After The second world war finished as well as Detroit returned to developing noncombatant vehicles as opposed to tools, many brand-new 1946-1948 American vehicles were a little changed variations of prewar layouts (since Americans desired vehicles today). 1949 was the large version year for the American vehicles that actually left the battle in the rear-view mirror; Ford mosted likely to independent front suspension as well as sleeker lines, GM presented an extreme brand-new overhead-valve V8 family members as well as sleeker lines, as well as Chrysler … well, Chrysler maintained structure stodgy-looking equipment with antique yet trusted suspension as well as powertrain equipment. The brand-new 1949 Evades obtained bodywork that was a little bit smoother-looking than that of the ’48 s, yet styling relocated steel in those sales as well as days weren’t as solid as Chrysler wished. Right here is just one of those vehicles, a high-grade Coronet in a North The golden state self-service knacker’s backyard.
I dropped in this backyard on an electron-fueled drive from the San Francisco Bay to the Greatest Little City on the planet since I had actually seen this auto in Row52’s on-line stock as well as I wished to get hold of some windshield-wiper equipment for my 1941 Plymouth task. The wiper components weren’t ideal for my auto, yet this Dodge ended up being total as well as rather strong, well worth recording for this collection.
In the Chrysler Firm brand-prestige pecking order of 1949, Dodge placed over entry-level Plymouth yet listed below DeSoto as well as Chrysler.
The Coronet name was presented for 1949, marking the leading trim degree for Dodge vehicles that year (the last brand-new Dodge birthing the Coronet name in The United States and Canada was a 1976 version).
The retail price for this auto was $1,927, or concerning $23,904 in 2022 bucks. The really most inexpensive 1949 Dodge four-door car was the Meadowbrook, which set you back $1,848($22,924 today). Major skinflints can obtain a stripped-down ’49 Plymouth De Luxe four-door for a simple $1,492($18,508 currently).
What you obtained as typical devices on cost effective vehicles in 1949 varies substantially from what you obtain today. You had to pay additional for a heating system in the 1949 Dodge. I most likely must have acquired this “MoPar 70” symbol while I existed.
This was what Dodge’s pamphlet authors called “living-room convenience.”
Below’s what it would certainly have resembled almost three-quarters of a century back.
The identification number (where I have actually eliminated the last 2 figures) reveals that this auto was integrated in The golden state, though not at the Los Angeles plant. It ends up that Chrysler had a setting up plant in Northern The golden state, on Davis Road in San Leandro, which’s where this auto was birthed. The very first junkyard I ever before purchased from, when looking for components for my 1969 Toyota Corona car in the very early 1980 s, got on Davis simply beyond of Doolittle Drive from the manufacturing facility’s place. Chrysler closed down its San Leandro plant in 1954, after which it was utilized by International Farmer and after that Caterpillar. Today, Drake’s Developing Business makes beer on that particular place.
The engine is a Chrysler flathead six-cylinder, which was a workhorse that remained in manufacturing from the 1920 s till well right into the 1970 s (later ones were meant for fixed usage in generators as well as watering pumps, in addition to to power some army vehicles). Chrysler really did not sign up with the overhead-valve straight-six fad till lengthy after GM as well as Ford, with the Slant-6 engine initially showing up in 1960 designs. In situation you’re interested, the really last mass-production brand-new auto you can purchase with a flathead engine in the USA was the 1964 Mosaic Marathon.
If this is the engine that was set up in San Leandro when this auto was being constructed, it’s a 230- cubic-incher (3.8-liter) ranked at 102 horse power. These engines obtained switched early as well as frequently over the years, however, so maybe among various variations.
The transmission is just one of the peculiarities of its age: a semi- automated. Referred to as the Gyro-Matic in 1949 Evades (or the Presto-Matic in Chryslers as well as the Tip-Toe Change in DeSotos), this transmission utilized Chrysler’s Liquid Drive combining as opposed to a flywheel, with 2 ahead equipments plus an electrically-actuated overdrive system that caused 4 ahead rates. The base transmission in the 1949 Dodge vehicles was a three-on-the-tree column-shift handbook with Liquid Drive (which permitted you to leave the auto on duty at quits as well as start in any type of equipment, yet still needed the clutch for moving), yet Coronet purchasers can obtain the Gyro-Matic as a choice.
You still had a clutch pedal with a Gyro-Matic, yet the vehicle driver just utilized it when relocating the gearshift in between placements (neutral, reverse, high as well as reduced). A person that understood exactly how to drive a normal three-on-the-tree would certainly be driven crazy by the Gyro-Matic, since it looks specifically like that far more conventional configuration. When driving, you lowered the clutch, picked Reduced (where 2nd would certainly get on a three-speed) or High (where 3rd would certainly be), allow up on the clutch as well as struck the gas. Then, maybe driven like a routine automated, till you wished to transform in between the High as well as reduced varieties.
Right here’s a demo of the Gyro-Matic at work. The in 2014 for this transmission was 1953, after which routine two-pedal automatics took control of in the North American Chrysler schedule.
I liked this clock a whole lot, yet avoided getting it.
This auto isn’t rustic, yet the inside reveals that it invested years resting outdoors in the components. Repair of this mess would certainly have set you back plenty.
Pick-n-Pull frequently attempts to offer vehicles such as this as “contractors” before placing them in the basic available-for-parts stock, yet there were no takers at this rate. I discover plenty of Chrysler items of this age in the large self-service backyards, so it’s clear that there are even more of these vehicles available than there are individuals that are able as well as prepared to repair them up.