1957 Plymouth, 1980 Lil Red Express Clone, and the Newbie

[57plymouth]

Here are a few photos of my junk. The 1957 Plymouth was bought new by my Great Grandmother, and it was my first car in 1990. It has it's original Flathead six and powerflite tranny. I also have pictures of the 1980 Dodgd Lil' Red Express Clone I built. I built the truck to tow the 57 to Tulsa this summer. It only took me three years to finish. It is my first frame up build, and a lot of other trucks died in the process. It is a 340/ Four speed OD truck. All the wiring and plubming is custom done to eliminate the weak points and cherry pick the best ideas from everywhere. I did all the work except the alignment and installing the front glass. It is also the first car I have painted.

Anyway, here's the photos...

http://bacooper.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album02&id=IMG_0035

http://bacooper.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album02&id=IMG_0027

http://bacooper.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album02&page=1

[Guest ZondaC12]

nice!!! that must have been neat to have as a first car!!!

i really like the idea of bringing it to Tulsa for the buried car event (im assuming thats when youll bring it?) i am REALLY excited about that. I wish it was june already, i wanna SEE THAT THING!

love the lil red express too! my uncle has a 78, with the round headlights. he has the wood sides and its in good solid shape, only problem is the paint finish, fortunately is not spotted or oxidized in some spots, but is DULLED evnely over the entire surface of everything. but he keeps it in the garage, maintains it meticulously, and only drives it in the summer. all it needs is a repaint and the wood sides attached, really. he WILL get to it someday. make no mistake.

he says his favorite thing to do is take off down his street at WOT, it barks the tires at the 1-2 gear shift, and then again when it goes into 3rd. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

granted its a truck, so its light in the rear but thats still cool!

[Guest acboxer]

The plymouth in the picture has little chrome V on front fender. I thought that was on on the V8 cars. My best friends mother had a 6 with power flite when we were in high school in 1960 it would do 86 MPH downhill with a long run we tried many times that was the best it could do.It could take being abused which we did many times. It was nice to be young and stupid now I'm old and and stupid some things don't change,

[57plymouth]

Yup, it has the "V" on the fenders and the Belvedere steering wheel. This car has always been in my family, and trust me, that is the way this car came! I have had a lot of questions about those "v's" and a lot of people tell me that they never came that way. This car sure did! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

I can also tell you that no matter how hard I push her, she will not top 86 mph. I have been on the longest straightest interstate I can find. Holding it wide open with the windows shut for "less drag" ha ha, that's it! That old 57 is the best car I have ever been associated with.

[allcars]

Nice trio there, 57plymouth.

Hope you make it to Tulsa. I was just looking at www.buriedcar.com the other night, has lots of photos of the '57 Belvedere when new and even a newsreel-type movie showing it right before it was buried in Tulsa 50 years ago.

Also, be sure to check out the current Collectible Automobile, which has a super story by Chrysler designer Jeff Godshall about the 1957 Chrysler Corporation cars; it discusses the Plymouths in depth.

I have a '57 Plymouth story myself: My sister acquired a new red-and-white 1957 Plymouth Custom Suburban wagon when I was eleven...a great car and I rode many a mile in the rear-facing "Spectator" third-seat with friends. But the car soon came to a bad end. In August, 1958, the wagon was totaled when it was picked up by a small tornado while we were traveling down a two-lane highway on a late afternoon in August. This was near Udall, Kansas--which had all but been totally destroyed in 1955 by an "F5" tornado that killed more than 80 residents. The much smaller twister that hit my sister's car carried it through the air for about half a city block before gently depositing it, upside down, in a wheat field. Amazingly, my sister, her toddler daughter, our mother, I and a close friend were all OK. The driver's door had come open while we were airborne and my sister was thrown out...but she hung onto the steering wheel, which bent around about 90 degrees to the left, but didn't break. As the car started to come down, upside down, it tilted to the right and she fell back in. Just as we landed in the soft field, my mother went out the right side front window, preceded by my sleeping niece, who had been sleeping on her lap. Incredibly, the kid slept through the whole thing; I swear! By the time we got everyone out and walked back up to the road, the sun had come out and the storm was moving off to the east. The Plymouth's body and chassis were twisted and the car had severe roof damage, it was beyond repair. They replaced it a few weeks later with a new '59 Pontiac Catalina wagon, same colors--red with white top. My brother-in-law put the '57 Plymouth's full wheel covers on the Pontiac, and subsequently moved them to a '63 Catalina sedan that followed the wagon.

There aren't many '57 Plymouths around today, as you know, and now you know what happened to one that didn't survive.

Allcars