Dodge Tailgate, Dodge Hood, Plymouth Script Front Fenders, What’S Up?

[Old Ray]

1953 Canadian Dodge Suburban.

Savoy is a Plymouth, right?

 

 

 

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

It is a listed Model name in the Dodge line up of vehicles..

[Old Ray]

It is a listed Model name in the Dodge line up of vehicles..

 

…………….. oh, it is?  

 

Would you please edify and educate me with more information, …..thanks very much.  

[Plymouthy Adams]

I would also defend the Savoy name to Plymouth from its very first use to define the high line 1951 Suburban to the end of the name in 1964 , but this morning on reading your thread I found a number of references to the Dodge having the name also and being Canadian I really could not say one way or the other but to report only that the name was accounted to the Dodge line up of the 50's..While the Kingsway was the sedan lineup of the rebadged Plymouth in Canada, the US Suburban name was used on Canadian model and could well have carried the high line Savoy name with it across the border.  As your car in question is a wagon..I will consider (naybe in error) the Savoy name as being on the car.  I would however like you, would like to know the truth and our local Canadian car expert Bill W. may yet weight in on this...

 

I will not rule out the use of the name at this time...

 

 

DODGE

 

 

330, 400, 440, 600, 880, ARIES, ASPEN, CHALLENGER, CHARGER,

CONQUEST, CORONET, CRESTWOOD, CRUSADER, CUSTOM, DART, 

DAYTONA, DELUXE, DEMON, DIPLOMAT, DYNASTY, KINGSWAY, LANCER,

MAGNUM, MATADOR, MAYFAIR, MIRADA, MONACO, PHOENIX, PIONEER, 

POLARA, R/T, REGENT, ROYAL, ST. REGIS, SAVOY, SENECA, SIERRA,

SPECIAL DELUXE, STEALTH, SUBURBAN, SUPER BEE, SWINGER, 

VIPER, VISCOUNT, WAYFARER

[Old Ray]

Well, it has a sister in Quebec….I have only found the two for now?  

 

 

http://www.katesvirtualgarage.com/2012/07/spotted-1953-dodge-suburban-savoy-wagon.html

 

 

Same car, different location, no fender script.

 

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23187

 

 

I think we have the beginnings of a great (or insert word) mystery!

[DJ194950]

Question,

Does the original paint under the patina match-front sheet metal to rest of body??

Earlier models the entire front sheet metal inchanged between models. Maybe had a wreck and an entire wrecking yard front sheet metal replaced and badging not changed??

Doug

[_shel_ny]

https://www.google.com/search?q=dodge+savoy&client=firefox-a&hs=Rj7&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=FPw4UrnxD6n94APHj4HgCQ&ved=0CFcQsAQ&biw=1088&bih=538&dpr=1#imgdii=_

[Old Ray]

Earlier models the entire front sheet metal inchanged between models. Doug

 

Hi Doug, good question. I had to hood off at one time and did not notice any colour (color) difference at that time,……. but I was not as astute, wise, and intelligent as I now am  (just a lot older now and no smarter) BUT the wrinkle in your theory (although a good one) is that to have a Savoy script on the fenders they should / would have been Plymouth fenders (I think that 53 and 54 Dodge and Plymouth fenders are not the same) but these are Dodge (grille fits and no pontoon creases).

 

So to continue your thought process then the replacement fenders would have had to be Dodge ones with Savoy tags and then we are right back where we started?

 

It is my confused understanding that in an effort to have an economy model in the Dodge car line in Canada, they used a Plymouth body (already available?) and to get the Dodge grille to fit they used a conversion front fender.  

 

So, I have a Plymouth body with Dodge name tags and Dodge fenders with Plymouth name tags. Makes perfect sense,……………………………..I guess.

 

Bit of a mystery, huh?  

[DJ194950]

If any one place has the answer it's probably here.

 

If not, so what. Fix the car, drive it. When at old car get togethers old mopar people will ask what's up the the badging. Perfect way to meet and talk with other Mopar people.

 

Mine was just a guess without any clues on US builds vs. Canadian built.

 

Enjoy your car...

 

Doug

[Old Ray]

https://www.google.com/search?q=dodge+savoy&client=firefox-a&hs=Rj7&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=FPw4UrnxD6n94APHj4HgCQ&ved=0CFcQsAQ&biw=1088&bih=538&dpr=1#imgdii=_

 

Thanks for the search, it is pretty much the same one that I have been looking at for the last year, all 269,000 of them.

 

Because there are no quotations marks around your search it finds everything with one or both names. If you take out “Plymouth Savoy” (we know that exists), plain “Dodge”, the two that I mentioned above, the sales literature that is Canadian, the 62 Mexican taxi cab, and the auction for a 54 (that isn’t) Dodge Savoy (says Plymouth in the ad copy) there is not much left.

 

I am probably missing something so I would appreciate it very much if you could sort through the search and find, other then the one in Quebec, what we are really looking for,………..a 1953 or 1954 Dodge Savoy car.

 

Thanks.   

[Plymouthy Adams]

by the position of the Savoy script..say maybe 53

[Old Ray]

by the position of the Savoy script..say maybe 53

 

Yes, it is a 53.

 

So, just so that I have this right, are you saying that on a 1953 Plymouth, that is where the front fender Savoy name badge is located?  

 

….and Doug is right, it really doesn’t matter, ……I just didn’t want to make a bigger fool of myself by providing incorrect information, ..and yes I’m am going to drive it.

 

Good night all, sleep safe.  

[murfman1967]

^{Dodge used the Savoy name in Canada}

 

[murfman1967]

Also in 1953 and 1954 the US Dodge Wagons used the Plymouth body with whe Plymouth style wheel wells in the back hidden under chrome trim

 

[Old Ray]

Also in 1953 and 1954 the US Dodge Wagons used the Plymouth body with the Plymouth style wheel wells in the back hidden under chrome trim

 

Hey murf, thanks for posting. Please tell me more about the wheel wells and the diff between Dodge and Plymouth

 

Thanks a lot.  

 

(nice wagon)

Edited September 21, 2013 by Old Ray

[B-Watson]

The 1949-1952 small, Plymouth-based Dodges used Plymouth bodies with the front fenders modified permit a Dodge-style grille.   The 1949-52 small Dodge grilles will not interchange with the larger Coronet models.  The 1949-52 Coronets (called Custom in Canada in 1949-50) and Meadowbrook shared bodies with DeSoto and Chrysler.  Contrary to what many claim, they did not modify the big Coronet front clip - too wide and too long.  Much cheaper and easier to modify the Plymouth front clip.

 

Series in the 1949-50 small Dodge was the same as Plymouth - DeLuxe (111"), DeLuxe (118½") and Special DeLuxe (118½").  Both Plymouth and small Dodge used the Suburban name on the wagon.   The export version, built in both Windsor and Detroit, was Kingsway, Kingsway DeLuxe and Kingsway Custom. Both plants also built a DeSoto version, the Diplomat, with a DeSoto-like grille and trim.

 

Plymouth dropped the DeLuxe, etc. for real names in 1951.   The small DeLuxe became the Concord, the larger DeLuxe the Cambridge and the top of the line the Cranbrook.  The Canadian Dodge adopted Kingsway, Crusader and Regent.  A fancier version of the Suburban was introduced using the Savoy name - basically the Suburban with Cranbrook / Regent trimmings..

 

For 1953 Dodge switched to the Plymouth body.  The coupe and sedan had the wheelbase extended 5" in the rear seat area.  For some reason, Chrysler tooled two different front clips - one the 119" wheelbase coupe and sedan - and one for the 114" wheelbase models - hardtop, convertible and 2-door wagon.  The small Plymouth-based Dodges used the front clip from the 114" wheelbase models.  The 6 cylinder 114" wheelbase Coronet frame was shared with Plymouth and the small Dodge.

 

Model line up in  1953 was cut to two series with the small 111" models dropped.  The Suburban was now a Cambridge or Crusader while the Savoy was Cranbrook or Regent.  In April 1953 Chrysler Canada introduced a new top of the line series - Belvedere in Plymouth and Mayfair in Dodge.   They both came as a 4dr Sedan or 2dr Hardtop with the originaly hardtops in the Cranbrook / Regent series being dropped.  As the convertible was imported,it remained a Cranbrook.   No Plymouth-based convertibles were imported from the late 1930's through to and including 1953.

 

Engines in the American Plymouth used the 217.6-cid 23" block engine, while the Canadian Plymouth and small Dodge used the 218.1-cid 25" block.  When the new Mayfair and Belvedere models were introduced, the engine was upgraded to 228.0-cid, 25" block.  Hy-Drive became an option, just as in the U.S.

 

For 1954 the series names were changed on the Plymouth to Plaza, Savoy and the new Belvedere.  Dodge in Canada remained Crusader, Regent and Mayfair.  Wagons were called Suburban in both makes.  The U.S. Dodge introduced a Sierra 4-dr Wagon on the 119" wheelbase.  2dr Wagon bodies were shipped to Mitchell-Bentley in Ionia, Michigan where the body was extended and rear doors added. The completed bodies were shipped to the assembly plants.

 

In May, 1954, Plymouth in the U.S. offered the Powerflite automatic as an option.  It was also offered in Canada on the Plymouth and small Dodge but I am unable to determine just when they announced it.

 

By the way, although Chrysler of Canada would import any of the U.S, Dodges, they built only 1953 Coronet V8 4dr Sedans and 1954 Royal V8 4dr Sedans in Canada.

 

Chrysler simplied things for 1955.  All Coronet, Royal and Custom Royal models were on 120" wheelbase, the extra 5" in the rear seat area.  Thus the front clip of C-R-CR models fit the 115" wheelbase Plymouth. 

[Old Ray]

Hi Bill, thanks for the great info, I was car showing today in the sun and rain with over 800 cars on a golf course driving range with miles of walking and this old butt and mind is dragging . I might have a couple of questions to ask in the morning when I get my head around your information if that is OK. Thanks, Ray