1958 Plymouth Plaza

Description

It's OK if you haven't heard of the Plymouth Plaza. Built for just four years (1954-58), it was the entry-level Plymouth mostly designed for fleet buyers. However, that doesn't mean they left out the styling or the performance, as this 1958 Plymouth Plaza 2-door club sedan ably proves. With V8 power and a look that should get plenty of attention, the Plaza delivers big fun with a Mopar flavor.

You'll easily recognize the iconic shape, particularly when rendered in bright red. No, the famous car from the horror story wasn't a Plaza, but a Fury, but the awesome shape is nonetheless very similar. (So much so, that this very car was used in the movie for a shot of its nose straight on.) This is the most desirable variant, the 2-door club sedan with a back seat, making it a legitimate 6-passenger car. Fins were still all the rage in 1957 and the Plymouth wears a set of seriously big ones that add to the sleek, forward-looking design. Someone spent a good pile of money on the restoration work, as the flanks are extremely straight, which is especially important on a car like this which has no side trim to distract you. Gaps are good and the paint has a brilliant shine that really makes this car look expensive. There's some suggestion that this is one of the limited edition "Silver Special" cars, with its "forward look" emblem on the fins, but there's really no way to be sure. However, the grille is in fantastic shape (good luck finding another one this nice!), the bumpers have bright chrome, and the unique taillights at the base of the fins look especially cool.

The interior is simple but comfortable, with wide bench seats wrapped in durable black vinyl that should last a lifetime. Red carpets and some slightly jazzy door panels liven up the interior, and with plenty of red paint on the dash, it's anything but plain. The big two-tone steering wheel has jet-age styling that really works and the lovely engine-turned dashboard hides the Plaza's bargain-basement original price. You get a full complement of gauges, plus a factory AM radio, and the dash-mounted rear-view mirror is just plain cool. Three-on-the-tree shifting makes it a lot of fun to drive and almost everything inside the car is new and ready to enjoy. There's a nice black headliner overhead and the trunk is correctly outfitted with a proper mat and vintage bias-ply spare tire.

The engine isn't some wheezing six, but rather Chrysler's 318 cubic inch "poly head" V8, and in the relatively lightweight Plaza, it's a great deal of fun to drive. There's a correct air cleaner with a 2-barrel carburetor underneath, bright red engine paint, and a nicely detailed engine bay to make people stop and stare at shows. It starts easily and runs smoothly with a big swell of torque that makes rowing the 3-speed manual transmission almost unnecessary. As a price-leader, there's no power steering, no power brakes, but you'll find that control efforts are reasonable and the car is easy to handle at any speed. Underneath, there's a clean, mostly original chassis that shows what life in a warm climate will get you, and a softly burbling dual exhaust system seems entirely appropriate. 205/75/14 wide whitewall radials are fitted to the original wheels, which also carry optional full wheel covers, but the original "dog dish" hubcaps that were part of the Plaza package are included.

Neat, rare, and fun car with a fantastic high-visibility look and enough room for the whole family. This is an easy car to like. Call now!