Painted Woodie: 1954 Dodge Coronet Suburban
In 1953 Dodge added a Hemi V8 option to its Coronet sedan (which went on to set dozens of Bonneville speed records) and the following year Dodge celebrated its fortieth year and introduces of a 2-speed powerflite automatic transmission (the first true auto for a Dodge) in the Royal, Coronet, and Meadowbrook line…however, today’s car has neither of those features, but is cool nonetheless. Find this 1954 Dodge Coronet Suburban offered for $14,000 in Morgan Hill, CA via craigslist. Tip from Kaibeezy.
I have to admit that I’m not entirely sure this is a Coronet, it could be a Meadbowbrook — but it is the 2-door Suburban (the 4-door wagon was called the Sierra)…however the ’53 and ’54 Dodge wagons actually used Plymouth body (shorter wheelbase than the standard Dodge). This particular car a very nicely done painted wood sides — gives you the woodie look without worrying about termites, varnish, or splinters.
Under the hood is a 230 cubic inch straight-six, which produced 110 horsepower when new and is mated to a 3-speed manual with the optional overdrive. This isn’t a Dodge Viper, but given enough room it should be able to hit 80 mph on flat ground.
Condition wise, this car looks nice, but the asking price seems high for a ’54 Dodge that doesn’t have a Hemi or some rare history…but who knows.
See another painted woodie? tips@dailyturismo.com
Handsome car but the painted wood kills it for me. I could have fun with this though, it has to be something not seen often, cant recall the last I saw one of these.
Just me, but I prefer a real woodie to one that's painted on…
The painted wood is fairly easily rectified. These cars were never that popular in the day, and they are pretty rare now.
Putting a nicely warmed over slant 6 with a 4spd would keep it sedate enough, but not dangerous on anything but a quiet side road. These 2pds are pretty awful in real life.
These cars hold a warm place in my memories, my father had a green 53' with 3spd on the column. It was ten years old when he bought it and it always ran great.
It was rear ended on the Belt Parkway and pop when out and bought his first new car, one of the still odd 62' Dodge Coronet 440's. It had the modular 318 and besides fiddling with solid lifter adjustment it was a great car. Seeing one today still makes me wince at the design. Eeeks.
Yeah the '62 Dodge was a little strange looking, the styling was kind of caught between being a big Valiant/Lancer and the '63 Dart.
However, lets keep in mind the Movie It's A Mad Mad World. The '62 Dodge played key roles as a Dick Shawn's (I'm coming Momma!) ed convertible and Spencer (Culpepper) Tracy's sedate police car.
You forgot two "Mad"s in the title 😉
Great movie by the way! The Big W is just up the hill here at Portuguese Bend on Palos Verdes. Well, what's left of it anyway.
Dodge in volo:
[img] jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachments/490-jpg.1148999/[/img]
Didn't forget, just being economical with my phrasing. You know how succinct I like to be 🙂