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Fifty Year Nap: 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe Coupe

This Plymouth listed on eBay was driven until 1967 and then stored on blocks until recently. Is there a dance left in the old dame yet? Does it help that it only has 2 doors? The BIN is $6,000 and it’s in New Bedford, Massachusetts. There’s no word on condition but it looks complete and original in the pictures. The interior needs work but it doesn’t look like it would take much work to get this driving again.

The interior looks usable like it is. It just needs a new headliner. That’s some sweet upholstery and how cool is that dash?

It could use a good cleaning under the hood but it’s all there. Remember when ZEREX was made by Dupont?

Wouldn’t this make a great driver, especially for those fond of patina? It was driven for 18 years so it could have serious rust issues. That looks like rust or poor body work below the left tail light. It will be interesting to read your comments.

Comments

  1. Avatar BeeMoe

    I bought a true barn find one of these about 15 years ago for $25. Was a bit rougher than this but a solid start for a resto or rod. I decided I didn’t have time for it,
    so sold it to a friend who said he needed a project and wanted to build it into a rod. Under those conditions I sold it to him for what I had into it, including about $200 in towing, title and tax. He promptly turned around and resold it for $1500. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.

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    • Avatar jbh110tdi

      Ive had the same thing done to me a few years back with an old BMW E30 sold it to a mate at what it owed me as my youngest was born with serious spinal problems so I don’t have time for a project..

      he sold it almost 2 weeks later for more than double what I took off him… then had the nerve to come back and ask about parts I had sitting that weren’t part of the deal!!

      He also took about 3 years to return my mig welder.. hes no longer a friend!!

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    • Avatar Loco Mikado

      Probably an ex friend if it happened to me.

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  2. Avatar larry boring

    This would look great next to my 1948 p15 Special Deluxe. I gave farrre less than $6000 for a one family owned one complete with extra parts mine will run had some stuck valves that are unstuck and just finished a carb rebuild just need a gas tank and fuel pump and I’ll be ready to do some back road driving.

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  3. Avatar Billy

    Outside of building a rod, can’t see much of a market here. This was my fathers dream car. He is pushing 90, his days of driving and collecting cars is over. Would I like this, Yes. Would I like it at 6K? Are you kidding? I am very much for preserving these cars in stock fashion when at all possible, but the people who dreamed of owning them in high school are either dead or soon will be. The market is growing ever smaller. On the other hand, the Chrysler flat head sixes are one of the greatest standard engines ever made, like its replacement, the slant six. I find the shape pleasing and it would be awesome to drive, just think the seller is shooting for the moon with this price.

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  4. Avatar LIL ABNER

    Priced pretty high, I think////

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  5. Avatar Anthony

    For me a big part of the appeal of an old car is STYLE. 1949 Cadillac, 1957 DeSoto, 1963 Riviera all have style. Sadly a 1949 Plymouth is one of the few 2 door cars that looks like a 4 door sedan

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  6. Avatar Ed P

    The wood grain finish on the dash, etc. is in surprisingly good condition. I would expect a car of this age to have serious wear marks here. Go over the mechanicals and drive it while the rest of the restoration progresses. I do think the bin price is high, but in this condition?

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  7. Avatar James "Cousin Jim" Mitchell

    My Great-Aunt Gladys (Gladys Chaplin Baird) bought a ’49 Plymouth four-door brand-new when she lived in Pittsburgh, PA. She loved shifting gears so much, she would stop in the middle of a city block-just so she could run through the gears again!!! She used to drive my Uncle Joe crazy doing that as it stopped traffic…(Aunt Gladys picked up that habit on a Franklin coupe, which was the first car they owned after getting married.)

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  8. Avatar erikj

    A bit over priced. Its neat though. Up until 2yrs ago I had a 1950 coronet, older restore but very nice. I got so many complements. I was the caretaker for it so the owner finally said to sell it. When I started ads for it I thought it would bring a lot more than the $4000 we settled for. They just arnt really rare. I do miss driving that dodge though.

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  9. Avatar Jim Mc

    Love this car, it’s like the kind my dad worked on for years in the 50s, put himself through college doing so. These things are bulletproof and this looks to be in nice shape. Need to look at the frame to confirm but if surface rust only it should be pretty simple to get her running again.
    Now all that said, the price is waaaay too high. Nobody younger than me [born during the Kennedy admin] wants’em or knows how to drive’em. Not a great highway cruiser and slow off the line at a stoplight, but a great around town or around-the-lake-in-the-summer cruiser. $3K would be my tops.

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  10. Avatar Mark S

    I have a 1951 dodge mayfair the Canadian equivalent to the Belvidere or cornet this posted car likely has a 217 engine which was common for state side Plymouths, where as in Canada they used a 218 engine that was a Canadian made engine that came from Chysler Canada Ontario. One way to tell them apart is the block on the US engine is 23″ long where as the Canadian engine is 25″ long and exclusive to Canada. I read up a lot on this car and this engine and even though they have a rather frompy looking style to them they were one of the best cars of there day. The four door versions were sot after by taxi companies so much so that when they went out of production they were buying all the used ones the could get there hands on. They would then refurbish them and put them into service and just keep rebuilding them, in the end some of these tough car racked up as many as a million mile while in taxi service. I love these early Plymouths / dodges and am kind of glad I have one to tinker on. If this one is a runner / driver I don’t think this price is to far out of line if I were bidding I’d call the guy and offer 5k cash. This is a great first car for a new hobbyists they’re simple to work on and parts are cheep.

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  11. Avatar Canso Mike

    When you sell your car and get the money your are asking for it why would you be concerned what the buyer did with it once he pays you, it is his or hers.

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    • Avatar Billy

      Because a friend doesn’t profit from someone he supposedly cares about. Perhaps these “friends” should discuss their plans with the friendly owner before they buy it from them for a song. Maybe, they could split any over the top profits. If the person selling to a friend has no problem with them profiting after they are told the intentions, no big deal. The examples here do not sound like that. Sounds like they were given a good deal because they said they were going to keep it for a while, do some work on it as a project. Bad enough taking an unwitting owner for a ride when they do not know what they have, but to do it to someone you consider a friend, that’s pretty low.

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    • Avatar G.P. Member

      You really had to ask? Try it on a real friend once and see what happens.

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  12. Avatar Phil

    I had TWO 49 Plymouth’s in high school; a 4 door and a 2 door. I got the 4 door for $20, don’t remember what I paid for the 2 door, but it probably wasn’t much more (1966). Both blue. I painted a large number 13 on the driver door of the 2 door. Fun cars.

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  13. Avatar Jerry Watkins

    I had a ’49 4-door Plymouth Deluxe many years ago. It was a great car. The Deluxe didn’t have stainless windshield trim but I got some from the local salvage yard and turned it into a Special Deluxe (almost). Chrysler advertised the seats as “chair high” and they were. Love those bumpers. Looks like it could be put back on the road without too much effort. Price may be a bit on the high side.

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  14. HoA Howard A Member

    I always kind of feel sorry for cars like this. Like Rodney Dangerfield, “they just can’t get no respect” ( adjusts tie, wipes forehead) Poor Plymouth and Dodge, just didn’t have the zing of a Ford or a Chevy. (or Pontiac) It seemed, driving one of these back then sent a clear message, you weren’t making it. They were good, dependable, economical cars and they drove forever, making for great beaters. Me? I’d put the biggest Hemi I could find in it, and not touch the outside. No respect? How do you like me now?

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  15. Avatar Vince Habel

    This is a sedan.

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    • Avatar Dave Wright

      These were called a club coupe as I remember.

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  16. Avatar charlie Member

    But unless there is overdrive you can’t go much more than 55 or 60 all day. So, this not being a museum piece, you would want to drive it, and, your driving range and road types are pretty limited. And, to me, it is not a stylish car as a ’49 ‘Chevy fastback, or panel delivery, or convertible or same non four door or two door with B pillar model of any ’49 GM would be. Even the ’49 Mercury had more class.

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    • Avatar Billy

      My Dad had a 55 Plymouth with a 230ci flat head six, pretty much the same thing. Had a three speed. Said it would do around 100 MPH if you gave it enough room. Said 70-80 MPH on the freeway was no problem, but these really were at their best on a hilly back road, lots of low level grunt.

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  17. Avatar A.J.

    This is exactly what I drove in HS back in 82. My dad paid 300.00 for it and it had 9,500 original miles. He spent another 300 on new paint and tires. I did not like it. I worked my rear end off to get a GTO which I finished by freshman year of college. My dad figured it wouldn’t go very fast so it was as safe car for a kid. I appreciated it for being a nice car and obviously unique but I still wanted a GTO.

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  18. Avatar jackthemailman

    Way back in the late ’60s, I dreamed of dropping a nice big wedge motor into one of these. Dead stock on the outside, nice mohair interior. Oooh, look out, boy racers!

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  19. Avatar oldredsel

    Cool seeing this on Barn Finds! This car is located just a mile down the road from my home! (It’s actually in South Dartmouth, MA)

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  20. Avatar Dean

    Yeah, i like it. Keep it stock from the outside, get rid of the bl**dy patina (new paint) and re power with a big hemi. Drive it

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  21. Avatar G 1

    Lee Petty raced one.

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  22. Avatar Chaydon

    I’ve got a 1949 Plymouth myself, I’m only 16. Currently restoring and it is around the same condition, except mine is the “fastback” 2 door.
    I bought it for 600, it was originally 1200 but the man was nice enough to appreciate my passion for old cars and cut it in half. A little worse condition with missing a few pieces of chrome, etc, but it was only 1200. I think it’s over priced, and maybe that’s just because of my young age, but I do love and appreciate such a beautiful and old car!

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  23. Avatar RJ

    $3,500 car IMHO

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  24. Avatar Brian C Member

    I have one. I bought it when I was 13 from an old man out of a barn. It wasn’t more or less mechanically sound but a lot of rust and dings and dents. I did the body work and got it painted. More than 15 years later I continue to regularly drive it.

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  25. Avatar Melvin Burwell

    All these cars are too rich for my blood. Looks like each year they get more expensive.

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