Dodge and Plymouth set the muscle car market on fire in the 1960s with the 426 cubic-inch “Hemi” V8, producing 425 horses. But that wasn’t their first foray into hemispherical-chamber engines; that honor dated to the mid-1950s. The seller has a 1955 Dodge Royal (a Lancer trim level) with the “Super Red Ram” Hemi in a 4-door sedan! Located in Pasco, Washington, this running project with lavender (?) paint is available here on craigslist for $3,500.
Thanks to newer stylist Virgin Exner, the 1955 Dodges (and Plymouths) had new sheet metal that provided a lower stance than the 1954 rolling boxes. But the best would come with the “Forward Look” finned wonders that would arrive in 1957. Dodge was into its third year of using V8 engines in 1955. Super Red Ram was the moniker for the Hemi motors, which featured polyspherical combustion chambers, producing 270 cubic inches in the 1955 Lancers (the seller’s car is the Royal model). Horsepower output varied by carburetor size/type, ranging from 175 to 193.
Consumers must have liked what they saw in the 1955 Dodges as sales more than doubled over an anemic 1954 performance. Hemi engines cared nothing about body styles, so 4-door sedans like the seller’s car could be had with the Super Red Ram. We’re told the seller’s machine starts and runs, but needs some brake work before you venture very far (this implies it was idle for a time before the for-sale sign went up). The odometer reading of 89,000 miles is plausible.
The cosmetic condition of this Dodge is fair, though the seller says there is no rust. We can’t tell if white was the original color and if the lavender (?) secondary paint was added at the factory or later by another owner. The interior is also fair and could be okay for the near term, but if you decide to spruce up the paint, you’ll want some new seat covers and carpeting, too. Thanks for the tip, “Curvette”!
Almost a 4 door LaFemme, perhaps that’s what the original buyer was going for. “Hemi”, boy there’s a moniker for the ages. I’ve said many times with these early stock hemis, they were nothing special. Oily, leaking, overheating slugs, and not this wondermous miracle motor, ad campaigns make it out to be. In fact, todays drag racing “hemis” are very different than these. Make no mistake, however, in 1955, it was the hottest stick out there. Remember, most cars still ran flattie 6s. A Dodge/Plymouth V8 was a hot car then. Another car by all rights should have had the motor yanked by my 5th birthday. Didn’t take long for “Barney Fife” to trade in the old shoebox Ford for something with a hemi.
As usual, I don’t see a lot of attraction here. Automatic a plus, but restoration costs have outpaced many a budget, and sadly, will sit for even longer. It was a heck of a car.
This was the last year for shift-lever automatics at Chrysler, because in ’56 push-button shifting was introduced and would be used until 1965. This car is missing trim pieces, mainly on the hood, and could certainly use cosmetic sprucing up. Still, if the mechanicals are good, the price of admission isn’t bad.