1941 Plymouth dash color

[51wayfarer]

Can someone tell me what is the correct original color for the dash on a P11 coupe? Was it woodgrained or was it the same as the mustardy tannish brown that I see on the back of the window garnish mouldings?

[Roadkingcoupe]

Open cars (convertibles) had painted dashboards

Panel Delivery trucks had painted dashboards (photo below)

Closed cars had woodgrained dashboards AND window garnish moldings (brochure pics)

"Poor man's wood".........yes I can hear the laughter:)

There are actually two different colors used and hopefully the pictures are clear.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Roadkingcoupe

[Merle Coggins]

What was "Power-matic shifting"?

Merle

[Roadkingcoupe]

What was "Power-matic shifting"?

Merle

"Powermatic Shifting - a delightful new car operation to enjoy. Shifting is made vastly easier, requires a minimum of effort. And with the new transmission, actual elimination of certain shifting motions in normal driving. It's a revelation! Try it! Powermatic's the "ONE" for '41!"

Interested in the actual benefit of the vacuum assist.

Besides the upgraded "chrome" shift knob (modelled after the tail of an airplane), the vacuum chamber and rather complicated linkage....what real benefit is afforded by the option.

I realize that it was designed to allow the operator to shift with very little effort. But the upper vehicles already had Fluid Drive and the power shift option wasnt offered for very long.

Shifting without it takes very little effort, so how necessary was this option?

[claybill]

the chrome shift knob DOESNT COME OFF.!!

if your moulding panels are crappy brown on the reverse side..then you are looking at the base coat for the darker wood coloring. a few darker colors were then applied. or somehow put on.

it is still a mystery..as to how it was done. i conclude by looking at all edges and colors that it was done before the stamping and shaping. so it could be applied on a flat surface.

for info.. look closely at the edges and back sides to see if you can figure out the process.

bill

[Roadkingcoupe]

the chrome shift knob DOESNT COME OFF!

Correct!

It was pressed on and not meant to be removed.

The only one I have seen removed was so mangled that it was rendered useless.

There appears to be two different color combo's for the dashboard.

A mottled brown that is consistant over the whole dash & a two tone version with a lighter color glove box door.

Possibly the difference between a P11 & P12 Trims

The two dealer brochures posted earlier in this thread shows the two styles.

Note the plastic ornament on the window garnish moulding on the P12 interior pic.

[E.L Lane's 48]

Not to hyjack the thread,but when I was installing my new gas tank in my 48' p15 I noticed that the sending unit cover in the trunk had wood grain on the underside. I figured that they must have stamped the cover out out of the blank from the speaker hole in the dash. That just goes to show that there wasn't much waste in the factory back in the day!

[51wayfarer]

Your car has a sending unit cover?

[Young Ed]

Your car has a sending unit cover?

Yours doesn't? You can see mine here. There's a rubber piece and a metal piece but they are stacked in the photo.

[Robert Smith]

Open cars (convertibles) had painted dashboards

Panel Delivery trucks had painted dashboards (photo below)

Closed cars had woodgrained dashboards AND window garnish moldings (brochure pics)

"Poor man's wood".........yes I can hear the laughter:)

There are actually two different colors used and hopefully the pictures are clear.

This is true, also, made me kinda sad seeing those illustrations from the "fashion tone" interiors... I once had the chance to buy a four door '41 Plymouth that HAD the ORIGINAL fashion tone interior still in good shape! Door panels EXACTLY like that in the ad! With the wood grained dash and garnishes! And the white plastic with read stripes on the garnish detail. The car was it's original two tone paint scheme with the extra stainless belt line... Gray cab and dark blue body... Beautiful '41... Needed a new paint job and also missing all the stainless to the grill... Asking $6k and wouldn't budge! It was a four door, I tried to get him down... Wouldn't budge a buck! Drove perfect... Eventually he sold it to some clowns and it ended up back on Auto Trader a few months down the road... Don't know what happened to that poor '41.

[1941coupe]

I can say for a fact that 41' P11 business coupes had the woodgrain dash and window surrounds...mine still has the original woodgraining and is a medium brown or sort of a walnut color.

=C=

[claybill]

my original 41 coupe is also brown woodgrain...

referring to a previous use of a stamping from the raDIO HOLE, ETC ETC....KINDA PROVES THAT THE WOODGRAIN WAS APPLIED BEFORE THE STAMPING PROCESS.

bill

[Richard Coney]

Were there significant colour changes between the years at that time? Did they aim for a particular type or grain of wood, or was just generic? I've noticed distint colour differences between the front of the panels and on the edges that were covered by trim pieces. Similarly, on the radio-delete centre panel on my '39 P7 the woodgrain under the central panel in quite different. I put it down to age. Thanks. Richard

[40P10touring sedan]

My 40 plymouth's woodgrain, yeah, a year off from the subject matter, has worn thru in alot of spots and shows a base coat of a goldish color.