56D500boy,

                I see that you have downloaded your 1956 Custom Royal D500 car's IBM build card onto this website. Why does your factory IBM build card show that you had originally 11" centerplane brakes and wasn't the 11" brakes also available for the 1956 D500 special car models ?

(56d500boy- 1956 dodge D500 Build Card_trimmed_small IBM card.jpg)

56d500boy- 1956 dodge D500 Build Card_trimmed_small IBM card.jpg (235KB - 289 downloads)

56D500boy,

              Interesting information that you have presented. But, if you say that the 1956 D500 cars never had 11" brakes, didn't the other 1956 Dodge car models (except police cars) use 11" x 2" brakes ?

Also, by looking at your car's IBM build card, it also looks like it is marked off with a 10" or 11" clutch, weren't that apply that your car had originally a manual transmission, instead of an automatic Powerflite 2-speed transmission that you car had when you first purchased it used ? Could you please explain ?

56D500boy said the following ....

"Bottomline is the D500 Special was like the normal D500 with the 315 cu in 260 hp, dual rocker, dual exhaust, engine equipped with the 12" Chrysler "CenterPlane" brakes"

"I believe that, despite what the IBM car suggests, the brakes on my car have been 12" CenterPlane since it left the LA factory in May 1956. There were no 11" CenterPlane brakes."

The above two statements that you have made in regards to the 1956 Dodge D500 "Special" cars is not entirely correct.

As per the partial 1956 Dodge Division bulletin dated March 9th 1956, it specifically states the following ...

"The D500 Special will be furnished 100 per cent with 12-inch CenterPlane Brakes unless you specifically advise to the contrary." That means that the 1956 D500 "Special " cars were available with either 12" Chrysler or regular 11" Dodge brakes, which its other 1956 car models had used. And maybe that is why the LA plant, who probably was the main plant designated to build the 1956 D500 "Special " cars instead of the Detroit plant, had used the 11 inch brakes in one of the columns of its IBM Build cards. So it looks like either your factory IBM Build card has "errors" in it or your 1956 Dodge D500 "Special " late production car did indeed had orginally the 11" Dodge brakes and someone had converted it later on with the 12" Chrysler brakes ?

Allpar website also said the following about the 1956 Dodge D500 "Special " cars ...

"On March 9, 1956 there was an announcement that boded ill for the D-500: the D-500 Special using standard Dodge suspension springs and 11-inch brakes ..."

Also, the same is true with the 1956 D500 "Special " car's dual exhausts which was not exclusive, for a customer could of elected to have the single exhaust system as well - per March 9th, 1956 Dodge Bulletin. It also looks like the 1956 Dodge D500 "Special " regular suspension cars was just a watered-down version of its originally introduced 1956 Dodge D-500 HD suspension cars and in my opionion there was nothing "Special" about its later production introduced model car.

56D500boy, I have found some additional information on the Jalopy Journal about the 1956 Dodge D500 "Special" cars, which also states that the 12" (Chrysler) brakes available for this later produced (March) model could be deleted, which means that the customer could ofordered the regular Dodge 11" brakes with the regular Dodge suspension for this later produced 1956 Dodge D500 "Special" cars and it was also available for all of its 1956 Dodge V-8 car models ...

 "Sometime in early March of 1956 the D-500 option was made available across the entire Dodge line-up, even including wagons. About a week later, Dodge announced that the D-500 could be a power option on any V-8 model. by adding dual exhaust and 12" brakes. The optional 12" brakes could be deleted. and it did not include the specific chassis hardware in response to customer complaints that said the D-500s rode like trucks. Dodge referred to these power-option cars as D-500 specials."

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1956-dodge-custom-royal-lancer-convertible-value.715071/

Do you think that you are still correct with the following statement that you had made ?

56D500boy said the following ....

"Bottomline is the D500 Special was like the normal D500 with the 315 cu in 260 hp, dual rocker, dual exhaust, engine equipped with the 12" Chrysler "CenterPlane" brakes"

"I believe that, despite what the IBM car suggests, the brakes on my car have been 12" CenterPlane since it left the LA factory in May 1956. There were no 11" CenterPlane brakes."