When the Waters begin to Retreat
The other was a new standard engine, the 110-horsepower, 230.2-cubic-inch six previously reserved for Dodge. Styled under Virgil Exner’s direction by Maury Baldwin, the 1955 Plymouth Belvedere was the most exciting Plymouth ever: sleek, well proportioned, and appreciably quicker. Wheelbase gained only an inch, thus matching Ford and Chevy, but overall height was 1.5 inches less and overall length 10.3 inches greater than the 1954. With fall-away front fenders, hooded headlamps, wrapped windshield, vastly expanded glass areas, shapely rear fenders, and colorful two-toning, it was a transformation as dramatic as this year’s Chevy. In 1955, suddenly Plymouth’s frog became a handsome prince. To find out about the redesign for 1955, continue reading on the next page.
There was also a gimmicky but unpopular new option: the “Highway Hi Fi” record player. But with the “horsepower race” at full gallop, performance again got Plymouth’s major emphasis for 1956. The old six was tweaked (via 7.6:1 compression) to 125 horsepower, while the base Plaza/Savoy V-8 was bored to 3.63 inches for 270 cubic inches and 180 horsepower at 4,400 rpm with two-barrel carb, single exhaust, and 8.0:1 compression. Standard Belvedere/Suburban power was a new 277-cubic-inch Hy-Fire (bore and stroke: 3.75 × 3.13 inches) with 187 horsepower at 4,400 rpm. If you have any thoughts with regards to exactly where and how to use Condo Thailand – visit this page bangkok.thaibounty.com – , you can contact us at our own internet site.
So though he appreciated fine art, his cars invariably sacrificed beauty for utility. But the public really wanted shiny, low-slung torpedoes, and Keller’s “three-box” cars began losing ground in 1950, when competition heated up with the end of the postwar seller’s market. Chrysler’s all-new 1949 fleet thus arrived with high, boxy bodies, lots of headroom — and stodgy looks. K.T., who thought people wanted cars they could ride in with their hats on.
It was not as big a commercial success, though. Yet that’s misleading. Demand increased throughout the year, peaking with introduction of the 1956s, and the division set a calendar year production record of nearly 743,000 units, with Belvedere the most popular series. Plymouth actually built fewer 1955s than 1954s, dropping from third to sixth in model year production behind Buick, Olds, and Pontiac. Plymouth’s first V-8 was the other big news for 1955. Called “Hy-Fire,” it was a modern, oversquare overhead-valve design with efficient poly-spherical combustion chambers and aluminum pistons.
