Elite Veteran
Posts: 782
  
Location: Edmonton, Alberta | Hi all:
Some questions for the group..... If a person is interesed in a '57-'58 Plymouth, what are the things that a person should be looking at. If a car had gone through a restoration, what kinds of things does a person need to be careful of? What about "resto-mods"? How do these affect the value of a car. For fun, let's say a guy was looking at a Belevedere, that was supposed to have a 301 Poly engine, but someone dropped a 440 (for example) into the car. How would that affect the value of the car. (Actually, if that was the case, would the car still have the original transmission?)
Would anyone be able to make the statment (and these are just numbers I pulled out of the air), let's say a #2 Belvedere is a $20000.00. But because of an engine modification from the original engine, you should deduct X% as a rule?
Here's another question: let's say a person was looking at a Belevedere, that was reperesented as such. What's stopping a "seller" from finding say a Plaza, and locating sport-tone trim, re-doing the interior and claiming the car is a Belvedere. What's stopping a seller from turning a Belvedere, bronze plating the spottone trim, re-doing the interior and speedo as appropriate, painting the car appropriately and claiming it's a Fury? Do such things go on?
If I understand correctly, there's a body plate on the car, as well as a serial number. The body plate is how you would tell a Plaza from a Savoy from a Belvedere correct? The serial number doesn't play into model identification so much? Is this right? Can anyone tell me what the numbers should be for a Plaza, a Savoy, a Belvedere and a Fury (just for fun)? Also, this body plate would tell you if the car was a six or an eight correct? Would it tell if the car had the 4V setup as opposed to the 2V setup?
A couple more quick questions.... I think I'm running out of my question allotment for today....lol! From front bumper to rear, how long is a 57 Plymouth 2-dr coupe? I assume the 58 is the length? Also, what was a business coupe? What was different about them? I understand these were pretty limited production vehicles?
Ok... I'll stop with the question barrage! Thanks to everyone in advance who posts back!
Edited by sconut1 2010-07-20 1:23 AM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1115
Location: CA | I would say the condition of the body/bodywork is above anything else. I don't think adding a 440 or any other motor is a strong sales point in fact I'd bet it hurts the value more than it helps as it almost always eliminates the pushbutton function. It really depends upon you or said buyer and what you're looking for. For me, the condition of the floors, body, and frame would be above all else. Glass, trim, and interior would be a distant concern. If you're looking at the high end "Fury" you'll want to check the serial tag, p/t plate (on passenger cowl), engine number, and the stamping on the frame. Furys get pricey so you'd want to make sure it is exactly what it's represented to be as nothing stops anyone from making/misrepresenting one. 57-58 Plymouth's are about 18 feet long.
Plaza's are fairly easy to spot as they were the cheapest of the line so it will always be a sedan body. The business coupes were 2-dr sedan bodys with no rear seat and no roll-down rear windows. They were designed for salesman and such. Most of the eye brow headlight moldings and tail light housings were painted steel on both 57-58 whereas the Savoy and Belvedere were anodized aluminum. That said, 52-53 years is a long time and absolutely anything can happen and be subject to change within that time frame. I've seen folks build Belvederes into Furys and Belvedere convertibles into "fury" convertibles in which case there were none in 56-58, ever! The best way to tell the model and authenticate a car is to look at the serial number on both the body and frame which is just a start. Plymouth has a pretty easy break-down for the models and serial numbers. Hope this helps!
Edited by Finsinthemirror 2010-07-20 1:56 AM
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Plymouth body numbers/codes
