Please help Identify 1930's sedan...

[Reynard]

[nzcarnerd]

1937 Plymouth. It looks as if it may have a trunk so it is a touring sedan of which Plymouth built 111,099 that year. Less than half the number of four doors built.

[Dave Henderson]

8 hours ago, nzcarnerd said:

1937 Plymouth. It looks as if it may have a trunk so it is a touring sedan of which Plymouth built 111,099 that year. Less than half the number of four doors built.

'37 was of the era when 4 dr. cars typically had front-hinged front doors and rear-hinged rear doors.  Consequently, 4dr's weren't as popular as 2 dr. cars for families with children due to the safety factor, and thus most low price "Big Three" 2 dr. cars outsold 4 dr.'s.   Plymouth, it seems, was the exception, unless the stats are incorrect, but my source also indicates they are correct.   Perhaps the explanation is the wide use of Plymouths as taxicabs.   

[nzcarnerd]

6 hours ago, Dave Henderson said:

'37 was of the era when 4 dr. cars typically had front-hinged front doors and rear-hinged rear doors.  Consequently, 4dr's weren't as popular as 2 dr. cars for families with children due to the safety factor, and thus most low price "Big Three" 2 dr. cars outsold 4 dr.'s.   Plymouth, it seems, was the exception, unless the stats are incorrect, but my source also indicates they are correct.   Perhaps the explanation is the wide use of Plymouths as taxicabs.   

Interesting you say that as I had not actually looked the figures up. The info I have is from The Standard Catalog, and it seems yes that for Chevrolet and Ford their biggest sellers by a wide margin were their two door sedans. For the low price big three seems Plymouth was the exception.  As soon as you get into the next price level - e g Dodge, DeSoto, Buick etc it goes back to a much higher percentage of four doors.

 

On this side of the Pacific two door sedans were a relative rarity. I have only seen a few Chev and Ford two doors, and they don't show up in old photos. High prices meant that 'families' rarely bought new, instead driving older models, or whatever was available. For those models in local assembly it made sense to have a limited range of body styles. For Chev and Ford that usually meant just four door sedans and coupes in two prices levels. 

[CHuDWah]

On 4/25/2023 at 10:16 AM, Dave Henderson said:

'37 was of the era when 4 dr. cars typically had front-hinged front doors and rear-hinged rear doors.  Consequently, 4dr's weren't as popular as 2 dr. cars for families with children due to the safety factor, and thus most low price "Big Three" 2 dr. cars outsold 4 dr.'s.   Plymouth, it seems, was the exception, unless the stats are incorrect, but my source also indicates they are correct.   Perhaps the explanation is the wide use of Plymouths as taxicabs.   

 

Also, 2-drs tended to be cheaper than 4-drs