Plymouth style names

[pflaming]

What is the difference between Cranbrook and Cambridge. I see '53 verts with Cranbrook but same car in '54 is Belvedere. Did Belvede and Savoy replace Cranbrook and Cambridge?

Finally, was '53 a phase in year in that the late 52 of the 49-52 models and the early 53 of the 53-53 models are both '53s?

[Plymouthy Adams]

Acutally there were three levels that surpassed the Cranbook/Cambridge..they were Plaza P25-1....Savoy P25-2 and Belvedere P25-3 The Savoy was introduced earlier in 1951 but applied to the Concorde series and was the high trim level Suburban..

[pflaming]

The yellow is a '53 Cranbrook; the coral is a '54 Belvedeer. So there were two or thee models of verts in '52 / 54?

[Young Ed]

What is the difference between Cranbrook and Cambridge. I see '53 verts with Cranbrook but same car in '54 is Belvedere. Did Belvede and Savoy replace Cranbrook and Cambridge?

Finally, was '53 a phase in year in that the late 52 of the 49-52 models and the early 53 of the 53-53 models are both '53s?

As far as I know the 52s are stricktly 52s-p23s. There was no model # carryover. 54 also saw the swapping of the model names.

[RobertKB]

They did have Belvederes in '53. I own one and it is a 4-door sedan. It's a P24-3. I know the name tag is correct as the car is original including paint. I am assuming they were made as 2-doors and convertibles as well. So...........does anyone have the answer. I bet B-Watson does!

Incidentally, the stainless trim on the front doors is correct but only on Canadian cars. It was never used in the US as far as I know.

Edited December 3, 2012 by RobertKB

[Plymouthy Adams]

per my one data sheet here at the house..

1953 line up models per high//low trim

P24-1 Cambridge models:

Business Coupe

2 door sedan

4 door sedan

club coupe

Suburbn wagon

P24-2 Cranbrook models:

4 door sedan

Club coupe

Belvedere hdtp coupe

Conv. coupe

Savoy wagon

[Young Ed]

Yes I can't explain Roberts 53 belvedere. One of the most recent plymouth bulletins features all the Belvederes. It says in 54 the belvedere was no longer a hardtop only designation but the name of the entire top line of sedans wagons and converts mimicking what chevy had down with the belair.

[Plymouthy Adams]

might be a Canadian thing...but I have nothing on that..am sure Bill may..I posted the only info I have access to..

[Dodgeb4ya]

At least in the US the Belvedere was strictly a 2 door hardtop body style starting in 1951and continuing through 1953. So for the 1953 Plymouth in the US a belvedere was only a 2dr hardtop. The Plymouth convertible in 1953 was called the "Cranbrook" convertible. Belvedere's and Cranbrooks were a top of the line Plymouths as was a Savoy wagon as previously mentioned.

Bob

[greg g]

I concord, cambridge, cranbrook were replaced by savoy, plaza, and belvedere in 54. As stated the Belvedere name was intor'd in 51 as the 2dr no post hardtop. I think it was used in 53 as a top of the line trim package applied to the cranbrook. then in 54 the full change over happened.

Ok now enlighten me. There is a car in the area that is a 54 Canadian Dodge, dodge doghouse and trim on a plymouth body. It is a Mayfair. So if Canadian Dodges were modified Plymouth bodies, were there Canadian Plymouths that were equivelent to the american design???

[Plymouthy Adams]

I am on a limb here but the trend to use the smaller Plymouth chassis/body for Canadian Dodges led to the new names of models so not to be confused with the larger American Dodge..I think the Canadian Plymouth names carried forward, am sure there are contrary examples..not many sources to read up on the differnces of Canadian models that I have found..would make good bedtime reading..

[Jim Benjaminson]

Canada had a Belvedere sedan in 1953

[BobT-47P15]

Here's a story on Chrysler of Canada on AllPar site..........have to scroll

down just a bit to get to the article.....authored by some familiar name

people.

http://www.allpar.com/world/canada.html

Here's one tidbit of info.....and there are many more........"From 1946-1950, the Plymouth DeLuxe was modified to become the Dodge Kingsway, while the Special Deluxe became the Regent"

Edited December 9, 2012 by BobT-47P15

[BobT-47P15]

And a different all par article about 49-52 era Chrysler products.

http://www.allpar.com/history/chrysler-years/1949-1952.html

[B-Watson]

Here's a story on Chrysler of Canada on AllPar site..........have to scroll

down just a bit to get to the article.....authored by some familiar name

people.

http://www.allpar.com/world/canada.html

Here's one tidbit of info.....and there are many more........"From 1946-1950, the Plymouth DeLuxe was modified to become the Dodge Kingsway, while the Special Deluxe became the Regent"

Unfortunately, the quote about the DeLuxe and Special DeLuxe is incorrect. The Kingsway name was used in export markets after WW II, and from 1949 the series names were Kingsway, Kingsway DeLuxe and Kingway Custom.

The Canadian Dodge used Plymouth series names from 1942 through 1950 and adopted new names when Plymouth did for 1951. Concord became Kingsway on the Dodge, Cambridge was Crusader, Cranbrook was Regent and Belvedere was Mayfair.

[B-Watson]

Going to the discussion on the 1953 Plymouth, the P24-3 Belvedere and Dodge Mayfair D43-3 were Canada-only models. They were upscale from the -2 Cranbrook / Regent models with backup lights, wheel covers, extra exterior trim and fancier interior trim with colour-keyed steering wheels in blue or green as standard.

The new -3 models were introduced on April 15, 1953, with full-page ads in all big city Canadian daily newspapers. At the same time, the engine was increased from 218 to 228 cid on all Canadian P24 and D43 models. As well Hy-Drive was introduced as an option, which is why the engine size was increased.

The Cranbrook Belvedere and Regent Mayfair hardtops were dropped and, as convertibles were imported, the Plymouth convertible remained a Cranbrook in Canada. No Plymouth-based Dodge convertibles were imported until the 1954 Dodge Mayfair.

The Belvedere and Mayfair names appeared for 1951 but were not series names, but names applied to the new hardtop model. Chrysler called their hardtops Newport, DeSoto was Sportsman and Dodge was Diplomat (not to be confused with the export DeSoto Diplomat). Dodge hardtops had no name in 1954 and became Lancer for 1955.

For series names :

Plymouth -

1 - 1949-50 DeLuxe 111" wb --> 1951-52 Concord 111" wb --> (line dropped)

2 - 1949-50 DeLuxe 118½" wb --> 1952-52 Cambridge 118½" wb --> 1953 Cambridge 114" wb --> 1954 Plaza 114" wb

3 - 1949-50 Special DeLuxe 118½" wb --> 1952-52 Cranbrook 118½" wb --> 1953 Cranbrook 114" wb --> 1954 Savoy 114" wb

4 - 1953½ Belvedere (Canada only) --> 1954 Belvedere 114" wb

Canadian Dodge -

1 - 1949-50 DeLuxe 111" wb --> 1951-52 Kingsway 111" wb --> (line dropped)

2 - 1949-50 DeLuxe 118½" wb --> 1952-52 Crusader 118½" wb --> 1953-54 Crusader 114" wb

3 - 1949-50 Special DeLuxe 118½" wb --> 1952-52 Regent 118½" wb --> 1953-54 Regent 114" wb

4 - 1953½-54 Mayfair 114" wb

The export DeSoto Diplomat and Dodge Kingsway models were (base), Deluxe and Custom for 1949-52 and 1954. The 1953 series were (base) and Custom with no Deluxe. The Canadian -3 models were not exported.

By the way, the 1946-48 export Plymouth (P15), Dodge Kingsway (D25) and DeSoto Diplomat (SP15) were offered only as a Special DeLuxe (-C). No DeLuxe models were built. Thus all D25S models on the production chart on this site were Canadian-market Dodge DeLuxe models.

[B-Watson]

I concord, cambridge, cranbrook were replaced by savoy, plaza, and belvedere in 54. As stated the Belvedere name was intor'd in 51 as the 2dr no post hardtop. I think it was used in 53 as a top of the line trim package applied to the cranbrook. then in 54 the full change over happened.

Ok now enlighten me. There is a car in the area that is a 54 Canadian Dodge, dodge doghouse and trim on a plymouth body. It is a Mayfair. So if Canadian Dodges were modified Plymouth bodies, were there Canadian Plymouths that were equivelent to the american design???

Yes, the Plymouth was built and sold in Canada at Plymouth-Chrysler-Fargo Truck dealers. Dodges were sold at Dodge-DeSoto-Dodge Truck dealers until the DeSoto (and big Dodge Polara) was dropped at the end of the 1960 model year. They then became Dodge-Chrysler-Dodge Truck dealers. And from 1960 through 1966 the Valiant was sold at all Plymouth and Dodge dealers. No compact Lancers or Darts in Canada.

GM did the same, selling Chevrolets at Chevrolet-Oldsmobile-Chevrolet Truck dealers and Chevrolet-based Pontiacs at Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealers. And GM of Canada introduced a Chevy II -based Acadian for Pontiac dealers to match the Chevy II at Chevrolet dealers. The Acadian survived until mid-1971 when it was replaced by the Pontiac Ventura.

Ford was a little different, with a variation of the Mercury called the Monarch sold at Ford-Monarch-Ford Truck dealers. And to keep Mercury dealers happy, a low-priced car based on the Ford was called the Meteor and sold at Mercury-Meteor-Mercury Truck dealers. When the Falcon came out for 1960, Ford of Canada came up with the Frontenac, a Falcon with a different grille and tallamps, for Meteor dealers. It was replaced by the Comet for 1961.

In Canada, only the top series of the U.S.-style Dodge was built in Canada, which was the Custom from 1942 through 1950. The 1949-50 Canadian Dodge Custom was actually a Coronet. For 1951-53 the Coronet was sold in Canada. For 1954 it was the Royal, 1955-59 Custom Royal and 1960 Polara.

The Canadian 1953 Belvedere was not a trim or trim package, it was a full fledged series. It was not available in the U.S.

Edited December 8, 2012 by B-Watson

[Rusty O'Toole]

Savoy, Belvedere, Mayfair, they seemed to be naming their cars after hotels in those days.

Yet they never made a Motel 6.

[Plymouthy Adams]

that was reserved for Chevrolet as Mopar did not make a line of cars that cheap

[RobertKB]

Thanks, Bill, for all that interesting information. It certainly explains my 1953 Belvedere and that it was a Canadian only model. Just makes it a little bit different.