1953 Plymouth Belmont Concept Car - www.robson.m3rlin.org
The Plymouth Belmont was the first plastic-bodied (reinforced fiberglass) Chrysler “idea car,” an experiment in new materials and design brought out in the same year as the DeSoto Adventurer.
The Belmont was a two seat V8-powered sports car, which the dealers had high hopes for, as being aimed at the Thunderbird and the Corvette. Not to worry. In the usual Chrysler Board mentality, the car and the design was retired before 1955, as being “too old.” Plymouth just shook its head and dug in again, working against odds as it went about setting new records, sales, speed, and design for 1955. Possibly, Chrysler had seen the sales figures set by the 1953 and 1954 Corvette and were underwhelmed by them. However, surely after seeing the sales recorded for the 1955 T-Bird, they probably kicked themselves in the rear area a few times. Click here to read more.. »
Scribbled on September 25th 2009 in
Plymouth,
Plymouth Belmont
1960 Plymouth Savoy Sedan
1960 saw the Savoy occupying the entry level position in the Plymouth Division when it came to retail sales, replacing the low-end Plaza. The Savoy would remain in this position until the end of the model’s existence, with the exception of the compact Valiant (once it was made into a Plymouth, instead of being a standalone brand).
Brand new for 1960 was the Slant-Six, which was developed for a few reasons. First, Chrysler had been working on an all new compact model, called the Valiant, and the company wanted a fresh new engine for that model, not too mention for the rest of their 1960 models offering a six. The old flathead was getting left in the dust by the competition, and it just didn’t lend itself to the new styling Chrysler wanted to employ for the Valiant, a lower hood line. Click here to read more.. »
Scribbled on August 25th 2009 in
Plymouth,
Plymouth Savoy
