“De Luxe Three-Passenger Coupe: The car that really gets down to business! Perfect for business man, salesman or small family. Huge storage space in oversize luggage compartment. Economical to buy, economical to operate. Ample room for three.” So says a Plymouth brochure touting the 1950 Plymouth Deluxe Three-Passenger Coupe. The seller his this example posted here on craigslist in Chico, California, and they’re asking $7,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to numskal for the tip!
Deluxe, DeLuxe, or De Luxe. Potato, potahto, let’s call the whole thing off. As with Desoto, DeSoto, or De Soto, or Deville, DeVille, or De Ville, and many other car names, Plymouth refers to Deluxe in different ways and it’s written several different ways. The Three-Passenger Coupe, better known as a Business Coupe due to being popular with traveling salesmen at the time with its huge trunk space, was a shorter-wheelbase Plymouth and was, believe it or not, shared with the Suburban wagon. They were redesigned for 1949 and were made until 1952.
As most of you know, the back seat was left out and in its place was most of a package shelf to enlarge the trunk space. A person could easily sleep in the trunk of a business coupe, although there typically wasn’t a way to get back and forth between the passenger compartment and the trunk space so you’d better block it open so you can get out again. This is about as cool of a body style as it gets for me, but I’m old. You can see that the body looks great rust-wise, but there are some dents to work out.
The seller only provides seven photos and this is the only interior photo. It looks good and would look great after a couple of weekends’ worth of work. I’d take the seat out of there, check the floors, add some Dynamat-like sound-deadening material, and then either redo the rubber flooring or add carpet, even if it may not have had carpet originally. The seller’s asking price is between Hagerty’s #4 fair-condition value of $4,900 and the #3 good-condition value of $10,300. I’d say that with the number of dents and possible other bodywork needed (trim dented, missing badges, etc.), it’s probably closer to the $4,900 number. Thoughts?
It’s always unfortunate when a seller doesn’t pop the hood and show the engine, I’ll never understand that. This car would have had Plymouth’s 217.8-cu.in. L-head inline-six with 97 horsepower and 175 lb-ft of torque. It sends that power through a column-shifted three-speed manual with a single-plate Borg & Beck clutch to the rear wheels. The seller says that it runs and drives well and they have collected spare parts that go with the sale. A business coupe was on the top of my master car wish list for years and yet I’ve never owned one. I’d restore this car cosmetically to how it would have looked in 1950, and maybe convert it to 12v and do some other non-crazy functional updates, how about you?
I love this car. My first old car was a 1950 Dodge Wayfarer business coupe. Bought it too young and without guidance, I was in way over my head and regret selling it to this day. Wish it was closer!
Once said about the MG TC. “Sure made the old grey Plymouth look fat” now you know why.
I always thought the “Business Coupe” was a 2 door with a big butt. Rum Runners used business coupes, but by 1950, things had calmed down some, and these simply became the staple of the traveling sales,,,person. They were merely a business tool, and racked up a ton of miles, junked, and replaced. It’s why you don’t see many today. At about $1300 new, I think Plymouth, or Dodge, was the car of choice. Rare indeed, I read, of the 610,000 1950 Plymouths sold, only 16,000 were business coupes. They generally appealed to sales folks, as families wanted a back seat. A great find, a snowballs chance in Hades of remaining like this, but fun to see someone hung on to one all these years.
Given a choice between this and a rusted out Road Runner for 3 times the price, I’d take this, what a nice original
How cute is this! I am a fan of dumplings on wheels and this is a nice one!
One of the ugliest designs ever, IMHO!
Love this
My mother’s favorite car of all time was her 49 Plymouth 4 Dr same color as this. She never forgave my father getting rid of it after a VW bug ran a stop and wrinkled the fender on it while the bug was totaled.
In addition I have relayed previously that one of my brothers buddies had a 1950 business coupe identical to this except black kept it stock looking even the stock hubcaps but on widened rims with 60 series red line tires
But the drive train was a 413 wedge with a 4 speed stick interior was also stock except for a tach and pistol grip shifter coming out of the floor. That dam thing was the ultimate sleeper and could fly and won many stop light drags!!
I’d daily this in a heartbeat. Would prefer this in black.
I’ve always liked these and tried my best to buy one from an old man who
lived across the street from a young
lady I was seeing at the time. The guy bought it new in ’49 and was still
driving it when I met him in ’74. I did
my best to coax and cajole him into
selling it to me with no luck at all. It
was weathered and rusty even though
it had good enough bones to make a
fairly decent hot rod. Instead, he offered me his late wife’s car, a ’57
Pontiac Star Chief 4-door hardtop
with 47K miles on it. And boy, that thing was sharp! Not a rip, dent, or
tear anywhere on it! It was a dark
maroon color with a cream top and
side spears. After his wife died, he
parked it in the garage and drove it
sparingly. $300 did the deal and I took the car home and I was amazed
at just how well the car was preserved. The paint and chrome still
had a decent shine and the interior was spotless and free of rips and stains. Best part was the cammed up
347 V-8 with factory tri-power and dual exhausts. Like a fool, I sold it in
’75 to a collector for $2500 as I didn’t
have time to own and enjoy it. And now you know the rest of the story.
Been there, done that … in the 60s & 70s lots of old iron at cheap prices … and we bought, sold, traded today’s classics for beer money …
Yep. Me and a buddy bought a 1952 Buick Special for $65. I put the tags from my ’52 Super on it and drove it home, about 10 miles.
We stripped it down for parts.
I had a 49 coupe. Noteworthy for a single brakelight on the trunk lid, twin leading shoe front brakes, left hand lug threads on the left side wheels (learned that the hard way), glass tail lamp lenses, a quiet, if smokey, motor. Loved that roomy bench seat. Did not like the starter pedal. The powerless steering kept me busy.
The worn parking brake was an external band squeezing a wee drum at the front of the drive shaft. Out in the wet. The lad at the parts store looked at it and said “I don’t know where you’re gonna find that mister. Maybe Texas”. He was about 16 and I a mere 22. The first time I felt older than someone.
The shop owner walked past, glanced at the part and said “There’s a box of those under the stairs. Ten bucks.”
Under the stairs was not a nice place. The young man was gone a while and both he and the part were dusty when he returned.
Low turnover part. Even new it was not a great brake.
But Texas was a good place for parts in 1975. My riveted brake shoes came from Texas. Otherwise I would have taken them to Schiebel’s machine shop for rebuilding. Then Atlanta became the parts warehouse for the whole country and the parts shops carried a lot less stuff.
This one is a real honey! Proof that it doesn’t cost a fortune to get into vintage cars. Keep it as is and running.
i traded a set of spinners for one just like it in 1965
I’m like you,Scotty. I’ve wanted a Mopar business coupe for a long time but have never owned one. I see a lot of potential here. But I’m on the east coast and this is in California. So not in the cards for me. And anyway l enjoy my 1952 Plymouth Cambridge Club Coupe.
What, no LS swap comments yet? Ok, I’ll start the cut-it-up chorus: Ramchargers “High and Mighty” clone!!!
Get out of my head, RNR!!!🤣
An early Chrysler Hemi would do just fine replacing that flat head 6 cylinder, with a matching trans and power front disc brakes and power steering and updated front suspension.
A lot of people don’t know,this was a number one car for boot legers. With that big trunk and empty back seat ares you could pack a lot of “Shine” in there.
And the light weight and good handling you could out run the cops.
Not quite, it took a V8 to outrun the cops
It’s a shorty version of a 3 window Plymouth 1950 business coupe, but priced at $7500, its a great car for an entry level collector. Especially, if it runs and drives. What’s not to love?
I owned a Black 51 Plymouth business coupe. We installed a cammed up v8 in it with a four speed. I button tufted the interior in a brown naugahyde. This one had an extra chrome circular speaker that mounted on the rear shelf. It had a chrome grill and a mayflower ship in the middle. Never seen another. As I’ve mentioned before the radio in this car was unique as the chrome pushbuttons could be removed and a small knob underneath could be pulled out and a fine tuning could be made. I was twenty then so that was fifty years ago.
By the way, home town of Aaron Rodgers previous quarterback for Greenbay Packers. These cars are cool. The body lines are proportioned well enough and the little 6 banger will keep it moving along at a moderate rate of speed. The bench seat is a clincher, I’m certainly glad no one has put bucket seats in there. I could see myself tooling around the neighborhood in this. I’ve become such a tight wad these days it’s hard to pull a nickel out of my pockets. I’d have a real hard time drawing the money to purchase and bring this jewel to my front door.
God Bless America
Business-coupes (coupes of ANY kind) are definitely NOT my cup of tea. But this one appears to be a “survivor” which was used and not “museumed”. Yes, they were re-styled in 1949; but then the 1950 was a radical face-lift on the better-looking ’49 — which then ran through 1952. The “nose” was greatly improved in 1951, as with all of the Chrysler cars. Yes you ARE “up in years”, if you quote “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off”! I have that 1937 78, with Fred Astaire. I’m not all that crazy about a patina THIS weathered and worn, as it looks dangerously close to a vehicle stored outside for decades and not run. I prefer just plain “a bit dull” — once you can see the original primer on every high surface, that’s too much for ME! But neither would this look right, “restored”. That worn steering wheel is just PERFECT! I only wish that the outside were more presentable, and not so shabby-looking, but without appearing artificially “new”. Someone around here drives a 1936 Plymouth, all original, that looks as though it baked in the Arizona sun for 70 years — all frosty surface-rust! (don’t accidentally brush-up against it!). The laminated windows are yellowed, bubbled, and some cracked. A heavy blanket graces the front seat, to protect from the protruding springs and to hide what little is left of the moth-eaten mohair. The trunk, floors, and engine-compartment all look just as bad. But he’s got the old girl RUNning on 6 volts — and even smoothly! He’s rather cryptic about where he found it, and what it’s history is. But he also has a 1941 Studebaker in only a slightly better state of preservation, which he did manage to get started, but hasn’t been able to keep running… YET. He won’t tell you where THAT one came from, either.
To Vibhic: That was rather TYPICAL of old push-button radios — even those in your home: you took the knobs off, and tuned to set the station you wanted that particular push-button to automatically bring-in for you. It wasn’t until some time in the 1950s, that they came up with the system where you pulled the button outward, set the station precisely withbthe c tuning-knob, then pushed the button back in to engage it. I remember when we moved, having to reset the push-buttons on the Stromberg-Carlson console radio, in much that same way. The knobs covered the adjusting-screws, and you had to take the knobs off. Then you also slid-out the call-letters visible through that “window”, and slid a new set of call-letters IN (the radio came with an entire perforated sheet of call-letters for every station in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, as of November, 1936. (a bit less handy in 1958, though! — you sometimes had to either leave it blank, or else make your own set of call-letters for a station that wasn’t on the perforated sheet!). But what you encountered in that 1950 Plymouth was simply how it was DONE in that time.(smile)