Projects 41 Plymouth Coupe to keep or not to keep

I recently sold my 1946 Fleetline Aerosedan. After 2 years of it being my daily driver, I decided to sell it and build something from scratch. Something I can make a full custom out of. Chop, bagged, MII etc etc.

Plan was to use up to $6k of the funds from the Fleetline to buy a complete as possibly vehicle to use as a platform. Preferably something that had been in storage for years. Non running prefered so as long as it had all the bits and pieces. I looked under every rock for a 40' Chevy but have come up short.

I only have 2 criterias

1) must be a "running board" car
2) must have a rear seat (I have a wife and 2 kids that love taking trips with me).

So after endless searching I stumbled across a 1941 Plymouth on ebay earlier this week. Never really thought about a Plymouth but they have such killer lines......The gentleman had a buy it now of $9500 which quite frankly I felt was high. I offered $7k cash and he declined. Would not go less than $8500.....So 2 days ago I get on craigslist and low and behold I find a pretty decent 41' business coupe.

I drove 1.5 hours to look at it and passed on it...not because it was a bad car, but because of the no rear seat. I didn't want to make an impulse purchase. So yesterday I make one last effort to buy the 41' on ebay and again was turned down. So I sat here for a while I decided to take a stab at the local 41... Ended hauling it home.....

Here's my dilema....Is it even worth the trouble of converting the business coupe into a 4 passenger car? I know the entire package tray needs to be redone since it's actually a one peice web design up to the seat backrest..... I mean, If I'm gonna chop a car I'll obviously in there reworking all the structures anyway.... And If I plan on baggin it, I'm gonna be reworking the floor too.... I guess I'm just trying to decide if I should just build this one or keep on looking....

For the record, I listed this one on ebay. If it sells and I can make a little change, then cool. So I basically have 7 days to decide what I want to do.

Here's another thought, suppose I decide not to chop it, would it still be worth converting it to a 4 seater??

 

That thing is "KILLER" as is.. Leave the kids at home...

 

I'd be the one staying at home while my wife and kids are cruising.

 

Really nice car. I grew up with these cars and have always been partial to the 41 models. I would do what ever I had to to keep it but if I did add rear seats, I would leave the rest stock (my opinion of course). If I recall, the coupes like that had the flip down opera style seats on the P12 models didn't they? Best wishes.
John

 

I love it . Would make a great custom . Blue

 

John,

I'm not sure if they came with opera seats like the 39 fords did. The 41 plymouth that I mentioned above actually just relisted on ebay. Here's a picture of his back seat.

 

Pictures of the car I was originally after on Ebay.

 

Hey LBL,
As nice as that coupe or coupes are, if you are going to travel with kid(s) they need more space and open windows. Your idea is nice for two adults, but that back seat looks like claustrophobia plus. I see it as: Would you and your wife like to sit back there for any amount of time?

My wife would pay the extra money to get a station wagon that is cool looking, runs well and for pure comfort in those hot Texas days and nights, A/C. Your kids would have plenty of space in the back and so would your suitcases or camping equipment "waaay" in the back. If your skill set is good enough to do a chop, then chopped wagons look very cool no matter which one you get. It is something different, and comfortable...Isn't that what it is all about? Comfort and looks?

Jnaki
Sorry, but the running board criteria may put you in the Woody category, but if you say you want your kids and wife to go with you, that criteria may have to take a "back seat" to comfort and power. Check out the other available station wagons for starters, your family would think highly of you. YRMV

 

I had a 1941 Plymouth P11 ASC Coupe.......Auxillary Seat Coupe from 2007 to 2013..........unfortunately had to sell it......buggar!.........anyway it had that twin folding rear seat setup which was an option in 1940 & 1941........after that Plymouth in 1942 introduced the Club Coupe with the longer roof up to 1948 which had a proper full size rear seat and the single seat Business Coupe continued to use the 1940 style shorter coupe roof line.........my car was a factory RHD car built in Sth Africa & imported into Oz in the 1990's............these folding seats were suited to children up to about 12, adults could sit there but they were very uncomfortable due to the seats being quite low resulting in your knees being almost level with your ears.......lol......................boo hoo........I miss it.........btw the ASC option was available on both P11 and P12 Coupes with about 38,000 supposedly made tho only about 1200 in the P11series...........andyd

 

I believe that you are correct. Sorry about that. The Plymouth that you bought looks to be in nicer condition than the other car. Back in the '50's when I was a teen, we used to pickup cars like that for under $100.00. I bought a '34 Chevy for $10.00 and not that bad either.
John

 

My 41 ply conv has a back seat so you should have the room for one if you take that tray out.

 

Interesting. My 41 vert has a flip up seat bottoms.

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It would be hard for me to do anything to that car but drive it.

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Don't waste your money. Whatever you buy, if you are going to gut it like a trout anyway, get something better looking and with a worse power train suspension etc. Don't waste your time on any Chrysler product, they are too dumpy looking.

Get something like another Chev, or possibly a larger GM product like a Pontiac or Buick, something with some style and chrome to it.

I know this is too far away from you but someone in my area is advertising a 1948 Lincoln sedan with no suspension and power train for $2900. Something like that would be ideal. They had a sucky engine, suspension etc to begin with so why waste money buying a good one. The Lincoln body has a sleek tapered shape at the back. The grille and front end treatment was kind of heavy handed but that can be fixed.

In Texas there should be lots of good rust free bodies to chose from. You don't have to waste your money buying a good running car to get a good body.

 

Hmmm... I feel that the GM's excluding Cadillac, of that era were the dumpy ones...

Anyway, I agree with the Power train statement. Chrysler had some really tough solid drivetrains in the 1940's. And they handled well too(with decent tires).

I wish I had that business coupe, what a beauty!

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That's a beautiful coupe. I have a '39 Plymouth coupe and i love the thing. If you want a back seat then just sell the coupe and find something else. You'll be way ahead in both time and money. Plus I'm sure someone out there would love to have that car. Good luck.

-Chris

 

Laidbackluis, my wife's favorite color, please don't chop it, that car is so perfect! There are more out there that have the extra room you need. I wish that I had one to trade with you.

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Chryslers Dumpy looking?
Someone needs to look in the mirror I think.

 

Dumpy makes for a great custom platform.
Fat arse works well with a Taildragger, and the roof line puts the "sleek" into a chubby car when chopped.

The real issue here is cruising with the family.
Do what you need to, to keep em safe and comfortable.

 

Wish that I had found it!
My dad bought one new in '41, and it is the first car I can ever remember, having been born in '46.
It was originally that light green, and he had it painted black.
He removed the package shelf, and I can remember riding in the back, on a quilt, on the floor. Took trips like that, too.
After my brother was born in '49, Daddy installed a rear seat from some unknown donor at the "urging" of my mom. That worked fine for two little boys.
Eventually traded it off in '52 for a '51 bathtub Nash. Plenty of room then!

 

What a stunner as is, would be a shame to destroy these beautiful factory lines. I am sure you can work out a back seat for the kiddies. Find something more prone to customizing in my opinion. These Plymouths have such custom like original lines it would be hard to improve on. These MoPars are so much more stylish than Ford or Chevy of this era, oops my MoPar jones is showing. Actually, I never met an older car I didn't like.

 

So looks like you can make the back seat work, don't know how old your kids are but I'd be thinking about making a custom one and not fitting a stock one as to get as much room as possible as little kids need car seats and big kids have legs lol.

On the note of the Plymouths I think they look awesome and I've seen quite a few custom ones in the last few years and I think with s good eyenyou could make this really phenomenal.

A stock mercury has great lines but people still cut them into something even better. Go for it!

 

Good luck with the sale on E-Bay..so you can find what you really want, and leave this fine example alone.
I know I risk sounding like a restorer (which I'm not), but damn that car is nice.
This car is beautiful, lowering it with the proper stance, would go a long way.

 

Yeah, what 40FORDPU said.

 

Lol half the crowd says they are a turd and the other half is scared to cut them up. Sounds like your in the clear to do whatever you want

 

I know what I'd be doing. Sell the Plymouth which indeed is a very nice car. Too nice to go chopping up just to get limited kids space. Buy a 4 door Buick or Cadillac and do the factory custom look like the Duchess built for the Duke of Windsor. You sit up the front with a cigar and jazz playing. Kids and wife down the back with the divider window up on their iPads.

 

I have actually both, business coupe and the coupe with the original fold down seats. The body is the same. The main problem are the trunk lid hinges. On a business coupe they reach horizontally into the package tray. The coupe with the back seats has different hinges that go down like 45 degree. They use the same springs, but upside down. I do have a complete back seat assembly with the wood and everything, I might part with.

 

It's a beauty. Keep the car, put in side facing rear seats. That way the trunk spring issue won't bother you. Also more head height. Look at boat seats for ideas.

Remove everything behind the front seat and see what you've got.


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Definately a lot of food for thought. The car is up on ebay. I have a good feeling it'll sell. At which point, i'll look for another four passenger coupe.

I really appreciate you all taking the time to chime in with ideas and opinions (good and bad lol).

As far as buying a wagon. Momma says "hell no, we aren't buying a hearse".