Meet Phil! Phil’s a 1933 Dodge five-window coupe, known as a “DP,” and he’s been with the same family for 50 years. And this spiffy-looking, not-the-usually-found-Ford from this era is said to be wearing its original finish – how unusual; after all, this Dodge is only 93 years old…Mr. Zappenduster found this rumble-seat equipped coupe for us; it’s holed up in Croswell, Michigan, and is listed here on craigslist for $18,500.
The Dodge DP, the six-cylinder-powered variant, was offered in multiple body styles, including a business coupe, a standard coupe with seating for two or four, two and four-door sedans, a convertible, and a Salon, which was a variation on the four-door sedan. The seller refers to this Dodge as a business coupe, but I see no place for transporting a salesman’s wares, especially with a rumble seat out back, so my thought is this Dodge is a standard coupe with seating for two. As for body count, Dodge produced about 20K standard and business coupes in ’33. The two-tone finish may not be perfect, but it is in remarkable condition considering its age. One could nitpick here and there, of course, but the aesthetic issues are minor. For my money, cars of this era made for standout visual appeal.
Power is provided by a 75 HP, 201 CI, in-line six-cylinder engine that drives the rear wheels via a three-speed manual transmission. The seller laconically mentions, “runs and drives,” and what’s under the hood looks to be stock and unmodified. The mileage is stated as 78K miles, and that appears to be what’s displayed on the odometer. Cautioned are the tires that have been installed “forever” and will need to be replaced.
One area that’s not original is the interior; it was redone several decades ago. Well, maybe so, but it still looks great! Whether the upholstery material and pattern are original or not is not stated, but they appear to be period-correct. The steel dash is showing some wear, but the cool thirties instrument panel is clean and clear. There isn’t a concise image of the rumble seat, but what is visible appears to match the interior’s style and condition.
Here’s another car whose fate is to be considered. This is a great discovery, as it seems anything other than a Ford or Chevy from this era can be counted among the seldom seen. But as many have opined here before, via the comments, interest in cars from the thirties seems to be on the wane. I understand that, but think it would be a shame for this Dodge DP not to go to a good home. And that got me thinking: if you were interested in making this acquisition, what would you do with it? Stock/restore, hot-rod, restomod, or…?
Fascinating non-Ford find! Hope it finds a good home.
Absolutely beautiful old Dodge. Great color combination too. I quite frankly would just carefully clean it up, address whatever issues it may have, and enjoy it.
I question the “original finish” bit, especially since the firewall appears to be a more proper-for-the-era cream color. Bucks to bagels Chrysler never went to the unneeded expense of masking off and painting the firewall a color different from the exterior.
As for your “would be” intentions, DiS, I’m in complete accordance. Nice car… oh, yeah, my Pop had a ’35 Plymouth version of this car in black, rumble seat, covered spare and all only one step down in the Chrysler hierarchy. Oh, yes, the rear window rolled down for ventilation and/or conversation with the rear passengers
I’m with Driveinstile. Fix what needs fixing and drive it
I agree with Deiveinstile also!
One fascinating find, Beautiful,!
What a great looking car would love to own it agree with Driveinstile carefully clean it up and enjoy it with the windows down on the back road. Also we need more pictures of the guy behind the wheel we only get four of them, sorry couldn’t resist.
It’s interesting to think that by 1933 the Dodge boys were 15 years deceased, and Walter Chrysler had purchased Dodge from the holding company 5 years earlier, to obtain more manufacturing capability.
I read Walter’s autobiography last month, and it was very interesting. Chrysler speaks extensively of Billy Durant and Durant’s influence in the nascent days of the automobile industry in the United States. My next book will be Billy’s story.
Thank you J O. for pulling us old timers out of the “Firebird, Corvette, Ferrari” rut so prevalent here. To be clear, this is not a business coupe, that had a much bigger trunk and deck lid. Need I say it everytime? Yes, yes I do. I don’t care for vehicles with peoples names, and usually denotes a uninformed seller. Knows very little about the car itself. Even to me, all these cars look the same, but with one subtle difference, the grill. It’s the 1st thing one saw, and that’s where the difference was. At about $625 new, it was a bit more than the Ford at $545, but a much nicer car, it seems. Mechanically, pretty much splitting hairs, these did have all wheel hydraulic brakes, and industry leader, but not much else. I read, these still had a crash box, sorry, as the years drift by, less and less people know what that is. A CRASH BOX???? Good heavens, ma, we’re gonna crash,,,you get my drift. They can’t handle any manual, much less a non-synchro one. It really is a beautiful car, I seem to remember the old man talking about a 30s Dodge he had that a rod bearing went out, and he used a piece of his belt. Army training, you know, it didn’t last long but got him to where he was going, out east, I think,,,or so the story went.
What’s going to happen to all these nice, presentable, operational( for some) cars?
Howard A, I believe they meant…
‘Still has original paint’ .. Just a guess due to writing ‘business scoops’
But, it’s just my take on it
For all the Made-in-America equipment on this masterpiece of a car, what serves as a passenger door window roller handle appears to be a metric vise grip tool. (Steve goes for laugh.)
A great, great deal at this price.
Nice…..my kind of car….lol.
I like the cars of this era. That’s my 32 Chevy.
I have to ask, how did people get in and out of rumble seats? Kids, I can see, but your ladies in the 30’s? I’m really intrigued.
Ah! There were small round cast metal pads located on the bumper and to the right of the “pit” on which to step. Fun to watch “skirts” do the “Rumble Seat Two Step!” (Yeah, “a woman’s as old as she looks; a man is old when he stops looking!”
This 1933 dodge coupe is an amazingly good shape for the time the interior is very nice body panels paint. The engine looks a little worn though. Chrysler corporation was behind the design curve in 1933. The fenders still had no pontoon look. But, that would change quickly. The traditional Chrysler Corporation models picked up a more modern look as time went by. I’m not including the airflow designs because those were not good looking. Maybe that’s why they failed. And Chrysler wants to use the air flow design Name for a new product. It’s like calling a new Ocean liner titanic. Airflow and titanic were both disasters.
I think the same thing will happen as happened with their predecessors, the animal drawn wagons, buggies and carts which were prevalent by necessity 150 years ago but which are, save for a few in museums, gone. No one really cares about them, most who used them are gone, and only a few of us old timers even have the faintest of how to drive a team.
Of course motorized vehicles, mostly metal, will last longer than wooden wagons but the same will happen. People will not only not know how to drive them, they’ll be scared to try. Nice ones like this Dodge will continue to be sold down the line, probably slowly deteriorating until someone finally says, after failing to sell it to a museum, “heck with it” and just parks it in the back of a garage or shed, where it will peacefully rust, corrode, collapse and slumber from then on. Seems like it’s the normal progression of things and, does it really matter? We who knew these cars appreciated them. They were from a period in time, as we are, but not really meant, with a few exceptions, to last forever. In 50 years people will see an occasional example and not really care. Who really cares about a piece of furniture or a vase from the 16th century? Just an oddity.
Ok, got carried away. Maybe it makes sense, maybe it doesn’t.
You overlook one thing, Mike F. The automobile is an American icon which remains useful to this day. It has a special place in American hearts, and it represents so many things peculiarly part of the American psyche — such as individual liberty and autonomy and personal sovereignty over one’s own life. We won’t shed that as easily as we did the horse-drawn carriage. Proof lies in the fact that, while we constantly have new automobiles, we still will invest impractical.dollars and endless hours to restore and preserve an automobile from 1908. The history of the automobile touches something deep within us: I mean, why are we HERE, on a site such as this, admiring a slow 1933 Dodge, when we could be shopping at the local Toyota dealer?
“I mean, why are we HERE, on a site such as this, admiring a slow 1933 Dodge, when we could be shopping at the local Toyota dealer?”
Excellent point!
JO
As for “American Icons,” I quote from my browser’s Search Assist: “By 2021, only 25% of 16-year-olds and 60% of 18-year-olds in Gen Z had driver’s licenses, indicating a significant decline compared to previous generations. Additionally, 80% of adults in their 20s had a driver’s license in 2020, down 10% from 1997.”
Folks today, from teen to whenever, are having a hard time seeing beyond their touchscreen. So much for tradition and culture!
Nice old car. Could have a lot of fun with this. That old six is indestructible except for the coolant routing tube in the water jacket…
I think it would be shameful not to leave it as a stock survivor. But how to justify the cost of buying and properly storing it? I have the equivalent of 7 garage spaces on my NW Iowa acreage but surrounded by dusty crop fields there’s no way to keep anything clean. And anyway, those spaces are taken up by motorcycles, a skidloader and a compact loader tractor.
This car would be great for car shows, parades and cruise nights. Speaking of the latter, it’s the annual cruise night today in Canton, SD about 20 miles from my place. I ‘was’ going to haul over my ’74 Honda one model year only CL200, but with temp in the upper 90s, high humidity and negligible breeze, try again next year. I’m too old to handle the heat.
Pretty nice car. But,not the original paint in my opinion. The right-side lower hood panel looks to have been sandblasted to make it warp and curve in at the firewall. Something going on with the front edge of the deck lid. It does have the roll down rear window, so the rumble seat does appear original. The pic of the emblem on the spare cover looks like a repaint. To any potential buyer you should go around it with a film thickness gauge to check for and work done to the body.
Wow.. this thing is fantastic. A friend of mine in high school had a Plymouth from that era with a Rumble Seat and drove it to school every day. He put a V8 and an automatic in it though. I remember riding around on Homecoming day in the Rumble seat with a very cute blond sitting on my lap telling me now “nice” I was because somebody else was already next to me and I asked her to jump in anyway. Anyhoo.. I love cars from this era and once again BF brings one to the table that I’d love to own it. I’d drive it just like it is too.. what a blast that would be. Thank you Jim!
I have a 32 dodge 3 window coup that I would like to get running but can’t find anyone to work on it.I was told no one knows how to use a timing light anymore? I’m sure the timing is off.It was painted perhaps 30 years ago and the interior was redone then.It needs a new gas tank that I’m not going to buy until I get it started.I just payed over $900 for 2 new Whitehall tires so I could move it and besides I’m hopeful I can find someone to get it started.The motor spins like a top but no fire.It is actually in pretty good condition for being 94 years old.