1955 Dodge Custom Royal Hardtop Coupe

Nineteen fifty-five was a year of changes for many automakers as they sought to remake their reputations. One of those was Dodge as it moved away from its boxy, stodgy image of the 1954 and previous models. A blatant attempt to get customers' attention worked with 76 tri-tone exterior paint combinations.

The 1955 Dodge featured thin roof pillars, a wrap-around windshield, hooded headlights, tail fins and horizontal chrome trim, which became the hallmarks of “Ex's” designs. Ex in this case was Virgil Exner, hired away from Studebaker to Chrysler.

Wearing a black roof, Sapphire White on the hood, beltline, tail and trunk areas and Paris Rose Poly on the doors, fenders and nose sections, this hardtop coupe was made in Chrysler's Detroit, Michigan factory and sold new in Texas. The paint and trim are all in very good shape, overall, there are some blemishes on the left fender present at the hood, and on the right front fender. The cargo area is in fine form, including a spare tire and wheel, bumper jack and four-way lug wrench plus an original can of Fire Guard. The car's chrome bumpers fit tightly to the body. Purchase includes numerous spare parts. (See photos)

Items inoperable are the windshield wipers, the speedometer and odometer.

This big Dodge rolls on Universal wide whitewall tires mounted on 15-inch steel wheels topped by factory wheel covers. The tires and wheel covers are in very good order. Front discs and rear drum brakes stop the car.

This was Chrysler's last model year with six-volt electrical systems (they would move to 12 volts for the 1956 line); it was also the last year for the bolted-on chrome fins. Rather than fuses, Dodge used automatically resetting circuit breakers. Wire insulation was vinyl and varnished cloth.

Under the counterbalanced hood is the Super Red Ram V-8 was also 270 cubic inches, like the Red Ram, but it had the hemispherical combustion chambers with dual rockers (one for exhaust, one for intake) per cylinder; it was called the “double rocker,” with the “Hemi” name not arriving until later. This was optional on lesser Dodges and standard on the Custom Royal.

Still relatively new to Dodge was a fully automatic transmission - the two-speed PowerFlite, controlled from a lever on the dashboard (a single-year device). The PowerFlite was lighter and simple in its construction and operation, with fewer parts than competing transmissions. It was also durable and used behind every Chrysler Corporation engine from the Plymouth Six to the Imperial's Hemi V-8. Upon its introduction, the PowerFlite was controlled by a single lever mounted on the steering column. The shift quadrant sequence was R-N-D-L, which differed from the more common P-N-D-L-R on other makes.

In those cars, it was necessary to pass through all forward ranges to put the car in reverse gear then back through some of those ranges to drive forward. Chrysler promoted the greater safety of the PowerFlite pattern; because forward and reverse settings were separated by neutral and it was necessary to move the lever only one notch to the left or right to put the car in motion, so an accidental over shift past D would result in a harmless shift to low gear rather than an unintended engagement of reverse. All Chrysler products at the time had a parking brake independent from the vehicle's wheel brakes, a single brake drum mounted on the driveshaft, just behind the transmission. This had the (intended) effect of locking both rear wheels in the same way that the “Park” setting did in other transmissions.

In 1955, Chrysler moved the shift lever to the dashboard in a vertical slot with “R” at the top and “L” at the bottom. The car has a 3.73 rear end.

Inside, the car has a white vinyl and black Jacquard fabric upholstery. Dodge used quite a bit of stainless-steel trim on the car, with numerous trim parts being die-cast. The cars had black-faced gauges, with an ammeter, fuel gauge, antifreeze temperature, oil pressure gauge, speedometer and odometer; the ash-tray/headlight switch is designed to also look like a gauge. The ignition was automatically lighted up when the parking lights were turned on. Fresh air doors under the dashboard diverted air into the heater when closed and into the cabin when open; these were meant to be seasonal items.

The introduction of the Dodge Custom Royal for the 1955 model year saw the Royal moved down to the intermediate trim level, above the now base-model Coronet. The Royal Lancer name was applied to the two-door hardtop model. This is one of 25,831 examples made in 1955.

Competition to this Dodge in 1955 included Buick's Century Series 60 Riviera; Mercury's Monterey Series Coupe; Oldsmobile's Super 88 Series Holiday Coupe; among others.

If you're a Mopar fan, a Dodge fan or just like the look of a postwar classic car, then you should visit MotoeXotica Classic Cars pronto before someone else snaps up this delightful example of a mid-50s classic.

VIN: 34879364

This car is currently located at our facility in St. Louis, Missouri. Current mileage on the odometer shows 62,372 miles. It is sold as is, where is, on a clean and clear, mileage exempt title. GET OUT AND DRIVE!!!

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