Mainly Plymouth

In the early decades of automobile manufacture, American carmakers made noticeable changes every year, so that whatever one was driving became instantly obsolete. Steady design improvements were made in quality, durability, reliability, safety and comfort, but there were minor cosmetic changes every year, and usually every three to five years a major and sometimes drastic styling change such as the era of the tail fin. 1957:

The tail fin was a feature of Chrysler Corporation’s “The Forward Look” from the late fifties. My first look at the most futuristic car ever was October 1956, seeing a new 1957 Plymouth driving down University Avenue in Gainesville. What a change from the once beautiful, suddenly obsolete1956 Plymouth. 1956:

The 1957 model was low slung and sleek, dual headlights in front, enormous fins in back. 1957:

Chrysler introduced the Plymouth brand in 1928:

a low priced car to compete with Ford and Chevrolet. 1928:

Plymouth was paired with their other offerings, thus, we had Dodge-Plymouth, DeSoto-Plymouth, and Chrysler-Plymouth dealerships. There was no Chrysler-Plymouth dealership in Panama City during my growing up years, so my Chrysler brochures came from Lee Chrysler-Plymouth on Palafox in Pensacola, where my grandfather Gentry bought his cars, and which I visited every time I rode the bus over for my appointment with Dr. Bell, the only orthodontist in the area.

We did have DeSoto-Plymouth though, Sala Motors. The building is still there, next door and just south of the Hancock Bank, corner Harrison Avenue & 11th Street.

The store front was recently renovated and yesterday the sign said “My Warehouse.” The DeSoto-Plymouth showroom was in front, the service shop was a quonset hut in back. The quonset hut is still there. 1949:

My best memory of that store has a 1949 DeSoto on display. 1949:

During my earliest years my grandfather A.D. Weller had a 1936 Plymouth coupe with the crank-out windshield. 1936:

My memory of that Plymouth is the speedometer: a huge circle in the center of the dashboard. 1936:

We had a 1949 Plymouth station wagon during my Bay Hi years, a woody wagon with three seats that were always jammed with teenagers after our Sunday evening youth group meeting at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. It was a nine-passenger car, but in those days before seat belts a dozen teenagers was not unusual. 1949:

Part of my job with that car was to sand the wood down from time to time and apply a new coat of varnish. And it spent time in a cabinet shop in Millville as needed. Once or twice, a door had to be removed, and we drove the car around town with that door missing for several days while the cabinetmaker worked his craft.

Both my grandfather Gentry and my aunt Ruth had 1941 Plymouth coupes bought new and lasting through World War II.

Linda and I had one Plymouth in our years. Our very first mini-van was the first model Plymouth van in 1984. A light blue 4-cylinder car like the one below, it stayed in the family for years, and ended up with Joe in Michigan and ran some 140,000 miles.

Tom