[FWDLK] RARER Than Rare??

[eastern sierra Adj Services <esierraadj@xxxxxxxxx>]

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