A few problems here . . ..
Chrysler of Canada would sell you a Mopar product not offered in Canada
(Plymouth Fury, Dodge D-501, etc.) BUT they imported the car from the U.S.
They did not build a car in Canada with special imported engines or build
models built in the U.S. and not offered in Canada.
"Posi-Track" was General Motors, not Chrysler. As you say, Sure-Grip came
out in 1958, not 1957.
The 1957 Canadian-built Dodge Custom Royal came with a 313-cid V8, not a
354. The 354 was used in 1958. And it was the Windsor poly, not a New
Yorker hemi. No Canadian-built Dodge used a hemi engine after 1955.
Near as I can tell, the Canadian 1957 Custom Royal used the same interior as
the American Custom Royal. It was 1960 that the Canadian Polara used the
lower-priced Matador interior. And shared it with the Canadian Chrysler
Windsor.
A car built in July 1957 with an engine from earlier in the model year? And
an engine not offered in Canada? Big question marks.
Air Conditioning on a Canadian-built 1957 Chryco product? I think not. You
could get "Air Control", which was another way of saying heater with
defroster. And the Hi-Way Hi-fi? Sorry, but that is another option that
Chrysler of Canada did not offer, not even in 1956.
You cannot tell from the body plate on pre-1966 Chryco products when the car
was built. Although, with the VIN you could tell how early/late in the
model year it was built. The "1869" means it was the 1,869th Custom Royal
2-door hardtop built. Do not know how many 2-door hardtops were built in
Windsor for 1957, but total 1957 Custom Royal production came to 7,048.
Would like to see a copy of this original "documentation". And a copy of
the body plate. So far nothing adds up.
By the way, the 1957 D-501 option used engines leftover from the 1956
Chrysler 300-B. In other words, they were 354-cid hemi enignes. And they
were only offered on Coronet models.
A couple of years ago "Mopar Action" had an article on a Canadian 1957 Dodge
Custom Royal that the owner had installed a 1956 Chrysler 354 hemi. complete
with 2, 4-bbl carbs.
Bill
Vancouver, BC
----- Original Message -----
From: "eastern sierra Adj Services" <esierraadj@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2004 11:49 PM
Subject: [FWDLK] RARER Than Rare??
> Ok, you've got your Fury convertibles & sedans, C300 & 300B convies,
> and Adventurer Club Coupes, and Regal Lancer Super-D convertibles, but
> how about a 1957 CANADIAN-BUILT CUSTOM ROYAL 2-dr hardtop D501?????
>
> Right now, in Florida, Boccaccio Restorations is restoring an originally
> Special-Ordered, HEAVILY-optioned (like A/C, HiWay HiFi/rear-speaker,
> power windows, padded dash, rear defroster) Custom Royal 2-dr HT, that,
> oh yeah, also had a $630.00(!!!) D501 engine/suspension option, as part
> of the 'order'
> , which brought the O.E.M. 'price' to $5,800.00.
>
> The car's original-family order/ownershiop documentation is still
> preserved, and it was (necessarilly) delivered with a single 4-bbl carb,
> due to the A/C-equipment, but it also had the engine Dress-up option,
> consisting of CHROMED valve covers & aircleaner(???!!)
>
> I'm still not certain why (altho CAN CRL's came with 'regular' 354 c.i.
> [New Yorker] engines) the car 'had' to be built in Windsor, CAN, but it
> WAS , & it had the CAN 3-tone paint scheme: in this instance:
> white-over-blue-over [diff-] blue .
>
> The D501 engine was BETTER than the 300B engine (too much to go into,
> here), and the car had heavy-duty/imperial suspension pieces, and even a
> "Posi-Track" (that's what it was called in 1957, altho the "SureGrip"
> limited-slip diffie wouldn't be introduced, until 1958), and rear
> swaybar(!)
>
> Anyway, this car's got all-this legitimate D501 accoutrement, along with
> engine KD500-1019.
> ONE of the (many) amazing things, about this car is its engine--as Greg
> Leggatt, of Napanee, ONT, correctly noted, from its CAN Paint/trim
> plate, it was the 1869th CRL made, around Jun/Jul, 1957, but it has a
> very-EARLY D501
> engine--we can only guess that that engine may have been "set-aside",
> for some reason, but the engine IS origina/correct to this car.
>
> The 'moral' to this "bedtime" MoPar story, is merely THIS (& SLEEP on
> THIS:) IF you were of-age, back then, & IF you either knew the
> right-people, or had an iNFLUENTIAL dealership, or had the right-MONEY,
> you PROBABLY COULD have "special-ordered" a Fury convertible, or
> C300/300B convertible, as- long-as the "trim" would fit, the
> application!!
>
> Based upon 'this' car, Dodge could have built a D501 stationwagon!
> Bottom-line is: Chryco didn't really care what they built, as long as it
> was 'practicable', to build, and PAID-FOR!
>
> btw, the CAN Dodge CRL's featured US "Royal" -model interiors, and the
> "blue" interior is most attractive .
>
> So, going back to a thread, a couple weeks ago, there's still a LOT of
> "undiscovered" automotive gems, out there!!
>
> Neil Vedder
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