Mats vs. carpet.....

[ptwothree]

When did carpeting become installed from the factory for Plymouth's?? I'll be redoing the floors on my '51 Cranbrook soon, and was just thinking that a rubber floor mat might be more appropriate.

[desoto1939]

The 39 desoto that I won has front and rear carpeting. The upscale model had the front and rear and the lower model had the rubber mat inthe front and carpet in the rear.

Check your parts book for your car it should be indicated if there was carpet both ft/rear.

Rich

Desoto1939@aol.com

[Young Ed]

Even Dads 51 convert had rubber mats. I think starting in 52s some of them had carpet.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I think the Belvedere was the first of the stock carpeted models of this era...I know in 54 my did level Savoy though highly appointed with both factory trim packages still got the ole mat..but retrofit leaves you wide open for whatever you wish..only if you show for points will it really mater..

[TodFitch]

I'm pretty sure that the '63 Belvedere Suburban we had when I was growing up had rubber floor mats... But by then maybe it was an option thing and my father, being practical, ordered it without carpet. I know he ordered it without power steering or power brakes, only real options on it were the factory AC and a radio.

As of twenty or so years ago it was still possible to order a car with rubber mats. When I got my '91 Jeep Cherokee I also got it with rubber mats rather than carpet: A lot more practical for a vehicle that you're going to be getting into with mud or snow covered boots. Don't know if that is still true or not.

[Dodgeb4ya]

1952 Plymouth Belvedere 2DR hardtops first came with factory installed front and rear carpets.

Bob

[JerseyHarold]

1952 Plymouth Belvedere 2DR hardtops first came with factory installed front and rear carpets.

Bob

Bob,

I've been very involved with '51-'52 Plymouths (my wife would say obsessed...) since I was a kid and have never seen any of them (including the occasional Belvedere) with a carpet. Your '52 came with carpets?? Wow!

Harold

[B-Watson]

1940 Plymouths came with carpet in the rear seat area on DeLuxe models.

In 1951-52 models used black rubber mats. Canadian-built 1952 Belvedere and Regent hardtops with trim DBE (red combination) apparently had carpet.

Not sure when Plymouth stopped offering carpet in the rear seat area.

By 1954 the Belvedere had carpet front and rear while the Savoy had rubber mats in dark blue, dark green or brown, while all Plaza models had black rubber mats.

During the 1960s and into the 1970s the cheapest series (Savoy, Fury I, V-100, Belvedere I) had rubber floor mats while the higher priced series had carpeting. My 1963 Valiant V-100 and 1972 Dart sedan had rubber floor mats, while my 1962 and 1965 Signets had carpet.

[53_Suburban]

My 53 Suburban (the base model) had the black rubber mats when I bought it.

[Dodgeb4ya]

I have owned my 1952 Belvedere since 1972. Before I restored it some of the original carpet was still in it. Over the years I finally found the introductory 1952 Plymouth Ross Roy sales filmstrip and it shows and tells of the new 1952 Plymouth Belvedere and the beautiful carpeting offered as standard factory trim in this model of Plymouth.

Bob

[Richard Coney]

Being the most basic of the models in 1939 my P7 Roadking business coupe came with rubber mats. No argument about that. My question is, as mine are the originals and after 80-odd years are now very worn indeed, does anyone manufacture replacement rubber mats that would fit? Otherwise I'll be forced to go the carpet route whether I want to or not.

[Big_John]

My 53 Windsor had carpet in the rear and rubber mat in the front.

I had a 63 Dodge 330 a bunch of years ago with a rubber floor mat. The mat held moisture against the floor though and the floor was destroyed in an otherwise low rust car. I remember looking under the car when I bought it and seeing a couple small places that needed to be patched. When I got the car home and pulled the mat.... it was ten times worse then it looked from the bottom.

Edited July 6, 2012 by Big_John

[TodFitch]

Being the most basic of the models in 1939 my P7 Roadking business coupe came with rubber mats. No argument about that. My question is, as mine are the originals and after 80-odd years are now very worn indeed, does anyone manufacture replacement rubber mats that would fit? Otherwise I'll be forced to go the carpet route whether I want to or not.

No current supplier for the rubber mat in the front of my '33 but their might be for a '39. If there is it will probably be from a small supplier advertising in the Plymouth Owners Club's magazine.

Not a duplicate of original but you can get rubber matting and cut it to size. Probably easier to do that than to have carpet fitted. And if you are getting the car judged by the POC, you'll have fewer points deducted.

[Young Ed]

I cut and fit this one into my 46 pickup. However the pickup doesn't have a transmission hump. I seem to recall our 39 not having much of a hump so it might work for you too. This is an anti fatigue mat I bought at fleet farm. Its nice thick rubber and so far its been lasting great.

[suntennis]

Looked thru Plymouth book with all the models in color and their features for 51 and 52 cars. There is no mention of flooring, but the photos show rubber mat in the front and carpet in the back except for the Suburban. I did a lot of checking on internet and was unable to find rubber mats available for the 51-52 cars.

[RobertKB]

I have four old mopars and this is what they had and now have. The two Dodges are both Canadian so therefore really a Plymouth with Dodge trim.

1938 Chrylser Royal - was mat in front and carpet in back. Now all carpet.

1948 Dodge D25 Club coupe - mat in front and carpet in back. Same

1951 Dodge D39 business coupe - mat front and rear. Same

1953 Plymouth Belvedere - Carpet front and back. Same

[JerseyHarold]

I went to a van conversion place and got a rubber mat they pulled out of a new Econoline they were upgrading.

[BobT-47P15]

The P15 did have mat in front, horsehair (or whatever) type carpet in

the rear. Quite a few years ago, I bought a new old stock rubber front

mat still in the box at a swap meet. Installed it in the car and used it

for several years. As it was old to start with, it began splitting in

various places......so I finally replaced it with carpet. So now, matching

carpet front and rear.

There was also a rubber mat in the trunk....which eventually wore out.

I had the upholstry shop do the trunk in maroon carpet same as the

car..........but that's just my particular preference. Also covered the

inside of the trunk with the same maroon vinyl as the door panels.

Because I wanted it to be a little different and look good at shows

when I opened the trunk to display period items. The car will probably

never be judged by the P O C.

I bought a roll of carpet at a wholesale supplier, based on how many

feet the shop guy felt was needed. Then he cut and bound it as

needed. Made a flap on the drivers side you can raise up to get to

the master cylinder for checking and filling. That's pretty handy.

If you want to use carpet and give the idea of a floor mat, I'd say

use black. That way, it probably won't jump out as being different.

[Jim Benjaminson]

Plymouth went with color keyed front carpet in 1954. All cars previous had rubber front floor mats, although rear floors had been carpeted since day one.

[Dodgeb4ya]

The Ross Roy sales films are the answer on 1952 and up Plymouth cars as to which models had carpets front and rear. Factory sales literature should state the facts too.. No 1949-52 Plymouth as far as I have seen ever seen had rear carpeting except the 1952 Plymouth Belvedere cars. I'm only talking 1946-52 Plymouth cars as the OP was asking about.

Bob

[JerseyHarold]

No 1949-52 Plymouth as far as I have seen ever seen had rear carpeting except the 1952 Plymouth Belvedere cars. I'm only talking 1946-52 Plymouth cars as the OP was asking about.

Bob

I agree 100%. I've never seen any 1951-1952 Plymouth with carpeting (I've looked at literally hundreds of them over the years) and wasn't aware of carpets in the Belvedere until dodgeb4ya indicated they had it.