Pics of my Oz D15 Dodge Sedan

[40phil41]

Andy,

Here are the photos of the rear as per your request. The D16 on the left is a business coupe. My D14 on the right is a 4 dr. sedan.

Enjoy,

Phil

[55 Fargo]

Very cool car Andy, and to think, you have owned her since 71, ansd still going strong....

[B-Watson]

Andy,

The pics are not too clear but on the left is a Canadian made D16 having the chrome piece between the grille halves and on the right is my Canadian made D14 (nearly identical to the US made D14) without the chrome piece. As you already know, the hood, nose, headlight surrounds/parking lights and bumper guards are different between the two models which were both made in Canada. Many other differences at back end and interior!

Phil

The 1940 Dodge is unique in that all Dodges, D14, D15, D16 and D17, shared their bodies with Plymouth. The extra length in the D14/D17 over the D15/D16 is all in the hood. And unlike 1939, the grille is shared amongst all four Dodge models, although the bumpers are not. The D15 used Plymouth bumpers while the D16 used D14/D17 bumpers, front and rear. This also goes for the optional "grille guards" as they called them.

As well, the D15/D16 used Plymouth taillamps and headlamp surrounds. One of the strangest things is that the Canadian D15 used the Plymouth hood panels while the D16 used unique panels that were used by the U.S. D15.

While the North American Mopar 1940 body was brand new, the Australian Mopar body was an update of the 1939 - check the split rear window, the trunk lid and the doors with exposed hinges. The rear fenders were new for 1940 as were the taillamps and the whole front clip.

[Andydodge]

Barry, good info but I think the US Dodges extra wheelbase length was in the body shell, my "plymouth" body has a definate dogleg in front of the rear fender, where the door trailing edge/hinge edge meets the fender, however I have seen pics of US Dodges and they have an almost straight, vertical "dogleg" and appear to have much longer rear door windows, almost a straight edge in the upper window opening in the rear door window, whereas my "Plymouth" rear door has a shorter upper edge......see attached pic........andyd

[Frank Elder]

It's funny you should mention dodge wheelbases, just ran across this poster on the net. All the wheelbases are identical on 46-48, 119.5 whether the body is a bizzy or a 4dr sedan, I guess the body mounts are placed in different spots though? I know the vert has a different frame......

[40phil41]

Barry, good info but I think the US Dodges extra wheelbase length was in the body shell, my "plymouth" body has a definate dogleg in front of the rear fender, where the door trailing edge/hinge edge meets the fender, however I have seen pics of US Dodges and they have an almost straight, vertical "dogleg" and appear to have much longer rear door windows, almost a straight edge in the upper window opening in the rear door window, whereas my "Plymouth" rear door has a shorter upper edge......see attached pic........andyd

Andy,

I tried using a set of front inner fenders from a 1940 Plymouth on my 1940 Dodge and they were about 2 in. too short. This indicates that the extra length is in the front end. However, your dogleg rear doors are definately interesting. Barry may be able to clarify this.

Phil

[Andydodge]

Phil, thats an interesting point, maybe because the Oz 40-48 body is a bastardised 39 body that may account for the difference.......and James, I have adapted the vented discs onto the 42-56 stub axles, my front end is stock 1940 Dodge lower A arm, cast steel one piece aftermarket upper A Arm, 1940 dodge spindle, 1962 Australian Chrysler Royal(same as 1954 Plymouth,ie, with one upper hole and 2 lower holes) stub axle, oil seal adaptor on the stub axle, 1975 Oz P76 Disc brakes & calipers, 1" roll bar with heim joints onto stock 1940 Dodge spindle, Austin 1800 rack & pinion narrowed 9", steering arms reforged 1" shorter by an automotive blacksmith, Valiant tie rod ends..........

[Andydodge]

Phil, the funny thing was that I'd been looking at various books on mopars etc for 25yrs and still didn't notice the US cars for 1940 had internal door hinges........in the mid 1990's I ordered a pair of 1940 Plymouth front door vent window seals from Andy Bernbaum, they duly arrived and buggar me!!.......they are the right length, width, colour ...BUT the pivot holes are in the wrong place.......I then decided to recheck any pics I had of 1940 US mopars.......haha.....guess whatyour vent windows pivot points are above each other.......damn Aussie ones have the lower one in the window corner, making the vent window pivot at an angle.......lol.......on principle I wasn't gunna cut up a perfectly good pair of vent window rubbers, even if they had only cost me about $100.00 Aust back then due to the exchange rate.........I discussed my parentage(lol) and put them on the shelf......so I kept them.......guess what the 1941 Plymouth Coupe I bought needed?.......lol........after 15yrs I had a use for the all singing,all dancing vent window rubbers.......and guess what?........they fitted perfectly.....just like they were made for them.......well they were..........lol........so it would be an interesting thing to be able to compare all the little nuances and changes between the various mopars from the US, Canada, Australia.........lol........andyd

[B-Watson]

Barry, good info but I think the US Dodges extra wheelbase length was in the body shell, my "plymouth" body has a definate dogleg in front of the rear fender, where the door trailing edge/hinge edge meets the fender, however I have seen pics of US Dodges and they have an almost straight, vertical "dogleg" and appear to have much longer rear door windows, almost a straight edge in the upper window opening in the rear door window, whereas my "Plymouth" rear door has a shorter upper edge......see attached pic........andyd

Your 1940 Dodge has an Australian body which shares absolutely nothing with the North American Dodge. The Australian Dodge used a body that was an update of the Australian 1939 body while the N.A. Dodge got a completely new body for 1940.

All North American built 1940 Plymouths, Dodges, DeSotos and Chryslers shared the same body with no doglegs in the rear door. The 1940 U.S. Dodge extended the wheelbase from Plymouth in the hood unlike the 1935-38 models where the 3" extended bit was in the rear seat area.

The 1940 6-cylinder DeSotos and Chryslers had a 3" longer wheelbase than the Dodge D14/D17, which was added in the area behind the rear door. The rear quarter window on the sedans is about 3" longer on DeSoto/Chrysler than Plymouth/Dodge. In 1935-39, the DeSoto/Chrysler models used the Dodge body with differing hood lengths for differences in wheelbase.

For 1941 the U.S. Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler received completely new bodies that were wider and longer than 1940, 3" according the ads in 1941. The 1940 body continued on for use by Plymouth and the Dodge/DeSoto variations.

Although the Australian bodies were unique to Australia, the chassis were built either in Detroit or Windsor. So the wheelbases of Australian cars would be the same as in North America. Postwar 1946-48 Australian bodies recieved new rear fenders, taillamps, trim plus front clip to match the U.S. changes. The doors were flared out at the bottom as in the U.S. but still had the exposed hinges.

As for the chassis frame, the convertible version had additional strength added to compensate for the lack of a roof. The coupe and sedan models shared chassis frames. Their body mounts were the same as they shared floors. Although the passenger space on the coupe was shorter than the sedan, the floor still went from the cowl to the end of the trunk. LWB models used an extended version of the chassis frame.

Bill

Vancouver, BC

[RobertKB]

Bill, you are a fountain of knowledge. I never noticed before that the Australian '46-'48 Plymouths and Dodge D25's have the exposed hinges unlike the hidden hinges of Canadian and US models. I went back to "OZ '47 Plymouht on the 'bay" and looked at the pictures on the ebay listing. Sure enough, there are the exposed hinges. I appreciate your factual input on the forum. Thanks!