[Sudan_NFS]

I meet today a person Ruban and he is restoring an 1956 Dodge Kingsway and it seems he done a lot of work in it.I have asked him to join our forum and said that many Bhpian would help him in restoring the car.Here is some pics of the car(sorry had less time so only two pics).




I think more work needs to done .I will ask him for more updates next week.
Mods please help him to join this forum.

[chanu]

Nice car this reminds me of a Kingsway which used to be plying in our colony when I was schooling its been very long time not to be seen, I used to stare it for a long time. It had KINGSWAY monogram on the side rear panel. What a lovely car it used to.

[Nitin]

Looks in pretty good condition already,and might need just a bit of TLC. IIRC,there aren't very many of these around in India. I've heard of a few being scrapped way back in the 80s & 90s by the owners,due to inavailability of parts.

[karlosdeville]

The car appears to be dieselised - most Kingsways meet this fate. Still better than it being scrapped I suppose.

[Sudan_NFS]

Yes it's better to be restored and he said that the engine is changed to Benz engine( though he said that engine name i don't remember sorry).
He is happy in restoring this car!

[mustang89]

ahh beauty from the years gone by.they still look royal.can we have more pics please.the body looks fine but maybe the mechanicals are not that good anymore..

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by Sudan_NFS

Yes it's better to be restored and he said that the engine is changed to Benz engine( though he said that engine name i don't remember sorry).

That would probably be the OM 616 Tempo Trax/Matador engine - originally a Mercedes design.

[Aditya]

I wish you all the best with this project. I have childhood memories of the Kingsway. My grandfather had one with a V8.

[anjan_c2007]

Sudan NFS best of wishes from me for the restoration of your friend's car.The car appears to have been a bit altered -the front parking lights on the bumper can be changed to the original white.The dash appears quite original. Its fantastic that the steering with the monogram and horn ring are all original. Even the monogram on the front grille is preserved which is rare these days.Does it have the original full wheel caps? I had seen some wheel covers at Maulana's shop (Mutton Street, behind J.J. Hospital) in Mumbai sometime a year and a half back.
The diesel engine will now have to be endured with as an original engine will be very tough to get. However you can try from junked cars which sometimes have the original engine fitted.
The Dodge Kingsway ruled our roads as a top end car till the mid 1970's. It was what the Standard 2000 or what the Contessa and Opel Astra were in their hey days.But the Kingsway looks majestic and stands out among many other cars. The oil shock of 1974 saw most of the Kingsways, Savoys and Suburbans and similar cars vandalised and dieselised.Can just view some masala Bollywood films from the late 1970's and 1980's to figure out how many were burnt and destroyed. Also the spares later became tough to come by. This explains why the older Austins and Morrises still survive post the oil shock, being small cars.

[the mole]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

The car appears to be dieselised - most Kingsways meet this fate. Still better than it being scrapped I suppose.

Same fate happened to our poor Kingsway after my dad sold it to a certain Mr Mehta in Dadar Parsi colony in 1978.

[Prabal]

Originally Posted by Aditya

I have childhood memories of the Kingsway. My grandfather had one with a V8.

I didn't know that the Kingsway came with a V8.

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The dash appears quite original.

The dash is not original at all! A padded unit seems to have been grafted on from some other, later, vehicle. A part of the all-metal original seems to be peeking out from behind it on the passenger's side.

Maybe, it's the angle of the pic, or my eyesight playing tricks again, but the car's body seems a bit out of whack to me. Particularly the roofline.

[Sudan_NFS]

Thanks for the wishes and I will convey it to Ruban.
I am sorry I don't have any update on this restoration since i was bit busy this weekend.
I will try to meet him this week.

Karl : you are correct this the engine he said.

Nice car............ I am also restoring a 55 Kingsway back in Sri Lanka. One thing I am missing is a pair of "Kingsway" badges that come on the side fenders. Maybe one of you could help me out in either purchasing a badge or two or sending me a picture with the dimensions in order to assist me in locally turning out these badges.

Thanks.

[V-16]

Originally Posted by Aditya

I wish you all the best with this project. I have childhood memories of the Kingsway. My grandfather had one with a V8.

You mean straight six don't you?

[CLASSICCAR]

One Green colour Dodge Kingsway (Diesel) was sold in Nagpur for Just
60,000/- two years back. The papers were not upto date .hence I let it
go.

B.ANANT
NAGPUR