Collectible Automobile did an article on the 1957-59 Dodges, complete with
production figures. The article was written by Mr. Jeffrey I. Godshall,
whose "daytime" job is interior stylist at DaimlerChrysler. Thus he has
access to records in various departments and knows quite a few persons who
either work at DC now or in the past. Mr. Godshall has written excellent
articles for CA on various Chrysler makes over the years and has included
production figures and photos of styling department models.as the car
designs progress.
Getting back to the original quesiton, the lack of numbers for 1956 to 1970
Dodges is not due to the fact they are not available, it is due to the fact
no one has bothered to dig them out.
Dodge production figures from 1930 through 1955 first appeared in "The
Production Figure Book For U.S. Cars" by Jerry Heasley, published by
Motorbooks International in 1977. The Plymouth, Dodge and DeSoto figures
were supplied by the late Don Butler, author of "The Plymouth and DeSoto
Story", 1978. At the time Mr. Heasley's book was written, 1955 was as far
as Mr. Butler had gotten.
In Mr. Heasley's book, the 1939 model D13 and 1951-52 model D39 are for
Canadian-built Plymouth-sized Dodges (1939 DeLuxe Six and 1951-52 Kingsway).
The book did not print the production numbers for the 1939 D11D (Luxury
Liner DeLuxe) which has resulted in more than one author to claim various
1939 models, such as the long-wheelbase models, were not built. The
numbers for the 1949 model D30 are missing the long-wheelbase sedan. Again,
instead of approaching Chrysler Historical and asking for the 1949
production nunbers, writers have just regurgitated Mr. Heasley's numbers and
declared that no LWB 1949 Dodges were built. That many can remember seeing
them on the road over the years is apparently ignored. When I moced to
Vancouver in 1994 there was a 1949 Dodge D30 Custom (as the Coronet was sold
in Canada) LWB sedan in a yard east of Edmonton.
Consumer's Guide published "Cars of the 50's" and "Cars of the 60's" in the
late 1970's. Both were less than 100 pages and included production figures
at the back of the book. These figures were by series / model and not by
body style. Again, these figures are quoted time and again by writers,
including Consumer's Guide themselves, and no one has asked Chrysler
Historical to do a bit of digging. The information is there, just that no
one has taken the time to do retrieve them.
By the way, old car clubs for Plymouth, DeSoto and the W.P.C. club have
published some excellent histories along with production figures. I have,
thus, been able to acquire the production figures for 1939 Dodge, all
models, plus 1941 Dodge, 1954 Dodge, 1960 Valiant and the 1962-65 880/Custom
880. Awhile ago I acquired some photcopies of Chrysler production reports
for 1965 to 1972 for cars built in the U.S. and Canada for sale in the U.S.
I do not have figures for cars built for Canada for those years, sadly.
C.A. also published articles on the 1960-61 and 1962-64 Dodges. So I have
figures for those years. I actually have those figures broken by 6 and V8,
Canada and the U.S. Plus after doing some digging I have been able to put
together figures for 1956. "The Dodge Story" had figures for the Coronets,
convertibles and some wagons and I have been able to find numbers for other
models in various articles. By putting them all togather, I now have a
complete listing.
Unlike General Motors, Ford and Studebaker, finding Mopar body style
production information is like finding hen's teeth. The sad part about it
is that there are people outside Chrysler Historial who have complete
information dating from the 1930's into the 1970's. But these people are
not willing to share. I've asked.
Bill
Vancouver, BC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Waters" <ronbo97@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2006 7:17 AM
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] What are build numbers for 59 Dodge
> Hey Bill -
>
> What is the source of your info ? The Standard Catalog of American Cars,
> published by Old Cars Weekly, says there is no breakout by model.
>
> Ron
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bill Watson" <wwatson5@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2006 3:05 AM
> Subject: Re: [FWDLK] What are build numbers for 59 Dodge
>
>
> > He is partially right - there were 2,151 Coronet SIX 2-door hardtops
biilt
> > in 1959
> >
> > For 1959 Dodge 2-door hardtops -
> > Coronet 6 - 2,151
> > Coronet V8 - 19,283
> > Royal - 3,483
> > Custom Royal - 4,693
> > Total - 39,610
> >
> > A further 1,585 Custom Royal 2-door hardtops were built in Canada
> >
> > Bill
> > Vancouver, BC
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Larry Ashbaugh
> > To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 9:35 PM
> > Subject: [FWDLK] What are build numbers for 59 Dodge
> >
> >
> > This eBay seller says that there were only 2151 Coronet 2dr HTs built in
> > 1959. That is insane. Anyone know the true numbers? Also, does that
> > engine look like a 326?
> >
> >
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1959-Dodge-Coronet-2-Door-Hardtop-one-of-only-2-151_W0QQitemZ280009155128
> >
> >
> > Larry (Akron)
> >
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