I am by no means an expert, and I cannot make any claim to accuracy for the materials that I have used to make these articles. In some cases, the journals go back 50 years, and I nearly cringe each time I open them as they appear so fragile. I could choose to copyright, but I do not, as I feel that this material should be sent far and wide as to show DaimlerChrysler that PLYMOUTH should be allowed to survive, and finally stand on its own! This is designed for the reading pleasure of folks that love MoPars. Any resemblance to persons, places, things or dates is purely coincidental. If you like what you are reading, please make sure to contact Dr. David Zatz, or leave me an email message "plymouth4ever@msn.com." Thanks for your many kind comments.

Last but not least, contact CHRYSLER directly and let them know that killing PLYMOUTH is a huge marketing mistake! Thanks for your many kind comments. Mail Letters to: Mr. Robert J. Eaton, Mr. Jurgen E. Schrempp, Co-Chairmen, DaimlerChrysler AG, World HQ USA, Auburn Hills, Michigan, 48326-2766.

Installment VI

The 1958 Chrysler models were largely just facelifts. Given Virgil Exner's brilliance, it can be taken that he planned it just that way. Since the 1957 were such gorgeous renditions, the 1958 showings were mostly evolutionary and tended to "clean" up some of the 57 questions.

Just a few weeks into the 1957 production, of course, the rushed assembly began to come home in the form of quality problems gone out of control. To Chrysler's credit, the engineers charged right in and began to get on the line fixes to a lot of the areas that truly needed help. By the time the 1958 models came out, a lot of the areas were fixed. The windshield leaks had been rigged with plugs, nipples and small rubber hoses in a "kit." Likewise, the rear window had been "rigged" in the same way. No, the actual leaks had not truly been stopped, but at least the water, for the most part, ran out into the wheel wells instead of on your feet or your luggage in the trunk.

Extra braces were fitted in the structure. The body metal was assembled using larger rivets. A heavier gauge of sheet metal was employed. Longer posts were tried for the rear view mirrors. (The vibration never truly went away on any of the models fitted with the dash mirror). Extra sound deadening was liberally applied, especially in the floor pans and rear trunk. Seat springs and materials were completely changed. The small $2 rubber boot that had been taken away by the "bean counters" to cover the end of the Torsion Bars was quickly reintroduced. It prevented dirt from entering the rear of the bar seat area and causing it to bind and break. It certainly did not prevent quality control complaints from occurring, but it did help. The 1959 models were discernibly better, except for rust.

Some 20 years later, in the 1970s, it was suspected, and alleged that in a government effort to aid the economy of Japan in the mid 1950s, steel was melted down for shipment to the United States. Under a subsidy, this steel was sold to the largest users, which of course, was the automotive industry. Purportedly this steel was from the Atom Bombed buildings left in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Of course this does raise a deadly radio activity question, however, conclusive tests showed that remelted iron and steel returns to normal, since it is a "new" metal. The true issue was that it contained high levels of iron, which is a notorious oxidizer. As well introduction of nickel or chromium, into the molten steel, which are good oxidation resistors, was prevented due to cost considerations!

The use of that poor quality steel, along with the considerable lack of rust resistance methods on the line, garnered Chrysler a poor reputation that still lingers today in some people's minds. Yet, given what we know now about the steel from Japan, it is totally unfair to lay all the rust problems at Chrysler's door step. They were doing their patriotic duty for the country. Some repayment they got for that.

1958 was underwhelming on introduction day. So it was also over at Ford, which had undergone a considerable face lift and was in trouble for the styling of the rear of the car. Ford loyalists said that the 1958 models did not look like "Fords." Of course, the hot ticket that year was the brand new design of the 1958 Chevrolet. The 2 door Impala was a very rich looking automobile, which helped sales considerably.

While I still say that the 1958 Plymouth Fury 2 door was every bit a champion as the Chevrolet, sales figures show which was the true winner. Our big night amounted to a bust. No sales on introduction day. It was not a good sign. After two very slow months, Grandpa decided to head back to Florida. He took a long needed vacation and rest. We didn't see him again until Spring.

The big Chrysler 300 "D" of course, along with the DeSoto Adventurer and Plymouth Fury were all introduced in January of 1958. They drew curiosity seekers, but not as many as last year.

My Dad switched his 57 Fury over to a 58 Chrysler New Yorker. It had a price tag of $4,538.00 which included air conditioning. Chrysler, at the time, owned Air Temp in Syracuse New York, and capitalized on that by introducing air conditioning across the entire car line in 1955. Prior to that, a/c had been an option on the Imperial in 1952, coming in the Chrysler line in 1953. The 1958 a/c was significant because everything was now under the hood instead of having some components in the trunk.

The 392 cubic inch Hemi with a 4 barrel and dual exhausts was standard. It cranked out 345 eager horses. After the excitement of the Fury, the Chrysler seemed like a tank. That is what I called it anyway. Dad never said much about the Plymouth. I think in a way, the quality, or lack of it, truly hurt his heart considering what he had personally gone through to get those models into production. Grandpa? He took a "D" model Chrysler 300 2 door hardtop to Florida with him. He was not pleased at all with the 58 Adventurer DeSoto, and its "gutless" 361 cubic inch "wedge" head V-8 engine. Even though later tests showed that the 361 wedge was marginally quicker than the 345 Hemi due to higher torque production.

The standard DeSoto offering was the big block 350 cubic inch V-8s. The Dodge lines had also lost their Hemi engine. With the AMA ban on anything to do with racing, Chrysler didn't even bother to make any special models for NASCAR qualification.

The face lift helped some on the Dodge models. Available engines included a 325 cubic inch V-8 with Polysphere heads and a two barrel crab as standard. Then you could move up to a pair of newly introduced big block V-8s of 350 cubic inches. One with a two barrel and the other with a four barrel and dual exhausts. It put out 285 horsepower. This is where Dodge began to blur its quickly narrowing mid price niche. The DeSoto 361 cubic inch wedge engine was also offered on the Dodge. In the D-500 form with 8 barrel carburetion, it advertised 333 horse power. Now Dodge was almost the darling of large state Highway Patrol Departments. California, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Texas all chose the Dodge Pursuit.

Plymouth's new face lift actually did help the grill area, correcting the pan. Models were unchanged. The Fury came in a color they dubbed "Buckskin" instead of egg shell white. Under the hood came the 318 cubic inch, 290 horsepower V-800 as previously offered in 1957. This engine was unique to the Fury. I still don't understand why, since the optional engine option was a big block 350, a la DeSoto and Dodge. Only on the Plymouth, this 350 had 8 barrel carburetion, high lift cam, high compression, special valve springs, and a special distributor. For the first time, Plymouth broke the 300 horsepower barrier. The Golden Commando (who thought of these names...?) 350 put Plymouth slightly ahead of Ford in horsepower ratings with 305 horses. Plymouth also outgunned the Ford because the Golden Commando 350 could be purchased in any model that Plymouth built! A 2 door Plaza with this monster under the hood would easily embarrass his big brother Dodge, anywhere, anytime. Chevrolet's 348 claimed a 280 horse rating.

While Dodge may have again been the darling of the Highway Patrols, it was the Sheriffs and local police that were buying cars. That meant Plymouth again, by almost 4 to 1 over Dodge. As well, not all states wanted big cars. Our State Police again ordered Plymouths for 1958. Their engine of choice was the big block 318 cubic inch "Super Pak." It was the same engine as the V-800 except it had a single 4 barrel carburetor. It put out an honest 250 horsepower. The City came back, acting on Uncle Harlan's plan that he and Dad had set up in 1957. The complete Police Fleet was turned over. The accepted bid was the Plymouth with the 1958 "State Bid" specifications. The 301 cubic inch was no longer in production in any line, so like the Troopers, the City Police got the 4 barrel V-800 318 ci V-8. As predicted, the year old '57s went off the lot fast, thus offsetting a lot of the cost to the city. It was a good plan.

Chrysler also offered fuel injection on its top high performance engines. It was designed and built by Bendix. However, it proved terribly troublesome, and was recalled all the way across the board. For whatever reasons, no further development occurred, and it was a one year phenomenon. I don't know of any cars built that exist with it on it today. It there is one, then that would be a significant historical and high monetary valued vehicle.

After school let out for the summer in late June of '58, Dad decided to take a vacation. Business was slow anyway. We ended up down in North Carolina. Man, is it ever hot in July! However, Grandpa & Grandma came up from Florida. (Grandpa came back to help dad in early spring. However, sales were so slow that he went back to Florida again after a couple weeks). My Uncle Chet drove up from Florida with my Aunt "Jo." It was an impromptu family reunion. Jimmy, my cousin, was struggling at his racing engine building business. The AMA ban had put a hurt on NASCAR type racing. Also, a bad crash at the Martinsville Speedway killed several spectators and injured many more when a car went over the retainer wall into the crowd. The publicity kept people away in droves. But, Jimmy did have a story to tell. Bill France was hurting at NASCAR. No racing or even poor racing kept people away. They wanted competition and excitement. Seems that France was a shrewd fella too. He had been around visiting many a place like Jimmy's. He had stated that things were about to change in a big way in NASCAR. He had a big 2.5 mile track he was building just outside the city of Daytona Beach. He planned on having open by February 1959. He was excited about that track. Said it was like a tri-oval and high banked so cars would be able to run safe at flat out speeds posing less danger to spectators. France also said that independents like Jimmy were the back bone of his business, and that he would personally try to see that they all got taken care of. Jimmy said that he couldn't say for sure, if France had anything to do with it, but a few weeks after that visit, Jimmy had gotten enough business over the phone, with cash payments, to take of things until next year.

The Pettys down the road had their share of problems, like everyone else this year in NASCAR. However, that was about to change for them too. In late 1956, Lee Petty had committed to a deal with Oldsmobile. They raced the hardtop coupe and the convertible Olds for 1957. Lee did all right. However, no one stepped up for the 1958 year, including Olds. So, Lee just made the 1957 models do. They did all right. He won his second NASCAR championship with them! Richard began his racing career with his first race in July of 1958 at Columbia, South Carolina. He came in 6th with a 1957 Oldsmobile convertible. What Jimmy said next though, was even more exciting. He said that just prior to us coming down, a fella had shown up driving a 1958 Fury, and wantin' to know if this was the Petty's place. Of course, Jimmy explained what was going on. Jimmy said the guy was real interested in all the development work he had done on the Dodge and Chrysler engines. Kept on talking until way late. Guy had no motel, so Jimmy invited him to stay the night, and he did. Next day at breakfast, guy explained that he was from Chrysler's Plymouth division and he was on his way to see the Petty's about running Plymouths in 1959! Dad just looked away. I wonder until this day, if he knew something about it.

Fella had said that with Jimmy's permission he was going to have a couple engineers stop by and talk about his engine building program. Said maybe Plymouth could help him out with ideas and some money, or vice-versa! I still wonder if ol' wily Bill France hadn't put that guy onto Jimmy. After several years in the circuit, even if his engines were higher priced than most, they also stayed together and usually won. That sort of reputation gets around. France needed all the support from anywhere he could get it. I just wonder... I mean that there just seems to be very little chance of mistaking Jimmy's little ol' town from Level Cross, at least not in my mind.

Dad flew out to Detroit for a Dealer Association Meeting in late August of 1958. At the time, production of the 1958 models had been halted while the new 1959 lines were set up. Try to put time into perspective. It took three years, then, to design a new model car. That meant that while the 1959 models were coming into production, the 1962 models were being sketched out. Thus, the 1960 models were pretty much set, with most of the car lines built into steel models. The 1961 cars were largely set unto clay models, with steel models being readied in several months. Dad got a good look, somehow, at what Virgil Exner had proposed for the 1962 cars. Now, it is hard for me to imagine how a car really will be until I can see it, and touch it. Most design sketches or prints are flat 2 dimensional things to me. However, some folks can interpret those things far better than I. As well, it is hard for me to think out a time line on a scale of 3 years like what it takes to build a new car. He wasn't displeased, more like puzzled about the direction that Virgil Exner appeared to be going. Dad was not all that certain about the 1961 designs clays that he saw. He said they were "odd balls."

One thing that has to be said now about Mr. Exner is that he was not nor ever will be accused of being conventional. Further, he was on his own, with the blessings of the President and Chairman of the Board. Virgil Exner had knocked the pins out of Detroits conventional way of thinking! Dad also got a real good look at the 1960 Valiant which he likened to a strange symmetry of jumbled lines and mixture of design themes. He also saw the "XNR" (Exner)? upon which it was easily apparent that the 1960 Valiant and the future 1962 models were based. He also was sort of excited because all the lines were going to built on "unit bodies," except for Imperial. He felt that should solve the squeak, rattle, rust and cheap appearance quality control problems.

However, what truly upset him was the plans he saw, although marked "experimental," for a Plymouth sized Dodge model. He began a quest to get either that experiment "killed" or get Plymouth out on its own. After all, Plymouth had gone into third place in production in 1957. Even with the poor quality, 1958 Plymouths also held onto third place in production. It was time that the ChryCo board fulfill its promise of 1954 and let Plymouth go! He stirred the pot in the Dealer's Association. He also began to stir up some old friends that were big stock holders.

Christmas 1958 was not too bad at our store. Oh yes, sales were down far from where they were in 1957. Plymouth division lead the way with 443,799 units produced for 1958 however that was 41% lower than 1957. Of that total, our store contributed 478 models sold. Only 10 were the Fury. Fury accounted for 5,303 units in 1958 which was a full 30 per cent drop from the 7,438 units in 1958. I am sure that is one of the major reasons that Plymouth choose to bring out the Fury in 1959 as a complete line of cars, dropping the limited production status. Sales is always a big motivation.

We found homes for 62 Imperials. Along the way, customers took 137 Chryslers home. Only one "D" model was taken from our store, and we know who took it to Florida already. DeSoto was a very said case in 1958. They looked too much like a Chrysler for one thing, and their price wasn't that much different to stop many customers from spending a few more dollars and driving out with the more prestige name Chrysler car. We could only find garages for 63 of them. Of that number, 3 were the Adventurer model. Dodge also did not account for itself very well in 1958. Our sales were only 131, a big drop from the previous year where 291 left the lot. I don't recall whether there were any D-500 models sold, and Dads books don't indicate any. Total 1958 sales: 810 units.

After we had come back from North Carolina in the summer of '58, Dad finally followed his Dad's recommendation and bought an undercoating machine. By the end of July 1958, every single customer car that we handled on our lot had been thoroughly and correctly undercoated with the machine dad bought. Dad also opened something else based upon an idea one of the men that he trained to do the undercoating had given him. Dad opened his first on site body repair shop.

As to whether the undercoating worked or not, I cannot testify. It probably only delayed the inevitable given the poor quality steel used. However, some 5 years after the 1958 models were only a memory, I found my first car. Yes, it was a 1958 Plymouth Belvedere 2 door hard top. It had a black roof, red body, and that long aluminum spear down the side. It also had premium hub caps and white wall tires. It was equipped with the 3 speed Torqueflite, power steering, power brakes, and a gorgeous red, black and silver vinyl interior. It truly was a beauty. I had been passing Mr. Schulte's house every day, practically, on my way to school, without ever formally noticing his garage. This one afternoon, I guess because it was open, I saw the Plymouth sitting inside the garage. Maybe because it was still so new looking, I let my curiosity overcome my caution and walked right up to the car. I don't know what I would have done if he had kept an overprotective dog... but he didn't.

The car was like brand new. In effect, it was. Mr. Schulte was a college professor. He was supposedly a genius and in that, I can testify that he had some odd ball ideas. He saw me looking at the car, and in a rather high voice with a trace of an accent that I think was Dutch, he asked me what I wanted. Of course with the exuberance of youth and bold brass hormone making systems at full blast, I said; "the car." He looked at me sort of crookedly at first and said nothing. It was as though he were conjuring up a concept of some kind.

One technique I had learned on the sales floor was that after you make an offer or float a concept out there, shut up and wait for the other guy to speak first or you lose control of the situation. I waited. Finally, he shook his head as if to clear it. "Ya, bot de enginer es no gut en das autocar." Again, I kept my mouth shut. Cautiously, I opened the car door. The odometer showed 11,127 miles! I wondered if it was the second time around. Yet, the car didn't look worn. The tires, carpet, pedals all looked new yet. I pulled the hood release lever and was greeting by a resounding "clucnk" as the hood popped up against the safety catch. Opening the hood, it was almost hard to believe that the engine wasn't any good, it all looked still new. Then he showed me the 5 inch hole through the side of the big block 318. Through it I could plainly see the shiny inner workings of the engine. A blown 318? Hard for me to fathom how with ordinary care, something like that would ever happen to a 318. Well, there comes a time when the exuberance of youth just plain overcomes caution. I asked him what on earth happened. Man, what a mistake. Oh, not that he was nasty or mean or anything. He just liked to talk...and talk...and talk!

After 45 minutes he finally got around to the car. To make a long story short, he did not know from beans about machines. He bought the car new from us. He drove it 6 miles a day. 3 miles to the college. 3 miles home. On week ends, he went downtown to the A&P to grocery shop. 2 miles round trip. Sometimes he would go in the country to visit his friends or relatives. That was the only time the car ever got warmed up! He also sort of forgot oil should be changed regularly. He got one oil change, from us, when we sent him a card for a free service follow up shortly after he bought it. About 15 months went by, and finally, with the oil sump either dry or full of sludge, one of the rods seized up and blew straight through the side of the block. His friend helped him get it home. He put it in the garage and there it had been ever since! Why? Oh, he said he was going to have it fixed, but since the warranty had run out (1 year or 12,000 miles in 1958) he was embarrassed to ask us to look at it. He had gotten another car (a 1958 Edsel-HA)! and just kept putting off getting repairs.

Finally, we got to business. "Ya, vu van das autocar, no"? I said "yes." "I mak vu a gut deal...vu get das autocar today frum das autohauspark, an vu pay to me ten dollars American. No"? Shoot, I had 10 dollars in my pocket! Dad was paying me $4.35 an hour now to take care of the fleet books, and I had been managing to garner up to 25 or 30 hours on some weeks. I was putting close to 50, 60 dollars a week in my savings account. I slapped that 10 spot into his hands fast enough that he couldn't change his mind. I told him to make out the registration and bill of sale while I went to get my Dad. Dad listened to my tale after I had run most of the way to the store. He didn't say much. Finally, he said, "Well for $10, it won't hurt me the cost of a tow job. I can always sell that much off it as parts." He looked serious about that.

"Not off my car." "Well, we'll see about that" he sort of sniffed. Within an hour though, my first, very own, all in my name car, sat in the back lot of our dealership. No, my Dad didn't get the parts. I, with the assistance of the guys in the shop, switched out the 58 318 for a 59 four barrel 361. Dad said it was "OK" as long as I put the heavy duty suspension pieces on it, and converted the brakes to the Police models. It was not a fun job, and occupied a great deal of my time. No way I could have done it myself. I had the tools, equipment and experience of experts. However, when it was done. Man oh man! Was that one tough car! I put the dual exhaust system on last. Walt, one of the mechanics that was our exhaust expert took the mufflers and using a cutting torch, put holes straight through both ends of the inside baffles. "More power, less back pressure," he said. It also gave that 361 an authoritative voice when it was running. Dad scowled a lot when he heard it first run.

I had gotten my "Junior Driver License back in January. I didn't get to drive my car until the first part of August, but oh how sweet it was! Dad took me aside right after I got the license tags. He put a lot on me. How I had an image in the community, and especially had to be careful because my Uncle was the Chief of Police. Just a whole lot of guilt stuff that guaranteed that I wouldn't get into trouble because I would be too damn scared to try anything. Yeah...right!