Plymouths in racing!
Six-cylinder Plymouths aren't the first cars that come to mind for the heyday of stock car racing, but for a brief time in the 1950s, Plymouths were winning races over bigger and faster cars that had factory support! A shrewd driver named Lloyd Petty figured out the big guys' weaknesses, and exploited them without mercy – literally leaving his competition in the pits or alongside the track.
Bob Westphal raided his collection for this magazine article, from the February-March, 1973 issue of Special Interest Autos. Click on the thumbnails below to open the full pages. Be patient, because they're big files!
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History of the Plymouth automobile
Walter P. Chrysler had plenty of automotive experience by the time he formed his own company. He resigned as president of General Motors' Buick division in 1919, moved to Willys-Overland, then, in 1921, acquired a controlling interest in the Maxwell-Chalmers Motor Company. Production of the Chalmers ended in 1923; the first Chrysler appeared in 1924; and the Maxwell name was dropped in 1925, by which time the company was known as Chrysler Corporation.
In 1928, following General Motors example, Chrysler introduced Plymouth as its low-price car, and DeSoto, intended appeal to mid-range budgets. The first Plymouth owed a great deal to its Maxwell ancestors -- not necessarily a bad thing -- but it offered the first hydraulic brakes in its price class, and other features that justified a price tag slightly higher than its competition.
The value was good, and the timing was right. Ford ended production of the Model T in May of 1927, and didn't have the Model A for sale until December 2, 1927. Plymouth was introduced in July of 1928, while Ford was still struggling to fill orders for the Model A.
"In its first year," reports allpar.com, the online Mopar authority, "Plymouth had placed 15th [in sales], while Willys-Overland's Whippet was #3. For 1929, Plymouth would rise to 10th, while Hudson's Essex would slip into third. 1930 would find Plymouth in 8th place, with Buick in third."
In 1931, while competitors were buckling down for the Great Depression, Walter Chrysler spent millions to introduce a totally new Plymouth, the PA. The PA's engine remained the 196CI 4-cyl of previous years, with horsepower increased from 48 to 56. The typical 4-cylinder vibration was calmed by new strategy for mounting the engine: called "Floating Power," it was original to Plymouth, and other makers eventually paid royalties to use it. A free-wheeling mode made clutchless shifting possible. The all-steel Briggs bodies sat relatively low, improving road holding, and since Plymouth shared many body panels with the 6-cylinder DeSoto, it was a bigger car than its competitors. Production of the PA was 106,896, not a lot compared to Ford's 626,579 or Chevrolet's 619,554, but enough to knock Buick out of third place in national car sales. Buick didn't regain the #3 position until 1954.