1929 Plymouth U

[Niel Hoback]

I found this at a steam show in Michigan yesterday. The owner, a younger, fellow didn't appear to know much about the car.

[greg g]

two door version of Chet's. Looks to be in solid shape.

[Desotodav]

Nice looking old 29. Looks exactly the same (only different) to my mate Keith's 29 Dodge...

Desotodav

[Chester Brzostowski]

Nice original U, not all that many around.

Chet...

[pflaming]

Three questions: What did the "U" stand for; (2) Interesting engine design, when did they change that to what we work on? (3) Was there a design change in between?

Edited May 2, 2018 by pflaming

[TodFitch]

Three questions: What did the "U" stand for; (2) Interesting engine design, when did they change that to what we work on? (3) Was there a design change in between?

Chrysler engineering codes were letter based back in that era. Samples:

M-> 1927-28 Chrysler "62"

P -> 1928-29 Chrysler "65"

Q -> 1928 Chrysler-Plymouth

R -> 1928-29 Chrysler "75"

U -> 1929 Plymouth

V -> 1929-31 Chrysler "70"

W -> 1929-30 Chrysler "77"

Starting (at least on Plymouth) in 1931 they prefixed the engineering code with the line (P for Plymouth, D for Dodge, C for Chrysler, T for truck, I for industrial, S for DeSoto). These were initially letter codes (1931 Plymouth is a PA, '32 is a PB, '33 has PC and PD, '34 has PE, PF and PG) with a switch to numbers in 1937 (P1 & P2).

The Plymouth four cylinder engine came out of the earlier Chrysler four cylinder line that Plymouth replaced. And that, in turn, was derived from the Maxwell four cylinder engine. It was radically updated in 1930 (Plymouth engineering code 30-U) to have a water pump and a mechanical fuel pump.

The four cylinder was replaced by the L-6 engine in 1933. It is reputed that the '33 Plymouth six engine was derived from an earlier DeSoto engine but I haven't seen definitive proof of that and the Plymouth advertising of the era claims everything was new.

The '33 and '34 Plymouth six visibly differs from later one by not having the full length water jackets and is a narrower block so it takes a different head gasket than later Plymouths.

Edited September 8, 2012 by TodFitch

[Uncle-Pekka]

One proud machine.

Great it's kept original, the only way it will be real.

p.s.

Neil H. - I really dig your signature line: I think I will put it in a sign to hang outside my garage door.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Uncle-Pekka

[Niel Hoback]

The reason I was excited to see it is that I bought what was called a 1930 Chrysler 6 on Halloween night, 1961. A fellow I worked with later on said it looked more like a Plymouth of the same age. There was a Chrysler badge on the radiator where the pictured one has a Plymouth badge. The bodies are identical.

The differences I saw on the Plymouth were that the Plymouth has chrome plated headlights and mounting bar, and two tail lights, both chromed. My Chysler had only one taillight and it and the headlights were painted black.

My chrysler had a hole about one inch in diameter and brass rimmed in the upper right hand corner of the inside sun visor. I have never figured what that was for.

[Chester Brzostowski]

Neil,

The 29 Plymouth only had one tail light. Lots of people add the passenger side light. It could have been done many years ago. My 29 has chrome headlights but the headlight bar is painted. I'm not sure which is correct but since the 29 was built to sell in the low price range I would assume that it was originally painted.

Just my 2 cents, Chet...