1950 Plymouth Business Coupe

[alsancle]

Boy do I wish I had this in HS instead of my 2 door Special Deluxe Sedan.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124721514724

 

While Plymouth manufactured munitions and military engines during the war, stylists like A. B. "Buzz" Grisinger, John Chika, and Herb Weissinger worked on postwar ideas whenever they could. Typical of Chrysler thinking at the time, these involved smooth, flush-fender bodies with thin door pillars and wraparound grilles. But like most everyone else, Plymouth resumed civilian operations with mildly modified '42s, which the booming seller's market happily consumed into model-year '49. The first all-new postwar Plymouths bowed in March '49 as squarer and more upright than any wartime study.

For consignment, hailing originally from Puerto Rico and having seen the benefits of a respray in 2017, bathed in brown, sporting all new wiring now in 12V mode, and a complete reupholstery in 2019, a fine example from 1950, hailing in the big and plenty chrome era.

Exterior
Bathed in a brown respray, the big steel body is straight and gaps are good. All chrome is still nicely polished and not much fault can be found with it. In front there is plenty of chrome trim interacting to form the curvaceous grille with multiple layers emulating the curvature of the hood and carrying it through down to the bumper. Fenders with single headlight showing off with chromed visors, a trim spear which curves around the hood line, and dies at the door seam. A nice hood ornament which is a flamboyant rendition of the Mayflower sailing vessel tops the rounded bulbous hood and sits upon a long trim piece which runs rearward mid hood to the front glass. The passenger cabin design with its front and rear split glass has a rearward canter, and more surrounding chrome trimming wrapping it at the base of the pillars and door sills. On the rear quarters are rounded bump outs to carry on the line from the front fenders, all with the continuation of the trim spear that started on the front quarter. A beautifully rounded trunk finishes this car off, and within this round field is another Plymouth badge and fancy chromed license plate illuminator. Small horizontal taillights wrap the rear fenders and hover nicely above a pristine rear bumper with dual exhaust peeking out from underneath. Brown steel wheels are capped with mayflower badged and red centered moon caps and wrapped in thin whites.

Interior
Looking like new as it should since it was totally reupholstered in 2019, we see tuck and roll vertical fuzzy broadcloth tan panels sandwiched between a brown painted sill and brown carpeting below. Within the tuck and roll tan are the door actuators, window cranks and a cloth pouch for some door storage. Inside a front bench cradled by a faux leather tub is more new upholstery in tan thin striped broadcloth bordered by brown velour wide piping. Seats belts have been installed and this bench presents beautifully. Behind this bench is a storage area flooded in brown carpeting and large rear window shelf. The dash is all original with some scuffs and scratches but a faux wood grained front. Within this vertical panel are the original gauges, a centrally located radio and speaker looking much like a jukebox, all chromed and big! The original steering wheel is fronting this dash and is wrapped in an aftermarket leather and lanyard covering. The bakelite topped shift lever is on the "tree". Very clean and nice brown carpeting is flooding the floors.

Drivetrain
Popping the hood, we are greeted by a 218ci L head inline 6-cylinder engine, original to the car and mostly unrestored but clean. It has a 1-barrel carburetor, an oil bath air cleaner, new 12-volt ignition, and all new wiring is seen. A 3-speed manual transmission is on back and a 3.73 rear axle handles the 97 horses that emanate from the mill.

Undercarriage
All rust free, solid frame and floor pans, as well as inner fenders. Hydraulic drum brakes for the front and rear. Independent of each other, coil springs and shocks work together to provide the ride for the front, and leaf springs are on the back. Amazingly preserved and clean underneath with a new exhaust with dual pipes working their way rearward to culminate in chrome tips.

Drive-Ability
This car with its original engine started right up and idled smoothly. Off at the test track, it accelerated with ease and held a decent cruising speed. Brakes were good, and the car stopped in a straight line with an un-held steering wheel. Functions were good, save for the wipers and that large jukebox style radio which are nonfunctional.

Plymouth built solid cars to last, in the day, and this car upholds that theory. Bulletproof construction which was built to last and with all the chrome add ons it was sure to be a looker, and it is! Rounded fenders and hood, and a new interior and we are looking really good with this example.

Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special interest automobile showroom, featuring over 600 vehicles for sale with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in person.

[Dosmo]

Boy, I do like the looks of this car.  A nice, somewhat uncommon color, pretty slick body, seems like the gaps are nice.  I noticed the wear on the clutch and brake pedals, which could indicate a lot of miles on what is said to be the original engine.  A few areas of bubbling on the tail light bezels, some areas of green paint under the hood - wonder if that might be the original color?

 

I don't get too excited when the under-hood area is un-restored, as long as it looks neat, and this one is pretty neat, for the most part.  The scratched woodgrain on the dashboard around the bezels sort of dampens the effect of the new upholstery.  Love the poverty caps, though I think the narrow whitewalls detract from the overall look.

 

These flathead sixes sound pretty nice through dual exhausts.  The dashboards in '49/50 were a little more interesting than those of '51/52.  A lot of this era of Plymouth on my newspaper route circa 1966. 

[suchan]

Nice car. It doesn't live up to the florid prose of the descriptor, and dark brown isn't its best color, but looks like a solid driver.

Original-style tires would help.

[Matt Harwood]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but try as they may, the Auto Mall isn't very good a replicating my write-ups. Sometimes they just copy and paste my stuff but when they try to write their own they end up with stuff that's painful to read. It always feels like they're just padding their word count. They also copied my photo studio, but not much I can do about that.

[marty mopar]

we are greeted by a 218ci L head inline 6-cylinder engine

 

were there milk and cookies too?

[alsancle]

31 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but try as they may, the Auto Mall isn't very good a replicating my write-ups. Sometimes they just copy and paste my stuff but when they try to write their own they end up with stuff that's painful to read. It always feels like they're just padding their word count. They also copied my photo studio, but not much I can do about that.

Did you notice they checked off 8 cylinder in the eBay description?

[plymouthcranbrook]

It is a very nice car.  Got a few wear and tear issues but not bad. I admit I don’t understand after refinishing the whole car they left the underside of the hood in the condition it is. Even a black spray can is preferable to me than what is there. Especially after doing the trunk lid.  Still nice and although I don’t see a reserve price a reasonable starting bid is a plus often not seen on E-bay anymore.

[alsancle]

4 hours ago, suchan said:

Nice car. It doesn't live up to the florid prose of the descriptor, and dark brown isn't its best color, but looks like a solid driver.

Original-style tires would help.

 

I just took a good look at the tires and you are right.  Correct size bias ply would look much better.

[JamesR]

3 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but try as they may, the Auto Mall isn't very good a replicating my write-ups. Sometimes they just copy and paste my stuff but when they try to write their own they end up with stuff that's painful to read. It always feels like they're just padding their word count. They also copied my photo studio, but not much I can do about that.

 

 

I swear to God, not five minutes ago I said to myself, "That looks and sounds like a Harwood Motors ad." But you're right, the quality just isn't there. 😉

 

The car looks pretty cool, though. Apparently the dealer's low feedback count and mediocre rating is keeping the bidding very low. I had a '50 Ply several year ago, but I can't remember as much about it as I should. I know that it wasn't equipped with an oil filter. Is that what that canister towards the back of the cylinder head is on this coupe? I don't remember my car having one of those.

[hwellens]

Is the hood emblem upside down? Looks like a wiring nightmare. One of the rear brakes is leaking fluid. Looks like a lot of work.

[plymouthcranbrook]

Canister oil filter is near the back of the engine on the driver’s side.  

[neil morse]

7 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but try as they may, the Auto Mall isn't very good a replicating my write-ups. Sometimes they just copy and paste my stuff but when they try to write their own they end up with stuff that's painful to read. It always feels like they're just padding their word count. They also copied my photo studio, but not much I can do about that.

 

Matt, all I can say is that if they're trying to imitate you, they are sure doing a piss-poor job!  I love suchan's description of the ad copy -- "florid prose" -- which is decidedly not what we expect from Harwood!  It reminds me a bit of my freshman roommate in college.  He proudly read me the essay he had created for his first English assignment.  It was awful and full of obscure and unusual words.  I wasn't sure how to respond, so I said, "How did you do it?"  He gave me a grin and said he had discovered a great tool called a "Thesaurus."  "All you have to do is write out what you want to say, and then look up the words in this magic book and it gives you much better sounding words to use instead!"  😄 

 

As far as the car goes, it looks okay but I think someone installed the wrong coil springs in front -- it looks a bit high to me.  And does the pseudo dual exhaust really make any difference apart from appearance?

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2021 by neil morse (see edit history)

[mikewest]

Looks like a old brown shoe to me with a generous  application of mink oil applied. 

[Jim Skelly]

Someone half-heartedly misted some brown paint on the very bottom of both doors and you can see green on one of them very clearly.  A little more effort on the prep and proper repainting of the doors and hood would have helped.  I think green was the original color, and it probably would have looked better in that color.

[wayne sheldon]

17 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but try as they may, the Auto Mall isn't very good a replicating my write-ups.

 

I have read quite a number of their writeups on ebad over the years (they seem to have quite a few cars that try as they might, they just cannot sell?). quite often I wind up muttering to myself how "some people just seem to HAVE TO show off how much they don't know!" Wrong cylinder number counts, inappropriate fluff words, and the like really turns me off on listings. It really makes me wish I had the money to buy a few nice cars just so I could tell them why I wouldn't want to buy one from them.

 

But that is just my opinion.

 

And this may come under the heading of inappropriate comments? But if they are going to try to copy someone else badly, and give out misinformation in the process? I think they asked for it.

[m-mman]

On 5/16/2021 at 8:17 AM, Matt Harwood said:

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but try as they may, the Auto Mall isn't very good a replicating my write-ups.

Your descriptions are like one car guy talking to another. Not often seen when a dealer is trying to make a sale.

I appreciate how you even critique and highlight a car's flaws much like we do with these "not mine" cars.

Excellent work on your part. 👍