This ’53 Plymouth is a bit of an enigma, but I think I’ve unraveled its mysteries. Let’s just say ’53 Plymouths are not what one typically imagines in terms of a customized car from the ’50s with flames. Especially when they’ve still got the stock 97hp flathead six under the hood (I checked by looking underneath). But then this is in Portland, and Portland likes to keep it weird.
The ’53-’54 Plymouth was always seen as the dowdiest of the Big Three; well that goes for their even taller and boxier predecessors. And with their flathead sixes, which weren’t very conducive to easy hopping up, unlike the Ford V8 and the Chevy ohv six, these dullards were generally left stock. And in the hands of their original owners for longer than average, due to their better than average toughness.
Except for the fuzzy dice and the “Historic Tattoo – Portland, OR” sticker on the dash, it’s bone stock. And a bit dreary, given that this is a bare bones Cambridge and not a tony Cranbrook.
I so remember riding on base-level cars like this from the ’50s, with their painted steel and gray interiors. The Mennonite family I stayed in the summers in Iowa had a tired ’53 Cambridge just like this, but a four door. It had taken them on their trip of a lifetime to Oregon, in fact very close to Eugene, where they had relatives near Harrisburg. That was in the late ’50s. Now by 1964, it was more than just tired. But that summer Mr. Yoder, who always struggled financially, had taken a job delivering mail as a contractor, and I rode along with him one day.
I can see him there behind the wheel, shifting the gears and making that poor old six moan. A big box of mail sat between us, and I stuck the mail into the boxes. It made life a bit easier for him that day, not having to scoot over and reach out the passenger side window.
He knew the Plymouth was on its last legs, and when I went back in the summer of ’65, an almost new Bel Air sedan had replaced it. It too was a six and three-speed manual, but that’s just what Mennonites mainly drove back then.
But no flames on Mr. Yoder’s Plymouth. So back to this one. I’m guessing the owner found himself this nice old but somewhat patinated car, and decided to give it the ’50s vintage cruiser look.
The paint was popping fresh, including the flat black base coat. The bumper tells the tale of what it was like before.
Yes, dual exhausts, but looks can be deceiving.
It’s perfect…in more ways than one.
Fantastic. A great use for a classic that many would have passed over.
A nice inexpensive cruiser, with cars like this it’s all about the fun. Besides, it’s got more than twice the power of my inexpensive cruiser 🙂
There were 53-54 Plymouth customs done back then but they were indeed few and far between. This car is more indicative of the fact that the prices of the usual suspects for the custom treatment have climbed a lot during the last 10-15 years. Younger enthusiasts get what they can and in many cases build interesting and good looking cars based on those (and other) unlikely candidates.
Here’s an original, Ed Sloan’s 1953 Plymouth 2dr Hardtop done by Sam and George Barris back in the day, when the car was only one year old.
I guess Sam and George Barris saw some potential of the 1953-54 Plymouth. Imagine what if Plymouth had gotten its V8 one or 2 model year earlier?
Also, Chrysler Australia did some miracles due to their narrower budget, to update the 1953-54 body with the Royal.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-australian-brands/curbside-classic-1958-9-chrysler-ap2-plainsman-happy-accident/
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake-chrysler-royal-ap3-aus-hearse-gravedgr/
Those of us who are tired of every Camaro at a car show being a fake 1969 Z/28, and every prewar rod being powered by a small block Chevy, salute the owner of this Plymouth.
Cool car. I like that the original patina of the front bumper was left alone. I also gravitate towards the uncommon and oddball cars when I go to car shows.
Nice looking Plymouth, it warms my heart to see one still on the road. Thanks for sharing these photographs.
Kinda like it some Maori chrome (alluminium paint) on the bumpers would be the finishing touch. Ive never seen the cheaper version we only seemed to get the Cranbrook and a few of the Aussie Royals here.
Your Mennonites got to drive cars? My Mennonite neighbors (and we have a sizable community ) don’t. Most have electricity, refrigeration, computers and smartphones but there’s something about steering wheels and self-powered vehicles that’s forbidden, so no cars, no trucks and no tractors. This even extends to the Mennonite family that owns a local car dealership. They can sell cars and ride around in them, but just can’t drive them.
Are you thinking of the Amish?
Mennonites come in a very wide range of practices, from completely assimilated in mainstream culture to some very conservative groups, a few of which don’t use cars. Each church group sets its own rules; there’s no standardized set of rules. That’s one of the hallmarks of Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites), they form their own groups and decide what the rules will be for them. And those rules invariably change over time, and are often very paradoxical, as in the use of computers and cell phones.
Very conservative Mennonites overlap with Amish; same thing, essentially.
Many of my southwest Oklahoma relative are serious Baptist Mennonites.
Paul’s comments and descriptions of them are “Spot 0n”.
My Mennonite Grandparents wouldn’t serve us hot chocolate in the c-c-cold OK winters because of the trace amounts of caffeine in the chocolate.
One of my Uncles was a CO (Conscientious objector) During WW2 because of his strong, devout Baptist Mennonite faith. He worked in the local hospital as an orderly for 5 years. But his 2 year longer brother enlisted in the Army Air Corps and helped to bomb Germany into submission.
My Grandfather had a a killer sound system that he blasted Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Lawrence Welk thru.
I gave up decades ago trying to figure them out.
Paul, there’s a nice Mennonite bakery just north of Harrisburg. I think it’s on Peoria Rd. but it’s been three years since I’ve been there. They sell baked goods like donuts and bread, quilts and religious items. Free coffee 🙂 Regular coffee, not decaf. And hot chocolate.
Been there a number of times. But I’m over the white bread/dough thing, so not in about ten years or so.
One of the grandkids of this family from Iowa lives in Harrisburg, and we’ve been to see them when the mom came out. I’m still in touch with this family.
Thanks, Paul, this is south western Ontario where we have many thousands of Mennonites, including my neighbors on both sides of my farm property, but no Amish that I’ve come across. There’s no cars or trucks or tractors for then. They are happy to accept rides in other people’s cars but won’t own one or drive themselves.
They run efficient farms because they subcontract the mechanized farming tasks, hiring contractors and modern machinery to plow and harvest fields, cut and bale hay etc.
They have a propensity to keep and preserve their old ramp-barns rather than replacing them but they fill them with modern industrial machinery.
Despite all this its still horse and buggies and yes, I see them, horse reins in one hand and smart phone in the other.
In southcentral Pennsylvania, some Mennonites still do not drive cars.
When I was a boy, there was a local group of Mennonites that we called “Black-Bumper Mennonites.” They were allowed to drive cars, but any bright trim had to be painted over – even the hubcaps!
That change wouldn’t so drastic today, but in the 1970s, their vehicles were quite noticeable.
Speaking of southcentral PA, Mennonites and Amish, that reminds me of that 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle ad.
Interesting commercial. At 29-30 seconds, the little “Amish” girl in the back of the horse-drawn buggy waves at the photographer.
In real life, the children have been instructed to hide if a tourist tries to take their photo. That happened when our friend from Great Britain tried to take a photo of Amish children riding in the back of an enclosed buggy.
Love your article for the history of the Mennonites with whom you spent time and the history of the Cambridge. My grandparents bought a spiffy ’54 Plymouth Belvidere 4-door sedan painted blue bottom, white top and with matching blue and white interior. For ’54 Mr. Exxner added some nicer, brighter colors to the all new ’53. The engine was still, of course, the slug. It was a comfortable automobile.
I suspect that “The Club” steering wheel lock is superfluous?
Well on the one hand not too many people out there probably don’t know how to drive a 3 on the tree. Let alone how to start a car with a choke and adjust it properly through the warm up cycle so it doesn’t die the second you lift your foot off the throttle.
My sister sold a very used 1965 or so Valiant to a Mennonite family. They were to pick it up the next day. An errant basketball broke off the radio antenna. My sister offered to replace it but they said they did not use radios.
I grew up next to Amish and Mennonites. I remember lots of different practices regarding the use of cars and electricity. The masons who did the brickwork on my Father’s house lived in a new house which had been wired for electricity, but they didn’t use it. The house was built for resale.
Yup. No radios or tv! Nowadays, they invariably use cell phones and such. 🙂
Ah yes, rural mail delivery. The lady who delivered our mail when I was a kid drove a station wagon with power steering, an automatic and a bench seat, sitting in the middle, steering with her left hand and using her left foot on the gas pedal. I found this fascinating, for whatever reason. Next best thing to RHD. As for the car itself, it’s pretty darn cool. Maybe I should put flames on my Geo Prizm…
I’m sure US car makers made RHD cars for export, I wonder why people working as mail carriers couldn’t buy them for use here?
They did. AMC sold RHD Ramblers in North America during the 1960s specifically for that purpose.
It might still be possible to special order RHD Jeep Wrangler.
International offered RHD Scouts throughout their entire run. They did manage to sell a few to rural carriers.
I don’t know if you can get the current Wrangler in RHD but you could get the last gen as a couple of the water districts around here have them for their meter readers.
Subuaru also used to offer RHD, special order of course, and some of the contract carriers around here have them.
Yeah I’ve seen more than a few rural carriers doing the left foot/left hand driving.
Ah, flathead Chrysler six cylinder engines; the good news is that they will run forever (given minimal maintenance), the bad news (at least for some) is that they tend move at a rate that could generously be described as slow. My parents had a 1954 Plymouth they purchased early in 1958, it was the first car in the family with an automatic transmission which I strongly suspect was something my mother insisted upon. When my parents purchased a 1960 Ford (in 1963) the trade in value of the Plymouth was essentially nil so they sold it to a neighbor’s daughter who needed some cheap wheels. She actually drove the old Plymouth until 1970, at which point the frame was so badly rusted that it was no longer safe to drive; from what I remember the flathead six was still soldiering away even after 16 years of service. Kudos to the owner of the pictured car for not slamming an SBC into the engine compartment, too many times people are hesitant to march to a different drummer and it is refreshing to hear about those that do.
Nice to see one these still in use. I’d check this out at a car show anytime over the all-too-common 69 Camaros and the like.
I didn’t realize (or forgot) that the 2-door sedan did not have the wraparound rear window like the 4-door.
One of my grandmother’s best friends had a 51 or 52 Cambridge that was still chugging along as late as 1967.
You might want to see this:
“Standing By His Brand” (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/automobiles/collectibles/31SHOWROOM.html?auth=login-email&login=email
The overall vibe of the Plymouth is spot on.The flames are very well done. Even though old Plymouths have not been focus of customizing the general public wouldn’t know that. They’ll just see a cool old car. I’ve always wanted an old car or motorcycle done up with flames. Now that I’m over the old car thing and my Harleys are gone, I guess that those days are gone.
Black bumper, no radio, no heater. Seriously Mennonite!
I’ve never seen a Plymouth of this age without a radio. For some reason Plymouth buyers, even cheapskates, wanted the radio more often than Chevy and Ford buyers.
The ’53 I wrote up and Paul linked to is an upper trim level without a radio. It was like a $95 option if I remember correctly.
Adjusted for inflation, that would have been a lot of money for an AM radio in 1953.
I can’t help wondering what colour it was before it got the overdone flat black and flames treatment. There’s an older Plymouth in a town near me that got black-n-flamed. It was a nice old original car. Not a fan.
I’d drive it, it would be fun to put around in on occasion.
Ah–the days when a one-piece windshield was a novelty . . .
This car has a very well-wrought flame job, as Jose noted. The white “mouth” and seamless fade to yellow and orange really works.
The car Old Pete saw would make it two flamed-on-black Plymouths–in the same country, from the same century ! Wow . . .
Those using the Club should probably adhere to the company precaution: apply the device with the lock cylinder pointing down, presumably to defeat destruction of the lock with acid or whatever. I do . . .