I’ve always wondered what designers were thinking when I see a car from the mid-1970s after the 5-mph bumper requirements came into effect. Most of the bumpers were huge, totally out of scale for the car with seemingly no sense of design at all. In looking at this 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook Belvedere, I’m going to look at those 1970s bumpers with less consternation next time. This strong-jawed Plymouth can be found here on craigslist in Palisade, Colorado and the seller is asking $6,950 or best offer. Thanks to Ikey H. for sending in this tip!
These bumpers aren’t exactly delicate-looking, are they? What makes these gigantic chrome bumpers any less desirable or more beautiful than, say, the bumpers on a 1975 Pinto? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as we all know, even with cars. There really isn’t any design to these bumpers, they’re basically just a thick, chrome battering ram with really no detail or styling. Enough with the bumpers, I just thought that was an interesting comparison for those of you who may or may not pile on a mid-1970s car with 5-mph bumpers but not jump on a ’51 Plymouth’s bumpers. Maybe that’s the difference, these bumpers are so heavy-duty that you literally can jump on them!
And, there’s the rear bumper. I really like the design of the Plymouth Cranbrook in any body style, whether it has four doors or two doors as with the Belevedere two-door hardtop model as shown here. These are the famous men-can-wear-a-hat-inside Plymouths that K. T. Keller, president of Chrysler at the time, reportedly insisted on, even as other carmakers were trimming down their cars to make them a bit sleeker looking.
This car appears to be in nice condition and the seller thinks that the interior is all original. The dash is shedding its color as is the steering wheel. What are your thoughts on the originality of this car? They say that it has most likely had a paint job in the past. The underside looks rock solid and the brakes have been gone through thoroughly, according to the seller.
The engine is Plymouth’s 218 cubic-inch six which would have had just under 100 hp. They say that it runs and drives but it drips a bit around the rear main seal and the rear-diff seal. I know that feeling. I’m not sure why the radiator looks like it’s wet? This car is also listed here on eBay. Are there any fans of the Plymouth Cranbrook? And, how about these bumpers?
Plymouth sold 600,000 Cranbrooks in 3 years, because it was a great value for &1650. You got Armrests, sun visors, Key start, radio and a heater with a flathead six and a three on the tree. It carried 6, and had an adequate Trunk. It would run forever, because it would not go fast. 50 is about all it will do. In 52 overdrive became available but so did justice drive, so Od models are hard to find. Very good first old car. Simple, reliable, And you can find parts.
Supposedly these were capable of 90 mph with overdrive. If it is anything like my ’51 Kaiser, which also had a flathead six, it may be able to do 80 or 90 but is much, much happier at 50.
I have an OD in my 51 Cambridge with a freshly rebuilt stock engine. I have had it up to 75 MPH but that is about the limit. Maybe downhill with a good tail wind it would hit 90 but I sure would not want to try to stop it from that speed.
My 51 was ordered without a heater, and has a radio delete panel, so at least those 2 items were not standard equipment.
I think the reason that the bumpers were made so heavy was that many makes of cars used them as a base for the bumper jack. Today’s bumpers would break off if you were to just stand on them.
I had forgot about that, but yes they were used for that and some of the jacks were truly diabolical, they would drop the car once the wheel was removed, hopefully you were not under it.
Yes and bumpers were actually used to push start cars as well as bump because the idea at the time was whoever had the stronger bumper won in a crash and to heck with crumple zones. Oh and they overlooked what happened when you bumped without a seat belt..
My Father had a 1951 Dodge Diplomat 2 dr hardtop which had the same rear side and rear windows. Wheel covers were similar with the red plastic decoration.
His first 1951 Dodge had fluid drive which was a three speed manual with a fluid coupling vs a dry clutch. The Diplomat had Gyromatic an “automatic” which had 4 speeds but would only shift between 2 of them. It had a normal looking three on the tree linkage and a clutch pedal. There was no shift quadrant. Normal operation was to depress the clutch, place in high range and take off. When desired,(soon), take your foot off the gas and wait. It would shift once into high. You could start off in low range, very low, and again it would shift once.
The clutch was only used to select a gear. It was not needed when idling.
Hardtops with no center pillar were fairly new then, and the bargain shopper looking at Plymouths more often than not chose the 2dr. & 4dr. sedans. To find this first-year hardtop in this shape IS unusual!! This car appears to have been garage-kept for quite a few decades. As for the interior, uh no—it’s been re-done but very nicely. 70 yr old vinyl and cloth doesn’t stay THIS nice. But it looks like some attention to details was done, and looks correct for the vintage. This is an excellent entry-level car for someone on a tight budget to enter the hobby with. And being a hardtop, it’s a relatively scarce bodystyle.
Course today’s plastic covered styrofoam bumpers are easy to make fun of, but they serve their purpose–saving your life. I love those old cars but they’re kind of deathtraps.
There are crumple zones built into new cars, the bumpers of today do little if anything . The mid 70s cars had bumpers like battering rams . say what you will , but I’ve been in some bad wrecks wearing just a seatbelt in those old cars and walked away
Unless someone added them, this car won’t have any seatbelts. Nash was the first to have them (as an option) in 1949. The first car to have them as standard was Saab, in 1958.
Thats true , but I was talking about the mid 70s cars with the seat belts . I sure wouldn’t want to be in an accident with an older car without belts
I was a Boy Scout in the early 1970s , and the assistant Scoutmaster had a Cranbrook sedan like this. It was two tone slate blue with a darker blue top. This was in CT., and few cars survived that long let alone in faded, but good shape , so it really stood out . He had it for several years after I left , the it was gone; I never knew if he moved or sold the car.
bumpers by the mid “60s became ” moldings” just look at a 65 mustang
even the large cars with large bumpers were useless because they were mounted up against the body
It seems priced to sell!! Cool old car in good shape!! It would be nice to see underneath of this car cause it definitely isn’t original paint and it would be nice to see it’s not a rust bucket filled with bondo!!
Why is the ebay price at $3300.00 and the Craigslist price at $6950.00?
Richard, the price on craigslist is what they are asking for. The price on ebay is only the current bid. $3300 does not meet the reserve so they are obviously looking for something closer to $6950.
My parents bought a 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook 4 door sedan in Dove Gray with gray cloth interior. It had no radio but did have a heater. They bought it from Floyd Knox Motors in Detroit. They purchased it in Sept 1951 as the 52 models were coming out. We had the car up until 1963. The car had about 89,000 miles on it when my father sold it to a guy from work for $200.00 The car pictured here looks like a repaint as the fire wall has the dove gray paint on it.
Speaking of bumpers it almost looks like the front and rear could almost be used for either location.. I know the 67 thru 69 Plymouth barracudas used the same bumper for either front/rear. If you look in the parts catalog th True Part Name is: Face Bar.
Somebody here mentioned the bumpers. The were so tuff they used to make a clamp on hitch for these cars. My first job was pumping gas and you wouldn’t believe the campers and trailers people would tow.