

[plymouthcranbrook]

Old Mopars of that era as we all know really don’t have much cash value.  Good cars, if cared for very reliable.  Not flashy but sensible. Perhaps that is the issue as sensibility is not necessarily nostalgia inspiring.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

18 hours ago, plymouthcranbrook said:

Old Mopars of that era as we all know really don’t have much cash value.  Good cars, if cared for very reliable.  Not flashy but sensible. Perhaps that is the issue as sensibility is not necessarily nostalgia inspiring.

I would add well made.  The Plymouth I had clearly had at least 100k miles on it.  It started and ran smoothly all the time, and didn't leak anything, fluids, exhaust, nothing.  The flathead six I think was a pretty good little engine.

[alsancle]

4 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

I would add well made.  The Plymouth I had clearly had at least 100k miles on it.  It started and ran smoothly all the time, and didn't leak anything, fluids, exhaust, nothing.  The flathead six I think was a pretty good little engine.

 

My car only let me down once.  RT290 in Worcester going to my 8:30 AM class.   Ignition issue,  I think the coil died.   We put about 25k miles on it between three brothers and my dad sold it for a 1300 dollar profit.