Plymouth

Nice weekend days Joe may ride his motorcycle out the winding roads around Winston-Salem. If he spots an old car with a for sale sign or in someone’s car port he sends me pictures on the spot. Two-tone red and white ’56 Ford Fairlane. A black ’57 Chevy Bel Air sedan for $25,500 with a paste-over marking it all the way down to $24,500. My favorite up until last Sunday, a ’52 Pontiac Silver 8 Steak two door sedan, black with red seats.

But then Sunday afternoon, a Plymouth coupe from the nineteen-thirties, classic paint for the era: green with black fenders. A glance said 1936, maybe ’37, checking verified ’36.

Cars were changed every year in those days, the big changeover coming into the showrooms every fall. The search opens a treasure hunt. So this was a 1936, when did Plymouth have the one year trend of front-opening suicide front doors? 1934:

GM did the suicide doors in ’35, what did Chrysler’s 1935 Plymouth look like?

Pop had a Plymouth coupe when I was a small boy, was that a ’35 or a ’36? For some reason (Mom never drove a car), Pop had two cars in those days, said to be so he could get two gas ration coupons during WW2. The 1937 Chevrolet Master Coach was his “Sunday Car,” he drove the Plymouth to work.

For some reason, my mental picture of “Death of a Salesman” was always that Willy Loman drove a ’37 Plymouth coupe

For 1938, Chrysler tied the fenders across the front for a more unified look to the front end, but their cars were rather bulbous and homely that year, including the ’38 Plymouth

For 1939 the separate tear-drop headlights were gone forever, and the headlights incorporated in the front fenders

The 1940 continued that styling advance

My grandfather Gentry drove a 1941 Plymouth coupe through WW2 and my Aunt Ruth had one just like it. My Uncle Charles also had a 1941 Plymouth, a sedan. The quick glance difference in the 1940 and the 1941 Plymouth was the design of the parking lights over the headlights.

Only a few 1942 Plymouths were built, as the entire industry converted to war production immediately after Pearl Harbor.

As well as pictures to identify, these vital facts will be questions on the Eternal Exam. A good score will open the Pearly Gates. One too many wrong answers and the trap door will drop.