One thing that I have noticed recently is how many of these depression-era Plymouths have been turning up – and it’s a good thing! The early 30s were dominated by Ford and Chevrolet but Plymouth was hardly an also-ran in ’33 as they managed to place third in the domestic auto production rate. And, most of the ’30s Plymouths that have been covered here on Barn Finds don’t shine the way this spectacular 1933 Deluxe example does. The economic times may have been tough but the cars were beautiful! This two-tone Deluxe coupe is located in Wagner South Dakota and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $15,100 with the reserve not yet met.
Back to that production volume business, 1933 saw the following statistics:
- Chevrolet – 486,000
- Ford – 335,000
- Plymouth – 299,000
Plymouth’s third-place showing was respectable, considering the economy, as well as the fact that it had only been in business for five years at this point. And, they completed the same way that placeholders one and two did with a multitude of body styles and a low-price mantra.
This DeLuxe coupe was fully restored in 1997 and the redo has held up well. The two-tone arrangement of a chosen body color accented by black fenders and running boards was typical for the era. The blue and black combo is spectacular-looking and in flawless condition. Ditto the chrome, stainless trim, grille, and wooden wheels. From any angle, this one’s a looker!
The interior, as with the exterior, is fabulous and I’d venture that the bench seat is probably reupholstered well beyond the scope of what originally occupied the passenger compartment. The goodness extends to the rest of the interior too, including the door panels, dashboard, and beautifully simple instrument panel.
a 70 HP, 190 CI, in-line six-cylinder engine with a claimed 37K miles gets the go to the rear wheels via a three-speed manual transmission. Unfortunately, there is no included image and a visual would be beneficial. While this coupe was restored twenty-six years ago, there’s no word if the engine received similar treatment and an image could help with a determination. Additionally, nothing is said about this car’s running and driving capabilities.
Sometime back, I covered a Ford Model A and opined about the continuing collectibility of such ’30s-era cars, assuming that their day had come and gone. Several commenters said, “Not so fast” depression era cars still stir interest and continue to have an avid following even among non-septegenarian collectors. OK, I can accept that and would posit that this excellent old Mopar will make a nice alternative to the ubiquitous Ford, wouldn’t you agree?
If you’ve seen a better looking ’30s car then you have been further around the world than I have. Even Harrah’s in Reno never had a looker like this one. Wow!
My father had a 32 Plymouth back in the day.He said it was a great car.I have a 36 Dodge RS Coupe.Love these Mopars.
Plymouth had a roller coaster existence. Originally, it was supposed to be a fancy car, and look at it, it was. At $595, the 6 was the cheese, as many cars were still 4 cylinder. Even gave ol’ Hanks V8 a run for the money, I read. Then, after WW@, they settled into economy cars, but late 50s, again, nothing to mess with. Then economy again, then the ultimate in performance, back to economy, then poof, they were gone. In my usual demeanor, I can tell you why these are showing up,,,( sound of Taps in the distance?)
ww2,,
No engine pics
Looks like a candidate for a Hemi lol
Beautiful car
… thank you for the “lol”.
Whew.
Beautiful car!
Fog light looks to be a sealed beam. I’d replace it with a Trippe speed light.
Seller should’ve hired a decent photographer. Looks like a really nice car, from what can be seen in the photos, but lighting and focus make it hard to tell…
Happy Holidays to all BFers. I’d never been apprised of the sales numbers. Those are very impressive . . . geesh, they were right behind Ford. What a beautiful car . . . . Gorgeous. One side of my family were big MOPAR fans . . . now I see why. I was also surprised that Chevy was so far ahead of Ford in sales. Seems like all we hear about is Ford, Ford, Ford during this time frame.
I’d like so much to see the engine.
Good looking car for sure. I’m not too sure about the wooden artillery wheels though. I always thought that steel wheels were the norm by the time this car was built. There is one close up picture of a wheel and to me it looks a bit questionable. But I’m not very familiar with them so maybe I am missing something. I sure do like this car though and Santa apparently didn’t think I was a good enough boy to put a set of keys in my stocking this year so I wanted him to know that late is better than never.
I have 33 sd and it has the original wooden artillery wheels.
The reason that you see so few surviving early 30s Dodge & Plymouth Coupes is that they were too indestructible. The wood in the GM cars made them nowhere near as sturdy and the 1950s-early 60s stock car builders bought them up. The Ford Coupes with the flathead V-8 were picked up by the Hot Rodders for obvious reasons. This is a beautiful car & I’m glad I never got to see it on the track in Freeport or Islip.
The 1932 had wooden spoke wheels originally but don’t know wheels standard on a 1933
My Dad had one just like this when I was born – all I have left is the body which I hope to get restored before they pat me in the face with a shovel!
Keith ???
Yes???
Long, long ago as I was fueling my 59 Impala convertible one of these pulls up to the adjacent pump. Picture this a long hair in a bright red convertible and a well to a youngster then, an old geezer in one of these. I’m a car guy by then but a really dumb one on pre war units. His car is mint and I say ” wow that’s a really nice Chevy” He looks at me with that classic old man scowl as says ” It’s a Plymouth creep, not a Chevy and rolls out. Months later I would unknowingly meet his son who was a few years older than me and loved cars. We would become best of friends which I have had few in my life. I got to know the curmudgeon as his dad was known and received a history lesson on many things from that era. I miss both of them, we swapped tons of different stuff over the years and many items I have to this day, so I hear and remember them everytime I walk through my garage. This is a nice car, my friend’s dad had his for nearly 60 years.