50’s Cars

Author: Ralph Roggenbuck

In the 1950’s and through a good part of the 1960’s you could tell the brand of a car without searching for the name plate! They had individuality; even within the same companies. Many of the mechanical & accessory components interchanged; but, you could tell a Ford from a Mercury, from a Lincoln. The General Motors group all retained individual styling as did Chrysler Corporation units. These were usually very visible differences, not just a different emblem on the same car that we see today, with just a different level of interior trim! Studebaker and American Motors also all had an individuality.

You could tell a Buick, from a Cadillac, from an Oldsmobile, Pontiac or Chevrolet, with out having to look a half dozen times for the emblem! The styling differences were even obvious to the people without any automotive interests.

As some of the pictures on this fine web site show great variations in style were common. They even have a picture of one of my favorite 50’s cars; although at this point in time I like them all!

One of my favorite ones is the 1956 Plymouth Fury! The Fury model was basically a police package on a two-door hardtop. The first 3 years of Fury; you didn’t even get a color choice from the factory! OFF white was the color you lived with or had it PAINTED! These were actually the first “LOW PRICED THREE” muscle cars, as a distinct model, not just an engine option.

Due to weird circumstances I ended up with a 1956 Plymouth four door hardtop. It was a red & white Belvedere. We had noticed many differences from the 56 Plymouths that were around. When you are part of the car crowd; and also do some repair work you see these things.

Also this particular car seemed to have way too much performance! That was when we started trying to find out about it! The dealer tag was still on the trunk lid. That and a few phone calls provided at least a part of the history! The previous owner had been a state patrol officer; and the car was police package underneath! The officer had also been part-time small town cop. The red & white hard top had a little stick on red light that he used for that! Mechanically it was very similar to the Fury It was definitely too fast for a 19 year old crazy kid!

Half or more of the local community thought I would never live through that insane ride! Sparse population may have helped! I was also afraid enough of the car that I NEVER even considered drinking and then driving it! The car would literarily fly. Some where in the top 1/4 of second overdrive the steering wheel lost all function! That was time to back off! The speedometer was always way past anything even close to legal when that occurred, usually about double the highway limit! The wind direction seemed to affect what speed the lift occurred at! Way faster than ANYONE should have been going!

What was the amazing part of this was the car when driven semi-sane made very good fuel mileage! It even was winter capable if you forgot you had low gear! It was a; very fussy about it’s fuel, premium burning, 277 cu. in., V-8 engine, with dual exhaust. The four barrel carburetor had been removed and transplanted on my brother’s Dodge.

The distinctive body shape and the paint schemes set each make and some models in the same make apart! You could actually tell it from a Ford or Chevy without having to read the nametag! Sometimes the year also had a distinct paint scheme at least.