(first posted 7/27/2012) The 1959 Dodge: Polarizing, to say the least. Perhaps its styling was over the top, piling even more chrome atop Mopar’s already-chromy original 1957 Forward Look bodies. Still, I love the 1959 Dodge. It’s a rare bird too, as I’ve only ever seen three of these beauties in person. One of them was a top-of-the-line Custom Royal Lancer two-door hardtop, like the one my mother bought in 1969 as her first car. Her car, finished in two-tone pinkish-beige-and-copper, was loaded, with power steering, power brakes, Torqueflite and deluxe “roulette wheel” wheel covers. But first, a little background on what is arguably the wildest Dodge ever built.
The 1959 Dodge was based upon the 1957 model, which was part and parcel of Chrysler Corporation’s lineup, from Plymouth to Imperial, of all-new vehicles. The “100 Million Dollar Look” of 1955-56 gave way to the dart-like “Suddenly it’s 1960” fin-mobiles. The 1957 “Swept-Wing” Dodge had a large bumper grille that resembled a biplane and fins that appeared to be resting on top of the quarter panel. Thanks to varying state laws, these cars had dual “headlamps”–the inboard pair of lights up front were actually turn signal/parking lamps and not high-beams.
The 1958 Dodge was much the same, but now sported a more conventional grille and quad headlights, along with some reshuffled chrome trim. I rather prefer it over the 1957, which appeared rather front-heavy with its large chrome grille bar. The 1959 restyle would be much more extensive.
The ’59 Dodge looked an awful lot like the 1957-58 version, but was actually longer, lower and wider. It was basically an exaggeration–to an almost cartoon-like degree–of the 1957-58 styling cues. There was lots more chrome trim, even on the entry-level Coronet. Top-of-the-line Custom Royals, such as this convertible, wore more chrome than a ’59 Cadillac, and at least as much as a ’58 Buick.
The 1959 Dodges were introduced on October 10, 1958, in three trim levels: Coronet, Royal, and Custom Royal. The station wagons were continued as a separate series.
Along with new interior and exterior styling arrived the 383-cu in V8, in both D-500 (320 hp w/Carter four-barrel) and Super D-500 (345 hp, with twin four-barrel Carters) specifications. They were the biggest, brashest engines you could get in your ’59 Dodge.
And what better place to put your high-performance D-500 engine in than a Royal Lancer or Custom Royal Lancer two-door hardtop? One of these just happened to be my mother’s first car. It was a gigantic boat even in 1969, when she got it at Handler’s Auto on Harrison Street, in downtown Davenport, IA. The price? One hundred dollars.
Of course, at that price it wasn’t a mint-condition car with low mileage, but it was solid and everything worked. As befitted the top model, it had a power seat, power windows, and push-button Torqueflite. I’m sure it wasn’t a D-500, but it probably had the 255 hp Red Ram 326-cu in V8.
Mom’s Custom Royal most likely wore the same color combination as the Custom Royal sedan at the top of this photo. Custom Royals came as four-door sedans, two- and four-door hardtops, and convertibles (the rarest ’59 Dodge, with only 984 built). Mid-level Royals offered only the sedan and hardtop body styles. There was also a base Coronet two-door club sedan.
An interesting new feature for ’59 was the Swivel-Seat option, which allowed the driver’s and front passenger’s seats to swivel out to about a 45-degree angle for easier entry and exit–probably a good idea, given the 1957-59 Mopars’ very low roofline. Sadly, Mom’s car didn’t sport this novel feature.
Although Dodges were solid medium-priced cars, only 4.5% of them were equipped with factory air conditioning, an option priced at a whopping $468.55. Among the more popular options were the Torqueflite and Powerflite transmissions ($226.90 and $189.16, respectively), power steering ($92.15), power brakes ($42.60), and two-tone paint ($18.55).
As previously noted, wagons comprised a separate series. The top-of-the-line Custom Sierra, pictured above, was equipped and trimmed much like the Custom Royals. Just 2,432 six-passenger and 3,437 nine-passenger Custom Sierras came off the line that year.
image: smccars.net
But back to Mom’s car. This land yacht was her first car, and naturally she was a little nervous driving it. She liked it, and it was a cool looking ride, but after a couple of mishaps she decided to stop driving for a while. The Dodge was sold to her Uncle Art, in nearby Buffalo, Iowa, who used it for many years as a work car. At some point after that it must have been sold or junked, but the details are lost to time. My mother’s next car was a 1960 Impala; now a more experienced driver, she enjoyed that car a lot more than the Custom Royal. That said, she loved her 1959 Dodge and really missed it. There’s always something special about your first set of wheels…
Fast forward to 2005. I was out of college and working at a local bank, but my brother was still in college at Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb. He had gone our friends’ home in Burr Ridge, a Chicago suburb, to help them move into their new vacation house in Tallulah Falls, Georgia. After they’d brought him back to Burr Ridge, I was tasked with driving there from Rock Island to pick him up and bring him back.
I detest the toll booths on “scenic” Interstate 88, and driving it became even more of a hassle after manned toll booths were eliminated. I did not relish the idea of carrying some $50 in quarters, so on the return trip I skipped the interstate in favor of the two-lane. It was lucky I did, because we stumbled upon a small car show while passing through Rochelle. The sight of that finny ’59 Coronet in the late afternoon sun immediately caught my eye!
Alas, it was not a Custom Royal Lancer hardtop, but a somewhat more basic Coronet sedan. It was still far from a poverty-spec model, however, especially with that pink and rose two-tone paint job–about as subtle as a truck crashing though a brick wall, but so cool!
Fortunately I had my camera in the car, and Andy also was eager to see a ’59 Dodge. You can see my 1999 Volvo S70 AWD lurking in the background of the picture. It looks like a golf cart behind the gigantic Coronet!
The front end of this car might be its wildest feature, but in back things are far from tame. I’ll bet many 1959 Dodge owners got tired of replacing those elongated taillight lenses. They look rather fragile.
I’m glad I took these photos, but I wish they included one of the interior. The “jukebox” instrument panels on these cars are really neat. There’s even a hidden ashtray that swivels out 180 degrees, like a secret entrance in a bookcase. And who doesn’t love those pushbutton Torqueflite controls?
Today, 1959 Dodges do not grow on the proverbial trees. Only 151,851 were built, which was better than the 133,953 of ’58 but a far cry from the 281,359 made in 1957. Chrysler had really shot itself in the foot with the poor quality of the all-new ’57s, and the chickens came home to roost in 1958 and 1959–which was too bad, as the later ones were much improved–but the damage had been done.
The first one I ever saw was around 2001, at a show in Standish Park in Galesburg, Illinois. It was a Royal or Custom Royal two-door hardtop in black, with red fins, roof and lower sides and matching interior. My friend had a camcorder, but unfortunately, I didn’t have my own camera with me. Later I saw our featured car, and then in 2011 I saw a medium-and-light blue sedan at a show in Davenport. I took lots of pics of that one with my cell phone, but about a month ago it self-destructed and the photos were lost, so you’ll just have to make do with this sedan!
These have always been my least favorite of the 59 Mopars. It was just so over the top. The others were relatively restrained (for the era) but these were not. However, I am starting to reassess. If a guy is going to go for the late 50s camp factor, you probably cannot do better than one of these. Especially in these colors.
It is interesting how even the base 59 Dodge was a highly decorated car. But I guess it didn’t matter. 150K cars was a horrible result from Dodge, which had always been a major seller. Per Wiki, Dodge had sold north of 300K units in the early 50s and would go on to crack 500K in the 60s. Even the 62 Dodges outsold these (though with the help of the Lancer and the low priced Dart).
That straight-on front end shot is the polar opposite of the Neon saying “Hi”. This Dodge says “Get the hell off my property. I have a gun.”
Indeed, the ’59 Dodge would have been a much better choice for the role of ‘Christine’, if only in appearance and not in name.
Of all the ’59 Mopars, my favorite is the DeSoto . . . mainly for the quarters . .
The MOST beautiful of all you are kidding! The lines are to die for, these and the late 50’s Desoto’s are beautiful.
Weren’t the crummy sales of the ’59s the direct result of the horribly shoddy build quality of the ’57s and ’58s? My grandfather had a ’59 Plodge wagon in Toronto. I don’t think I ever heard anything bad about it, and it was generally better than any of their Ford or GM cars.
Yes, the 57 cars got a bad reputation, deservedly. The 59 models were much improved. In 1979, a friend’s dad drove my 59 Fury sedan, a very nice 60k car. He remarked that it felt substantially tighter than the 57 Plymouth that he bought new and ditched soon after because it was such a POS. And he was a Mopar diehard. The 57-58 cars are prettier, but the 59s were the best built.
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One of the Aussie car magazines back in the early sixties dissed American car styling as having ‘ the thundercloud look of a goutish business tycoon’. This car’s front end exemplifies that perfectly!
But the rest of the car is actually rather good-looking.
The ’59 Dodge is a good one. My father-in-law almost purchased one new, but opted for a ’59 Galaxie, instead.
In 2005, I went to a car auction in Grant City, Missouri. The owner had 1500 cars on his property, with a bunch of the Forward Look Mopars. Lots of ’59 Dodge’s in the mix, but the condition was, well, very rustic.
There is a ’59 Dodge here in Jefferson City that is in pristine condition. It is still owned by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and is still a fully marked car. It is a blue and white four door sedan and is a D-500 model. I’ve seen it here in their museum as well as at various fairs around the state.
Great catch – you are right, they are very rare.
Next to California, the Show Me State greatly influenced Mopar (Dodge Division in particular) in it’s equipping the police specials . . . . and I understand Mo. State Troopers have some very demanding standards for the cop cars they purchase, . . . . much like the CHP and the larger California counties . . .
On the flip side, here in the City and County of Honolulu, HPD is field testing Camry Hybrids, Fusion Hybrids and a handful of Priuses (Priii?) as cop cars. Also, it is not uncommon to see late ’90’s Crown Vics still in service with the HPD . . . .
Could you even turn a ’59 Dodge around in Hawaii without going in the water?
I had a Coronet Lancer Super D-500 2 door. Turn the steering wheel and punch the gas and it turns around in its own length.
Here it is.
I would like to find one of these same color. Do you have any leads?
All I can say about these cars was that when I saw a friend of the family who had bought one, was: Wow! It had to be the fanciest car I have ever seen. It looked like an F-4 Phantom jet fighter, ready for take-off!
It was nearly – if not the same color scheme as the subject shown.I can’t recall if it was a 2- or 4-door, hardtop or sedan.
Those things didn’t matter to an 11-year-old. What did matter? That chrome rear-view mirror mounted on the center of the dashboard, of course! Now THAT was something new. I liked it. I liked it very much.
My uncle bought one of these, a four-door sedan, new in ’59. It was silver over a chocolate brown. The Dodge Lustre-Bond silver paint began peeling off in large sheets after a year or two. The most entertaining feature of the car, from my 12-year old perspective, was the ribbon speedometer, which began with green, transitioned to yellow, and then red!!! Red-crazy fast. Livin’ on the edge.
If all cars sported these speedometers there would be a lot less people on the planet.
When I look at these pictures, particularly the hooded headlights and the exagerated tailfins I keep seeing “Batmobile”. I know they took the Lincoln Futura show car and dolled it up for the 60’s TV show but is there any chance that the styling for the Lincoln was done by the same people that did the Dodge?
When I see these cars I think of the movie Portrait in Black with Lana Turner and Anthony Quinn – lots of interesting cars appear, including 1959 Dodges and Chryslers, as well as a 1960 Imperial and a MB 190SL.
LRF
Ever notice the ’59 Dodge turns into a 1957 as it’s pushed over the cliff by the ’59 Chrysler? Loved the cars. Good movie.
The meanest looking front end of any time !! “mess with me and i stomp your balls!!” 😀
One of the ugliest cars ever built. Even worse than a ’58 Ford.
Strong words….
When I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, I remember seeing more 55-56 Dodges than the 57 and up til they were definned. I really didn’t think the Chrysler cars were all that attractive until the 67 models. The Imperials of the early 60’s looked like a throwback to earlier times, in comparison to Cadillac and Lincoln.
However, now I’d love to have that 59 Dodge, preferably in a 2 dr HT or convertible. The pink and white two tone (or is it pink and darker pink) would be my colors of choice.
Love the car, hate the color. I think these look really sharp in 2-tone white/red.
My vivid memory of a 59 Dodge was one parked in my old neighborhood in the late 60’s. It was red and white two-tone, and hardly ever moved from its spot. Then one day a tow truck picked it up and took it away.
In my 8 y/o mind, 50’s cars were old timers fading away. I thought of them as cartoon characters and was kinda sad to see some go.
Whoever designed the Custom Royal had WAY too much Crown Royal.
Around this time, there were numerous experiments conducted to better understand the effects of LSD.
It does look like Virgil Exner tried to make a “Dodge Oldsmobile” for ’59.
Whatever happened to the idea of a push-button transmission selector? It seems like such an easy way to shift. Why didn’t it last? Didn’t the Ford Edsel have it, too? They certainly disappeared quickly. Were they dangerous/frequently malfunctioning?
The push button shifter is alive and well today, but it is only available in big trucks with the Allison transmission. Those of course do not have “park” and since it is a fully electronic trans it is far simpler and cheaper than doing than a cable set up. Many modern cars have shifters that only tell the computer what forward gear is desired and nothing mechanical changes in the trans shifting between OD (though that is frequently a button), D, 3, 2, 1, or L.
In the days of fully mechanical transmissions it is a different story though particularly if you were sticking it in the center of the steering wheel as Ford did with the Edsel. When Chrysler added a park function to their pushbutton trans it was a separate lever, presumably so you had the leverage needed to get it out of park if you were parked where the parking pawl was loaded. So that is my guess as to why it went away in cars.
Chrysler went back to regular transmission shift selectors in 1965 to improve their market share. Studies showed that a significant number of buyers resisted Chrysler products because of the push button transmission selectors. That buyer resistance was certainly true with a couple of my family members. My great aunt and uncle bought a new 65 Chrysler in part based on this change.
Also in an age where safety concerns were becoming more important, manufacturers were responding to a demand for standardization of a number of controls, e.g., Ford moved the ignition from the left to right, GM changed automatic transmission gear selection from PNDLR to PRNDL, etc.
That, and the “novelty” of push buttons was passe by the time Mopar was designing the ’65’s . . . generally speaking, HVAC controls almost universally went from buttons to sliding switches as the ’60’s wore on . . .
The ’65 Dodge Custom 880 we had sported this all chrome almost swizzle-stick like shifter . . . . which would heat up on a very sunny day.
I was old enough to remember said Dodge going through 3 Torqueflites in a four-year span (covered under the then Mopar 5 year/50K warranty). One such episode included reverse burning out when my Dad took my sister and I fishing at Lake Berryessa, Napa County on a very hot (100F) day. Said Dodge had to make a wide U-turn to point it back to Marin County and the following Monday, it went to San Rafael Dodge on a hook. I was about 9 years old when that happened . . .
Today’s Prius has a push-button for Park. Shifting a full hybrid Toyota or Ford is entirely computer input. Except for mechanical Park locks on the drivetrain and the steering column, there are no gears or bands that actually change. My first-gen Prius had a mechanical shift lever in the dash for the steering lock. Now it’s semi-push-button: Park is a button, while the other “gears” are selected by a little spring-loaded joystick. Frankly I found it confusing at first and others do too. I’d rather have a nice set of push-buttons for all settings.
Conventional automatics are all computer-controlled now, and solenoids for Park are probably cheaper than the lever and linkage. Cheap buttons replaced knobs on electronics and appliances long ago, even the $40 Chinese window fan I just bought has buttons instead of a switch. Why we haven’t seen push-button transmissions return?
The problem with a solenoid for park is what if the pawl binds when you park on a hill? Of course with the electric parking (emergency) brake you could make the brake automagically apply a few milliseconds before the pawl is engaged. Personally I don’t like the idea of a electric P-brake since it can’t be used as an emergency brake as it would be an all or nothing affair leading to locked up rear wheels and possibly loosing control.
Missed my edit window.
In regards to modern conventional ATs it is still very common for R, N and forward to be mechanically engaged and only the up and downshifting to be controlled by the computer. The bulk of the weight, and expense of the hydraulic “brain” that was the valve body was due to the “logic” to determine the shift points. Relatively new Ford and Toyota conventional ATs are that way. The shift lever still moves stuff in the trans but that makes no change in the hydraulic flow. The MLPS (manual lever position sensor) attached to the shifter or linkage then tells the computer the desired gear and it works the solenoids to make that happen.
That explains why nobody uses buttons then.
I should have said that there is no difference in the hydraulic flow between any of the forward positions.
Also I do not know if it is that way on all modern conventional transmissions it’s just that I’ve had to replace the MLPS on Ford and Toyotas that have failed and caused improper operation since the computer did not know what the desired gear was.
No electric P-brake, the Prius parking brake has been a conventional foot pedal all along. It does use a solenoid to release it when you shift out of Park. (Doesn’t it? Funny now I’m not sure it’s not the ordinary push/push set/release. It’s habit so I can’t remember.)
There’s a solenoid-operated pawl in the transaxle – never heard of it getting stuck. With the brake off in Park it can drift a few inches until it catches, like other cars.
Foot pedal rather than lever between the seats parking brake is a surprisingly retro touch for something as high-tech as a Prius.
I am not buying that Chryser reverted to a lever due to competitive pressure. It may be true that by the 60s a lever was more popular, but it has long been my understanding that the change was made via governmental action. It was not through legislation or overt regulation, but by specifications published by the GSA for equipment a car had to have to be considered for purchase by the U.S. Government.
I have found citation in Unsafe at Any Speed to 17 standards that the GSA published in January 1965 Those standards included a standard gear quadrant of PRNDL for automatic transmissions. This and 16 other standards were eventually made into law for 1967 models. I suspect that these standards were well known in advance by industry people, and Chrysler was getting out in front of any problems by ditching the buttons. By the mid 60s, Chrysler would have been all alone in the industry trying to save buttons, and probably figured that there were more important fish to fry with all of the other rumored future regulations at the time.
If purely market reasons, there would have been no reason to retrofit a lever to old designs. Or else, why not bring the lever out on the 64 Imperial with its dash redesign? Every car in the Mopar line, top to bottom had buttons for 1964 and a lever for 1965. I understand that the 1965 and maybe 1966 Torqueflite levers actually operated the same cables that the buttons had formerly operated.
I also do not believe it to be coincidence that the classic GM HydraMatic shift quadrants (PNDSR) in Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles also disappeared after 1964. Because re-doing the GM shift quadrants required real manufacturing changes, it is notable that no GM transmission in use with the old shift quadrant with R at the bottom survived after 1964.
I too have read that the GSA had issued an order that they would only purchase vehicles with the now familiar PRNDL shift scheme, before that was a mandated safety feature for all cars.
I’ve also heard that Chrysler’s marketing people did push for the traditional lever citing that some consumers avoided Chrylsers because of the pushbutton. Of course that begs the question if you change that to steal sales from the others how many are you going to loose because that was the “wow factor” that swayed some people to the Mopar?
Tough question. Mopar people were used to the buttons, and non-mopar people were not. Me, I liked them in the two cars I had with them. But then I always liked oddball stuff in cars. I liked the PNDSR quadrant in my 63 Fleetwood too. But in 1979, it sure confused the crap out of everyone else who drove it. It was fun to watch them shift to N and wonder why the car was not backing up. However, I read that after the change, a lot of Olds/Pontiac drivers would yank the lever to what they remembered as reverse and be surprised when the car surged forward because they had really shifted into low.
I also saw some supposion (on Allpar) that car rental companies were pushing Chrysler to abandon the buttons. I have not seen any firsthand info on this, though.
In regards to the public choice that would be a calculated gamble. Get 10% of the Ford and GM buyers that didn’t want the pushbuttons while loosing 10% of the people who bought Mopars because of it and they would still come out ahead. Those type of risks generally only work out for the better if you aren’t the gorilla in the market. See the fiasco that was New Coke.
Googling led to Jalopnik article “Why PRNDL” that links to US DOT Standard 102.
I don’t see anything there that says it has to be a lever and it can’t be buttons. But it’s today’s amended version, can’t see the original. Could be they expected the Feds to outlaw buttons, like they once thought rollover standards would kill convertibles, and production lead time forced their hands.
Chrysler wasn’t the only one. AMC, too, used a button console; and that was even before they adopted TorqueFlite as their automatic transmission.
It was a crude, crunchy-sounding series of sliding catches, I guess on a lever of some sort. The starter was engaged by pressing NEUTRAL beyond its rest point. And for PARK there was a sliding lever under the dash, next to the parking brake release.
If I remember correctly, the PRND21 quadrant came to be after GM took a lot of heat, and was threatened with recall, of all their 1950s automatics with PNRDL quadrants. Sloppy drivers and senile idiots were engaging R when they wanted D and wrecking.
It was about that time that the laws which became the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 were being debated. AMC and Chrysler read the writing on the wall; neither could afford a court battle or government harassment.
One of my favorite arguments for standardization of the automatic quadrant is contained in an article on the 1959 Buick in the October 1958 issue of Motor Trend: “The shift indicator has vertical markings for this year, and for goodness sake be careful if you change from a Twin Turbine to a Triple Turbine and back again. The patterns are almost backward, and on Triple jobs you pass through REVERSE after leaving PARK. Check your indicator before flooring the throttle or you could just find yourself backing, when you expected to make a flashy departure.”
Yes, the Torqueflite on my 1958 Plymouth was shifted with a cable. The pushbuttons just moved the cable back and forth to the correct position. (I discovered this when I had to adjust mine – followed the directions in the service manual and it didn’t work properly and would start in drive. I simply adjusted it a bit at a time until the neutral starter switch worked properly.)
Of course in the interim since this article was posted the first time in 2012, we now have basically the return of the transmission selector on the dash, except it’s a rotary knob instead of pushbuttons, in the 2014+ RAM1500 with the 8-speed automatic.
I literally had hundreds of Mopars with pushbutton trans. The only drawback I found was a few high mileage ones had a button fall behind the plate. The fix took only a moment (squeeze the metal brackets that hold the shaft of the button) they stayed fixed. I loved them. Now that Chrysler has a rotary dial for shifting Lincolns use Pushbutton.
What catches my eye of course is what appears to be a K or KB with the IH stickers on it in the pics from 2005. In regards to the featured car I like the looks and think it is one of the better of this design, it looks menacing, but that wasn’t uncommon for 59, see the 59 Buick. Though the Dodge looks like a mean old man while the Buick looks like an angry woman to me.
Here’s the uncropped picture with more of the IH:
Thanks.
I’m not surprised that it was a poor seller. Compared to the other cars from the Big Three that year, this has to be the ugliest front end I’ve ever seen on a car. I would have gone with the full sized Chevrolet that year once I saw what Ford and Mopar were putting out – or kept what I had and waited them out a year. In retrospect, 1960 would have been a better year for styling. Somehow, Dodge managed to out ugly even the 1959 cars from the independents!
Hell, the Karmann Ghia was out there and for about the same price once you had to pay for the added options on a lot model!
I love all the late ’50’s Forward Look cars, although the ’59’s got rather “busy” in their styling. I believe the Chrysler suffered the most for ’59, and not that they’re bad . . . they lost their cleanliness from ’57. Back to the Dodge, I have seen a few of these through the years and had an opportunity to buy a very clean ’59 Coronet in Norfolk, Virginia back in 1985. That Coronet sedan was a medium green over light green over medium green lower body . . . . I didn’t pop the hood, but something told me this might have been a 2-bbl 326 Poly Ram . . .
I think most of the development and design of the 1959-60-61 Mopars was during an era where Virgil Exner was under convalescence recuperating from his heart attack hence why the ’59 Dodge lost its cleanliness and the ’60 Plymouth go awry and bizarre.
What’s the Ahnuld movie, when the invisible monster appears, it looks a lot like the front of this.
You can blame it on the alcohol induced brain atrophy I suppose but I give 58-59 to Mopar across the board. 55-57 go to Chev primarily with 57 shared by Ford. I expect it is because of the time in my life but these 58-59 mopars just always stood out. I followed drag racing and in the “run what you brung” classes, I recall the 318 in particular as being good in it’s class.
Echoing earlier comments, this is possibly the strangest-styled mainstream car ever to appear from a major U.S. manufacturer, especially the front end. 1958-59 was a hotbed of odd, over-the-top design, but the ’59 Dodge just takes the cake. I’m having a hard time seeing one of these as a police cruiser (although I think I have actually seen a photo of one somewhere on the internet).
I have no recollection of ever having seen a ’59 Dodge in person. They were at best mediocre sellers with mediocre quality, they were built at a time when most cars rusted away quickly in areas with cold climates where salt was used on roads in winter, and there was no particular collector/enthusiast interest in them (thus no real momentum to save them and preserve them). By the time I was old enough to be aware of cars, around the mid ’70s, they were simply gone from the part of the country where I lived.
Come on the 59 isn’t even the strangest Chrysler of all time, what followed was much more bizarre.
Most everyone loved my ’59. It did not have a hood ornament or rear fender hash mark. With the simpler Coronet trim, painted in solid off-white with red-white-and black interior most people thought it was a 1957-58 Chrysler 300 (it had wire wheels too). It was also loaded with every accessory available. For weird looks try the 1962 Polara 500 convertible I had. It was red with white top, red and white interior, with spinner wheelcovers. Nearly everything about it was weird, HOWEVER, that car performed and handled incredibly well. After all these years I still don’t know if I liked the styling or not. It was a great car, just weird.
It looks like the car was styled with a bunch of Japanese Noh masks hanging on the wall.
Or they hired a Maori to do pūkana facial expressions and cribbed one of the expressions.
Oddly enough, considering all the finned Plymouths and Chryslers I had over the years I never had a Dodge. I suspect that this was simply because none ever were available at the right time (when I had a few bucks or room in the driveway). There was an all-black top-line 1959 sedan with a green interior that I was looking at pretty seriously, but was sold by the time I got around to moving on it. The one I really should have bought was the two-tone green 1957 Coronet 2-door sedan that had been repowered with a 392 Chrysler hemi. That was a real mover…but again, the timing was just wrong.
Like you, I have had several Plymouths and Chryslers (and even an Imperial) but never a dodge. Same reason _ never the right car at the right time.
All I can say is: I used to see these a lot. Now, not at all…think it’s been thirty years since I even thought about this Dodge model.
Like another poster, I was a kid in the 1960s; and 1950s cars were rapidly decaying…worn, faded, rotting. Hard to imagine they ever once radiated prosperity and status.
When I see a bathtub design or tailfins, I think Old or Broke. That’s how it was when I was a kid. People who could afford better, had moved to the crisp, glamorous low-slung 1960s.
So that’s where the Hyundai Excel got its styling cues!
I’m surprised there’s so much repulsion to this car’s styling. I find the ’59 Fords uglier by a wide margin.
Check out the “Drive By” station wagon advertisement above: hilarious! I betcha you won’t see any similarly-themed Grand Caravan ads (probably because the rear window doesn’t roll down)
Lastly, thanks for calling out the roulette wheelcovers. What a coincidence as I literally dug four of these out of the tin pile at my favorite recycling yard two weeks ago & did not know what they belonged to. Now I know.
BTW Tom, your Volvo looks like it’s sulking.
I owned a 1959 Dodge. (bought new). It was the most beautiful automobile I ever owned, and I have owned many. I loved the push button transmission, the tail fins and the beautiful interior. It was Coral and Sand, Got more compliments for that car than any of the other cars I have owned. Wish I could buy a new one just like it, but with a little higher back rest on the seat.
I bought a very well-preserved 59 Plymouth Fury when it was about 20 years old. I know what you mean, because out of a lot of cars, it ranks among my very favorites. It was an excellent driver. Ditto on the pushbuttons.
I have a two toned pink/one owner that the engine is locked down on. I live in W. Texas and would part with it for a price.
phone 212.537.6964 (rings at my office )
I actually just got my great-grandfather’s 1959 4-dr custom royal and have a question… how the heck can i lock the front doors??? key only? I thought there was a door handle combo deal to do it but I can’t remember.
Key only. The only way to lock yourself out of those things is to lock the front doors from the inside, crawl into the back seat, then lock one of those doors and slam it on the way out. That was a Mopar thing into the early 70s, at least. BTW, does yours still have those funny little aluminum keys with the Forward Look (or the PDDC emblem) on them? I was just thinking about those from my 59 Plymouth Fury.
That is a nice car. I presume a pushbutton Torqueflite. What engine do you have in it? Also, DO NOT drive that car through a modern carwash. Unless they do things differently now, I did so with my 59 Fury and lost that remote control mirror on the driver’s fender. Ripped it clean off, and left the 3 little control cables waving around in the spraying water. In 1979, those were not easy to replace. Unless someone is doing repros now, that situation is probably not any better.
If you would like to do a “My Curbside Classic” on the car sometime, contact me at jpccurbside@gmail.com. I would love to help you with it. As you can tell (perhaps from my avatar?) I love these cars.
On my 55 Plymouth the front doors can be locked from the inside by pushing the door latch handle forward. When you open the door, pulling the handle back unlocks and opens the door. I thought that same system was on my grandfather’s 61 Plymouth. I thought it was pretty standard on all Chrysler cars at that time. Here is a shot from my owner’s manual. From the outside, key only.
I remember those. They were the standard door-locking technology for most cars in the 1950’s.
You’ve just reactivated a long-dormant brain circuit – the particular feel and sound of the door lever being pulled into the lock position as you pushed it forward 🙂
> Key only. The only way to lock yourself out of those things is to lock the front doors from the inside, crawl into the back seat, then lock one of those doors and slam it on the way out. That was a Mopar thing into the early 70s, at least.
Crawl into the back seat? Just reach over and lock the passenger front door (which isn’t that difficult if you have a bench seat). Then get out of the drivers door and open the drivers-side rear door. Close the drivers front door, reach around from the open back door and lock the front door, then lock the back door and close it. A little involved, but no seat-hopping gymnastics required.
My dad used to do that all the time to lock his ’66 Chrysler sedan. With my 2-doors I’m stuck locking at least one door with the key.
Your method works on those newfangled cars with locking posts on tops of the doors, but these Forward Lookers don’t have those. The front doors locked by pushing the interior door handle forward, so your method would require standing on the back floor, and leaning way forward over the front seatback in order to reach the door handle and shove it forward. The seat crawl would be easier. But my point was that it was nearly impossible to lock yourself out of one of these things unless you were trying really, really hard.
After I posted the above, I wondered if there might be some issue with the lock mechanism not being within reach from the back seat on the earlier Mopars. This exposes my unfortunate lack of seat time in a vehicle older than the 1965 model year.
Kids . . . . 🙂 Yup, there is nothing like getting to own something in order to get a real feel for the quirks. I think Mopar went with the lock post system that you are familiar with on the 65 C body, maybe before on the A and B cars.
It’s actually not that hard to lock oneself out of a 50s/60s Chrysler product, in spite of the built-in safeguards.
I found out the hard way…
I had just finished my mid-term uni exams, and with just a couple of days left to get my Xmas shopping done, I borrowed my dad’s ’68 Chrysler Newport for the day and headed out to one of the local shopping centers. On my way there I stopped for gas and a (probably free) car wash.
In my haste, I did not occur to me that getting the car washed with temperatures hovering around -18 deg. C (0 deg. F), and then leaving it parked outside for a few hours, was a really bad idea.
When I got back to the car, all my attempts to unlock the doors were met with very cold, miserable failure.
My dad had to come and rescue me with a propane torch, gingerly used to heat the up the key until the ice in the lock melted.
Only damage was to my pride, and my schedule.
It’s got a really angry “face” I saw 2 red and white 2 tone cars at a show parked next to each other but one was red where the other was white and vice versa.
My parents purchased our first brand new car in 1959 when I was 8…. a two tone beige and metallic brown Dodge Custom Sierra 9 passenger wagon…. full power, push-button Torqueflite transmission, and yes…. the tri-color ribbon speedometer!! A very, very sweet ride for the time…. we used to fight over who got to sit in the rear facing third seat until it became evident that whoever sat back there would get carsick. The electric rear window made it very convenient for the ailing passenger to puke out the back without alerting the driver (usually, Dad). I do remember some alarming looks from other motorists, though!!
My aunt bought a ’59 Custom Sierra wagon with everything, full power, dual A/C, swivel six way power seats, everything, plus the 383 Super D-500 engine. It was the most beautiful wagon I ever saw to this date. She blew the engine towing her 30 foot Airstream at 120 mph, Then she located a wrecked ’59 Chrysler 300 with a 413 engine…
i had a new 1959 dodge custom royal 2 dr. hardtop. i am trying to find the original pricing of the car when new and options available ant its pricing. i still have original sales receipt. can any one help?. thanks.
I purchased a 59 Coronet 4 door hardtop in Globe AZ in 1977 for 100 dollars. It had been sitting in a back yard where the original owner had parked it in 1964. Dropped in a battery splashed in some gas and drove it home using only the emergency brake. After a brake job and new interior I sold it on to a friend. Over the years he has rebuilt the engine and suspension, and had it repainted in the original two tone red and white paint scheme. The car is still on the road and receives compliments when ever it is driven.
That face is saying to the world, as only a old time Hamtramck native can, “WYNOCHA Z MOJEGO TRAWNIKA!”
59 was a fantastic year for super villains to go car shopping. I think if I were a villain shopping for a new ride that year, I probably would have chosen a Buick Electra, but not before I drove the Dodge.
I always thought the 59 Dodge had the most angry pissed off “face”of any car though the 59 Buick comes pretty close.
Yep! The Dodge looks pissed and the Buick looks evil. I’d avoid either in a dark alley.
With the possible exception of the 59 Ford, ALL other 59s look a bit “exaggerated”, to my eyes. That said, I would take a nice 59 Mercury over a 59 Ford then forget about the rest.
The 57 and 58 Dodge look pretty decent, it’s unfortunate that the designers thought LOTS more “jewelry” would be what was needed to keep this design going for another year. I think it’s the 59 Chrysler that wears this 3rd year design well.
The ’59 is a better looking car compared to the ’60.
The pink ’59 four-door reminds me of a dude I knew in high school in ’68. His parents owned one just like it. Both parents were 400-pounders, which was an extremely rare size back then. The Dodge held them dimensionally but didn’t hold their weight. The floor collapsed (probably due to some rust) and they had to rebuild the floor with 1/8″ steel plates. Even with that, the Dodge was a Low Rider, scraping the ground at every opportunity.
The dude himself was 300 pounds at age 18. His parents bought him a brand new ’68 suicide-door T-bird, presumably so he could learn the family car-collapsing trade.
Not too many cars can look so mean and be so pink at the same time.
More than any car I’ve seen to date on this site, it looks aggressive. Or angry! Imagine what a young person not familiar with these older cars would think, looking in the rear view mirror and seeing this. It is a handsome car.
Sadly , after 2strokes I am selling my unbelievable 1959 Dodge coronet . It has 14,481 ORIGINAL MILES !!! It is obviously in mint showroom condition ! It is a 4 door ,6 cylinder with original : paint , miles ,interior etc… If anyone is interested you can notify me by email at ::pongibove@comcast.net.
Dad had a black ’59 Coronet with the 326 engine and Powerflite while I was in college, and I drove it a lot. Observations: the 326 was very strong for just a 2 bbl engine. I could easily take a ’57 Ford 312 4 bbl, and it would run fender to fender with a ’57 Chevy 283 powerpak/powerglide in the 1/4. I always wished I could add a 4 bbl to it; I think it would have really howled, as it wasn’t shy about achieving high rpm’s. The powerflite shifted to high at 70 mph, pretty impressive considering the stock 3.31 axle ratio. Cornering was amazing for a car of that vintage; it would literally put other makes in the ditch on winding roads. Downsides were a harsh ride, and the body was terrible in terms of structural rigidity. Driving down anything but the smoothest road gave the entertainment of watching the front clip jump up and down independent of the rest of the body.
I can’t understand why some people are negative regarding the 59′ Dodge. Lack of imagination, style, or maybe just don’t get it. I guess it boils down to preference and perspective. This car style is awesome and slick! If they don’t like wings or fins, again, I don’t get it.
Some people like plain and simple cars, the best to them. I want style, class, creative forms in cars! But hey, some folks don’t like classic cars, I just don’t get it. God bless them.
Manuel
Love What You Drive!
http://www.ClassicsLLC.com
In 1986, I test drove this 1959 Dodge Royal sedan which was offered for sale in Long Valley, NJ. I really didn’t have the resources or the space for it at the time, so I didn’t buy. It was a solid, original, running and driving car. I’d love to know whatever became of it. Any info, please reply.
Back view…
They are a rare bird indeed to see these days. We are lucky enough to be able to take this one out on nice days for a drive. 4 door coupe hard top probably the rarest of the rare still out there. All orginal and only around 65,000 miles she still drives like a dream.
Second try to upload a photo
Hello. Who knows 1959 Dodge Coronet 325 cid 5.3 4-door engine colors.
The ad shows the swivel front seat on a four door, so it wasn’t just for rear access.
I wonder how it worked–did it turn on the center point like GM’s in the 70’s, or did the whole thing move outward?
There’s one guy who liked the 1959 Dodge, he transformed a 1964 Dodge 880 convertible into a 1959 Dodge Custom Royal despite then the 1964 model was unibody. https://mystarcollectorcar.com/march-2021-the-original-transformer-a-1964-dodge-880-transformed-into-a-59-dodge-custom-royal/
Mad respect for that crazy ol’ dude! Wow.
Wow–fascinating project, and I admire the guy’s good-natured tenacity and patience. I also understand the “if I were to do it again, it would take 80% less time.”
I always liked (and much preferred over the smaller bezel) the parking light bezels on the 1959 Dodge, that looked like a gear or turbine wheel – similar to the larger 1957 Imperial single headlight bezel, which I also liked.
The parking light bezels sort of resemble a smaller version of the 1957 Imperial single light bezels.
I’ve always thought the these cars look like they should be chomping on a big cigar….
Such an angry scowl…get out of my way…NOW!
It is as though Dodge decided it no longer wished for siblings. By the late 1950’s Dodge went after DeSoto buyers and with Chrysler downshifting into DeSoto with the Windsor, DeSoto was on the extinction list within five years.
Then Dodge went after Plymouth with their full size Darts and nearly offed Plymouth if not for Valiant saving the brand.
So this 1959 was Dodge competing against DeSoto and Chrysler.
Dodge was not a team player among the Chrysler Corporation brands, were they?
Just imagine what if Dodge had also released the Dart for the 1959 model year instead of the 1960 model year?
And as for being a team player, Dodge might still acted as if it was a bit independent, reminiscing a bit of some of the old days before being acquired by Chrysler in 1928.
Sandwiched between the clean lines of the 1956-57 Chrysler products and the styling disaster of the early 1960’s, I’d say that this is where the scary music is clearly audible.
Personally, I think the Russians were likely responsible. A reboot of ‘The Americans’ should be set in the Chrysler Styling Department. 🙂
My son just seen this article. That 59 was ours for 12yrs. We was the 4th owner of Pinky. It was all original with the 326 engine
The “pinky 59” that you have featured was my dad’s car. Nice to see someone that likes them as much as he did. However things change and life goes on. He sold “Pinky” years ago. It went to Florida got fully restored and now pulls a 50’s era boat around. That car when he had it was a true “survivor car”. Untouched completely factory. Nice to see this article
I suppose I could drop this many places at CC, but this’ll do for a start..fall 1958 Fred Astaire TV special (first color videotape, it says), with color commercials for Chrysler’s whole line, and