Suburban as a model name

[Akstraw]

I just read an article in the WPC magazine about the Plymouth Valiant which stated that the station wagon versions carried a “Suburban” nameplate on the tailgate.  I have in the past owned both Chevy and GMC Suburbans, and wonder how many other makes over the years have officially used that name either in advertising or on a model nameplate.  Anybody care to add to the list?

Edited December 18, 2022 by Akstraw
Typo (see edit history)

[Grimy]

DeSoto 1946-early 1949, 139" wb 8-passenger sedan with roof rack, split seats first two rows, 2nd row on tracks permitting moving forward, fold-into-floor 3rd row, no divider between passenger area and trunk.  Had two of 'em.

[hidden_hunter]

Cadillac had a suburban for the type 61 in the early twenties 

[Cured]

My recollection is that my best buddies Dad had a '59 Plymouth station wagon  that carried the Suburban name.  It was a big V-8 wagon.

[wayne sheldon]

Pierce Arrow in the 1910s! A longtime friend has one.

[Layden B]

Actually I believe it is a body style carryover from carriages!

[58L-Y8]

1 hour ago, wayne sheldon said:

Pierce Arrow in the 1910s! A longtime friend has one.

But, Pierce-Arrow went one better, their model was a "Vestibule Suburban"...

[Marty Roth]

1 hour ago, Cured said:

My recollection is that my best buddies Dad had a '59 Plymouth station wagon  that carried the Suburban name.  It was a big V-8 wagon.

If my recall is reasonable, all MoPar wagons of the '50s and '60s carried the "Suburban" name

Valiant, Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, and Chrysler,

other than the "Town and Country"

 

But then, age and senility may be creeping up?

[trimacar]

41 minutes ago, Marty Roth said:

If my recall is reasonable, all MoPar wagons of the '50s and '60s carried the "Suburban" name

Valiant, Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, and Chrysler,

other than the "Town and Country"

 

But then, age and senility may be creeping up?

Yep, Marty, but “creeping up” might be optimistic…it’s right behind me tapping on my shoulder, and I’m younger than thou…yes, suburban is not new, but as we know, give me a General Motors one so named and I’m happy!

[8E45E]

1958 Plymouth Suburban:  https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/stove-huggers-the-non-studebaker-forum/58613-1958-plymouth-custom-suburban

 

1968 Plymouth Custom Suburban:  https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/stove-huggers-the-non-studebaker-forum/62299-orphan-of-the-day-04-13-1968-plymouth-custom-suburban

 

There was also a Studebaker Suburban station wagon from 1937-'39.

 

Craig

[46 woodie]

Two states, New York and Maine required suburbans to have special suburban license plates in the 1930's, '40s and '50s. The New York plates had SUB stamped into the left side of the plate. Maine for some reason had a circle stamped into the left side, not a zero or an O, but a perfect circle. I have asked several people about the meaning of the "O" but no one knows the reason why. If you have a suburban or Woodie from that era and you live in New York or Maine and register your car with year of manufacture plates, you need a rare SUB plate to be correct.

[Gunsmoke]

Every time someone raises the "Suburban" reference it takes me back to the early 50's. While I attended and walked 2 miles to a rural one room P-9 school from 1951-1954, in 1955 the school closed and we were to be bussed 3 miles to a larger school. My Dad got a contract from School Board to transport about 15 students and with my Mom as driver, he bought one of these 1949-1951 era Chevrolet Sedan Deliveries which he and Mom referred to as a "Chevrolet suburban". A couple of home-made bench seats tossed in back (and removed on weekends when car was used for various errands) would allow 6 kids to sit in back and a couple up front. 2 trips would get the 15 kids there in perhaps 45 minutes of driving twice a day. Cannot imagine the parental outrage if someone suggested this today!!

[JACK M]

Anybody interested it this?

 

[DLynskey]

1950 Plymouth Suburban:

 

 

 

1947 Nash Suburban (internet photo)

 

 

Don

[JamesR]

Thanks for the photos, DLynskey. I found a 1949 or '50 Plymouth Suburban wagon for sale not long after I bought a Plymouth P-19 two door sedan many years ago. I didn't buy the wagon, but I researched it on the net, and as I recall, the Suburban was new for that year (either '49 or '50.)

 

Plymouth had woodies before that time...the Suburban was all metal, but surprisingly (again, as I recall) you could get either the woody or the metal Suburban from Plymouth in '49 or '50. They offered both. That was different from the way Ford and other companies did it. They didn't produce both woodies and metal wagons at the same time. Ford didn't even make sedan deliveries during the last years of their woodies ('49 to '51.)

[DLynskey]

I believe '49 was the first year for the Plymouth metal wagon. The wood and metal wagons were entirely different, with the Suburban being a 2-door model and the woody having four doors. 

 

Chevrolet sold both wood and metal wagons in 1949. , but theirs looked almost identical. You had to look closely to see whether it was metal or wood. I don't know if they were made simultaneously or if it was a mid-year change.

 

Don

[Cadillac Fan]

Cadillac. 1925.  

[Marty Roth]

2 hours ago, DLynskey said:

I believe '49 was the first year for the Plymouth metal wagon. The wood and metal wagons were entirely different, with the Suburban being a 2-door model and the woody having four doors. 

 

Chevrolet sold both wood and metal wagons in 1949. , but theirs looked almost identical. You had to look closely to see whether it was metal or wood. I don't know if they were made simultaneously or if it was a mid-year change.

 

Don

There were several years, possibly 1949-1952, but 195221 for sure, when Pontiac, and probably Chevy, sold both Woodie and Tin-Woodie Wagons. Dad had a '51 Tin-Woodie, a 6 cylinder with HydraMatic 

[8E45E]

14 hours ago, DLynskey said:

Chevrolet sold both wood and metal wagons in 1949. , but theirs looked almost identical. You had to look closely to see whether it was metal or wood. I don't know if they were made simultaneously or if it was a mid-year change.

It was a mid-year running change.

 

Easiest way to tell the difference is look at the door & rear side window frames.  The steel bodied frames are rounded in the corners at the top.

 

Craig

[28 Chrysler]

Back in my audio recording days I needed a car to carry around a bunch of gear so I picked up a 1969 Plymouth Sport Suburban.

100 cubic feet inside plus the luggage rack, I never understood the "Sport " part

[hidden_hunter]

 

 

 

Here is Cadillac's layout and definitions, I have a book "somewhere" that apparently there was an effort to standardise terms across manufacturers around 1918 

[wayne sheldon]

5 hours ago, hidden_hunter said:

I have a book "somewhere" that apparently there was an effort to standardise terms across manufacturers around 1918 

 

A lot of people wish that could have happened. But "Madison Avenue" wasn't going to allow it! And probably never will. So we get to argue forever about what our cars should or shouldn't be called.

[hidden_hunter]

Found the upload from my book, SAE didn't even want a suburban name...

 

[Layden B]

Just to mess with your mind on this issue of "body style names", here is a vehicle produced by a company called Staver.  NO... this picture has not been doctored, the vehicle was manufactured and sold as you see it and the body style was called Roadster.

[JamesR]