how do i tell the exact model

[Young Ed]

Lee I'll second that. Same for 51-52. They are P22 and P23 but I've always seen them with p23 engines.

[blueskies]

...they are P-19 for the Deluxe, and P-20 for the Special Deluxe....

Pretty sure this right Lee. My '50 special deluxe is a P20 and the engine # starts with P20 too.

Pete

[B-Watson]

My first old Plymouth was a 49. They are P-17 for the Deluxe, and P-18 for the Special Deluxe. My brother has a 50, they are P-19 for the Deluxe, and P-20 for the Special Deluxe. I’ve heard that all the motors where stamped P-18 in 49, and P-20 in 50. Lee

There were two DeLuxe series in 1949-50. The small 111" wheelbase models were DeLuxe, P-17 in 1949 and P-19 in 1950. The larger 118.5" wheelbase models (P-18 and P-20) came as DeLuxe or Special DeLuxe.

In the U.S. all 1949 Plymouth engines were P-18, 1950 engines were P-20 and 1951-52 were P-23. In Canada the engines were P-17, P-18, P-19, P20, P-22 and P-23 to match the car's model number.

Radios were optional before the 1980's, and were available (for a price) in any series back into the 1930's. So you cannot tell which model a car is by the presence of a radio.

Bill

Vancouver, BC

[Young Ed]

Bill for the 46-50 range you can tell if you have the radio chrome grill but no radio that you have a high end model. The cheap models just got a steel plate instead. The tricky part is if you got a radio for your deluxe model then you got upgraded to the special deluxe chrome dash piece. Not 100% perfect but another clue in the right direction.