(first posted 6/6/2017) For this latest installment of exploring low volume production cars, let’s take a look at Dodge, the sometimes mid-priced sometimes low-priced brand in the Chrysler Corporation.
Each of these installments is examining cars made from 1946 to 1995 and whose production is less than 1,000. From what we’ve seen so far, there is a wide way in which makers reported sales volumes as some broke it down by engine (Chevrolet and Oldsmobile) while others break it down by body style (Ford). If there are fewer than 1,000 examples based upon how it’s reported, that model is nominated for inclusion. Over time, Dodge has reported both ways.
While this list isn’t necessarily all encompassing, it’s certainly an adventure.
1949 Coronet wagon 9 passenger
Production: 800
The 1949 model year is a confusing one at Dodge. It also bears a strong influence on the production volume of the wood-bodied wagon.
Any Dodge built on or after December 1, 1948, was classified as a 1949 model. There was no physical change in appearance, so the 1948 seen here is identical to the initial 1949 models. Some sources list the 1949 models as Series One and Series Two to reflect the profound differences in 1949 Dodges.
What is referred to as the “regular” or Series Two 1949 Dodge was introduced in April 1949 with wagons coming on board sometime later. So not only was the model year split into two different eras, wagon production began quite late. Combine this with it having a wood body, something seen throughout this series as not being popular, and an explanation starts to form.
Interestingly, Dodge put their wagon in the top trim series; conversely, others such as Oldsmobile, had it in the bottom trim level.
1950 Coronet wagon; Coronet Sierra
Production: 600; 100
These were both wagons but there is one fundamental difference – the lower production Coronet Sierra had an all steel body. The volume for the wood-bodied Coronet isn’t atypical as no wood-bodied cars were popular due to their expense and perpetual maintenance needs. The steel bodied Coronet Sierra replaced the wooden Coronet during the course of the model year. Sadly, details beyond that are enigmatic.
1951 / 1952 Wayfarer Sportabout Roadster
Production: 1,002
This appears to exceed the magic threshold of 1,000 yet it doesn’t as this 1,002 represents combined production for both the 1951 and 1952 model years. That’s just how Dodge reported things at that time.
The Wayfarer was the lowest-tier Dodge in 1951 and 1952, with Meadowbrook and Coronet being above it in hierarchy. The Sportabout Roadster was a Wayfarer with only a single bench seat, allowing for three passengers. At $1,884 (or $40 more according to another source), this was a cheap way for a person to have the thrill of topless motoring as this price was $650 less than a Coronet convertible and within $20 of the Wayfarer two-door sedan.
It was quite the alluring proposition for some, especially those with the youthful exuberance of the couple seen in the ad.
1954 Meadowbrook Club Coupe V8
Production: 750
It was a mixed bag at Dodge in 1954. On the positive side was the introduction of the new Red-Ram V8 during the 1953 model year. The flip-side saw poor sales partly attributable to somewhat dowdy styling.
For 1954 overall, the lower line Meadowbrook was nowhere near as popular as was the Coronet and Royal series. Factoring in the price of the V8 on a Meadowbrook club coupe, for an additional $77 one could slip into a Coronet club coupe. Dodge would only sell 4,200 Meadowbrook club coupes in both six- and eight-cylinder configurations.
The mixture of a V8 in a low-line Meadowbrook just wasn’t an enticing formula.
1954 Coronet Sierra six-cylinder wagon
Production: 312 (six- and eight-passenger combined)
There is an old adage that cylinders sell. Well, in this case of the 1954 Dodge wagons it needs to be revamped to saying doors don’t sell.
The six-cylinder model is getting picked on here as it’s the most pronounced in not selling. The eight-cylinder version, while selling over three times as much at 988, still doesn’t break 1,000 sales.
For 1954, two-door wagons were the flat roof commodities in the Dodge showroom. If looking at two-door wagons, there were 3,100 with a V8 that went to a loving new home with nearly 6,400 six-cylinder versions doing the same. The market just hadn’t yet transitioned to four-door wagons.
1954 Coronet convertible and Sport hardtop
Production: 50 and 100, respectively
Trimming can make all the difference. For 1954, the Coronet was the mid-level Dodge as the Royal had supplanted it atop the food chain.
Despite the roughly 10% premium, these two body styles sold well enough in Royal trim with both exceeding 2,000 units. Having so many entries from 1954 also emphasizes how Dodge sales slipped that year.
1957 Coronet D-500 coupe and convertible
Production: 101 combined
According to the Standard Catalog of American Cars:
The D-500 was actually a high-performance engine option for all series. However…we are listing it in series format….Dodge D-500s included all features of the base series models, plus the high-performance 285-, 310-, or 340-hp V8 engines.
These are simply too desirable to not include.
1958 Coronet I-6 hardtop coupe
Production: 715
It all boils down to the engine, proving that cylinders were starting to sell in 1958. In the base model Coronet series, Dodge sold 21,000 hardtop coupes equipped with a V8 – meaning the only difference was two extra pistons pumping away for your delight.
And, let’s face it…when having the choice between an ancient flathead six or one of a series of V8s advertised as Red-Ram, Ram-Fire, D-500, or Super D-500 which is more appealing?
1959 Custom Royal V8 convertible coupe
Production: 984
This is likely a simple reflection of the market. Dodge fielded two convertibles for 1959, the Custom Royal and the lower trimmed Coronet. With not quite 1,000 convertibles sold in the Custom Royal series, the Coronet fared better but sold only 1,840 copies.
The convertibles were simply the poorest selling body style, something that only became more pronounced throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s.
1970 Polara convertible
Production: 842
Dodge sold roughly 60,000 Polaras in 1970 with only 842 convertibles. That is simply a reflection of the dwindling popularity the full-sized convertibles were experiencing during that time. Yet the full-sized cars weren’t the only ones…
1970 Dodge Coronet 500 convertible and Coronet R/T convertible
Production: 924 and 296 respectively
With around 110,000 Coronets of all varieties produced for 1970, less than 1% were convertibles. That is the market speaking.
1976 Royal Monaco two-seat wagon
Production: 923
This article would be incomplete without a mid-70s C-body although this only made the list by strictly applying self-imposed rules.
Dodge reported on three levels of Monaco wagon for 1976 – base, two-seat Royal Monaco, and three-seat Royal Monaco. Perhaps the two Royal Monacos could be rolled up into one, but based upon the way Dodge reported sales, they are separate.
Regardless, none of them sold well with the three-seat Royal Monaco being the most populous at 1,429. This is quite the discrepancy from Ford, who was selling in excess of 80,000 similarly sized wagons every year during this time.
1985 Aries shown
1987 Dodge Aries base model two-door sedan
Production: 204
This particular example doesn’t seem quite right. How so? In The Plymouth Edition of this series, the base 1987 Plymouth Reliant two-door also reported having sold exactly 204 copies.
Let’s just leave it at that.
1983 shown; the base 1987s were identical
1988 Diplomat base sedan
Production: 444
As was the case with the identical Plymouth Gran Fury, a base model was created below the Salon and SE trims for 1988 only. Perhaps intended for fleet use, these are a fluke in the history of Diplomats as the rest of the Diplomat line sold around 19,000 copies that year.
Stay tuned for the rest of this series as there is still an abundance of ground to cover.
I think the Monaco wagon with the Road Wheels (Rallye Wheels?) is a real looker. Too bad it’s sporting a Lean Burn engine underneath (Wikipedia) and the unfortunate rear door design (imo.)
I still can’t make artistic sense of the doors. I feel like Cameron on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off zoning into the green beach painting till he sees nothing but canvas fibers when I look at them. I think the Ford LTD rear doors of the same era look better proportioned and flowing even though they appear heavy as well. Perhaps if the door design wasn’t so truncated and frumpy looking, but more elongated, they’d have sold better? I guess Chrysler was having financial hardship during that time and had to work with what they had and make compromises along the way? Thankfully the Imperial/New Yorker weren’t saddled with these doors.
I’ve always thought the Dodge Royal Monaco and Chrysler Town & Country wagons from the mid-seventies were very regal-looking cars. So big and powerful-looking. A more commanding presence than the Country Squire and the various GM division full-size wagons.
Maybe people were just afraid to buy Chrysler products versus Ford and Chevy.
Here’s a ’75 Dodge RM wagon:
As rare as Dodge full sized wagons were at the time, I could likely count on one hand, the number of mid 70s Plymouth Gran Fury wagons I’ve seen in my lifetime.
I’ve always thought the 1970 Coronet front end was bizarre, give me a Satellite anyday.
IMO the Coronet’s biggest immediate problem is the bulge at the hood line to clear the old radiator support.
Basically, it’s a swoopy 2nd gen GM A body grill treatment stuck onto the front of a boxy 1st gen GM A body car. The result is not good.
I’ve always wondered how much of an impact the NASCAR ‘wing cars’ had on front end styling of the 1970 Coronet. A car with a loop front bumper and fenders would be necessary to attach the aerodynamic nose cone. Originally, the 1969 Daytona was going to be carried over but at the last minute, to get Petty back, it became a Plymouth.
Even then, the 1970 Coronet front fenders used on the Superbird had to be modified in front of the wheel wells to match up to the nose cone. It also got a special piece at the leading edge of the hood.
The 1969 Charger, which was the base for the Daytona, doesn’t have a loop bumper.
I think the 1969 Charger Daytona, which was a late ’69 car, used 1970 Charger fenders, which ‘did’ have a loop bumper.
The 1969 Charger 500, an early ’69 car, used Charger fenders with a 1968 Coronet grille brought up flush with the leading edges of the hood and fenders.
Much more rarer would be the Canadian Monaco convertible only sold in Canada from 1965 to 1969.
Another interesting post in your cool series, Jason. Much to my surprise, I haven’t been able to find exact production numbers for that the eight passenger, long wheelbase 1949 Dodge in your second pic, but a calculation by the boffins over at Allpar concludes that around 1,150 were built in the U.S. AND Canada bringing it in just a little above your threshold for inclusion.
Thanks, Gene – I wondered about those 8 passenger sedans.
You’re very welcome, JP. Although that figure isn’t necessarily definitive, my gut tells me that production numbers for ALL the long wheelbase MoPaRs from the 1930’s to the 1950’s had to be pretty low, with the majority of DeSotos being allocated to taxi service, of course.
It’s amazing those 8 passengers stayed in the Mopar lineup through 1954 for Chrysler and DeSoto, and 1952 for Dodge IIRC. Catering to the large family market?
The nail was in the coffin when NYC finally allowed regular sedans for taxi cab use in 1954. But I wonder if Chrysler also let them know they’d be dropping the long wheelbase cars after that year.
For full sized cars of the day, Nothing beat that Monaco 2 door in the lead pic. for class and style. Beautiful! Now I have heard that the St. Regis of that era was a horrible dog. That the CHP St. Regis cop car, with full light bar, could only top out at 65MPH up steep hills!
Must have been fun for people trying to outrun them.
Unless I’m mistaken, didn’t those Wayfarer roadsters lack roll-up windows? That might explain why sales of an inexpensive convertible were so low.
Those other convertible numbers are not surprising, as Chrysler’s take rate on convertibles always seemed to lag behind GM and Ford. By the 70s, Chrysler customers were older, poorer and more traditional (on average). 4 door sedans? Absolutely. Convertibles? Not really.
You’re right about the side curtains on the ’49 Wayfarer roadster, JP, although I believe Dodge changed over to conventional roll up windows on the 1950 version.
Besides the odd looking front end of the Coronet, Dodge sure dropped the ball with the 1970 Polara over the previous year’s car.
They REALLY dropped the ball when styling the nose of the 1972 Polara. In bizarreness it rivaled the 1962!
It was a face only a cop could love (I owned one).
For ’73, the Polaras looked just like Olds Delta 88’s in front.
Having owned one of each I’ve always thought the ’73 Polara front end strongly resembled a ’70 full size Chevy nose.
Well?
It wouldn’t have been the first time the Polara went for the Impala look, Roger. Check out this collage I put together a few months back when this subject came up….
On the other hand, the 1972 Monaco got its nose improved with the hidden headlights.
The problem is that improved didn’t necessarily mean good.
One thing I hadn’t noticed before was that the 1973 Monaco got the big, rubber bumper pads that other Chrysler products got to meet bumper regulations. In fact, I don’t think ‘any’ 1973 Chrysler products used legitimate 5mph bumpers, and it was only the redesigned full-size cars that got them for 1974.
I think it wasn’t until 1975 that all Chrysler got actual 5mph bumpers across the board (evidently, they had gotten an exemption for cars due to be redesigned or discontinued). But what’s really interesting is when comparing the A-body bumpers between 1974 and 1975, Chrysler’s engineers did a remarkable job since it’s difficult to tell a difference in the bumpers between the model years. The same certainly can’t be said for some of the other manufacturers (looking at you, Ford).
This is great stuff for car nuts.. I have mentioned before that amongst the rare of the rare of production vehicles is the 1973 Dodge Polara Brougham. The car offered two interior trim colors: a cream color and “Chestnut.” The chestnut interior was available only on the Imperial on earlier “fuselage” Mopars. As the 1973 run was the last of the fuselage big Mopars, they offered the trim on the Big Dodge in a new model called the Polara Brougham. In this way, Chrysler might be able to use up chestnut brown interior panels should they not be ordered on Imperials. Having worked in the distribution office of Dodge in Tappan, New York at the time, I was aware of the low numbers called for production of this model. Total production? I do not know. Rare? Definitely! The Dodge limousines starting in 1949 along with their fellow De Soto, Chrysler and imperial models were built as a wider body to provide more room. Of prior models for width I am unsure. We need an expert to tell us. The De Sotos were famous in the 1930’s and 1940’s for the “Sky View Cab.” A manually operated sunroof in the passenger area was an option that was popular in New York City so that people traveling around town could open the sunroof and see the skyscraper buildings. Strong cowhide upholstery was used for the seats. You entered the De Soto cab and smelled leather and sometimes the urine of the cab driver who would neglect to stop to relieve himself and just use his clothing as an absorbent! I loved the 8-passenger sedans. They were only marketed as limousines if the wall and glass divider behind the front seat was ordered. Thanks for your article on rare Dodges. That featured one at the top was also a rare mid-year model with a $1,500.00 price tag for the padded roof and a few doodads. It is rare because it was a pricey item. I think that the equivalent Chrysler model sold better because the Chrysler buyer was ready to shell out the shekels.
Curious about roughly how many 1973 Polara Custom Spring Specials with the multi colored cloth inserts and the black shag carpeting in red, white or black were built? Probably no way of ever knowing.
Interestingly, total Dodge convertible production jumped radically for 1960 to 8800 units, which is a percentage increase that actually exceeds the overall volume increase from expanding the Dodge line into Plymouth territory and booting Plymouth from Dodge showrooms.
I’m pretty sure that the Polara Brougham was a 1971 year only offering.
Glad to see the car i learned to drive on; a grasshopper green royal monaco 76 wagon with a green vinyl interior and power windows. was thinking the woodgrain was part of the brougham treatment or what made it royal, but i think what made it royal was the laRGE full size c-body, not a b-monaco. his did not have the wood decals.
i fishtailed it once going too fast on a right turn, i distinctly remember at the corner of bradford avenue where it meets upper mountain avenue. i don’t think i have ever done that unintentionally again, i was going left when i did it a later second time though.
i liked the big brady bunch mobile, i felt proud of the hidden headlamp and center grill look up front. i can remember my dad sucking on pall mall unfilters as he critiqued my every move. yes i still miss the grumpy man he could be, and i have become.
he had a 74 dodge coronet wagon before this in bright blue metallic, so the royal monaco was or seemed to establish that his boss valued his work, sales and distribution for a food goods co, which required much room for samples in the family hauler.
This IS the stuff I love, find fascinating all the model proliferation, as well as rare colors availability and rare packages, options, or just production figures in general.
Thank you so much for this series, am enjoying it immensely. I too wonder what motivated the marketing decisions made each model year by each division. As we often hear, there is a reason for everything, I do find this fascinating in a way that other car nuts being interested by it is validating my interest. glad to know i am not the only one who misses the annual changes on taillight or grill trim to denote model year or series. we need a bit more identification to tell today’s car models apart.
For only one model year, 1977, Dodge offered the B body Monaco and larger
C body Royal Monaco. Mimicing Plymouth’s Fury and Gran Fury.
But, their C was dropped for ’78, and for 75-76, the B was Coronet/Charger.
“As was the case with the identical Plymouth Gran Fury, a base model was created below the Salon and SE trims for 1988 only. Perhaps intended for fleet use, these are a fluke in the history of Diplomats as the rest of the Diplomat line sold around 19,000 copies that year.”
I have a 1988 Consumer Guide publication covering that year’s new cars. This is what is has to say (or not, as the case may be) about the “base” Gran Fury and Diplomat.
Plymouth:
The price list shows a price for the base Gran Fury. As alluded to in Jason’s Plymouth article, the price of the base model is shown as being several hundred dollars MORE than the Salon, which was the only other trim level offered by Plymouth (unlike the Diplomat, the Gran Fury didn’t come in higher-trim SE form). If that’s accurate, the base model wasn’t really below the Salon, but above it.
The text makes no mention of the base model.
The standard equipment list has no mention of the base model. One set of standard equipment is listed, not labeled as any particular trim level. My guess is that the equipment list shown is for the Salon.
Dodge:
There is no mention of the base Diplomat anywhere. Unlike Plymouth, the price list does not show a price for the base model.
The text makes no mention of the base model, even though it contains a sentence identifying Salon and SE as available trim levels.
The standard equipment list has no mention of the base model, even though it has standard equipment lists for the Salon and SE.
The publication is dated June 23, 1988 on the front cover, so this was published late in the model year. It’s possible that some information in this publication could be different from what was in effect at the start of the model year. (For example, it’s possible that publications from earlier in the model year had more information about the base model, then Chrysler phased out the base model.)
The price of the Diplomat Salon is exactly the same as the price of the Gran Fury Salon. In his Plymouth article, noting that the base model was shown with a higher price in his reference, Jason suggested that the prices of the two models might possibly be transposed. That the price of the Diplomat Salon matches the price of the Gran Fury Salon suggests that this isn’t the case, and that the Salon price, at least, is probably accurate.
I remain mystified as to what purpose these base models served, or why they existed only in 1988. If they really were more expensive than the Salon, and really were oriented towards the fleet market, the only idea I can come up with is this: perhaps they contained a package of equipment that was normally optional on the Salon, but frequently ordered by fleet buyers, in an attempt to simplify fleet ordering (and maximize profit for Chrysler). This would be similar in spirit to the “America” concept that Chrysler was pushing on some of its smaller cars at the time. If this was the base models’ purpose, however, they obviously failed at their mission.
I never noticed until now just how much the 1979 Panther wagons resembled the big Dodge Monaco wagons of 1975-76. I mean in terms of the glass area, the uprightness of the A-pillars and the squarish wheel openings and the really long window area aft of the C-pillars. Was Ford cribbing from Dodge?
Missing: 1992 Dodge Spirit R/T, at 191 (down from 1,208 in 1991).
That 1957 Coronet Coupe is stunning. Just got to have one!.
“Maybe people were just afraid to buy Chrysler products versus Ford and Chevy.?”
Kind of true:
The wild 1970 Coronet may be hot with Mopar muscle car fans, but “Mr and Mrs Family car buyer” avoided cars like that in droves.
Dodge and Plymouth’s supercar image may have been a hit with Boomers who put them on their bedroom walls. But their parents went to GM and Ford for ‘sensible’ and plush haulers in the 70’s. The ‘racey looks’ of fuselage cars turned them off.
One of many things that led to near bankruptcy.
The C body Fury sold 200K+ units per year pretty steadily from 1965 all the way through the fuselage era. The new 1974 Fury was an absolute dog in the market, even when big car sales generally came back after 74.
Although I wonder how many of those unsold Furys were successful upsells to a Chrysler Newport.
The Chrysler line went down in 74 too, but it only bounced back to its original level. Some of those regained Chrysler sales probably were from Plymouth and Dodge. But basically the lost sales in Plymouth and Dodge C body was the net loss of C body sales to the company.
– What was the price difference between two- and four-door Dodge wagons in ’54? I think that year the two-door was still built on the short wheelbase introduced in ’49 and must’ve been a good chunk of change less.
– With the K-car coupes, it strikes me that the base model missed out on a big part of the midcycle facelift in that it didn’t get the heavy chrome window surround with the area inside it blacked out that the LE/SE coupe illustrated has. That wasn’t as dramatic a difference or as big a loss to the base sedan.
– That being said, it’s odd that they ended the wagon a year early but continued with the K-coupe to the end.
That blackout trim inside the chrome frame of the uplevel K-car coupes was an awkward attempt to disguise that these cars still had “opera windows” years after they went out of style.
I wanted to include 69 Dodge Charger 500. 500 produced . Another source 580. Just enough for NASCAR to consider it a production car. Further reading however shows they were hand crafted by Creative Industries of Detroit from production Charger bodies. So perhaps they don’t appear in Jason’s source as a separate model because they were not built on a Dodge Charger production line.
Only 444 base ’88 Diplomat Sedans? The Baltimore County Police must’ve bought all of them then, because back in the day, these things were all over the place. I know, because in my younger wilder days, I was pulled over by a few of them!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/45703383@N05/27085517652
Yeah, I question the production too.
I’m sure quite a few Diplomats were sold on my side of the border for unmarked use by police. Can’t recall if any would have been marked cars.
Perhaps in other cities across the Dominion.
92 Dodge Daytona IROC RT, 250 built. 93 same model final year 181
Comments on some of these:
1949-50 wagons: As noted in the article, the wood-bodied wagons were expensive models with limited appeal, and the figures for all three models quoted seem to represent less than a full model year. Two things to add: First, the wagon body style was new for 1949, Dodge not having offered a wagon in past years. In hindsight, it seems odd that Dodge would add a wood-bodied wagon so late in the product life of that body style.
Second, as the article mentions, Dodge’s wagons in this era were at the very top of their price class, even after they went with all-metal bodies. It’s my impression that the metal 4-door wagon body introduced by Chrysler Corporation midway through the 1950 model year was geared towards the company’s more upscale brands; Plymouth didn’t sell one at all, and Dodge’s was at the very upper fringes of Dodge’s price structure. So much so that when Plymouth introduced a standard wheelbase 2-door wagon body in 1953 (1949-52 Plymouth 2-door wagons were built in a series with a very short, almost compact wheelbase that was apparently seen as too downscale for Dodge; more on these short wheelbase models in a minute), Dodge dropped its existing 4-door and offered only the new 2-door. Going from a 4-door to a 2-door in 1953 seems backwards, but the 2-door body shared with Plymouth was simply much more in Dodge’s target market than the 4-door body shared with DeSoto and Chrysler.
1951-52 Wayfarer Sportabout Roadster: one of a number of models sold by Dodge and Plymouth during the 1949-52 styling generation which were built on a body that was very short for an American car from this era, almost compact (111″ wheelbase for Plymouth, 115″ for Dodge). Sales were unimpressive, and the short wheelbase models were dropped after 1952. Combining 1951 and 1952 production data wasn’t just a Dodge thing. Chrysler did this across the entire corporation; they also did this with 1946 through 1949 first series production figures. The Encyclopedia of American Cars claims that the Sportabout was dropped after 1951, but the Standard Catalog shows it available in both 1951 and 1952.
1954 four-door wagons: I have to wonder if the 4-doors were a late addition. Dodge had only offered 2-door wagons in 1953, and Plymouth didn’t have a 4-door wagon until 1955. The market already had largely moved to 4-door wagons; it was Chrysler who was slow in making the transition, at least with its lower-priced brands.
1954 Coronet hardtop and convertible: The production figures for these two are so low that I have to wonder if these were initially planned to be offered, then were dropped very early in the model year. Both body styles had been available in 1953, and were produced in much larger numbers. But for 1953, the Coronet was Dodge’s most expensive model. In 1954, a new model was introduced above it, the Royal. The Royal also offered a hardtop and a convertible. Perhaps Dodge decided early on to offer the two styles only in Royal form. A hardtop would return to the Coronet lineup for 1955, a convertible in 1956.
1959 Custom Royal convertible: the effects on the 1958-61 recession were at work here, and they seemed to hit Chrysler harder than anyone else, due to backlash from the quality problems with the ’57s or perhaps consumer distaste for the odd styling of many Chrysler products of this era. In 1960, Dodge offered only one convertible in the senior Dodge line, but apparently stopped reporting production on an individual body style basis, so we don’t know for certain whether convertible production cleared 1,000.
1970 convertibles: this was the last year Chrysler Corporation built convertibles in either its full-size or intermediate lines. The two variants of Plymouth’s 1970 intermediate convertibles also made the “under 1,000” list.
1976 Royal Monaco two-seat wagon: the downturn in sales of big cars following the 1973 energy crisis, which triggered a complete collapse in sales of full-size Plymouth and Dodges (alluded to in other comments in this thread), is obviously a factor here. A few other variants of Dodge wagons from this era came close to making this list, but this was the only one that actually fell below 1,000. For 1977, Dodge eliminated one of the three trim levels, and all of the remaining models managed to stay above that level.
1987 Aries base two-door: I agree that it seems very suspicious that the Plymouth and Dodge variations of his trim level/body style combination are both reported to have the exact same production figure. On the other hand, the same factors driving sales down would have been at work in both cases: an aging K-car design; a long-term trend away from two-door cars to four-door cars; the base trim level selling at a much lower level than the upper-trim LE. For 1988, Chrysler collapsed things into a single “America” trim level.
1988 Diplomat base model: discussed in another post in this thread. I remain mystified as to what purpose these base models served, or why they existed only in 1988.
The 1954 Sierra four door station wagon was a unique, one-year-only body style, possibly the last body Dodge contracted to an outside body-maker. The Ionia Body Company built these using stamping from the two door station wagons that had been exclusively Plymouth’s through the 1952 MY. Dodge switched to sharing the Plymouth basics for 1953, including only a two door wagon for 1953 after sharing the larger four door station wagon bodies with Chrysler and DeSoto, 1950-‘52. The even 1,300 total indicate that was the contractual number for Ionia to build. That company had been building Buick station wagon bodies since 1946, would continue station wagon construction for various carmakers, later best known for their hardtop station wagons for Buick, Oldsmobile and Mercury, 1957-’60.
This Ionia-bodied 1954 was a stop-gap effort as customer preference was swinging strongly toward the four door station wagons as that segment overall doubled in volume over three years prior. The trend continued as station wagon volumes doubled again by 1957, reached a plateau in the 1960’s of generally ten percent of the market.
Regarding the 1949 advertisement for the full model line, no production figure appears for the 1949 8 passenger long-wheelbase sedan in some sources. If anyone has the number, please post it. The number for 1950 is available, reported at 1,150. The 1949 version may not have reached production that year.
The all-steel four door station wagons for 1950 were a late season addition for all three makes, something of an early introduction of a 1951 model.
Thanks for this interesting series.
My father-in-law purchased a Dodge Diplomat Medallion 2-door , 318 4-speed overdrive , black with red interior brand new in 1978 . He still has the car with less than 40,000 original miles on it. All original, and I do mean all. It has always been stored in a insulated, carpeted, dry building. It is absolutely flawless. My cousin used to work at Chrysler in Detroit, he checked the V.I.N. and discovered by way of Chrysler records that only 7 Diplomat Medallions with V-8 and 4-speeds were produced that year. The car is insured with Classic insurance for 25,000 dollar value. However, it’s hard to truly know the value due to the extremely limited production number.
Does anyone out there have a similar Diplomat? If so please contact me at smokyhoss@msn.com just for fun and information. Thanks!
Can someone please help me identify this Dodge steering wheel cap insert. I think it may have come off a Coronet Royal or 6 around about 1954.
The ’58 Dodge advert almost implies you can remove the fins, rocket ships, and other protrusions and use them as little boats, model rockets, go-carts, and such.