[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by kevinephraim

Spotted this beauty this morning.. Donno if she is for sale, but definitely running and pretty much original.

This gem is a daily drive, an elderly couple are regularly seen in it. I believe he is the first owner, and maintains it himself. The car is really quite special.

[kevinephraim]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

This gem is a daily drive, an elderly couple are regularly seen in it. I believe he is the first owner, and maintains it himself. The car is really quite special.

Yes she really is a gem.. i was in a hurry so didn't stop to catch the owner. else i would have definitely found out more. Glad you recognised the car.

And now that you've told me the owner is the first one himself... i guess my second post after this has been answered.. cost of this gem? Priceless!

[IndrojitSircar]

1956 Dodge Kingsway

This car was restored a couple of months back by a friend in Delhi. Please give your views and comments about the work that has been done.

Thank you.

[IndrojitSircar]

Continuation of the same car's pictures.

[IndrojitSircar]

last set of pics of the same car-

[samsag12]

Very commendable job. Superb finish on the car. Really loved the way interiors have been done especially the dash. Was it restored by some collector.

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by IndrojitSircar

1956 Dodge Kingsway
[/b][/u][/i][left]This car was restored a couple of months back by a friend in Delhi. Please give your views and comments about the work that has been done.

Nice work!
Although, IMHO, the numberplates should've worn a more period look/font to make it complete.

[mbz180]

Nice restoration. Especially like the quality of the interior upholstery. Great paint finish too. The only thing I don't like is the black paint used for the floor area, looks poorly finished, with too many rough patches.

Regards
Prithvi

[wasif]

This restoration in my book clasifies as a "Brave" restoration going by the state teh car was in for starters and that its not a reallly valuable car to have justified the trouble.

Anyway job well done

[Bulldogji]

Hi Indrojit,a nice 1955 dodge lovingly restored.Maybe the owner can consider removing the al strips on the running boards and above ?And Wasif,value of a car is not really the criteria when one restores .Value comes in mind perhaps to those who restore with the intention of selling and not to genuine lovers of these beauties who restore and enjoy.And Indrojit, I see an alternator fitted whose pulley width would be measured in mm whereas the crank and water pump pulleys may have their dia in inches.Which fan belt would your friend have fitted?I suggest making all new pulleys in metric dia to enable modern V belts to be fitted for trouble free motoring.All in all a pleasing result,the colour combo being the owners perogrative so no comments.

[anjan_c2007]

Indrojit- a treat to watch the car restored from a near ramshackle condition.Looks like the Bombay car had its metal corroding in the coastal environ with the floor almost tattered and so much of rust everywhere.The C pillars show rusing evidently due to moisture gathering between the chrome ornamentation (missing in the original car but fitted after restoration) and the body metal.
The final job is very much like the original but for a few spares that still may be hard to come by like the horn button, chrome wipers and may be a few more original goodies.
A few clarifications for me -
-Did these cars in 1956 still have the in line six, side valve engine? Overhead valves were the norm since the late 40's or early 1950's for most contemporary cars as such.
- The drooping rear fenders make it look like the Plymouth Savoy.Is it rebadged as a Kingsway? Kingsways had rising rear fenders with the vertically disposed thinner tail lights. The Plymouth Savoy was the most down market of the Chrysler imports into India by PAL, the Kingsway being its upmarket cousin.
Lastly, these imports from Chrysler in the 1950's were like today's Mercs and BMW's of and as classy cars for India, these have appended sentiments for by all those who had seen these cars ferry Chief Ministers and the then rich and famous.
In fact many government department heads had Kingsways/Suburbans/Savoys and just kept them running even in the 1970's and early 1980's.One such top official ,a family friend had a sky blue Dodge Suburban which could carry four adults comfortably on its rear bench seat.He resisted getting his car written off and auctioned as he was very much worried he would get an Ambassador as replacement.Around 1985 or so, he had to succumb to the market forces as spares had really become difficult to find.He ultimately got an Ambassador Mark 4.
To add to our woe, many Dodges/Plymouths/DeSotos were destroyed by filmwallahs and others also scrapped after the first fuel price hike (oil shock) of 1973.The remaining were dieselised with the country made Perkins P4 and thus very few ones with the original in line have six, petrol engines have remained.
Upon enquiry, I was recently told in Kolkata that its carburettor (new) is being sold for around Rs 40-50K.
These cars from the Chrysler stable are very much like any other old American car of yore in India, but these variants from Chrysler were more abundant as compared to other American imports.

[IndrojitSircar]

Originally Posted by samsag12

Very commendable job. Superb finish on the car. Really loved the way interiors have been done especially the dash. Was it restored by some collector.

Thank you Sagar for the valuable feedback.

Originally Posted by Stanher

Nice work!
Although, IMHO, the numberplates should've worn a more period look/font to make it complete.

I thought of the same as well and spoke to the restorer about it. I had suggested that he should go for a black background with white numbers and lettering, but then he said that the police is very strict about these things they would fine the person driving the car each time he is caught. He also said that Wooden number plates were an option but then they would not have looked nice on the car.

Originally Posted by mbz180

Nice restoration. Especially like the quality of the interior upholstery. Great paint finish too. The only thing I don't like is the black paint used for the floor area, looks poorly finished, with too many rough patches.

Regards
Prithvi

I guess that is because of the paint he has used which is too thick and has been applied in stages. We can clearly make out that the paint that has been applied on the flooring hasn't been sprayed. The paint seems to have been applied using a brush. This is what i can understand by looking and the flooring.

Originally Posted by wasif

This restoration in my book classifies as a "Brave" restoration going by the state the car was in for starters and that its not a really valuable car to have justified the trouble.

Anyway job well done

Wasif,

This car is pretty decent shape compared to some of the cars that i have seen being restored. I will post some pictures on a different thread of a 1947 Mercury that had nothing much of the flooring left and certain portion of the roof were completely corroded and had big holes. The restoration has been done with out cutting the old roof out.

Originally Posted by Bulldogji

Hi Indrojit,a nice 1955 dodge lovingly restored.Maybe the owner can consider removing the al strips on the running boards and above ?And Wasif,value of a car is not really the criteria when one restores .Value comes in mind perhaps to those who restore with the intention of selling and not to genuine lovers of these beauties who restore and enjoy.And Indrojit, I see an alternator fitted whose pulley width would be measured in mm whereas the crank and water pump pulleys may have their dia in inches.Which fan belt would your friend have fitted?I suggest making all new pulleys in metric dia to enable modern V belts to be fitted for trouble free motoring.All in all a pleasing result,the colour combo being the owners perogrative so no comments.

Sir,
Thank you for your valuable feedback. I had noticed the same thing regarding the pulley but didn't question the restorer(my friend) about it. Sometimes i prefer not saying anything as the owner/restorer might not like criticisms about their cars/work done on the car. Have seen many people not liking it at all so i prefer not to get into such a topic of discussion. Hope you understand what i mean.

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Indrojit- a treat to watch the car restored from a near ramshackle condition.Looks like the Bombay car had its metal corroding in the coastal environ with the floor almost tattered and so much of rust everywhere.The C pillars show rusing evidently due to moisture gathering between the chrome ornamentation (missing in the original car but fitted after restoration) and the body metal.
The final job is very much like the original but for a few spares that still may be hard to come by like the horn button, chrome wipers and may be a few more original goodies.
A few clarifications for me -
-Did these cars in 1956 still have the in line six, side valve engine? Overhead valves were the norm since the late 40's or early 1950's for most contemporary cars as such.
- The drooping rear fenders make it look like the Plymouth Savoy.Is it rebadged as a Kingsway? Kingsways had rising rear fenders with the vertically disposed thinner tail lights. The Plymouth Savoy was the most down market of the Chrysler imports into India by PAL, the Kingsway being its upmarket cousin.

Sir,
Firstly thank you for sharing the information about these cars. The Plymouth Savoy and the Dodge Kingsway where assembled also assembled in India by Premier Automobiles in Kurla, Bombay until the late 50's. The Kingsways were re badged Plymouth vehicles, although they were often equipped with Dodge bumpers and trims. They were supposed to help overseas Dodge dealers to sell cars in a lower price class.
The Kingsway was the lowest-priced model in 1949-52, 1954-58 (based on Plymouth Plaza series) and 1959 (Plymouth Savoy). The Kingsway Deluxe was based on the Plymouth DeLuxe (1946-50), Savoy (1954-58) and Belvedere (1959). The top line Kingsway Custom was Dodge's version of the Plymouth Special DeLuxe (1946-50), Cranbrook (1951-53), Belvedere (1954-58) and Fury (1959). For 1959 only, the Kingsway offered a model based on the Sport Fury, the Kingsway Lancer.
With the introduction of the Dodge Dart for 1960, the Kingsway line was dropped.


These cars very much came with 6 Cylinder side valve engines. For instance the Studebaker Champion also had a 6 cylinder side valve engine were they only changed over to an Over head Valve engine in 1961. Maybe someone else can elaborate the reason for this.

[karlosdeville]

I have been seeing this Morris Oxford for a long time at Vatcha petrol pump in Bombay.

[Cyrus43]

That car has been there since more than a decade. I used to ogle at her when i used to go to my aunt's house at khareghat colony. And khareghat colony also has its share of super cool cars. but I assume you know which one i am talking about.

[kevinephraim]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

I have been seeing this Morris Oxford for a long time at Vatcha petrol pump in Bombay.

Attachment 498169

whats the white car at the edge of the photo?