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1946 Plymouth P15S: Run It Or Rod It

1946 Plymouth P15S Deluxe

For nearly 70 years this Plymouth P15S Deluxe has stayed in the care of the same family. The original owner purchased it brand new in ’46, drove it for a few years and then in ’55 gave it to their nephew. Over the past 60 years, the nephew has kept and maintained it. It currently runs and drives, but it needs new tires and would likely benefit from a tuneup. It has seen one respray, but is an older one. Given its age and condition, I would hate to see it modified, but it would make for an awesome period correct hot rod. Check it out here on eBay in Clarkston, Washington. So would you keep this Plymouth as is or would you bolt on a few upgrades? Special thanks to Jamie P for this tip!

Comments

  1. Avatar gord

    link not working
    nice car!!

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    • Avatar gord

      working now!!
      do a BF restoration (barn find) like you did on the mustang… get her running, enjoy
      if feel need to restore, then do so… would not rod… alot of work and not much gain unless you have a specific purpose
      only things i would consider are a FI at the carb, modern dual zone brakes, “hidden” upgrades for safety
      YMMV
      success to you

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  2. Avatar Don Sicura

    While I am not too fond of these old tanks from Mopar, I find this one fascinating because of its history & originality and because it has the correct number of doors. I’d be proud to have this one in my collection of toys.

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  3. Avatar Vince Habel

    years ago I thought about up grading one of these with a slant 6.

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  4. Avatar jlschmidt

    New tires, new paint, clean up the interior, drop in a 318 V-8 and drive it like you stole it!

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  5. Avatar Wayne

    With the increased interest in “survivor” cars I would hope the owner and or new owners would do everything they could to keep this car from being modified other than upgrading the drive train so it can be safely driven and enjoyed!

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  6. Avatar SoCal Car Guy

    Too damn nice an original to hot rod, and I’m a hot rodder at heart. I’d lean towards a “sympathetic” restoration — fresh paint in the original color, clean and detail wherever reasonable without disturbing the originality, and freshen up the interior and trunk to make it look as good as possible while again preserving as much of the original as feasible.

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    • Avatar Ed P

      Ditto. New paint, clean and repair the upholstery as needed. This is to nice to change.

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      • Avatar St.Ramone de V8

        Yep. That’s the right move, I think. Paint isn’t original, and looks gross. Rest of car is too nice to tear apart. Make it safe, and enjoy.

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  7. Avatar DT

    I agree,I think these are great cars,You might not be cruising in the fast lane but they are viable transportation.Its been painted already once….so a good quality paint job.Fat whites,Then restore as you go

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  8. Avatar Chris in WNC

    Rod it? why bother.
    put a high compression head on it + dual carbs and a split exhaust, it will run with the V8s.
    add a modified cam if that’s not enough…….

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  9. Avatar RickyM

    Love it – keep it as it is and get it running safely and smoothly and just use it !

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  10. Avatar Wayne

    Chris! That’s exactly what I did with my 49 Plymouth (above). It has an Edmunds head and an Offy intake with dual carbs and dual exhaust and it can keep up all day long with normal highway driving.

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    • Avatar Rick

      Great job Wayne. You have a beautiful ride. I had a 49 Ply convert also it was a pale yellow with black top. My dad and I rebuilt the engine just back to stock tho. Let my cousin use it to take his date to the drive in theater (this was 1964) and he was showing off and lost control of the thing managed to hit three other cars and a tree. Dad said it was not worth fixing so off to the junk yard, didn’t bother me so much then…..

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  11. Avatar Jose

    Would make it a roadster with new drive train and auto tranny. Would replace bench seat with neck rest bucket seats, re-chrome, new paint, shifter in center console, and the devil take the hindmost.

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    • Avatar Rick

      Oh Jose please tell me you are joking.

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    • Avatar Ed P

      Noooooooooooooo!

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    • Avatar MikeH

      Jose–you’re just trying to upset me, right?

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  12. Avatar Floyd MI

    Here’s one Rod Ready…complete with a chop’d roof and faded flames. Not much of a Plymouth fan but this car had tons charisma .

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  13. Avatar geomechs Member

    My dad had the club coupe version of this; it was his first NEW car. A good friend of his had a sedan like this one. I’d never dream of doing anything to either of them other than keeping them tuned and in proper driving condition.

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  14. Avatar Wayne

    Rick..Thanks for the compliment, I really appreciate it!

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  15. Avatar Dan C

    The seats actually look to be in very good condition. Too bad about the door panels and around the rear windows. Looks like someone left the windows open when it rained. Yes, it would be a shame to hot rod this car. Not sure what his minimum price is…but this would really be a cool car with a complete redo. It doesn’t seems that too much major is needed.

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  16. Avatar charlie Member

    Mopar at the time had to make the cheapest car (this one) more like the Dodge, Desoto, and Chrysler to use the same parts in many models, compared to GM, so the Plymouth was in terms of “refinement” of the basic body and quality, a better car than the Ford (which could run away from it) or the Chevy (which could outlast it), so it saw a lot of use as a taxi, low speeds, passenger comfort, whereas the Fords were the cop cars, and the Chevy’s the salemen’s cars. The engine would run essentially silently with no vibration at idle, but 55 mph was about the maximum cruising speed absent an overdrive. My cousin had a ’49 convertible, and beat the engine to death trying to drive it at a sustained 70, rod through the block at about 75,000 miles.

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  17. Avatar jim s

    please make it safe and the just drive it. if you want a hot rod find one that has already be rodded, like the one pictured above. great find.

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  18. Avatar Charles

    This car looks too original to modify.

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  19. Avatar Rich

    Did they think that name through? Plymouth P*ss?

    Like 0

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