The owner of this 1955 Plymouth Belvedere says that it is not a garage queen, but a survivor that he drives and enjoys. Lack of space has meant that he must part with the car, so you will find it listed for sale here at Hemmings by the seller. The Plymouth is located in Eugene, Oregon, and the owner has set a price of $11,500 for this classic, but there is some room for limited negotiation on the price.
The owner of the Belvedere describes it as a survivor. He purchased it 10-years-ago, and the car is completely original and unrestored. The car presents really nicely. There is some wear-through in the paint in some spots, but the owner keeps it waxed, so rust in these spots is not an issue. He doesn’t mention any rust in the floors, so hopefully, it is solid in those areas.
The interior of this Plymouth looks really nice. One area where the 1955 Plymouth was ahead of the game was in the area of the gear-shift on the cars fitted with the PowerFlite transmission. The selector emerged from the dash instead of being on the steering column. Today this is a common sight on a lot of vehicles, but in 1955 it was an unusual feature. The dash on this car looks really nice, and I’ve always been fascinated by Plymouth’s fixation on symmetry. This makes the dash look really attractive, but it does place the temperature and oil pressure gauges directly in front of the passenger, which does make it difficult for the driver to monitor. The big round item in the dash in front of the passenger is the speaker for the factory radio.
The interior trim is in fantastic original condition. The seat and door upholstery are in good condition, as is the headliner. The carpet has a few marks on it, but it still looks good for its age. The owner states that the car is no garage queen and that it is taken out for a spin at least once every two weeks. Since he bought it a decade ago, he has clocked up 10,000 miles in the car. He also claims that the car has covered a genuine 38,000 miles. The car still features a lot of the original service stickers on the door jamb, so this might provide confirmation of this.
Under the hood is the 230ci inline 6-cylinder engine. As previously stated, this is backed by the PowerFlite automatic transmission. These engines produced 117hp and helped to propel the Belvedere quite well. This is an area where the Belvedere produces one of those really interesting statistics that almost belongs in an episode of The Twilight Zone. The 4-door sedan could be specified with either the 6-cylinder engine or a V8. In 1955 Plymouth produced 160,984 sedans with the six, and 160,984 with a V8. I’d be fairly certain that this makes it one of the very few volume production sedans to achieve this feat.
With more than 160,000 6-cylinder sedans being produced in 1955, you would think that there would be a reasonable number still kicking around out there. Unfortunately, plain old wear and tear, coupled with rust, have significantly thinned the numbers on the roads today. Completely original, unmolested and unrestored examples are now pretty thin on the ground. I have only located one other original ’55 Belvedere for sale at present. It doesn’t feature the two-tone paint, it is fitted with a 3-speed manual transmission, and its condition is not as good as this one generally appears to be. The owner of that example is asking $10,990. Given the fact that this one needs no real restoration work, and could be driven and enjoyed as it is, then the price looks pretty good.
Christine’s grandmother !
Christine was only 3 years younger than this car.
How could three years make a grandmother?
I would say weaker, unpopular cousin.
1955 was the only year for that weird little out of the dash gear lever. I had a 55 Dodge and it had the suffering six too. I like the looks of the Plymouth better.
I find it a little odd that from 1955 to 59, as horsepower increased each year, Dodge was always six horsepower ahead of Plymouth with this very same engine. This is through Wikipedia BTW.
it’s a nice looking old car but not $10,000 nice it’s still just an old 4-door Plymouth
I agree I would be a buyer at about$5000
There’s no way you could restore one for this money. This looks fantastic, at least to me.
I would be more happy with the V8 3 speed but that is just me!
I like it but, the flat six was weak, as in couldn’t get out of its own way ( very dependable though ). I had a 59 with the 6 banger, when the engine started knocking ( my fault because I forgot to check the oil ) I decided to junk it. I drove it to the junk yard 12 miles away at an average of 60 mph. in second gear and couldn’t blow it up. I really like this car though. I want to get it for under $9000.
Let’s talk!
YOu may have a chance for a price somewhere around there…still not sold
Add aftermarket AC and still have 110 horses to spare.
My Grandfather had a 2 door HT Dodge version of this that he used to terrorize the central Idaho highways with. It had a small bore hemi and was quite a car. If I ever see a decent price on a similar one……I will buy it. He bought it new. My brother put it in the ditch while driving sitting on his lap at about 5 years old.
For 1955 Plymouth used Dodge v8 with the poly head.
Slight typo on production figures. I read about half were 6 cylinders, not EXACTLY half. One site said there was a shortage of V8’s in early ’55 and many went to Dodge. It could also be, some people just didn’t like change, the old flattie always got them home, I can just hear people like my grandfather, “we’ll just stick with the 6 cylinder, thanks”. They regretted it later, I’m sure, this motor, while stout, was no performer( especially when coupled to the automatic, also new for ’55, I think) and these cars were just too heavy. They needed a V8. Could even hold back on the sale of this too. Tell you what, no shortage of color here. Very nice car.
I had an orange & black 55 Belvador. Best car I ever owned. I would love another one to live out my sr years.
That’s a 1956 steering wheel and I need that horn RING ! Although a nice survivor type car – the current market will only bare a few – sad that this will be looked at in a few years as one that was left outside and not worth the effort.
Nope..It actually IS a ’55 steering wheel optional (in the catalog) at extra cost
Just as Chrysler was slow in getting up to date styling after WW II, late in getting an automatic (the last mfr really), the decision to give Plymouth a V8 was late.
Work was proceeding on the new 1955 models (late) when, in 1952, Chrysler management decided the new 1955 Plymouth needed a V8.
Not enough time to development a new V8, so Chrysler took the 1954 Dodge 241-cid V8 and gave it poly heads. That still resulted in delays.
In Canada the V8 was available only on the Belvedere and Mayfair. The lower priced models came only with a six.
The new Plymouth A block V8 and a new engine plant were ready to go in the summer of 1955.
I love it! 4 doors or not. Flathead or not. Automatic or not. To me this is a very practical car. The styling was great. I can see myself bidding on this one, if only….
Nice example
It. sold at Mecum Auction in Portland last June for about 6K I think. I was reluctant to reduce my reserve, but I really needed the space, and I had almost 10 yrs of fun with the car. I hope the new owners have treated it well and enjoy it!