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Leather interior in a D25


Lee Exline

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Lee.....those righthand drive cars would work real well in this country for the rural mail carriers.

When I take them to car shows that is one of the major statements I hear! Must be an old mail car!

It is hard for people to imagine a car from Australia here in Iowa what makes it worse is it looks so much like American production.

When couples are looking inside I like saying

"I got tired of the wife telling me how to drive, so I got a car with the wheel on her side"

It is interesting watching thier reactions as the husbands start to laugh!

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That's so cool, it's a DeSoto and the dashboard is the mirror image of a 53-54 Plymouth, American issue.

My Plymouth has the same thing!

girls1.jpg

The guages look the same but are made by Smiths and Lucas instead of Autolite and the cars are 12-volt positive ground

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Here is a closer look at the Plymouth dash.

I took the picture when someone was selling a steering wheel clock on ebay and was using an image from my website without asking permission.

I took the picture with my daughters princess clock taped to the horn ring and put it in his auction

post-82-13585345113075_thumb.jpg

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Thanks for posting the D25, Lee. There are a couple of things different on my D25, the big one being the trunk cover and it seems the inside door panels on the Australian have both D25 and P15 trim. Mine only has the straight trim on the lower panel. The rear seat armrests are a little different and the leather upholstery as you pointed out. I wonder if the Australian grille is stainless steel or pot metal.

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Just wondering how practical a leather seat is for a non air conditioned car, probably not much tint on windows etc. Would the seat get too hot to sit on in worst of summer time?? I used to see those aircushion things thrown on regular seats back then for heat purposes. Remember those plastic 'Fingerhut' seat covers from of old days??? HOT suckers to slide across!!!OR darn cold!!

Other question is a sweaty behind and legs,,,would that discolor regular leather??? Just wondering,,I LIKE them, how practical are they for a daily driver???

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Just wondering how practical a leather seat is for a non air conditioned car, probably not much tint on windows etc. Would the seat get too hot to sit on in worst of summer time?? I used to see those aircushion things thrown on regular seats back then for heat purposes. Remember those plastic 'Fingerhut' seat covers from of old days??? HOT suckers to slide across!!!OR darn cold!!

Other question is a sweaty behind and legs,,,would that discolor regular leather??? Just wondering,,I LIKE them, how practical are they for a daily driver???

Don;

I do not like leather seats for the reasons you mentioned not even in my house. My wife Lisa likes to buy leather furniture. I do not sit on it unless a last resort. And fact of the matter is she does not sit on it either unless company comes and she has no other choice. Hope she does not read this.

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I had petty much the same thoughts on leather seats as most here...I thought they would be hot in summer..cold in winter and flat sweat my cheeks so to speak..boy was I surprised...I found them to be very confortable and these are in my black car...Howeer..I still prefer cloth...

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I had the same feelings about leather furniture,,,,UNTIL,,,,I sat on a VERY high end expensive leather couch,,that was a totally different deal,,,VERY comfy and soft,,,a different kind of stuff. I cant afford such stuff!! I dont even set or especially LAY on my couch,,,tears my back up fierce!!! I can lay on the floor and not affected by it as much,,hardly at all!!

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Richards bodies for the Plymouth, Dodge and Desoto were all the same except for the badges and grilles. Apart for being RHD the differences are many.

Doors are completely different - vent window different shape to force more air.

Door locks pivoting latch to stop rattles. Deck lid hinges look to be from 40 Plymouth. Telescopic stay to prop up. The reason there is no wiper switch on the dash is that the wipers were electric and the switch is under the dash on the right hand side. The engine is the 25 inch big block with short stroke 218.6

cubic inch. Choke and throttle were not under the speedo but at the bottom of

the radio grille. All were trimmed in leather but not like the soft stuff that is used on cars today. My 60 year old leather seats are still useable and still smells like a new car so it's going to get new leather to hell with the cost.

Inside door and window handles were made from ivory tenite and mine still look like new. Cowl vent mechanism was different although shape is the same.

Front seat slide very complex with rails curved to increase height closer to the wheel. Door hinges external like earlier models. I figure Richards used the

dies from the 38 Plymouth and somehow fitted them to the 40 models and then altered them to go in the 46 series. I have now found a parts book for these cars and although they finished in early 49 it wasn't issued till 53 after the demise of Richards. The part numbers used bear no resemblance to any Chrysler numbers. Many of the body stampings were "crash" formed on single action presses instead of drawn on double action presses resulting in wrinkles

and missfitting especially in the floor pan and inside the doors.

All glass was Armorplate. 1940 my father bought 40 Richards Plymouths for Yellow Cabs and 40 Holden Chevrolets - at the end of the war 39 Pymouths and ONE Chevrolet were still on the road. That says something when you consider that two Plymouths were wrecked and one was salvaged when the two halves were welded together at the B pillar.

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Interesting bit of info and a nice story about the Plymouths and Holdens, just goes to show that the Chrysler built cars were better. In the forties and fifties we had a lot of rough gravel roads and all taxis were Chrysler products. So, from what you are saying about the wipers, if you could find some of those electric wiper motors, you could sell them at a good price.:)

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