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| I found and just purchased a 1956 Dodge Golden Lancer D500 from someone in Albuquerque, NM. I am quite excited about this car and although it has been restored it needs some tweaking. I want to post some pictures of this car, will attempt to do so, but am not sure how. If no pictures show up perhaps someone can give me some instructions. Thanks Dan
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
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Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | Good news, we're looking forward to see some pictures! Here's a thread about posting pictures; http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=21111&... |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 7806
 
Location: Williams California | Welcome to the site, Dan, that's a beautiful Dodge that you've got! ---John |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 13045
Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | That car is really cool and seems to be in a very good condition! I know that Thord (another swede) will love this car! |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Kingston Springs , TN | Very nice Dan...welcome!!
Mike |
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Location: A proud Canadian | Very nice car Dan... I love the colour combo... |
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: New Jersey | Dan---
Beautiful car!!! My Dad had one exactly like yours when I was a child and I have many fond memories of it. Good luck with it and keep us posted.---Fred
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Expert
Posts: 2679
| ses4jeeps - 2008-11-27 9:21 AM
I found and just purchased a 1956 Dodge Golden Lancer D500 from someone in Albuquerque, NM. I am quite excited about this car and although it has been restored it needs some tweaking. I want to post some pictures of this car, will attempt to do so, but am not sure how. If no pictures show up perhaps someone can give me some instructions. Thanks Dan
Wow!! Now thats a beautiful ride you have there!!! Very nice!!! |
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Expert
Posts: 1443
Location: Oconomowoc Wi | White and Gold is a hot color combination. I love it !!! |
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Posts: 27
| Thanks for the compliment. BTW I grew up in Watertown, just about 12 miles down the road from you, and stayed there until age 13 when my family moved me to New Mexico. I still have a soft spot for Wisconsin in my heart. Dan |
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Posts: 1443
Location: Oconomowoc Wi | Do you ever get back here?
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| Bart: Oh ya! Just about whenever I can. Sadly though it has been almost 3 years since I have been there last. I still make it a point to bring back brick cheese and wieners whenever I go there. Dan |
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Regular
Posts: 67
| Very Nice, Love that Color Combo..Steve |
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Location: Madison, Wisconsin | Wonderful Car!!! On behalf of several 56 Dodge owners on this list; Welcome!!!
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| Very nice car, gold is my favorite color...welcome to the best FL site on the net! |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Oooooh ! Gotta love those 56 Dodges ! 
OK, so what makes a "Golden Lancer" ? I thought they were maxed-out Custom Royals. This is trimmed as a Coronet / Royal. Was it an option to any model ? If so, what all came with the package ?
Beautiful car.  |
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Location: Australia | hey the front is fabulous!! love the picture, nice car there.... adriana |
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Member
Posts: 27
| From my understanding a Golden Lancer was a special package offered sometime mid-year. It consisted of the unique Gold, White, Gold paint on the exterior and gold highligts iin the interior (dash, steering wheel, other metal trim). The faactory paint code was 077. You may be familiar with the high end Custom Royal Golden Lancer sold at Barret Jackson for a huge amount, but there is a Cornet Golden Lancer for sale in California listed on-line, and this one here is correctly a Royal with the Golden Lancer trim package. You can get a little more info if you Google Golden Lancer. That is all I know about it. ANYONE ELSE GOT SOME INFO WE CAN LEARN ABOUT??? Dan |
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Expert
Posts: 1918
Location: Hell's Outhouse - a.k.a. Buckeye, Arizona | And a D-500 to boot.
She's a stunner, Dan.  |
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Location: The Mile High City | Nice, Dan! Way to go! The '56 models are so wonderful! |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Montreal, Canada | WHAT A GORGEOUS CAR !!!!!! 
D-500 and a great color combo, you are a lucky @#$?%$?%#$@#
Welcome home bro.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Dan's car's Paint/Trim plate is decoded on the Fender tag board (blush)....
This is a Royal model, as well....very rare, with manual steering and brakes.
Golden Lancers have now been documented in all three models (no station wagons, yet, however).
Dan, a major part of the "fun" of ownership is tracking down OEM options and correcting
some after-market add-ons, when ever possible.
In that regard, you should keep your eyes 'out' for a OEM 1956 antenna assembly.
My car, too, back in 1980, had an aftermarket antenna installed.
It took me considerable time to find a correct assembly (not a high priority) and then
to get it rechromed, and get the correct rubber trim from Gary Goers.
I've got well over $100.00 (in 1980's-90's costs-and-charges) in installing the correct
antenna system.
Edited by d500neil 2008-11-28 6:27 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1508
Location: new york | Super nice!!!! Use it in good health!!!! Great colors very 50's,56's are a great they have the Fins and the solid Quality of the early Mopars I've owned some 56 Mopars and they just ride great HAPPY MOTORING! Victor... |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Yeah, 56'ers were VERY well built, AND they were the last models to feature true
"chair height" seating.
Let's see some more engine and interior photos!
Edited by d500neil 2008-11-28 7:04 PM
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Location: Parts Unknown | I am still lost on this Golden Lancer package.
Is there an emblem that reads "Golden Lancer" ? A code on the data tag ? Are all gold and white 56 Dodges automatically "Golden Lancers" ?
Neil - you made the comment that no Golden Lancer wagons have been found as of yet .....
Is the Lancer name not contrary to any NON-hardtop ? Are you just joking, or could this package be had on sedans and wagons too ? And would it still be called "Lancer" when that word meant hardtop ? |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Magra, Sweden | Welcome to the site Dan, it's so nice to see such a gorgeous car. You're really lucky to find a good example of such a rare car. Indeed it was a hot car at the time. IMHO the 55-56 Dodges are the very best looking of all the mid fifties cars and this color combo is so sweet. Make sure to document as much as possible, especially what seems to be unmolested original condition and keep on posting pictures and details about the car. There's a wealth of knowledge and experience within this site and every little piece of info added is valuable and most welcome.
The Lancer name was used on the top of the line Custom Royal Hardtops and Convertibles in 1955. They had some exclusive trim like the headlight doors and the crome fins. During spring the Custom Royal trim and interiors appeared also on the 4-Door and I think the where called Lancers as well. I've even seen a 55 wagon with the Custom Royal trim in the "Forward looks in old pictures/postcards" thread on this site.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Brent, the Golden Lancer was a mid-year advertising gimmick, that actually played out quite well, because in in 1957 the
same gold color was carried-over, but with no special advertising program, and, in 1958, Dodge again promoted a "special"
Golden Lancer model, with its own little promotional brochure.
I don't have any 1956 factory model-introduction literature (that I recall!!) , but, I think that that "Gallant Gold Poly" (later
called "iridescent") was NOT one of the 1956 introductory colors.
Without delving extensively into my '56 archives, I do find, in the 2/86 WPC Club's magazine, in Re: the 1956 Dodge
Story, by Dan Reitz, on page 11 thereof, that he lists 14 OEM colors , none of which were the Gallant Gold.
Dan doesn't mention when the Golden Lancer program was begun, but, a review of the early 1956 MoTor Trends, et al,
will probably have a mini-article, in the front sections, announcing the advent of the Golden lancer build-program.
The term "Lancer" has always (one of the FEW times that one can make a categorical statement about FWDLK'ers) denoted
a 2 or 4-door HT, or convertible.
The paint code for the gold-over-white scheme is 077, and most-all GL's have the black and white interior motif (531: Coro;
539: Royal; 545: CRL, so, there are a couple P/T plate codes which confirm the painting/interior of a real GL.
So, it would stand to reason that there were 'no' GL station wagons, but, there almost certainly were many station wagons
painted in that Gallant Gold color.
There were NO unique moldings/nameplates, etc, in 1956, which announced that the subject car was a "Golden Lancer"
model, and, most GL's were NOT D500's, as some sellers'-mythology would have an unsuspecting buyer believe.
So, a Gallant Gold painted 4-door sedan, or wagon, would not be, technically, a Golden "Lancer"...
BTW: the original 'suggested' factory color scheme for the Custom Royal and Coronet 2-dr HT and convertible D500's
were top and lower in Sapphire White, with the middle-'sandwich' area in Oriental Coral, altho ANY available
colors could be put onto one, and, later, the D500 option was made available to all models and body types.
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| Neil, Brent: I don't know for sure when the Golden Lancer option began but here is some insight I obtained in a round about way which supports Neil's statement that it is mid-year. In searching old color charts I notice Ditzler Color Division PPG Paint Charts show the following:
Original color chart did NOT have the Gallant Gold Poly color listed or a paint chip in the Gallant Gold color.
There was issued an advance bulletin dated 4/24/56 titled "1956 Dodge New Color Combination" which shows the Saphire White, Gallant Gold Poly, Saphire White color set up. The Gallant Gold Poly has an asterik by it and the associated footnote for that asterik reads "Same as Adventurer Gold on the 1956 Desoto".
The revised Ditzler color chart dated 7/56 DOES have the Gallant Gold Poly listed and has a paint chip in that color.
I conclude therefore given the date of the advance bulletin of 4/24/56, production date of my car about 5/23, and the revised color chart of 7/56 that the Golden Lancer was introduced mid to late production year.
See below some more pictures of the interior and engine bay of my car.
Dan
Edited by ses4jeeps 2008-11-29 9:46 PM
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Location: Parts Unknown | OK ....
Let me make sure I have this straight :
Like Olds used "Holiday" and Buick used "Riviera" to denote the hardtops and convertibles, the term LANCER means hardtop or soft top.
That is how I always understood it, but some have called this into question.
Secondly, .... on this Golden Lancer car .... what is a point of provenance that denotes a GL from any other 2 door hardtop painted those colors ? Special interior ? Data plate code ? ... or can any boob with a gold and white 2HT pass it off as a special factory car ? Or maybe I have this all wrong and ANY original gold and white 2HT actually WAS a GL ? Somehow, I thought they were far more unusual than that.
I ask this because I have heard it all ..... they were ALL D-500's, they only made 50 of them, .. blah-blah-blah.
I'd just like to know the real story.
Have any of these been found as 4HT's ??? How about ragtops ???
Thanks for the feedback guys. Still learning after all these years ! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 608
Location: Madison, Wisconsin | More infomation about the Golden Lancers...
Your car is rare, rare, rare by my count.
Golden Lancer - rare
D500 - rare
Royal Trim Level - rare (Custom Royal and Coronet were more common).
Edited by 56RoyalLancer 2008-11-29 11:53 PM
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| Hey there 56RL: Thanks much for your input. I learned/verified more about the GL via your brochure than ever before--spring introduction, 2-drs only, available all trim levels, and black, white, gray interior standard/only(?). Didn't know either that they put out a special brochure for the GL. I am lusting after your sales brochure. I haven't searched yet since this is a brand new car for me, but would you know where I might be able to purchase a GL sales brochure????? Thanks again for your input. Dan
OOPS! At closer look this might be 3 separate collections--an advertising, post card and another advertising. Still I wouldn't mind purchasing any or all three if you know anyone who has some for sale.
Edited by ses4jeeps 2008-11-30 8:43 AM
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Location: Madison, Wisconsin | Hey Dan,
No problem sharing information. I have been into 1956 Dodges since inheriting mine from my Mom. She bought it new from the showroom floor in early 57 when the new model year came out. Just let me know if you have any questions about these cars as I have quite the wealth of information. Another member of this list is the definitive 56 Dodge person, his name is Dave Homstad. If I don't know the answer I am sure he will, especially mechanical. The GL info is as rare or more rare then the car itself. All I can recommend to you is that you keep your eye on eBay and go to lots of swap meets. The last picture is of an actual billboard sign! If you are interested in keeping your 56 original as possible let me know as I noted things on your pictures that are not OEM. But if that is not your goal, then that's cool.
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| 56RL: An off but important comment: If you know where Watertown is (just down the road from Madison), then you know where I was born and spent the first 13 years of my life. Then moved to Albuquerque, NM when my family moved there.
Yup, I go to plenty of swap meets, but up until now never even thought of looking for the GL literature. That will change now.
Keeping it original is also a goal of mine. I do have the original oil bath breather even though it is not now on the car. I am having some gas starvation issues so will have to pull the tank and take care of whatever I find, blow out or replace the fuel lines, and when that issue is cleared up I will replace the oil bath breather. Mine is black but I see others that are painted red- which is correct, do you know(???). Also I think perhaps the spark plug covers on the valve covers should be black(?)
I will have to find some chrome "Flipper" moldings which go above the door windows which open and close with the door because mine are missing. But this is all part of what makes it a hobby.
I am receptive to any insight you have regarding what is not original on the car. Thanks, Dan |
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Location: Parts Unknown | I do not consider myself to be any sort of expert on 56 Dodge - that's why all the questions - but I do have a nice, unmolested original D-500 here in the garage. Below are photos of the engine compartment. The oil filler cap is not OEM, but otherwise I believe dead stock original.
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| Thanks Dr. DeS: Looks like red is the color for the breather and looks like black is the color for the wire covers.
You got any near term plans for your D500 car? Dan |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 608
Location: Madison, Wisconsin |
Dan,
Not much to find on your car that is not OEM. Here is what I can start off with from what I see in the pictures that you posted.
Oil Bath Air Cleaner is missing - should be larger four barrel cleaner painted red.
Spark plug covers should be painted black.
The Oil Filler tube should be longer on a 4bbl option or D500.
Hood Springs will need a repaint as well - should be red.
See if you can find a solid upper radiator hose. The original is not a flex hose.
You are missing the correct cigar lighter it should have the same knob design as the other switches. I have seen these on EBay.
Why does your car have a radio antennae but a radio delete plate???? The antennae does not look correct OEM.
The turn signal does not look correct. It should be shorter and have a knob design like the other switches.
The Dodge emblem on the speaker grill should have black painted in back of the dodge lettering.
The Dodge emblem on the center steering cover should have red and black in it.
Ash Tray letters are missing.
Is paint missing from the dummy gage? This is the filler where the clock would go if so equipped.
All the gages should be the same green color as the speedo. If they are black they are from a 55 Dodge. I can't tell from your photo.
The support bar for the horns under the hood should be silver.
The kick panels in the car should not have screws??
The carpet looks black in color. The correct carpet would be a black and silver mix loop called 'tuxedo'.
That's all I can see from the photos. The rest looks real good. I wanted to help without sounding like I am finding fault.
Make sure to protect the seat covers. Trying to find that OEM material is a hard to do.
If you have any more questions, just ask. I will do my best to answer. I also have a large collection of related paper goods (ads, booklets, etc.) to refer to.
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Location: Parts Unknown | ses4jeeps - 2008-12-01 11:36 AM
Thanks Dr. DeS: Looks like red is the color for the breather and looks like black is the color for the wire covers.
You got any near term plans for your D500 car? Dan
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I am currently building a shop in which to hunker down in and get my cars out of mothballs and into some movement toward restoration. The DeSoto is the top priority, but the 56 Dodge is No.2 we have nasty, long winters. Perfectly suited to doing what the Swedes do with their FL cars. I tossed the last bit of dirt today to finish out how far we are going to get this year. It is a muck mire ! When things dry out in the spring, it will be full speed ahead. This will be the last winter I am out in the cold.
Specifically with the 56 Dodge, my plan is to get it running and just play with it as a grocery-gitter. Long haul, it will get some rust work done and get a repaint. The interior is pretty rough. That will be in there somewhere. |
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| 56RL: Thanks for your constructive input. I take no offense to your findings and, indeed, I appreciate them. I also wondered about the radio antenna and don't really have a good answer but here is what I think. If you look at the dash picture you will see a white bracket of some sort attached under the dash. It looks like it housed a pull in pull out after market radio of some kind. The radio is gone but the bracket and the antenna remain. The bracket I can remove but not sure what I will do with the antenna since I don't want to have a hole in the fender. Thanks again for your input. Dan |
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Location: Parts Unknown | ses4jeeps - 2008-12-02 3:39 AM
I also wondered about the radio antenna and don't really have a good answer but here is what I think. If you look at the dash picture you will see a white bracket of some sort attached under the dash. It looks like it housed a pull in pull out after market radio of some kind. The radio is gone but the bracket and the antenna remain. The bracket I can remove but not sure what I will do with the antenna since I don't want to have a hole in the fender. Thanks again for your input. Dan
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That's easy. Just take the fender off and run without ! |
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Location: Madison, Wisconsin | Dan,
I would consider finding an OEM radio and antenna to put into the car and call it done. It has to be more clean and less expensive then to fix the hole in the fender. Especially since the antenna looks to be in the correct location more or less. Take a look under the dash and see if there is a speaker in place. I would be curious if it was there and if it is an new or old speaker. Also, if it is a newer speaker you will need to replace it with an older one if you run the old AM OEM radio. A new speaker will blow the old radio. Has something to do with the magnet on the back. |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | I am seriously bereft of 1956 Golden Lancer literature. |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Dan, when I first saw your car, and its aftermarket antenna, I wondered about how/why the factory
installed the antenna on the driver's side fender.
Some early 57 Dodges (like the one famously-seen in the 2/57 M/T road test issue) had a driver's side antenna.
It now looks like your car, in addition to being manual steering/brakes, may have been a no-radio-option car, too.
An owner may have decided to put that aftermarket antenna there, on the driver's fender.
As far as my own car, and other cars, are concerned, a lot of owners replaced the OEM antennas with those round-ball
mounted aftermarket antennas (which position/attitude can be swiveled, on that ball-base).
So, you may have to decide whether you want to keep that visually-intrusive antenna, there, or have the antenna be moved
to the passenger's side, or fill in that antenna hole, and return the car to its OEM non-radio-option status.
Edited by d500neil 2008-12-01 6:19 PM
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Posts: 1590
Location: Scottsdale, AZ | That's one beautiful car man! Do all the D500 Hemis use dual pulleys? I thought double pulleys were for powersteering and a/c cars. Am I wrong? But whatever may not be 100% correct, thats a great car and I only hope that my kid's '56CRL will look half as nice as yours, dude! |
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| Thanks for the complment. Don't really know about the double pully, but all D500's I have seen have them. Perhaps because the D500 has a heavier damper balancer they went with the double pully/belt. Just a guess. |
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Location: Falicon 06 France | Super nice ride !!!!! The color is beautiful !! |
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Posts: 608
Location: Madison, Wisconsin | Niel,
My 1956 Dodge Royal Lancer has an OEM antenna on the drivers side. My mother was the original owner of the car and the car was purchased with the radio. I have the original sales slip for the car.
http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/photos/photo-thumbnails.asp?album...
Greg |
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Posts: 1918
Location: Hell's Outhouse - a.k.a. Buckeye, Arizona |
Same with the '55 DeSoto Fireflite Coronado John's got that I've been trying to scrimp for - don't know why the antenna is on the driver's side, as that could lead to vision problems, but it's apparently OEM. See below:
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Location: Missouri | Dan, that's one sweet car! Congratulations! Harold Eaton |
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Location: Poznan, Poland, Europe | Thanks for letting me learn about one more special model |
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| Greg: A while back you sent me a post which showed the special sales brochure on the 1956 Golden Lancers. That brochure indicates that the Golden Lancer was available on "all 2 dr Lancers-Custom Royal, Royal, and Coronet". I am trying to convince a non member of that. Could you send me that image again but to my email address so that I can print it and therefore show it to my friend? If you are willing, please send it to
willy4817@verizon.net Thanks, Dan |
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I DID IT-Proud new owner 1956 Golden Lancer D500
