Australian Mopars

[Paul Hoffmeyer]

Before my wife and I went to Adelaide, SA in September of '07, I made contact with Ray Bell, an automotive photo journalist in Australia. He was planning a meeting with several owners of vintage Mopars in Adelaide and kindly invited me along. The first pictures are of a very rare (1 of 1, if I recall correctly) '33 Dodge Brougham specially built on the short wheelbase chassis for a Dodge dealer from Sidney who visited the factory in late '32. This wonderfully preserved survivor is owned by Graham Baily, who waited for some years to get it from its family. It runs perfectly, as I discerned after a nice ride. One key fits the ignition, doors, wheel locks, and radio dial lock. Radio works great, as does the clock in the mirror.

Paul H

[Andydodge]

Paul, thats an unusual 33 Oz Dodge, did you happen to see whether it was built by T J Richards?.......there would have been a plate or maybe a stamping on the pasenger side of the firewall, also did the owner say who the dealer was it was built for in Sydney?.....andyd

[Don Coatney]

I have communicated with Ray Bell on other forums several times. If you communicate with him again tell him hi for me.

[RobertKB]

Very unusual and great looking car. Most likely as you mentioned, a 1 of 1. Thanks again for posting. It is great to see Chrysler products from around the world. Just wondering, is the oil pump and oil pickup in the head because you guys are upside down........down under.

[Don Jordan]

What a beautiful car! I love the 30s. Had a 36 Chevy that I drove from San Francisco to Mexico and back. I truly love the design. I don't know how I ended up with so many cars from the 40s.

[Paul Hoffmeyer]

AndyDodge;

I believe it was custom built for the Sydney Dodge dealer by the factory in Detroit. As for what Dodge dealer, would there have been more than one Dodge dealer in Sydney in 1932? As I remember Mr Bailey's account of the cars history, the dealer was very impressed with the '33 Dodges just beginning production when he was in Detroit, but was concerned about its large size. The factory people suggested he might like a Brougham on the short wheelbase, and the rest, as they say, "is history".

Paul H

[Andydodge]

Paul, I would think that there would have been a few dealers in Sydney in the early 30's, it may have been for the distributor who would have been next up the food chain from the dealer, problem is not much is commonly known about the Oz mopar dealer network.........and from other posts on this forum over the past week this sort of information is apparently........"classified" ........so what we do here in Oz is then make up all sorts of ficticious info regarding mopars in Oz........lol......anyway nice car.......andyd

[Manuel in Oz]

Harden and Johnston were the Dodge distributors for NSW.

The also handled Peugeots.

Manuel in Oz