Throughout American history, many car companies have come and gone without making a significant impact on the market. If a manufacturer is no longer around, it’s generally safe to assume that their contributions to the indfrom the truth. The now-defunct Plymouths were beloved by many over their 73-year history, both for their practicality and affordability. To better understand exactly what makes them different from the other manufacturers of the past, let’s take a brief look at the brand’s entire history.

Plymouth was never its own company to begin with; rather, it was a subline of vehicles from the Chrysler Corporation that began manufacturing on July 7, 1928. At this time in car history, Ford and Chevrolet were dominating the market due to their intentional manufacture of low-priced cars that made vehicle ownership accessible to the general public. Plymouth was Chrysler’s attempt to break into that market, and they did so successfully with their first car, the four-cylinder Chrysler-Plymouth Model Q.

The Model Q and the other vehicles that were part of the brand’s launch didn’t exactly meet the same level of affordability as its competitors’ vehicles. However, their advanced features, such as expanding hydraulic brakes, weren’t available on any other car on the market. These innovations became a viable reason for the average consumer to spend a bit above their price point, and by the early 1930s Plymouth was among the top three highest-selling car brands in the nation alongside Ford and Chevrolet. In fact, Plymouth was the reason that Chrysler was able to survive the 1930s at all. During the Great Depression, car sales declined sharply as the average consumer could no longer afford to pay for a vehicle. But because Plymouths stayed at such a low price, Chrysler was able to pull through the economic downturn by selling them at Chrysler, Dodge, and DeSoto dealerships across the country.

Beginning in this period, Plymouth truly cemented their status as innovators in the vehicle space. Their streak of prominent technology began in 1931, when they improved their Plymouth PA with a new phenomenon known as “floating power.” This meant attaching the engine to the chassis at only two points, reducing the amount of residual vibrations felt by the passengers immensely and greatly improving overall comfort. Engineers for the company then moved on to improving engines, doing so with a brand-first flathead-six engine that used a downdraft carburetor for maximum efficiency. After internals were satisfactory, design came next; notable improvements during this time included padded seats and recessed dash instruments to increase safety in a collision as well as the first mass-produced power convertible roof on the 1939 Plymouth Coupe. These tweaks and features continued to propel the brand through the rest of the 1930s and 40s, gaining them enough sales to seriously challenge Ford for the #2 sales spot in the nation.

This success continued through the 1950s due to continued future-focused planning. In 1954, Plymouth simultaneously announced a new practical improvement to their cars–the “Powerflite” transmission, which added a torque converter to a three-speed transmission to create a trademark smooth Plymouth ride–as well as an experimental improvement to come–the Plymouth Turbine Car. Even though nothing ever came of this project under the Plymouth name, it laid the groundwork for the future Chrysler Turbine car and for continued experimental power alternatives considered in the 1950s and 60s. Plymouth didn’t really need to do more than they were already when bringing the future to the present, though. 1955 saw the company’s lineup undergo an extensive redesign by stylist Virgil Exner, making every model sleeker, squarer, lower, and wider. This “Forward Look” style would gain the company huge returns from 1954 to 1957, seriously revolutionizing the look of the modern car and forcing its biggest competitors to play catch-up.

This does not mean that nothing was going badly for Plymouth. In fact, the 1960s saw the company truly struggle for the first time due to a combination of shortcomings. The late-50s Forward Look models suffered from poor build quality and ornamentation, losing the company many customers as their cars rusted rapidly and fell apart. Early 60s model cars didn’t perform well either due to a misinterpretation of market trends. Plymouth thought that the next few years would see a rise in popularity of smaller cars, so when larger-bodied vehicles became the fad, the line had to dig themselves out of the compact-car hole. However, their luck changed in the latter half of the decade with the introduction of a few sportier models. The Plymouth Fury, introduced in 1963, was conceived as a semi-luxury car for the younger crowd. This angle became more appealing in 1965 with the introduction of the Sport Fury, which added bucket seats, a console shifter, and a 383 cu. in. V8 into the mix.

As the 60s moved toward the 70s, Plymouth took even more important strides by entering the muscle car market. They laid the groundwork for this entry in 1964 with the introduction of the Barracuda, an initially small-block powered midsize car that became a musclehead’s dream with the creation of the Super Commando (440 cu. in. V8) and Hemi (426 cu. in V8) engine packages in 1968. By adding the Road Runner–a stripped-down and cheaper version of the Plymouth Belvedere GTX that still came with Super Commando and Hemi options), Plymouth was able to continue their reputation as a manufacturer of affordable cars into the muscle era.

However, as muscle car enthusiasts know, this era did not last forever. New legislation regarding carbon emissions was passed, seriously downgrading the performance of muscle cars as exhausts were increasingly regulated. By the first half of the decade, the Plymouth muscle car was no more; the Road Runner was discontinued in 1970 following its tri-color tail light model, and the Barracuda line stopped production in 1974 following a 1971 and ‘72 sales decline. The brand continued through the rest of the decade and into the early 80s to middling success, seeing a brief resurgence due to yet another innovative technology: the “K Platform.” This way of building cars–a transverse engine, independent front and rear suspension, and front-wheel drive–would become standard in most of Plymouth’s models going forward, boosting their sales temporarily and even earning Chrysler’s first “K-cars” numerous 1981 Car of the Year Awards.

However, not even their trademark innovations could save Plymouth forever. As their cars began to co-launch with their Chrysler-owned sister brand, Dodge, Plymouth vehicles began to lose their unique entry-level-focused identity and fall into obscurity. Chrysler realized this as the 90s began and started withholding new technologies for their core Chrysler vehicles, the revolutionary 1993 “LH Platform” being among the most notable. After decades of boundary-pushing cars, Plymouth had been reduced to a four-vehicle lineup of a minivan, two compact sedans, and an experimental sports car called the Prowler that unsuccessfully attempted to conjure imagery of cars from the brand’s beginning. By 2001, each of these four cars had either been discontinued or reabsorbed into the Chrysler brand altogether. As of June 28 of that year, Plymouth was no more.

Despite an abrupt ending and an overall mixed manufacturing track record, the Plymouth brand is by no means dead. It lives on in the hearts, minds, and garages of car enthusiasts across the country as they reminisce on memories made behind the wheel and make new memories as they take their classic Plymouths to car shows. After all, Plymouth was originally conceived as a car brand for the people, a car brand that would give those who normally couldn’t afford a vehicle an opportunity to join in the privilege. What Plymouth represents is largely absent in the current car market, which is all the more reason to celebrate the gift that we were given almost 100 years ago. So cheers, Plymouth. Thanks for the memories.

References:

Plymouth (automobile) - Wikipedia

Chrysler K platform - Wikipedia

The History of Plymouth (cars-directory.net)

Plymouth Automobile History (1928-2001) (myautoworld.com)