I am not new to the board,, but new to Plymouth cars. I have the chance to buy a 1950 plymouth special deluxe 4 door. it has a good but not perfect paint job. there are 4 or 5 little pin holes on the p***enger side door with surface rust. other than the 5 pin holes in the paint I cannot find any rust on the car. the interior was redone a few years back. the seats / headliner and doors look great. the floor is done in the rubber matting. right now the brakes do not work, the owner said the car sat for a few years and they quite working, he thinks it is the master cylinder. I have not heard the car start but he does have the paper work from the rebuild in 97. and he GAURANTEES it runs great. the battery is bad and it has sat. he said that he had to put a little gas into the carb last time to start it,, but once it had been running a while it started no problem and ran great. the back doors need some type of work too.. the doors don't want to shut unless you hold the handle down when you shut them and release the handle after the door is shut.... still has the original 6 volt wiring system. Well,,, here is the question..... he want $4000 dollars for the car. it is in NICE shape, not mint show condition but GREAT daily driver condition.... (obviously once the brakes / engine / battery are repaired) so,,, is $4000 a crazy price for a nice rust free 50 4 door???? also, is the straight 6 pretty reliable. I won't drive it coast to coast but I want a car that is good for a few hour drives...... I'm NOT buying the car to resell,, and I know that cost is pretty opinionated.. but do what you guys do best.. give me some opinions.
brakes are easily up graded to front discs. Engines are dead reliable high torque at low Rpm long stroke engines as long as you keep them under 3600 rpm. Typically a high numerical rear end limits them to 60 to 65 mph cruising speed. Cars were driven coast to coast alot in teh 50 (it was kinda all they had) I have a 56 engine in my 46 cope and have driven it on several 1200 to 1500 mile sojurns. Check out the information available at www. p15-d24.com. also check out member blueskies web page regarding his 50 Plymouth. 4k is probably reasonable for a drivable piece I would do a deduct for the inop brakes. the other quirk is front shokes mounted between the A arms, but changing to a frame mount system is cheap ad easy and effecetive. If you buy it be advised the 6 V system is pos ground and the lug bolts on one side are lefty tighty. Front and ream main seals tend to leak and there should be a gasket between the trans and bellhousing if not it will leak gear lub there.
I had a 55 Plymouth wagon with the flat-head 6 and could not kill it!!! I ran it without water,extra low on oil, fast & hard and it was like a Timex. Took a lickin' and kept on tickin'. I would negotiate hard, 4 grand sounds too high to me. Does this guy know we're in a recession. You might remind him. Good luck
Does it have a regular 3 speed stick, 3 sp/OD, or Fluid Drive? I personally hate Fluid drive, it would be a big bonus if it was a 3 speed with Overdrive, since that'll be much nicer on the highway with the flat 6. With a Fluid Drive, you're going to top out at about 60 or 65 mph, and you'll be screaming at that speed. $4K seems like a lot for that particular car. For $4K, I think you could buy a similar car that is ready to drive, not needing brakes and other mechanical work. Who knows, having not heard it run, and having been parked so long, the gas tank could be all varnish, the tires could be flat spotted (fairly likely), and you might end up needing to spend a grand or more to make it roadworthy. If it was a coupe I might think differently, but personally I think that's a bit high. I'd also like to know how the chrome is, if it was all replated, is it all nice driver quality original stuff, is it pitted/half ***ed. Pictures would help a great deal in this case, too.
I had a 50 ply 4dr for 5-6 years, bought it for my wife but she didn't like driving a stick shift so it sat quite a bit as I had other cars to drive. I like the motors, they run smooth and at highway speed (65 around here) and very dependable. But, 4K sounds very high to me. Mine was very nice, no rust, and recent upholstery, good gl***, paint was not very good and I paid $2k for it and had to re-do all the brakes and did an upper end on the motor. I had it for sale for 2 years at $1500 and nobody wanted it, finally sold it for $1250 and took a loss on it just to unload it. Nice cars, not much value. My guess is top dollar for a runner needing work would be $1500 to $1800 based on limited experience.
I'd want to hear it start and see it move. I bought a car that had the engine "recently" rebuilt, and that ran when parked. It had been parked for 4 years. Turned out it had been off the road for 12 years, and hadn't been started or moved in four years. The engine was seized. The brakes were stuck to the drums. The wheel would not turn, and winching it back did not break the wheel free. We got the car running and driving and stopping. But I will never again believe a car was recently rebuilt and running unless I hear it run and see it drive.
Like Squablow said if it is a 3- speed or overdrive 3-speed ok but fluid drives are a pain and near imposssible to get parts for. I personally think 3000 or less would be a better buy in number but when your looking at a near rust free car, you might want to bite the bullet. I know I did on my 50 chevy(absolutely Zero Rust) and I never regretted it. Mopars are very good /dependable cars but the resale value is very low.
4 door + less$$ than a 2 door and for that price i have seen some nice drivers in 2 door. pull the floor mat back on either side and look for rust by the front hinge piller on the floor, they tend to rust there. you ain't gonna break any speed records with it but they run great, smooth and quiet. the motor in my avatar is my 50 fastback.
4,000.00 for a non running no brakes 50 plymouth 4 door ? You could do a lot better than that in this economy. Do you love this car ? if not wait for one you truly love and you won't have to ask anyone's opinion, you'll know.
I've got a 1950 Chrysler Club Coupe (2 door) I paid $2500 and my car ran and stopped whn I bought it. Some pretty serious body work necessary under the 1/2" of bondo. Parts availability can be a *****, and pricey. I'd look for a similar year chubby belair
Sounds high by Texas standards Im not sure how this compares towhere you are at though. I just got a 52 chevy 2 door w rebuilt motor runs great, stops pretty well. Interior and paint both look good, and included the stock skirts, visor and an extra manifold as well for 4,500$ so hope that helps. PS I have a 4 door 50 4 door dodge project in the cl***ifies for like 300$ it was running when I got it. It needs a rebuild now and front sheet metal put back together also. But Im pretty sure you could make it a runner for quite a bit less than 4K.
I've got a "thing" if you will that I believe most of you share for late 40's early 50's cars... I don't find many of them for sale around Iowa, the ones that are usually are rusted pretty bad or in need of ALOT of body work, ect. I have to agree with you guys though. he seems to be pretty firm on the 4000 or he keeps the car, which is too bad,, I think I'll p*** on it,, and the poor car will just keep getting worse and worse as it deteriorates from sitting, I'm sure you guys have been there too, but nothing seems more sad than a car that is at a prime time to be saved that someone refuses to sell for a fair price and refuses to upkeep so it sits there,, getting worth less, and less money,, and harder and harder to restore.... but..... for now I'll save the 4000 dollars, if you guys see a nice early 50's buick pop up around iowa and remember this post,,,,,, shoot me an email... lestat99@mchsi.com
Plymouth was never aflicted with fluid drive. Od is good but swaping in a B body or Cherokee 3.55 rear is nearly as good.
Keep looking in the cl***ifieds here and I am sure you will find what you are looking for. The old Plymouths pop up from time to time.
if we're talking 50 plymouths, 4K will buy you a running and driving two door. way to much for a 4 door that's been sitting, recession or not. that's more of a $2000 car around here.
I forgot to mention a 49 ply 4dr for sale recently near me that I p***ed on and it looked pretty good from the pics. Can't remember the price but it was reasonable, much less than the $4k. If you are interested PM me and I will chase down the lady's name and number and see if it is still available.
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