My eldest son is a commercial videographer/producer in Charleston, SC, and sent this shot recently of a 1953 Plymouth Cranbrook staged in front of a circa 1937 Baptist church that’s been rehabbed into loft apartments. The Cranbrook came into being for the 1951 Model Year, and was substantially redesigned for its final 1953 Model Year, also Plymouth’s 25th anniversary.
K.T. Keller got his wish, in that one could wear an even taller hat in the externally-smaller 1953 models, and despite the Cranbrook’s styling looking somewhat dowdy compared to its competitors, sales increased 40% from 1952. Plymouth did some platform rationalization as part of the redesign, and fuel economy was improved a few percent as well. Far more detail on the ’53 Cranbrook is available in this thorough treatment by Jason Shafer.
Photographed September, 2017 at Francis Street Lofts, Charleston, SC by Chad Stembridge
I like these ‘downsized’ early ’50s Plymouths. They remind me of a number of European cars from the ’50s and early ’60s – including the ’61 Ponton Mercedes 180 I drove in high-school. (My brother said the styling looked “like an old lady’s shoe”!)
But then I’m biased, having spent several years during the ’60s, growing up in Spain and Portugal, where my Dad, a USAF pilot, was stationed.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Looks like my house, when I’ve let the ivy trimming go too long. 🙂
From about 1956-1963, when as a teen I moved away, our neighbors across the street had a blue Plymouth sedan of this style, as most other neighbors were buying late model American and foreign cars(a Volvo 544 being one example). I guess you stay with the car that works for you.
The 1954 models wasn’t lucky for car sales being victim of the Chevy-Ford price wars and the arrival of the wraparound windshield and A-pillar “dogleg” for Buick, Olds and Cadillac make them “old hats”. Some said then the changes names with the replacement of the Concord, Cambridge and Cranbrook names for Plaza and Savoy while Belvedere who once identified the hardtop model became a full series didn’t helped things either.
I wonder what if the V8 Plymouth had arrived one model year earlier? Also, the 1949-52 4-door sedan got a 118″ wheelbase and shorter models got a 111″ wheelbase. We could wonder also what if Plymouth had continued to sell a shorter wheelbase version for 1953-54?
I think I once read here that, until the Forward Look cars, Chrysler products had a reputation similar to Toyota in their reliability. Looking at this stodgy Cranbrook, I can believe it. It just ‘looks’ how one might imagine an early fifties’ Corolla. One of the saddest automotive stories is how Chrysler pissed it all away with Exner’s cars, and Chrysler products have suffered to this day.
Apparently Chrysler cut some corners with the 1953 Plymouth and Dodge, as both were criticized by reviewers and even dealers for cost-cutting (for example, the back of the front seat was simply covered in upholstery – there was no cardboard or any other material under the fabric to help it hold its shape). Workmanship also slid, too, compared to the robust 1949-52 models.
Motor Trend tested both a Plymouth and Dodge that year, and noted several quality lapses in both cars. They obviously weren’t as bad as the 1957 models, but the difference from earlier Mopars was enough for the magazine to make note of it.
My parents had a 1954 Plymouth Belvedere four door sedan, purchased used early in 1957. It was a replacement for a 1950 Ford that only remained in the family for a year or so. The Plymouth had an automatic transmission and I suspect that the Ford was sent packing after a short time because my mother was tired of shifting gears. My parents drove the Plymouth for several years, then it was sold to the daughter of a neighbor, a single mom who needed cheap wheels. The Plymouth was seen in our neighborhood on a regular basis until circa 1970, when it apparently became so rusted that it was no longer safe to drive. Like most of its Chrysler brethren with the flathead six, the Plymouth was reliable and long lived, if not exciting to drive.
I don’t think the 53 Plymouths were any stodgier than Chevy’s and Fords of the same year. I prefer that look to the late 50s , when the big 3 went wild with their styling. My dad had a 51 Plymouth business coupe. The rarest of the Plymouths, except for maybe the 2 door fastback. But they didn’t sell well enough to continue them into later years. I wonder what a Plymouth business coupe would have looked like in the late 50s ? A sports car with fins.
When my sister graduated from college in 1969 I got her old car, a 54 Plymouth Savoy 2 door sedan. I was quite grateful…at first since I had gotten my own car with no cash outlay. But after a while I grew to dislike that car intensely. My family had owned a 49, a 50, and this 54 Plymouth as well as a 52 or 53 Dodge Meadowbrook 4 door sedan and it was the ugliest of the four.
Like others here, I actually liked this car for it’s relative smallness, but from the windshield forward I considered it to be a real styling mess. I also appreciated that Chrysler products were better engineered than the mass market cars from Ford and GM, or at least that was my belief since the dashboard of that Plymouth still had gauges while Fords and Chevys had moved to idiot lights.
In my experience these 50s Plymouths were indestructible but weren’t anything special to drive.
If I had to chose a 53 or 54 American car, I’d go with a Dodge before any other car.
There were lots of these around when I was growing up, especially in the country areas. Guess they appealed to the more conservative Aussie big car buyers back in the fifties, who appreciated Keller’s idea of what a car should be.
These with some minor restyling stayed in production in Australia until 1962 called the Chrysler Royal is was the locally built big car in the Mopar range alongside the more expensive imported Plodges from Canada, some even made it across the ditch to NZ though they are very rare here and actual American/Canadian cars were quite common in NZ during the 50s.
It could be interesting to imagine what if North American Chryslers/Dodges/Plymoutsh/DeSotos/Imperials had taken the path of the Aussie Chrysler Royal keeping the basic 1953 body with light updates like fins and all instead of going completely with the 1957 forward look?
I am sure that I could love one of these for its deep down goodness. But there is just nothing attractive about these.
Yeah, the Cranbrook seems like the automotive equivalent of a homely woman you marry not because of how she looks, but because of her solid cooking and housekeeping skills.
True, but I just love that vine covered ex church.More attractive than that frumpy looking car.
Try an immaculate black convertible with red interior chrome wire wheels with wide whites, white convertible top, driving lights on the outer grille section, split exhaust with duals (sounded so good), and a pumped six Now all I have to do is find the pics, since moving everything from the shop they are awol. Only have the ones filed in the computer. Here are shots of my ’52 after I bought it for $15 from the Chrysler dealer and detailed it to near new.
During the detail
Detail finished, cars covered in background were customer cars waiting restoration except ’57 Belvedere convert at right, thats still mine.
That was the car my Dad owned and used for daily transportation at the time I was born. It had an sutomatic transmission of a most primitive design, from what I heard. He gave it to his brother after he bought a new 1961 Chevrolet Impala. I was too young to really remember the car, but stories I heard about it fascinated me. It was a four-door just like the one featured in this post.
Yes, probably the oddball Plymouth HyDrive. It was a semi automatic that shared the engine’s oil supply, making for massive 10+ quart oil changes.
My dad bought a new ’53 Cranbrook and after driving it for 8 yrs sold it to me. It was a pretty good car for its day; comfortable, easy to drive, and reliable. Compared to almost any car made today, it developed age problems much earlier in life. Rust was one, and the engine needed an overhaul by about 85K miles, which is just getting started in life for the cars of today. Maintenance like oil changes and tuneups were required much more frequently. Most likely, with modern gasolines and multigrade motor oils, the life of the engine would have been greatly increased. As it would have too if a certain teenage boy hadn’t abused it by racing the Fords & Chevies.
I think you guys call this the “CC Effect”.
Just spotted this cute little green one about 1/2 mile from my home:
-Monday, October 2, 2017
Another view:
looks to be about the size of the Imperial K in the background.
Seen along Route 395, near the eastern Sierra’s of California. A 1954.
The outside, as well.
I love this dashboard .
Sturdy little cars indeed .
-Nate
I attended races several times at the local drag strip near Van Wert, OH in the 1970’s. I’ve NEVER forgotten the guy driving the ’53 Plymouth Cranbrook as a bracket racer (I’m sure he drove it to and from the raceway, too).
As I recall, one Sunday he walked away with either the 1st or 2nd-place tiny cash prize. His secret was being given so much of a head start compared to his competitors.
I already described my ’53 convertible, my ’54 was a bit of a cheat, but it answered the question, what if Plymouth had a V8 in ’54. It was owned by a mechanic at the dealership. He bought it in ’54 and souped the six and switched to duals. Then the ’55’s came out. He soon used the drive train from a wrecked sheriffs car (power pack V8 with Powerflite trans, and 55 mechanicals, bigger brakes, already had power steering) It was a tight fit and he said he had problems getting it in, but I bought it in ’71 and he drove it since ’54 it was a gleaming robins egg blue with white and blue leather (reupholstered), white top and wide whites on chrome wires. It always ran perfectly when I had it, he also installed HD shocks. The Belvedere convertible drew a lot of attention on the cruise (the hoods up at A&W crowd) If Plymouth had managed to get the ’55 engine and powerflite in ’54 with Chevy still with the 6, I think the sales picture would have been different.
Forgot to mention, in the 1958 movie “the Blob” The king of cool Steve McQueen drove a souped up ’53 Plymouth convertible in blue with wide whites
Would you believe? CC Effect TIMES TWO–another one shows up just 2 BLOCKS from my house. Mind you, I haven’t seen any of these Plymouths around since the early ’90s.
I was told it is going to be painted beige and will appear in an upcoming movie…
Inside…