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.. »