Since I started into drag racing with my
first 56 Plymouth Fury in late 56 I was very eager to learn as much as I could
about High Performance Chrysler Products. My best friends father owned a large
Dodge / Plymouth dealership. I would spend many many hours just looking
through the part books and reading Service Bulletins and
Service Update reports. You almost had to carry the serial number of
your car with you. There were so many early part numbers and so many late part
numbers for each year. Eventually they came out with a book that decoded the
early and late part numbers together. There were so very many things that
came out after the cars were already built and sold that were always
offered as a dealer add on. ( called "Dealer Installed".)
I am sure they did not make an exception
to the add on list and not offer the 2/4 bbl carbs.
I was surprised to find the 2/4 bbl carbs
were not only offered for the 303 engine in the 56 Fury, but it was also listed
as an option for the 277 inch Plymouth Belvedere late in the 1956.( Please
note---when a Factory parts for the car were "Dealer Installed" you did not
have to send the metal fender paint code, etc, etc plate back to the
factory to be updated.
The world was moving much slower back then. Dealers
really worked with you to sell you a car. If they were experienced and
knew who to contact at the production plant,
they could get some strange combinations that were not in any of the books.That
is hard to understand in this fast moving hi tech computer and robot age, but
that is how it was back then. Back then you could call the company and
talk live to a real person, not a computer. If they said they would call you
right back---------they did.) (It was a different world back then.) There were
never any left over parts on the Chrysler products assembly lines that were
destroyed or disregarded just because the a new model year started being
produced at the other end of the line.
Ron Swartley
( still loose on the East
Coast)
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