The Plymouth Plaza is one of those Mopars that doesn’t come up in auto conversations as often as many of the others, as it went out of production in 1958 and was manufactured for only a handful of years in total. The Plaza was a low-priced offering, which made it appealing for fleet and municipality use, or drivers looking for something that wouldn’t hit their wallets too hard. However, the minimalist styling of this 1955 Plymouth Plaza Business Coupe here on Craigslist has aged well over time, with the owner believing his car is ripe for restoring or turning into a Street Rod. Whatever you’ve got in mind, this one’s in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and as it was originally in the fifties, this one’s still priced affordably at $2,800. Mitchell G., thanks for your tip here!
Other than the seller telling us his Plaza has been off the road since ’74, we get little additional background on this one, such as where it’s been stored for the last 50 years. Some primer has been applied to a few areas of the body, with patina remaining on the roof. The exterior could use a bit more smoothing out, but unfortunately, the rockers, floors, and trunk are showing rust, so some sheet metal repair will be in store for the future owner. Front floor replacement panels are included, as are the removed trim items except for the grille sections. Hopefully, most of these components and many outside panels will be salvageable.
This one’s pretty basic when it comes to performance as well, with an inline-6 under the hood and a three-on-the-tree manual shifter. The engine is said to be original to the car, and although it’s not currently running, the seller says it will turn over. He also mentions that a V8 will easily fit into the bay, so the future owner will have to decide whether to rebuild the six or replace it with something more potent.
The minimalism continues inside, with the front seat in need of some new covering. However, the back seat won’t be a problem, as this one didn’t come with one from the factory. The rear seat was optional on the Business Coupe, and choosing not to include it provided more space for carrying whatever a businessman was selling at the time. Given how uncommon Plaza sightings are these days, I feel this one would make a fun project, either to restore or make into a Restomod. What direction would you go in here?
Source a Hemi or a Big Block Mopar and build a street rod
Hot Rod Magazine/The Taylor’s did up a Savoy with a hemi, a couple years back. Neat car. And, it was a manual shift!
It’s pretty bad when the pictures of the replacement brake and clutch pedal pads are the highlight of the ad.
Even though it’s not expensive with an asking price if $2,800, there is a lot of rust to deal with among other issues. Nineteen days on the market suggests potential buyers don’t see the value in it either.
Steve R
Business coupes also had non-operational rear side windows.
Gasser!
Pro street!
When you’re tired of the 55-57 Chevys. Same flavor. To me they look better now than I thought back in the day. And most likely you’ll have the only one. A friend hot rodded a ’52 Plymouth “fastback” which was a bit of a homely car on the showroom floor. But a Desoto Hemi, 2 fours, Chevy 4 speed and Ford 9 inch made it quite the hot rod. And steelies gives it quite the “Rumrunner” vibe. Always attracts a crowd.
By the time you fix all the rust and find out what needs mechanical attention after left in storage for a half century, the budget will be small for a hot rod. The weak engine will need swapped. The column shift only has 3 speeds. The suspension if not rotted was never made for aggressive driving on the base model. A V8 Savoy or Plaza coupe maybe but not this model. I would rather see the car restored closer to its original purpose because 1955 Plymouths are rarer than Chevys and Fords at auto shows.
I have always liked the dashs on the 1955 and 1956 Mopars.
Too bad this car is lightened by the tin worm.