PB 300 new page 15-16-17.indd - Plymouth Club

Founded 1957 

Eighteen-time Old Cars Weekly Golden Quill Award winner 

January - February 2010 300 Volume 51 Number 2 

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Plymouth ® Owners Club, Inc. 

®Plymouth is a registered trademark of Chrysler Motors and is used by special permission. 

MEMBERSHIP 

The PLYMOUTH BULLETIN is published bi-monthly by the Plymouth Owners Club, Inc., 

PO Box 416, Cavalier, North Dakota 58220. Periodicals postage paid at Grafton, ND. 

Membership is open to all persons genuinely interested in Plymouth or Fargo vehicles. 

Ownership of a club recognized vehicle is not a prerequisite for club membership. Club 

dues entitle members to receive all BULLETIN issues published within the 12 month period 

following establishment or renewal of membership. Membership in the Plymouth 

Owners Club is a prerequisite for membership in one of its regions. 

DUES 

Dues for first-time members are $32 per year payable in US funds. Renewals are $30 

per year payable in US funds. Payment can be made by VISA or MasterCard. No personal 

checks outside of USA please. Overseas members may get airmail delivery for $45 

per year. 

MEETS 

National meets are sponsored by the Plymouth Owners Club. Such meets are held on a 

rotating basis with location of the meets determined by local regions upon application to 

the Officers and Board of Directors. Notice of the dates and locations of such meets will 

be announced in the PLYMOUTH BULLETIN. At least one meet will be held east of the 

Mississippi River and one meet west of the Mississippi with meets held in the Spring, 

Summer and/or Fall. On years ending in "8" a single Grand National Meet is held in the 

Detroit area in honor of Plymouth's 1928 beginning. 

AWARDS &TROPHIES 

MAYFLOWER AWARD is awarded to the highest scoring 4dr sedan not winning Best of 

Show at each national meet. 

EDITOR’S AWARDS are presented annually by the Editor for outstanding contributions by 

the members to the PLYMOUTH BULLETIN. 

JUDGING CLASSES Class 7 -- 1962-78 B-body 

Class 1 -- 1928-1932 Class 8 -- 1960-61 full size; 1965-77 C-body 

Class 2 -- 1933-1939 Class 9 -- 1964-1974 Barracuda 

Class 3 -- 1940-1948 Class 10 - Commercial (pickup, sdn del, stn wgn) 

Class 4 -- 1949-1954 Class 11 - 1976-80 F-, 78-84 M-, ‘80-81 R-bodies 

Class 5 -- 1955-1959 Class 12 - 1978-85 FWD (Class 13 - none yet eligible) 

Class 6 -- 1960-76 Val. Class 14 - 1971-85 imports 

Senior -- Best of Show cars since1996 

JUDGING GROUPS: Group I: 1928-39 / Group II: 1940-59 / Group III:1960-85 RWD / 

Group IV:1971-85 FWD & imports 

MEMBERSHIP ROSTER 

A complete listings of all current members along with their address and Plymouth and/or 

Fargo vehicles roster can be downloaded at any time via e-mail or member can obtain a 

disc with the information. Contact Membership Secretary Jim Benjaminson. 

ADDRESS CHANGES 

The PLYMOUTH BULLETIN is mailed by periodicals postage. The postal service WILL 

NOT FORWARD YOUR COPIES IF YOU CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS. If you plan 

to move, use the postal address change form on the cover and send it to the Membership 

Secretary BEFORE you move. The Plymouth Owners Club WILL NOT replace issues 

not received because of an address change. 

NON-DELIVERY OF THE BULLETIN 

If you have any questions or problems, direct your inquiries to the Membership 

Secretary. 

BULLETIN DEADLINE DATES for ads, articles, photographs, etc. 

Jan-Feb -- Dec. 10 Jul-Aug -- Jun. 10 

Mar-Apr -- Feb. 10 Spt-Oct -- Aug. 10 

May-Jun -- Apr. 10 Nov-Dec -- Oct. 10 

Articles, etc., submitted to the BULLETIN CANNOT be returned to the author for review 

prior to publication. ALL submissions are subject to editing. 

RETURN OF PHOTOS AND ARTICLES 

All items sent to the BULLETIN will be returned if requested with a SASE (please DO 

NOT affix US stamps to the return envelope--as it will be mailed from Canada--but 

enclose within envelope). 

MAIL DATE 

The BULLETIN is to be mailed by the last week of the even numbered month of the cover 

date (i.e. the Jan-Feb issue is to be mailed in February, etc.). 

ADVERTISING POLICY 

Please refer to the complete advertising policy printed in the Marketplace section. 

TECHNICAL ADVICE 

Technical questions may be submitted to the individual advisor for each model. 

Technical questions should be brief and specific. A SASE should be included with your 

enquiry (please do not affix stamps if mailed out-of-country but enclose within envelope). 

TECHNICAL SUPERVISORS 

GROUP I 

Earl Buton, Jr. 

2366 Glasco Trnpk. 

Woodstock, NY 

12498-1013 

1928 Q 


(see address above) 

(845) 679-6185 

earlbuton@yahoo.com 

1929 U 

Jeff C. Buton 

275 Dutchtown Road 

Saugerties, NY 12477 

(845) 247-3158 

jbuton57@yahoo.com 

1930 30U - 1931 PA 

Robert McMulkin 

Box 40 

Lemon Springs, NC 28355 

1932 PB 

Bruce E. Buton 

2366 Glasco Tnpk. 

Woodstock, NY12498-1076 

(845) 657-6287 

bbuton@verizon.net 

1933 

Robert Davis 

1870 Eldon Rd, RR1 

Woodville, ON KOM 2T0 

CANADA (705) 374-5059 

bobpat@nexicom.net 

1934 

Edward R. Peterson 

32 Crane Road 

Walpole, MA 02081 

plymouth34@hotmail 

1935 - 1936 

Wayne Brandon 

5715 Forest Green Dr. 

Perry, MI 48872-9197 

(517) 675-5717 

plymdr@aol.com 

1937 

Robert L. Semichy 

18220 Daves Ave. 

Monte Sereno, CA 95030 

1938 

John Sbardella 

11 Heritage Path 

Millis, MA 02054 

misunstd@world.std.com 

1939 

Roy G. Kidwell; 

9 St. Andrews Garth; 

Severna Park, MD 21146 

(410) 987-6081 

Roy.Kidwell@mymailstation.com 

(do NOT use hyphen) 

1940 

Jim Benjaminson 

Box 345 

Walhalla, ND 58282-0345 

1941 

Larry W. Jenkins 

Rt. 1, Box 127 

Belleville, WV 26133-9728 

1942 

William Leonhardt 

10100 Fletcher Ave. 

Lincoln, NE 68527-9735 

1946-49 P15 

Frank J. Marescalco 

2610 D Street 

Omaha, NE 68107-1622 

(402) 733-3153 

fmsr@cox.net 

GROUP II 

Dave Geise 

417 Tennessee Tr. 

Browns Mills, NJ 

08015-5664 

1949 P17, 18 

Myron R. Davis 

50 Appleola Road 

Hendersonville, NC 28792 

(828) 685-7072 

1950 

David Pollock 

Box 196 

Shawnigan Lake, BC 

VOR 2W0 CANADA 

dnpollock@shaw.ca 

1951-53 

Neil Riddle 

20303 8th Ave NW, 

Shoreline,WA 98177-2107 

seaplym@hotmail.com 

1954 

Darrell Davis 

847 Old England Ave. 

Winter Park, FL 32789 

(407) 644-1008 

ddavis8839@aol.com 

1955-1956 

Chris Suminski 

27090 Jean Rd 

Warren, MI 48093 

(586) 933-7404, cell 

cjsuminski@yahoo.com 

1956-58 Fury 

Tom VanBeek 

3006 Emerald Street 

WestBend, WI 53095 

(262) 338-8986 

tvanbeek@milwpc.com 

1957-58 

Wally Breer 

66 Stanway Bay 

Mitchell, MB 

R5G 1H5 CANADA 

wbreer@mts.net 

1959 

Robert Hinds 

1292 Daventry Court 

Birmingham, AL 35243 

bobjanehinds@bellsouth.net 

1960 

Randy Wilson 

PO Box 647 

Maxwell, CA 95955 

1960-76 A-body 

Bruce Pine 

655 Potter Ave. 

Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 

pinepp@sbcglobal.net 

1962 B-Body 

Gerald Klinger 

1027 N.W. 1st 

Gresham, OR 97030 

(503) 665-8330 

austin54@comcast.net 

GROUP III 

Merrill Berkheimer 

36640 Hawk Rd. 

Hazard, NE 

68844 

TECHNICAL ADVISORS 

1963 B-Body 

Darrell Davis (see 1954) 

1964-65 B-Body 

Rob Elliott 

307 - 30 Ave. NE 

Calgary, AB 

T2E 2E2 CANADA 

elliotro@telus.net 

1965-66 C-Body 

William D. Coble, Jr. 

331 N. Roosevelt St. 

Shawnee, OK 74801 

GROUP IV 

Chris Suminski 

27090 Jean Rd 

Warren, MI 

48093 

1966-67 B-Body 

Art Schlachter 

2056 Cardinal Dr. 

Danville, KY40422-9732 

(859) 236-9487 

aschlachter@roadrunner.com 

1967 C-Body 

Bill Gallop, Jr. 

201 Park St. 

New Bedford, MA 02740 

1968 C-Body 

Mark E. Olson 

707 4th Street 

Proctor, MN 55810-1722 

(218) 624-4482 

mark@turbinecar.com 

1968-70 B-Body 

Clif Nelson 

7038 117th Ave. NE 

Adams,ND 58210 

cknelson@polarcomm.com 

1969-71 C-Body 

Edwin C. Hill 

412 West Temple St. 

Lenox, IA 50851-1228 

1971-84 4-cylinder 

Chris Suminski (see 1955-56) 

1971-72 B-Body 

Edward F. Weingart 

334 Creekview Dr 

Hampstead, NC 28443 

edweingart@att.net 

1974-77 C-body 

Wally Breer (see 1957-58) 

1975-78 B-body 

Ed Lanfer 

6201 Wade Avenue 

St. Louis, MO 63139-3108 

Ed.Lanfer@federalmogul.com 

1976-80 F-body 

Wayne & Karen Fowler 

6902 Ruckles Road 

Mt. Airy, MD 21771 

(301) 831-7150 

wiffer@worldnet.att.net 

1978-84 M-body 

Michael Bonadonna 

455 North Cherry Pop Drive 

Inverness, FL 34453-7975 

(352) 341-1019 

mlb5355@hotmail.com 

1980-81 R-body 

Chris Suminski (see 1955-56) 

Plymouth Commercial 

Bob Manke 

6037 E. Canal Rd. 

Lockport NY 14094 

(716) 625-4048 

bobantqplys@aol.com 

Fargo Commercial 

Cam D. Clayton 

BOX 725 

Kaslo, BC V0G1M0 

CANADA 

dook@netidea.com 

Advisors wanted: 

1961 Sav/Belv/Fury; 

1970-74 E-body; 

1972-73 C-body; 

1973-74 B-body

Plymouth ® 

Plymouth 

Owners CClub CClub 

Box 416 

Cavalier, ND 58220-0416 

Phone: (701) 549-3746 

Fax: (701) 549-3744 

e-mail: benji@utma.com 

plymouthbulletin.com 

FOUNDER-DIRECTOR 

Jay M. Fisher 

Acken Drive 4-B 

Clark, NJ 07066-2902 

(732) 388-6442 

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR 


2366 Glasco Turnpike 

Woodstock, NY 12498-1076 

(845) 679-6185 earlbuton@yahoo.com 

OFFICERS 2010-11 2010-1 

PRESIDENT 

Nick Desimone 

1423 Pecan Grove Dr. 

Diamond Bar, CA 91765-2536 

(909) 861-4950 ndesimone@verizon.net 

VICE PRESIDENT 

Bobbi Berkheimer 

36640 Hawk Road 

Hazard, NE 68844 

(308) 452-3980 bobbib@nctc.net 

MEMBERSHIP 

SECRETARY-TREASURER 

Jim Benjaminson 

Box 345 

Walhalla, ND 58282-0345 

(701) 549-374 benji@utma.com 

CORRESPONDING SEC. 

Tom Nachand 

5215 NW Cavalier Ave. 

Lincoln City, OR 97367 

(541) 764-2011 33plym@centurytel.net 

BULLETIN EDITOR 

Lanny D. Knutson 

288 Strathmillan Road 

Winnipeg MB R3J 2V5 CANADA 

(204) 889-8008 plybul@mts.net 

DIRECTOR 2006-11 

Carl D. Wegner 

19600 Cardinal Drive 

Grand Rapids, MN 55744-6189 

(218) 326-5965 cwegner2@msn.com 

DIRECTOR 2008-13 (Judging) 

Joe Suminski 

68226 Winchester Court 

Washington, MI 48095-1244 

(586) 752-3140 jsuminski2@yahoo.com 

DIRECTOR 2010-15 

Robert S. Kerico 

4640 Boardwalk 

Smithton , IL 62285-3662 

(618) 444-6966 

Bobkool344@wmconnect.com 

TThhee PPllyymmoouutthh BBuulllleettiinn 

__________________________________________________________________________ 

No. 300 January-February, 2010 

__________________________________________________________________________ 

LANNY D. KNUTSON, editor (204) 889-8008 

288 Strathmillan Road, Winnipeg, MB R3J 2V5 CANADA 

editor@plymouthbulletin.com or plybul@mts.net 

A Plymout ymouth h called Kew 

A P 

-1- 

Bruno Costers’ 1937 P4 Chrysler Kew 

BRUNO COSTERS PHOTO

From From the the Editor 

Plymouth 300 

No it’s not a new Plymouth model, 

even if Plymouth were around to 

offer any models at all. No, the 

300 moniker is safely ensconced in the 

Chrysler lineup. That’s not to say that the 

Chrysler marque has not made off with 

some Plymouth names -- Sebring and 

Voyager come to mind -- and whole cars, 

most notably the Cordoba and the PT 

Cruiser, both of which were originally to 

have been Plymouths. 

DESPITE SUCH SPECULATIVE MUSINGS, this 

Plymouth 300 is firmly rooted in reality. 

With this issue, the PLYMOUTH BULLETIN has 

been produced 300 times. It’s just another 

issue, yes, but it’s significant nonetheless. 

What began as a four-page mimeographed 

newsletter in 1959 has grown over 

the years to the computer-generated fullcolor 

publication we know today and from 

four pages to this issue’s sixty-four. 

I’ve been privileged to have been part 

of that progression of BULLETINs since issue 

162 -- not quite half of them, but getting 

close. It could happen, but it will take four 

more years. 

TO MARK THIS MILESTONE, I’ve gone to a 

reprise of BULLETINs past as a basis for the 

stories featured in this issue. There is much 

that is new, it is true, but even what seems 

new is built on what has happened in the 

past, which is the case in what you’ll find in 

these pages. 

The Atomic Plymouth story came 

about when Jim Benjaminson was contacted 

by a person who had found the original car 

that Jim had written about in Issue 213. 

The Tüscher article began with an internet 

inquiry from Bruno Costers about membership. 

The car he now owns was the 

cover car of BULLETIN 161. 

The Plainsman and 2010 Road Runner 

stories had their start with internet links 

given me by members which, in turn, led 

me to auction sites and the contact people 

for these articles. 

Scott and Lynn Grundy and Bill and 

Joyce Chace are continually touring with 

their Plymouths during the North’s summer 

season that’s short in months but long in 

days. Another of their accounts appears in 

this issue. 

PLYMOUTH BULLETIN 

editors 

1959-62 Jay Fisher 

1963-64 Robert Ruckman 

1965-67 Donald Wood 

1968-69 Lou DeSimone 

1970-74 Harold Soukup 

1975-79 Andrew Weimann 

1980-86 Jim Bejaminson 

1987- Lanny Knutson 

Trev Feehan promised me more on his 

Plymouth-powered ‘29 Dodge truck, and he 

delivered. 

A second club-rostered ‘58 Plymouth 

has been the subject of a die-cast model, and 

Ron Waters tells the story of the modeling of 

his Belvedere. 

One-time fellow Albertan, Bob Just, 

chose to restore a stablemate for his ‘66 

Canadian Valiant convertible. This time he 

turned to the ‘64 Valiant wagon that had 

been his and Laurine’s transportation for 

forty years. 

-2- 

Last, but not least, is a story that has 

been in the works for nearly twenty years. 

Following the 1991 Spring National Meet in 

Hastings, Nebraska, I and other members 

were invited to the Berkheimer homestead 

to see Merrill’s vast collection of Plymouths 

and some other Mopars. It was a fascinating 

visit made even more so by Bobbi and 

Merrill’s hospitality. I took a number of pictures, 

and we were planning to get together 

to create an article for the BULLETIN. At 

each national meet, we would tell one another 

that we have to do that story. National 

meets are busy times, and so the idea got put 

on the back burner until, over the years, we 

kind of forgot about it. 

It took a revival of the famed 

Berkheimer Labor Day picnics to get the 

story going again. Bobbi wrote it up and 

sent a couple of CDs of pictures, and I’ve 

put it together, almost 19 years later. Like 

good wine, some things just take time. 

ISSUE 302, the May-June BULLETIN, will celebrate 

the 50th anniversary of the 1960 

Plymouth and Valiant. Member Michael 

Dabrowski is working on an article about 

the full-sized Plymouths of that year. I’m 

still looking for someone to write about the 

first Valiants. I have a few, but more stories 

from owners of the big-finned Plymouths 

and ground-breaking Valiants of 1960 are 

most welcome. 

WE’VE MADE IT TO 300. Now, it’s time to 

go for more. 

-- Lanny Knutson 

The The Plymouth Bulletin 

No. 300 Jan/Feb 2010 

LANNY D. KNUTSON, editor 

LEEANN LUCAS, asst. editor 

THORSTEN LARSSON PHOTO

The 

TO THE MEMBERSHIP: 

There has been a renewed interest in revisiting the judging 

process used at POC national meets and making revisions necessary 

to resolve the issues related to the current process. 

Therefore, a committee of veteran club members who are 

also seasoned judges has been appointed to look into the recommendations 

for improving the judging process both at the organizational 

and judging performance levels and make improvement 

recommendations to the national board and the general membership, 

while continuing to abide by the club charter regarding 

authenticity of vehicles as the primary quality objective. 

Wayne Brandon, 1935-1936 Technical Advisor, has agreed to 

chair this committee which consists of Merrill Berkheimer, Earl 

Buton, Don Feeney, Dave Geise, Dick Silhol and Bob Semichy. 

In order to assure that the committee has as much information 

as needed to complete its work, Wayne requests that members 

respond to him by email with judging comments, suggestions 

and recommendations. 

Specific comments about the judging process should include 

how to improve it or at least offer an alternative. Make your 

observations about what is working and should remain as such or 

how it can be improved. 

You now have the opportunity to be a “voice for the future” 

so put on your thinking cap and respond ASAP to Wayne at the 

following email address: Plymdr@aol.com 

Plymouth Press 

CLUB NEWS Plymouth Owners Club No. 300 

Memo to the Membership 

National president seeks feedback on judging 

Note: 

Effective, ffective, January 1, 2010, 

Plymouth Owners Club dues are 

$32 for new memberships 

and 

$30 for renewal memberships. 

The Plymouth Bulletin (ISSN 0032-1737) is published bi-monthly. Subscription 

through annual dues: $32 new; $30 renewal. Published by the Plymouth 

Owners Club, PO Box 345, 603 Central Ave, Walhalla, ND 58282-0345. 

Periodical postage paid at Grafton, ND 58237. POSTMASTER: Send address 

changes to The Plymouth Bulletin, PO Box 416, Cavalier, ND 58220-0416. 

-3- 

This same memo has been sent to all members with email 

addresses. For members without email and first reading this 

memo in the PLYMOUTH BULLETIN, the communication window 

will be open until April 15th after which all of the responses will 

be categorized and presented to the committee members in sufficient 

time to review them, give them sufficient thought and prepare 

for discussion at the time of their first conference call. Please 

mail your response to: 

Wayne Brandon 

P.O. Box 467 

Perry, Michigan 48872. 

For your information, the following are some comments previously 

voiced: 

• Concerns over the trophy cost or the overall cost for judges 

at National Meets. 

• Ties 

• Replacing trophies with high quality engraved certificates 

with the car’s picture. This would have obvious cost benefits. 

• Establish a certification program for members' Plymouth 

vehicles. 

• Concern over cars with lower scores beating out cars with 

higher scores. 

• The actual judging process; for example, judges going to the 

cars or cars going to the judges? 

-- Nick DeSimone, president 

Members Remembered 

GORDON MCKEE, Loveland, Colorado, and member of the Rocky 

Mountain Region, passed away on April 16, 2009, at the age of 

84. (See page ) 

JEANNE KREPS, Denver, Colorado, wife of Wayne Kreps, died 

January 11, 2010. A member of the Rocky Mountain Region, she 

served the region in various capacities and was the national treasurer 

from 1993-1995. (See page ) 

Our sincere condolences are expressed to Paul Curtis, Roseville, 

Michigan, and member of the Detroit Region, on the sudden passing 

on January 17 of his 21-year-old grandson, PAUL ALEXANDER 

(ALEX) CURTIS, also of Roseville. Alex had attended the 2000 

Spring Meet in Rapid City, SD, with his grandfather.

Iwould like to take this opportunity 

to express my thanks to all who 

took the time to vote in the last 

POC national election. Almost 25% of 

the membership submitted ballots which 

is an increase of approximately 10% 

over previous elections. I would like to 

see the trend continue and have 40% of 

our membership voting in the next 

national election. As in most elections, 

the individual you feel will do the best 

job in a specific role or position can 

only do so if elected and that can only 

happen by voting. Remember, your 

vote does make a difference. 

I want to thank Bob Kerico for his 

dedication in compiling the National 

Meet Planning Guide which will be 

invaluable to the regions as they host a 

national meet. 

The Plymouth Owners Club’s constitution 

very clearly defines in the section, 

PURPOSE OF THE ORGANIZATION, 

that the purpose of the Club is to 

encourage the use, preservation and 

restoration of Plymouth and Fargo automobiles 

and trucks, 25 years of age or 

older, particularly the AUTHENTIC 

restoration of these models; to provide 

and regulate meets, tours and exhibitions 

for members’ vehicles; to provide 

high judging standards at these meets; to 

publish in the club magazine information 

of interest and value to the members; 

and to discourage any activities, 

ideas or philosophies contrary to these 

aims. 

Furthermore, it states in the 

From From the the President 

I take this 

opportunity 

Nick’s Nick’ s 1940 P10 coupe 

REQUIREMENTS FOR CLUB 

MEMBERSHIP, that membership In the 

Plymouth Owners Club, Inc. is open to 

any person of good character, genuinely 

interested in the Plymouth or Fargo 

vehicle, who will subscribe to the principles 

above. Ownership of a club-recognized 

vehicle is not a prerequisite for 

membership. 

Why do I bring this up? 

The national club exists for the benefit 

of the entire membership with 

everyone being afforded equal importance. 

As I look to the future, thinking 

of about what may lie ahead as for me 

as president, one of the most prevalent 

thoughts lies in wondering what the 

membership thinks about the organization 

and the job the officers and directors 

are doing. I am sure there are 

members who have ideas, thoughts, 

opinions or suggestions that should be 

-4- 

voiced and shared; so why haven’t we 

heard from you? The phone numbers 

for the officers and directors have been 

in the PLYMOUTH BULLETIN and, starting 

with this issue, the email addresses 

of the officers and directors will also 

appear, so now it is even easier for us 

to hear your “voice.” Don’t fail the 

organization by remaining silent 

except in localized complaining. Let’s 

hear what you have to say, good, bad 

or indifferent. 

I believe in “the sharing and dissemination 

of information.” I will 

keep the membership 

informed as to 

the activities in 

which the officers 

and directors are 

involved which will 

have direct impact 

on the organization 

and I will report on 

the progress being 

made towards any 

new or pending 

goals. 

There has 

been a renewed 

interest in revamping 

the judging 

process at national 

meets. I am in the 

process of forming, for lack of a better 

name, a certification committee that will 

address this renewed interest. Details 

will be available to the membership as 

they are put into place. 

As Bob Kerico mentioned in his last 

message, the Portland Meet is coming 

up in June of 2010 and you members 

who can, should plan on attending, with 

or without your Plymouth. I know a 

caravan is planning to make its way 

from the San Francisco area up to the 

meet and I’m included. Check with 

other Plymouth members within your 

general area to see if you can put 

together a group to join us there. 

-- Nick DeSimone, president

Earl’s Earl’ s PlyTech PlyT -- 

ech -- Universal Joint Dust Boot Study 

The following list shows that universal joint boots for early Plymouths were leather. Later Mopar parts kits were released with 

rubber boots. The POC authenticity policy is for the car to be judged as it left the dealer in the year it was sold as new. 

Leather boots are still available at most major flea markets. Some leather boots have wire as the major fastening agent, and that is 

acceptable, but the original boots have metal tabs which you put through slots and then bend over. The forward and rear parts of 

the boot are fastened with metal bands which you pull tight and then bent over the universal joint flange and the propeller shaft. 

Like the Shop Manual says: DO NOT OVER-FILL WITH GREASE. -- Earl Buton, Jr., Technical Director 

-5-

Letters 

Fargo poster 

WE WERE LOOKING for porcelain 

Mopar signs and found 

this Fargo sign. A little out of 

our price range but it’s a cool 

sign. 


Hazard, Nebraska 

The owner and advertiser of the 

sign, David Gonzales from 

Wisma Antik, replies: 

I PURCHASED the poster in 

Sydney, Australia, in 1970, 

during my early days of collecting. 

I had it folded up 

until I married and settled 

down in Perth, Western 

Australia, in 1979. I then had 

it framed. I was told that it 

came out of an old Fargo dealership 

somewhere in Sydney, 

together with a number of 

other posters and advertising. 

The poster measures 54" wide 

x 42" high and is marked on 

the bottom right hand side: 

CODE YFEMD. LITHO IN USA 

David Gonzales 

Trigg, West Australia 

Belvedere Belvedere 

to 

Portland Portland 

THANK YOU for the great job 

done with the PLYMOUTH 

BULLETIN. I am very pleased 

with the way the article on my 

Belvedere turned out in the 

297 edition. Well done and 

much appreciated. I am starting 

to prepare for the Portland 

Plymouth meet in June. 

Don Mack, 

Medicine Hat, Alberta 

Southern 

exposure exposur 

I AM FINE and am again in 

Brazil for the winter. I love all 

the BULLETINs, as always, but I 

think the Southern Hemisphere 

issue is such a great one. 

Congratulations. 

Bill Brisbane 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 

Telling elling our story stor 

WHAT A GREAT PRESENTATION 

of our meet! Of course, we’re 

biased, but your ability to lay 

it out is creative and functional 

at the same time. We really 

appreciate your telling our 

story in such an interesting 

way. I know Peggy and Jerry 

will also be pleased. 

David Young and 

Dianne Taylor 

Westminster, Maryland 

Westminster estminster 

hospitality 

WE JUST RECEIVED Issue 299. 

What a issue! The coverage 

of the Westminster meet is 

awesome. David and Dianne 

-6- 

The Door 

To Jim Benjaminson: 

WE RECENTLY FOUND, 

online, your September- 

October story about 

“the Door” being on 

display in Miami, 

Arizona, and enjoyed it. 

I had made a trip to 

Miami myself in June 

and got to see the door 

first-hand. I also got to 

meet the proprietor, Dik 

With his father’s door 

Mickle, who wasn’t there when Dennis and Lucy Ann (my siblings) 

visited the first time. He’s quite a fan. Here are a couple 

of pictures from my visit, including one of Dik inspecting the 

back side of the door. It’s amazing to me how long this door has 

lasted, considering its lack of care. By the way, Dik is a very 

engaging fellow. I enjoyed my visit so much that I stayed much 

longer than I had intended. 

Sully 

Sullivan Richardson 

(son of Sullivan Richardson 

of the Adventure South expedition) 

A letter to Jim from Dik 

Mickle of the Howlin' 

Javelina in Miami, 

Arizona: 

IT WAS SO GOOD to hear 

from you in both ways. 

The first came in the 

mail with the Plymouth 

Owners story about the 

Richardson's door. We 

sure did have a fun time 

seeing them (the 

Richardson family) and 

reminiscing. We appreciate 

all you do and I’m 

and the entire Mid-Atlantic 

Region hosted an incredible 

POC meet. The meet was so 

well-organized with wonderful 

tours, excellent food and 

Marilyn, Sully and Dik 

sure that we'll be crossing 

paths again with 

your club and help in 

keeping the vision alive! 

Dik and Marilyn Mickle 

Miami, Arizona 

Dik and his prized door 

hosts--another POC meet we 

will remember. 

Merrill and 


Hazard, Nebraska

Remembering Derek Derek 

THANK YOU for including, in the BULLETIN, Bill and Lynn 

Bartlett’s article about my son Derek’s passing. That was such 

a nice surprise when I received a copy in the mail from them. 

My son was my life since I adopted him -- and our ‘58 

Plymouth Hollywood car and the Plymouth Club were a big 

part of that life together. 

I sat beside his bed the last 35 hours of his life here on 

earth, held his hand, hugged him and even though he was out 

of it, I continued talking to him about all the good times, especially 

with his Christine movie car and the fun we had scaring 

people at car shows. I watched his every breath and every rise 

of his chest as he struggled to breathe. I wanted so badly to be 

with him when he passed away but I drifted off at 0620. Ten 

minutes later I awoke and did not hear his heavy breathing and 

saw that his little chest was motionless. 

Every day, every minute, I think about this, break down, 

but also realize how grateful I am that he came into my life at 

OU 

(Oklahoma 

University) 

that day. The 

tears flow 

each time I 

write this to 

someone and I 

know life will 

never be the 

same. The 

article you graciously placed in the BULLETIN honored my son 

and brought me comfort. 

My thanks go to you, the Bartletts, Chris Suminski, Paul 

Frics, Jim Benjaminson and the many others in the Plymouth 

Club for your friendship and compassion. You all are one of 

the reasons I may survive this. 

Jim Garvie 

Grove, Oklahoma 

“I guess there’s one more thing to do with a Plymouth,” writes 

Dennis Cutshall of Honey Creek, Iowa, on the back of a photo taken 

of him with his ‘53 Cranbrook convertible at the time of his daughter 

Valerie’s wedding. “The ‘53 has always been her favorite.” 

Hill climbin’ Plymouth 

HERE’S MY1941 SPECIAL DELUXE on the starting line of the 

Newport, Indiana, Hill Climb on October 4, 2009. That was our 

second year of participation in the hill climb. We placed third in 

our class. Although the top car was a ‘41 Studebaker, the next 

four were Plymouths. Of the 15 cars entered in the class, eight 

were Plymouths from 1939-1942. The 2009 event marked the 

100th anniversary of the race. 

Anyone interested in this event can mark the calender for the 

first Sunday in October of each year. October 3rd is the race day 

for 2010 with practice runs on Saturday. 

The whole town turns out for the race, car show and townwide 

flea market… and it’s free! Check newporthillclimb.com 

We have been Plymouth Owners Club members for two years, 

now, and enjoy the magazine very much. It’s a real class act. 

Bob Van Berg 

Merrillville, Indiana 

1939 World’s 

Fair postcard 

showing the 

Chrysler Motors 

Building-provided 

by 

Norm Pennie, 

Vancouver, 

British 

Columbia 

-7-

Regional Report 

Carolina Region 

WE MET AT UNCLE BUCK’S in Salisbury, 

North Carolina, for our November appreciation 

dinner. Twelve members were in 

attendance. 

President Dean Yates welcomed all to 

the meeting. Appreciation was shown to 

the members who attended four meetings 

and helped with our 2009 show at the 

North Carolina Transportation Museum. 

They are Dean and Tanya Yates, Joe C. 

Brown and Nancy Mitchem. A round of 

applause was given for them. 

-- Nancy Mitchem 

OUR JANUARY 30 MEETING had to be canceled 

because of the eight inches of snow 

that fell on Friday night and all day on 

Saturday. We had planned to hold our 

meeting at John Jancic’s shop. Because 

CAROLINA REGION 

Dean Yates 

PO Box 69 

Faith, NC 28041 

(704) 223-1195 

plymouth-man@carolina.rr.com 

CASCADE PACIFIC REGION 

Mike Bade 

15149 SE Pebble Beach Drive 

Happy Valley, OR 97086 

(503) 206-4652 mdscbade@msn.com 

COLONIAL REGION 

Betty Kibbe 

456 Holyoke St. 

Ludlow, MA 01056 

(413) 589-9854 winmil456@charter.net 

DAIRYLAND REGION 

Dick Silhol 

2404 W. Plum Tree 

Mequon, WI 53092 

(262) 242-6139 

dicksilhol@sbcglobal.net 

DELAWARE VALLEY REGION 

Bill Tropia 

52 Breece Dr. 

Yardley, PA 19067-1513 

seehaas@snip.net 

DETROIT REGION 

Joseph B. Lewis, editor 

9145 Hazelton 

Redford, MI 48239 

Russ Nardi, pres: (586) 566-5838 

rpnardi@hotmail.com 

FLORIDA SUNSHINE REGION 

Michael Bonadonna 

455 North Cherry Pop Drive 

Inverness, FL 34453-7975 

(352) 341-1019 

mlb5355@hotmail.com 

we had to cancel, John has agreed to host 

our February 27th meeting. -- Dean Yates 

Cascade Pacific Region 

HOLIDAY FEASTING was the focus of the 

CPPC annual membership meeting in 

November 2009. Retha Harden and Ann 

Klinger organized the helpful hands that 

prepared the baked ham provided by the 

club and the potluck side dishes and 

desserts. Energetic members set up the 

room and decorated the tables with 11 

centerpieces that later became raffle prizes 

for the 54 attending members. 

The Nominating Committee’s proposed 

slate of officers was elected. Mike 

Bade will serve as president; Robin Will 

moves from secretary to vice-president; 

Cari Catlow reclaims the role of secretary 

GOLDEN STATE REGION 

Margie Amos 

PO Box 830 

Wildomar, CA 92595 

: (951) 719-6816 

gsrmembership@yahoo.com 

GRAND CANYON REGION 

Tony Tricoci 

10206 South 43rd Court 

Phoenix, AZ 85044 (480) 893-8687 

tx12@cox.net 

HEART OF AMERICA REGION 

Mike Schaefer 

12221 NE 136th 

Kearney, MO 64060 

(816) 781-7117 schaeferfam@hotmail.com 

www.plymouthclub.com 

HOOSIER REGION 

Kevin Reeves, President 

1002 S McDonald St 

Attica IN 47918 / (765) 714-0255 

kevin.50plymouth@comcast.net 

Jan Peel, Editor, JPeel83719@aol.com 

HUDSON VALLEY REGION 

Richard Wahrendorff 

1471 Rt. 213 

Ulster Park, NY 12487 

(845) 338-7871 rwwmds@hvc.rr.com 

LINCOLN LAND REGION 

Ed Lanfer 

6443 Villa Avenue 

St. Louis, MO 63139 (314) 647-2778 

Ed.Lanfer@federalmogul.com 

LONE STAR REGION 

Van Massirer 

124 Canaan Church Rd. 

Crawford, TX 76638 

(254) 486?2366 

vmassirer@yahoo.com 

-8- 

LONG ISLAND REGION 

Peter Marks 

47 Flintlock Drive 

Shirley, NY 11967 

(631) 772-2270 liplymouths@aol.com 

MID-ATLANTIC REGION 

August Meerschaert 

4132 Turkey Foot Road 

Westminster, MD 21158 

(410) 346-7020 oldcarcentral@juno.com 

MID-IOWA REGION 

Jim Dooley 

29341 US Hwy 69 

Huxley, IA 50124 

(515) 597-3244 

eeyore@huxcomm.net 

MISSOURI "Show Me” REGION 

Tommy G. Pike 

1602 East Dale 

Springfield, MO 65803 

furyon66@earthlink.net 

groshong@socket.net (Loyd Groshong) 

OHIO REGION 

Brian Underwood 

596 Wyandot Road 

Bucyrus, OH 44820 

(740) 482-2402 

bunderwood7�@��.com 

PA OIL VALLEY REGION 

Jim Stoudt 

1290 Bankson Rd. 

Oil City, PA 16301 

(814) 676-6678 

bjjstoudt@zoominternet.net 

PRAIRIE REGION 

Pat Stanton 

1915 County Rd. 45 

Ft. Calhoun, NE 68023 

(402) 571-9973 

plstanton@mac.com 

NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT 

(responsible for regions) 


(308) 452-3980 bobbib@nctc.net 

after a year’s absence; Dolores Call 

returns as treasurer; and Janet Laurine will 

serve as member-at-large to the board. 

While returning as secretary, Cari will 

relinquish the role of editor of our awardwinning 

newsletter and hopes to spread 

the joy of writing and photography among 

other talented club members. 

During our meeting, founding members 

Duanne Luckow, Jerry Klinger, 

Dennis Mowery, Bill Call, Dolores Call 

and Less Connor were recognized. 

Following other reports, the Body Shop 

(Member Care) reported that Joann Dixon 

is still recovering from a broken arm suffered 

a year ago and Jerry Dixon is recovering 

from a broken hip, Pat Brost says his 

chemotherapy is going well but he wants a 

wig, and Retha Harden is facing back surgery. 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION 

Bill Sullivan 

1015 Redwood Drive 

Loveland, CO 80538 

(970) 669-3541 BVSULL@AOL.com 

TALL PINES REGION 

Richard Tetzlaff 

23383 Malanie Trail North 

Scandia, MN 55073-9745 

(612) 759 2103 ajorrj@aol.com 

Winter: R.Ramberg rar1082@gmail.com 

TULSA REGION 

Jerry Burch 

1111 South Florence Ave. 

Tulsa, OK 74104-4104 

jerryburch@cox.net 

UNITED KINGDOM REGION 

Barry Reece 

“The Meadows” Cookley Halesworth, 

Suffolk IP19 0LU, ENGLAND. 

tel/fax: 01986-784305 

jillnbarry@reecejill.orangehome.co.uk 

WESTERN CANADA REGION 

Jim Hand 

923 - 37 St. SE 

Calgary, AB T2A 1C9 CANADA 

(403) 272-1925 

Email: Rob Elliott elliott.r@telus.net

Technical Committee chair, Jimmie 

Fox, announced that they have lots of 

parts on hand. The ones donated by members 

are free; the rest are reasonably 

priced. The committee currently has a 

complete 1951 Plymouth, less engine and 

transmission. 

Gary Rusher reported that (already in 

November) he had received registrations 

from Ontario, California and the East 

Coast and reservations were showing up at 

the motel. Twelve cars were, to date, 

coming from California, and stops on their 

drive are already planned. 

Following the election, Gary recognized 

Dennis Mowery who was leaving 

the board and Don Hufschmid who has 

had perfect attendance for the past five 

years of meetings. Mike Bade and Robin 

Will were recognized for their graphics 

work for the 2010 meet. Robin will team 

up with Jerry Dixon for newsletter duties. 

Dolores Call was congratulated for being 

the only treasurer our region has ever had. 

It was noted that under the leadership of 

outgoing editor, Cari Catlow (our returning 

secretary), our region has won the 

Golden Quill award for the quality of our 

newsletter. 

Mike Bade presented Gary Rusher 

with a framed picture of his car in recognition 

of his years as our president. 

Duanne Luckow showed a video of 

Plymouth commercials from 1959 to 1969 

plus a scary video from the mid-thirties 

showing a crew rolling a Plymouth over 

and over down a hill. Then, they started it 

and drove away. 

DECEMBER 4 saw a large group of CPPC 

members at the Duniway Holiday Home 

Tour and Boutique in the Eastmoreland 

area of SE Portland. Each of the homes is 

distinctive in architectural and interior 

design with holiday décor inside and out. 

Proceeds from the one-day tour and boutique 

benefit the Duniway Elementary 

School to hire additional teachers and to 

provide scholastic programs, field trips, 

and music and gym programs. 

The technical committee met once in 

December. In 2010 the committee will 

convene on the first Saturday of each 

month at Jimmie Fox’s garage unless a 

project requires work on-site. 

Plans for the 2010 POC Summer 

Meet Plymouths to Portland (June 16-19) 

continue to progress. An extra board 

meeting was held in December to keep the 

momentum going. Mike Bade and Gary 

Rusher will be sending to all of the 

regions details of the event and tours and 

registration form that appear on the web 

site http://cascadepacificplymouth.org/ and 

will be published in the PLYMOUTH 

BULLETIN to encourage early registration. 

Payment will be available through PayPal. 

Canadian members are asked to obtain 

bank checks in US dollars for the registration 

fees to avoid difficulties in converting 

funds. -- Cari Catlow 

Colonial Region 

OUR FESTIVE CHRISTMAS family gathering 

brought our region’s 35th year birthday 

celebration to an eventful end. At this 

point in our history, we know how much 

food to bring, what kind of food to bring, 

the right kind of desserts and, most of all, 

one or two grab bag gifts that usually 

bring out the worst in us! I know those 

cookies were delicious. 

We even had a light snow falling most 

of the day to help us with our holiday spirit. 

It was nice to see Selma Butler. She 

and Eleanor Bock carried on in conversation 

just like old times, never missing a 

beat! One of our members who usually 

arrives about an hour late actually made 

an early appearance. 

All in all, we had a great party at Don 

and Jane Palmer’s home in Tolland, 

Connecticut. -- Betty Kibbe 

Dairyland Region 

WE HAVE WELCOMED two new members 

into our region. Carolyn and Robert 

Coon, who live in Delafield, Wisconsin, 

have a 1950 P19 coupe. 

OUR UPCOMING APRIL MEETING will be an 

overnight tour, an activity we have not 

done for many years. The 375-mile round 

trip will be a tour of the eastern counties 

on the shoreline of Lake Michigan with 

stops at the Kohler Design Center, the 

Shops at Woodlake, the Northern Kettle 

Moraine State Forest and the Experimental 

Aircraft Association (EAA) Museum in 

Oshkosh, Wisconsin. We will be using 

back roads as much as possible that will 

take us through the scenic parts of four 

counties. 

At the Kohler Design Center, we will 

see the latest cutting-edge design ideas for 

homes and many display dioramas of 

Kohler engines, applications and exhibits 

of Kohler products. 

The EAA museum is one of the most 

extensive aviation attractions in the world, 

covering the history of flight with more 

than 250 airplanes, artifacts and exhibits. 

April is still a bit early to break out 

-9- 

our Plymouths but some may be on the 

tour. -- Dick Sihol 

Delaware Valley Region 

OUR NOVEMBER MEETING was called to 

order by our president Bill Tropia with 16 

members present. Under old business, we 

talked about our upcoming Christmas 

party. Dave Geise suggested we donate 

some of our treasury money to a worthy 

cause. We agreed to donate a gift certificate 

for the purchase of tools to a tech student 

attending a vocational school that has 

auto-related courses. 

Jim Carmine announced the result of 

our election: Bill Tropia, president; 

Warren Nelson, vice-president; Hank 

DeMayo, secretary; and Dave Geise, treasurer. 

For Tech Talk, Art Ubbens brought in 

a vacuum pump he uses to withdraw oil 

from an engine. 

OUR JANUARY MEETING was called to 

order with 15 members attending. Warren 

Nelson, Joe Hernandez and Bill Tropia are 

pursuing South Jersey dealerships at 

which we could hold a Mopar show. 

During Tech Talk, Joe Hernandez circulated 

two sheets listing Mopar NOS 

parts that are available. -- Hank DeMayo 

Detroit Region 

PRESIDENT RUSS NARDI called our 

December meeting to order with ten members 

on one guest present. 

Following our November tour of the 

National Automotive Historical Collection 

(NAHC), Russ Nardi reported on the lack 

of Plymouth Owners Club material on file. 

He stated that the NAHC would welcome 

any of the POC publications and Plymouth 

car materials we would donate. Russ is 

preparing a package at this time and 

encourages members to get their donated 

materials to him. 

Secretary Joe Lewis presented the 

results of our election of 2010 officers. 

Our current slate of incumbent officers 

will continue in office for the coming year. 

During Tech Time, Woody Law 

reported on a 1928 Plymouth coupe that 

Paul Curtis had mentioned a year ago. 

The owner is now “motivated” and is 

looking for offers. Ron Kline is looking 

for a tubular rivet tool that will work in 

window channels. Joe Lewis passed out 

an Auto Body Fit Quiz that was prepared 

in 1953 for Chrysler Corporation technicians. 

All who were present took the quiz. 

-- Paul Curtis

Florida Sunshine Region 

IN NOVEMBER, the Florida Mopar 

Association sponsored the 22nd Annual 

Mopars with Big Daddy show. As always 

it was a great show. As with most shows, 

muscle cars dominated but there were a lot 

of ‘50s and ‘60s cars present. On Sunday I 

met with fellow member David Orr who 

was there with his excellently 

restored ‘64 Sport Fury. I also met some 

people who were interested in our club. 

We welcome new members, Stephen 

Jenkins with his ‘65 Sport Fury, Jim Wynn 

and his ‘39 P8 and James Sewell with his 

‘48 Special Deluxe. 

Our year end meeting was held 

November 15th in New Port Richey. The 

meeting was called to order. Election of 

officers was held. A new dues structure 

was proposed and accepted, and plans for 

future events were discussed. 

-- Mike Bonadonna 

Golden State Region 

THE NEW YEAR OF 2010 has begun and I 

am very happy to be president at the helm 

of this golden ship. I thank my fellow 

members for their support and confidence 

while I finish out the term that Nick 

DeSimone has relinquished, as he is now 

our new national president. 

Congratulations to you Nick. I know great 

things will be in store for our club. 

Nick DeSimone has been temporarily 

filling in as our newsletter editor but as he 

needs to focus on his presidency we would 

like someone to volunteer whilst honing 

his/her publishing skills. 

And lastly, I am pleased to announce 

that the Golden State Region has awarded 

another scholarship. Our recipient is 

Patrick Craig, son of Roger & Donna 

Chrislip. This young man is continuing his 

education in the automotive tech field and 

we were happy to be able to assist him in 

his endeavors. Congratulations to Patrick. 

-- Margie Amos 

Grand Canyon Region 

OUR DECEMBER MEETING was held at the 

home of Tony and Barbara Tricoci in 

Phoenix with 13 in attendance. The meeting 

was also a holiday get together with 

“white elephants” a-plenty. Wonderful 

Italian cuisine was supplied by Tony and 

Barbara and other members brought 

snacks and desserts. Everyone enjoyed 

the food and no elephants were injured 

during the exchange. 

Tech Time: Ken Dickson had several 

questions about his 1954 Belvedere that 

initiated member discussion on hub 

removal, under-dash wiring, and brake 

shoe alignment. The most mysterious of 

the three topics is a clicking sound that 

comes from somewhere behind the dash. 

It is most likely a circuit breaker that is 

cycling open and closed. The only electrical 

items that aren’t functioning properly 

are the heater and windshield wiper. He 

will disconnect those two items from the 

electrical system to see if one of them has 

a short that is causing a breaker to trip and 

reset. If that is indeed the problem, the 

next challenge will be to locate the actual 

short in the heater, the wiper or the wiring 

that leads to them. 

The brake shoe alignment discussion 

centered on a home-made alignment tool 

that he made according to plans he 

received from Dana Billingsley. Ken 

plans to bring the tool to the next meeting 

and explain how it is used. 

OUR JANUARY TOUR began with a visit to 

the Steel Dreamz showroom in Gilbert, 

Arizona. They have a nice selection of 

restored cars available for sale and in the 

back lot are more cars that aren’t quite as 

perfect but still interesting. They don’t 

specialize in any particular marque. 

Vehicles available that day included a 

restored woodie, some custom motorcycles, 

and a custom pickup truck made 

from a Cadillac. After the club meeting, 

some of the members went to Steel 

Dreamz’s other, brand new, location where 

their own restorations are done on-site and 

still more completed cars displayed for 

sale, including some newer MOPARs as 

well as some petroliana. 

Our January meeting was held at Joe’s 

Real BBQ in Gilbert with 11 in attendance. 

Before going into the showroom 

members had an opportunity to take a 

close look at Daniel and Cheryl Honore’s 

1950 Plymouth with its fresh coat of paint. 

There was a discussion regarding the 

possible cancellation of the July and 

August meetings because the 120 degree 

temperatures are a little hard on the old 

cars, not to mention their owners. A 

motion carried unanimously. -- Donna 

Bickel 

Hoosier Region 

OUR CHRISTMAS PARTY at Murphy’s 

Steak House was the close of our 2009 

events. Mother Nature decided to cooperate 

and have a nice day for our party, 

enjoyed by 20 members and four guests 

-10- 

who contributed to the warmth of the 

room with their “chit-chat” before our dinner. 

It was truly a great group. 

After our tummies were all satisfied 

we settled down to the business of the day. 

President Kevin Reeves welcomed everyone 

and had them introduce themselves. 

Following business, vice-president Bob 

Van Buskirk then read “Defective Santa 

Claus” by James Whitcomb Riley. What a 

welcome surprise. We then had our 

“White Elephant” wrapped gift exchange. 

Surprisingly enough there was very little 

exchanging. 

Welcome to our newest members, 

Nicholas and Cathryn Essinger of Troy, 

Ohio, owners of a 1948 P15 Special 

DeLuxe. -- Jan Peel and Kevin Reeves 

I GOT TO GO TO THE CHRISTMAS PARTY in 

my lady’s briefcase (she didn’t know I 

was there until we got home. 

Surprise, surprise!). I don’t 

know how Bob Van Buskirk was 

able to read that little story without 

getting his tongue twisted like a pretzel. 

He really must have great control. 

Being a retired teacher maybe helped? I 

just heard about Fran Fisher’s exercising 

cat – seems it likes Fran’s recumbent bike. 

When the cat jumps on the recumbent it 

starts up and she thinks she is exercising. 

She sleeps for awhile and then, with a satisfied 

grin, jumps down. Of course she 

hasn’t pedaled a lick! You didn’t know 

that cats could grin? Just watch them 

sometime especially when they know 

they’ve done something wrong. 

-- The Unknown Mouse in the Corner 

Lincoln Land Region 

OUR JANUARY MEETING was held at 

Powhatan Restaurant in Pocahontas, 

Illinois. Ed Lanfer presided over the business 

meeting as our region’s new president. 

Fifteen members were in attendance. 

We discussed monthly events for the 

year and upcoming workdays at three of 

our members’ places. Spanky Cox was 

wanting to disassemble a P15 in January. 

Al Fritzsche can’t lie down flat on his 

back, due to recent surgery, and will need 

help with any work requiring that activity. 

Dick Taylor mentioned that he has master 

cylinder work to do. 

Spanky presented a DVD with information 

about the early days of motoring 

with silent movie footage of early flivvers 

and horseless carriages and their effect on 

culture. Background commentary is by 

Groucho Marx. -- Bob Kerico

Lone Star Region 

WE ENDED OUR FIRST YEAR with 68 members, 

including spouses, and we are looking 

forward to the second year with great 

anticipation and an expanded program of 

activities. 

At our January meeting in Brenham, 

Texas, Mike and Dorothy Morrison laid 

out the plans for our next meeting, a 

multi-day affair in April in the Texas Hill 

Country. The Texas Hill Country is nice 

at any time of year, but it is especially so 

in the spring, and the area offers numerous 

possibilities for one’s entertainment. 

We had an interesting discussion 

about the possibility of hosting a national 

POC meet in Texas at 

some point in the future. 

To accommodate our far-flung membership, 

we are attempting to have at least 

some of our meetings outside the central 

Texas area and are seeking members who 

are willing to plan and host a meeting in 

their areas. 

Wanda Newman, on behalf of the 

Care Committee, passed around a card for 

Howard LaPier, whose cancer has 

returned. Sadly, Howard will be selling 

his 1941 P12 woodie. 

Leonard Newman shared a display he 

had brought of Plymouth memorabilia, 

including original advertisements from the 

early ‘30s, a cap, table decorations and 

Plymouth parts and books. 

-- Van and Mary Massirer 

Mid-Atlantic Region 

THE FIRST SUNDAY OF DECEMBER found 

Mid-Atlantic members dressed in festive 

holiday garb arriving at the Cozy 

Restaurant for our luncheon and auction. 

As usual, Karen and Wayne Fowler 

had outdone themselves, setting favors at 

each place, a treat for the eyes as well as 

our tummies. Excitement rose as people 

arrived with a fantastic variety of auction 

goodies--numerous car, food and wine 

items as well as a variety of Christmas 

novelties. 

After a filling meal from the buffet 

line, Carl VanBibber called the meeting to 

order for the last time, as he would be 

turning the gavel over to newly elected 

president August Meerschaert. Several 

awards were presented, including the 

annual Byard Award which went to Ralph 

and Jeanne Gregory for their many years 

of involvement in the club, particularly in 

planning events and leading caravans with 

their ‘38 business coupe. A plaque was 

presented to Carl VanBibber in recognition 

of his two years as president. A special 

award of appreciation went to Paul Moore 

who has been one of the writers for our 

Mayflower newsletter and has contributed 

a number of articles to the PLYMOUTH 

BULLETIN. 

When our monthly meeting, with 55 

present, was closed, we got down to some 

real business: The Auction! The auction is 

an annual fund raiser for our region. The 

bidding can get rather intense at times. 

Porter Harrison’s homemade wine created 

some lively bidding as did a wine-toting 

Santa, a holiday train, jewelry, Chrysler 

and Plymouth hats, shirts and models as 

well as various food and chocolate items, 

more than 70 in total. One item, a hat that 

comes back each year, arrived again. 

Our parents would be proud to know 

that we don’t need to be entertained; we 

make our own entertainment and nothing 

is quite as entertaining as our annual auction. 

-- Peggy VanBibber 

OUR FIRST MEETING OF 2010 was held 

January 18 at the Mount Airy Tavern in 

Mount Airy, Maryland, with 20 members 

attending. Following reports, president 

August Meerschaert led a meeting that 

discussed and planned events for the coming 

year. -- Karen Fowler 

Mid-Iowa Region 

WELL, IT IS HERE AGAIN -- another Iowa 

winter. I have winterized my ‘34 Dodge 

and’72 Satellite and really miss driving 

them these several months. 

Several Mid-Iowa members attended 

the fall swap meet at the state fairgrounds 

in Des Moines. On October 1, our regional 

board met at the Hy-Vee lunchroom in 

Johnston, Iowa, to discuss several items of 

business, including possible future activities. 

The next meeting was a cookout at 

the home of Jim and Joannie Dooley near 

Huxley, Iowa. The weather turned out to 

be pretty good and those attending 

enjoyed the food and fellowship. New 

member Andy Worthington attended with 

his ‘40 Plymouth sedan, a very interesting 

car. 

In November, members and guests 

met at the Country Club Restaurant in Des 

Moines for our annual fall dinner which 

took the place of the harvest dinner we’ve 

had for several years. Several people in 

our club have been dealing with illness or 

taking care of family members with health 

issues, so we decided to forego preparation 

of our own food. We will miss the 

-11- 

harvest dinner. It was always well attended. 

However, we did enjoy our meal and 

the time to visit with one another. 

Congratulations to member Bill Eye 

for receiving a first place trophy with his 

‘56 Belvedere convertible at the National 

Fall Meet in Westminster, Maryland. Bill 

also received the hard luck trophy for having 

to overcome some mechanical problems 

along the way. Bill says that he had 

problems with the fuel pump and in the 

electrical/ignition system. -- Ed Lynam 

Prairie Region 

OUR NOVEMBER MEETING was held in 

Beatrice, Nebraska, on a absolutely warm, 

sunny and perfect Saturday afternoon at 

the TaeKwonDo School that Shawn and 

Crystal Dewey manage. Twenty-one were 

in attendance. Three couples arrived in 

vintage Mopars. 

Shawn, Crystal, and Katy gave us all 

a great explanation of TaeKwonDo and 

then they and some of their students put 

on a demonstration of the TaeKwonDo 

skills and forms as well as some of the 

weapons that are used in the sport. I think 

they proved to all of us that TaeKwonDo 

is a lot of work and takes a lot of skill and 

practice. Shawn asked the rest of us if we 

would like to come on the mats and learn 

some moves but, strangely enough none of 

us took him up on his offer. 

After some good eats, Becky Bartlett 

read an article from a South American 

magazine called La Luneta. The publisher 

of this magazine, Orlando Bongiardino, is 

a friend of Bill and Lynn Bartlett whom 

they have met through the Plymouth club. 

Orly is a national Plymouth Owners Club 

member from Argentina, and his car was 

on the front cover of BULLETIN 295 which 

covered Plymouths of the Southern 

Hemisphere. Orly wrote an article in La 

Luneta, in Spanish, about his car being on 

the cover of the BULLETIN. Becky read 

the Spanish version and, translating it in 

her head, into English for the rest us. 

There were some words she had trouble 

with but, we got the gist of it. After all, 

we didn't really know what it said anyway. 

The kids and a few of the “big kids” 

had fun playing games on the mats while 

the rest of us enjoyed visiting about our 

lives and families with plenty of talk about 

old Plymouths. -- Lynn Bartlett 

OUR DECEMBER MEETING was held at 

Chances R Restaurant in York, Nebraska, 

with 29 members and two guests attending. 

The meeting was called to order by

President Pat Stanton. She pointed out the 

two items on the meeting’s agenda: election 

of officers and choices for philanthropy. 

Roger Wermeskerch presented information 

about the Nebraska Rod and 

Custom association (NRCA) scholarship. 

A brief discussion was done by the group, 

with a review of options for local charities. 

Terry made a motion which was seconded 

by Lucinda to donate $300 to the 

NRCA scholarship and $300 total to four 

different Salvation Army locations. -- 

Larry Stanton 

THE SNOWBIRD SWAP MEET in Holdrege, 

Nebraska, was just the break we needed 

from the January blahs. The sun was shining 

all day long, Carolyn Reddish had lots 

of bargains at her sale and Larry Stanton 

bought a 1994 Dodge van, so it was a 

great day. Afterward, we made our annual 

trip to Sacramento, Nebraska, for a great 

dinner. We thank Art and Carolyn for 

opening their lovely home to us and for 

the raisin cream pie and sweet rolls. As 

always, it was a treat! -- Pat Stanton 

AT OUR JANUARY MEETING held at the 

Holdrege fair grounds, eleven members 

were in attendance. Pat, our president, 

announced that all current officers were 

elected for another year. Lee Lape’s 

motion to waive local dues for the first 

year of a first membership for all new 

members joining both the local and 

national Plymouth club was seconded and 

passed by majority of members present. 

-- submitted by Larry Stanton 

EDITOR’S NOTES to the meeting minutes: 

While most of the meeting was going on, 

Larry, the secretary, was test driving and 

purchasing his 1994 Dodge van. It took 

two people to take notes for his absence. I 

would like to thank those two people. 

Good job. Also, take note that Pat beat 

out her competition for president by three 

votes. This is a “tuff” crowd! 

-- Pam Fleming 

OUR FEBRUARY MEETING, held in York, 

Nebraska -- during our 17th annual York 

Get-away Weekend -- was called to order 

by Treasurer Linda Lape (acting president/secretary, 

three times removed). The 

17 members and two guests present shared 

a little about what was going on in their 

lives. 

After reports were given, discussion 

was held on upcoming events, especially 

our own annual swap meet. -- Linda Lape 

Members Remembered -- Rocky Mountain Region 

Jeanne receiving 

the Long Distance 

award at the 1998 

Grand National 

JEANNE KREPS, wife of Wayne Kreps, died January 11, 2010, after a 

long battle of numerous health problems. She was a longtime member 

of both the national and Rocky Mountain Region clubs. She was 

elected treasurer of the national Plymouth club from 1993-1995 and 

was involved with judging as a score-keeper for many of the national 

Plymouth meets. 

Jeanne was very active in our region, holding the offices of secretary 

and treasurer. She was always willing to help with the clubs' national 

meets and giving assistance to local club activities. She will be 

remembered by her dedication to the clubs and her will to keep going 

despite her health challenges 

GORDON MCKEE passed away April 16, 2009, at the age of 84. Gordon was an active 

member of the Rocky Mountain Region and had a 1950 P19 Suburban which was purchased 

new by his grandfather. Our condolences go to his wife Shirley. 

-- Bill Sullivan 

IT IS REMARKABLE that Jeanne was able to make the trip from Denver to our Labor Day 

picnic. The afternoon they arrived at Kearney, I sat in the car with her; she was having 

so much trouble breathing at that time. Then they drove up to our place on Sunday, 

Wayne put her in the wheelchair and rolled her all over our place. Later, she sat under 

a shade tree for a long time, making the best of it all. Unbelievable: her determination 

and Wayne's caring for her. -- Bobbi Berkheimer 

Rocky Mountain Region 

ON NOVEMBER 8, Les and Mary Leather 

hosted an early Thanksgiving dinner with 

21 members and one guest attending, several 

driving their vintage Mopars. 

Beef stew--out of this world--was the 

entrée of the day along with side dishes 

and desserts brought by members. 

After lunch, the meeting was called to 

order by Jay Thomas, standing in for our 

president, Bill Sullivan. An update was 

given on Jeanne Kreps, who was having a 

lot of health problems. We also heard of 

Lowell Stahlman, whose cancer has 

spread to his eye, for which he was going 

through radiation treatment. Deanna 

Desroisers had recently had back surgery. 

Best wishes were offered and cards were 

signed for Jeanne and Lowell. 

PEG TOTEVE AND DAUGHTER JERI and 

son-in-law Jim were our Christmas party 

hosts. December 6 was a cold and snowy 

day, but the welcome was warm and inviting. 

Twelve members ventured out. 

Along with the warm conversation, we 

enjoyed a ham dinner with plenty of other 

dishes and desserts. Nobody went away 

hungry. 

After dinner we had a gift exchange. 

Most people liked their presents, so there 

was little stealing of another’s gift. People 

also brought gifts to be donated to a family 

in the church of one of our members. 

During a brief meeting we elected our 

-12- 

board for 2010: Bill Sullivan, president; 

Jay Thomas, vice-president; Chuck 

Putnam, treasurer; and Sandra Hicks, secretary. 

FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS, I found being 

secretary was a challenge and fun to do. 

A lot of work and time goes into putting 

an informative and interesting newsletter 

together. I appreciate the encouragement 

and support I received and I enjoyed putting 

my little twist on the newsletter. 

-- Betty Putnam 

Tall Pines Region 

OUR ANNUAL EARLY HOLIDAY BANQUET 

was held December 6 at the Timber Lodge 

Steakhouse in Bloomington, Minnesota. 

We had a nice turnout with 15 members 

and a guest attending. Making their first 

meeting in a while were Rich and Carol 

Tetzlaff, now well along in their recovery 

following their car accident this summer. 

Also attending and deserving special 

mention for coming in their old Plymouths 

on a cold winter day were Ed Reinke in a 

‘36 sedan, Wayne Peterson with his P15 

taxi-yellow sedan, and Jeff, Vivian and Ed 

Juneau and Carmon Klugseth in Jeff’s ‘66 

Fury station wagon. 

We had a nice time visiting in a private 

room with a nice gas fireplace. When 

the meal was over, the gifts that Jack and 

Virginia Schultz had secured for us were 

passed out and opened. Our thanks go to

them for getting and bringing the gifts, as 

they have for the last several years. 

After the gifts, we had a brief business 

meeting in which we had an election 

of officers. Jeff Juneau offered to serve as 

vice-president and was elected, along with 

the remaining officers from last year. We 

thank Jack Schultz for his many years of 

serving as our chapter vice-president. His 

knowledge of the club and how it works 

has been a great asset to us. We also 

made some preliminary plans for meetings 

in our upcoming year. One change we 

made was to omit the January cold-weather 

meeting, having a meeting, instead, in 

late February which will also include 

March. 

We had more time for visiting, which 

we did for a while, then we wished each 

other holiday greetings and broke up to go 

our separate ways home. 

-- Happy Plymouthing, 

Rog & Jean Ramberg 

United Kingdom Region 

OUR OFFICERS FOR 2010 for the UK 

region are the same as last year: Barry 

Reece, chairman; Jill Reece, secretary and 

treasurer; and Patrick Donlan, technical 

A P 

Those travelling Swedes, Thorsten and Sonja Larsson, were 

at it again with their PJ sedan, although this time staying 

on their side of the Atlantic. 

In 2009 they headed to England to take in the Rally of the 

Giants, a major US car meet in Stevenage, north of London. 

There they met Barry Reece of the POC United Kingdom 

Region. During the show a guy photographing their PJ said to 

Sonja: “Haven’t we met before? Oh, now I know. It’s you 

from the BULLETIN!” 

After the show, they headed south, destination the port 

city of Plymouth. Thorsten 

writes: “We stayed in Plymouth 

for three days. A common phrase 

heard when people realized the 

make of the car: ‘A Plymouth in 

Plymouth! Great!’ I took some 

pictures near the harbour, but getting 

to the Mayflower steps was 

not possible, due to restoration 

work.” 

Photos were taken at the Old 

Citadel (see BULLETIN 254, p.1) 

and Smeaton’s Tower, a lighthouse 

first lit in 1729. PB 

Among the Heart of America Region guests at the Berkheimers’ Labor Day picnc 

were Don [RIGHT] and Jeri Wood and their son-in-law and daughter. 

advisor. We are now getting members 

from Europe as we now have Swedish and 

Belgian members. Best wishes for the new 

year. -- Barry & Jill Reece 

In BULLETIN 254, Gavin Upstill’s East 

Essex-based ‘60 Belvedere was a 

Plymouth in Plymouth. 

A Plymouth lymouth in Plymouth lymouth 

-13- 

A Swede Swede 

in England

PLYMOUTH 4 CYLINDER 

22ND ANNUAL TOUR & MEET 

MAY 27 TO 30 2010 

ST. THOMAS, ONTARIO 

HOST HOTEL: Best Western Stoneridge Inn 

6675 Burtwhistle Dr. (Hwy 401 & Hwy 4 S) 

Acc $99.00 per night 

Call before Apr 26, 2010 (mention Plymouth Tour) 

Continental Breakfast 

Plenty of parking for all 

Fuel on site 

PLYMOUTH 4 CYLINDER 

22ND ANNUAL TOUR & MEET 

MAY 27 TO 30 2010 

ST. THOMAS, ONTARIO 

Name______________________________ Co-pilot ____________________________ 

Address ________________________________________________________________ 

Year of car ______________ Model ______________________________________ 

Registration: $25.00 ___________ 

Dinner: $30.00 x _____ ___________ 

Total: __________ 

For golf shirts or hats please add a note with sizes & quantity. Shirts $20. Hats $10. 

Mail to: Wally Taylor 

49 Dunwich Dr 

St. Thomas, ON N5R 4T7 

Canada Contact: Wally at 519-633-0730 or wallron@sympatico.ca 

Don't forget your goodies for the running board fleamarket! 

-14-

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SAVE THE DATE 

June 16-20, 2010

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-18-18- �� 

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PLYMOUTH BULLETIN 213, 

covering Plymouth’s involvement 

in WWII, featured an 

article on a ‘42 Plymouth that 

carried the core of the first 

atomic bomb to be detonated. 

Now, that Plymouth has been 

found! 

by Jim Benjaminson 

With contributions by 

Ferguson “Lindy” Willis 

John Teske 

Lloyd White 

Gerald Fleenor 

David Hoover 

Back in BULLETIN 216 (January-February 1996), the 

Plymouth Owners Club dedicated the entire issue to 

documenting Plymouth vehicles used during World 

War II. The original intent had been to publish the material in 

1995, which marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the 

war. As has happened many times in the past, last minute 

material kept arriving and the issue was delayed until 1996. 

In that issue I wrote an article entitled “In the Back Seat 

of a ‘42 Plymouth—The Nuclear Age Arrives.” The article 

stemmed from material broadcast on a Canadian television 

news magazine called “Prime Time.” A two-part series commemorating 

the end of World War II, the program interviewed 

Philip Morrison, a scientist who had been involved with the 

Manhattan Project which led to the building—and use of-atomic 

bombs on Japan. During the interview, a short film 

clip was shown in which Morrison detailed how he had transported 

what would become the “core” of the bomb in the back 

seat of a Plymouth sedan. The film showed the car to be a 

1942 Plymouth sedan. 

As it has been 14 years since that material was published, 

we will revisit the subject again. At the time I wrote that the 

’42 Plymouth that delivered the core for the first bomb was 

apparently lost to history – but as we revealed in the last 

BULLETIN, the car has been found. To tell its story, we have to 

start at the beginning. 

THE ATOMIC PLYMOUTH 

The Atomic Age arrives arrives 

in the backseat of a P14 sedan. 

-20- 

T H E O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E 

Fifty-three years ago the United States did something 

no other country had done before and no 

country has done since (and we can only hope no 

country will ever do again). On August 6, and again on 

August 9, 1945, the United States dropped a nuclear 

bomb on a country with which it was at war. 

At the time there was great rejoicing that World War 

II had finally come to an end and that the killing that 

had claimed millions of lives over the previous several 

years was finally over. The end had justified the 

means—as least by the standards of 1945. In hindsight, 

the decisions the United States made in using 

nuclear weapons have come under close scrutiny and 

criticism. To question the decisions of those who went 

before us is not the purpose of this article. Rather, it is 

to illuminate a very little-known fact of that history: that 

the nuclear age arrived in the back seat of a 1942 

Plymouth! 

When the United States was drawn into the war in 

December, 1941, the country and its allies were faced 

with vicious enemies on both sides of the ocean; 

Germany on one side, Japan on the other. Those scientists 

who were able to escape from Nazi Germany 

told their American colleagues of Germany’s work at 

producing a bomb that would utilize power from the 

very source of nature itself, the atom. (Since the article 

was written it has been discovered that Japan was also 

working on a nuclear program.) 

During those first desperate hours of the war, these 

scientists pleaded with the renowned Albert Einstein, 

asking him to approach President Roosevelt with their 

information. Reluctantly Einstein did so, requesting 

the President to authorize United States’ own research

into making an “atom bomb.” Roosevelt 

responded, authorizing what was codenamed 

the Manhattan Engineering 

District and is now commonly called the 

Manhattan Project. At two billion dollars, 

it was the most expensive scientific discovery 

in the world up until that time. 

Gathering eminent scientists, mathematicians 

and physicists from around the 

world, the project began work on “the 

bomb” at a secret laboratory located in 

the non-existent city of Los Alamos, New 

Mexico. There, just 34 miles from Santa 

Fe, 6,000 people lived, worked and 

played in a community that officially did 

not exist! Scientists began to “disappear” 

from the face of the earth, not to be seen 

until after the war. 

Based on experiments conducted in 

Chicago by Nobel Prize-winning physicist 

Enrico Fermi, the world’s first self-sustained and 

controlled nuclear reaction took place on December 2, 

1942. The crude “reactor” was built of graphite blocks 

located under the west stands of a racquet court at the 

University of Chicago’s Stagg Field. 

Led by the controversial American physicist J. Robert 

Oppenheimer, work on the bomb itself began at Los 

Alamos in 1942. Culmination came on July 16, 1945, 

when they accomplished the first successful detonation 

of a nuclear device. It took place at a point in the 

deserts of New Mexico called “Trinity,” named by 

Oppenheimer from a reference in John Donne’s 14th 

Holy Sonnet. 

Preparations for detonation of the bomb had come to 

a fever pitch by early July 1945. On July 8, a series of 

tests with a dummy bomb began at Los Alamos, each 

overshadowed by what, in a few days, would happen 

with the real bomb at Trinity. 

To start with, the bomb was driven for miles over rockstrewn 

roads to simulate the journey down from Los 

Alamos. “It came through this first experience 

unscathed,” wrote Peter Goodchild in his book J. 

Robert Oppenheimer, Shatterer of Worlds. “Philip 

Morrison, accompanied by a guard and a radiologist, 

Looking to what’s what’ s coming: The Plymouth’s 1942 brochure cover. 

“Bomb” on board: The ‘42 Plymouth, carrying the plutonium core, departs for Trinity. 

-21- 

removed the fissionable plutonium core from the vault 

at Omega. The core had been separated into several 

sub-critical pieces which were fitted into two special 

valises for the journey down to Trinity. Morrison placed 

the special valises carefully next to him in the back 

seat of Robert Bacher’s sedan, and, with one security 

guard ahead of them and one behind, they set off for 

Alamogordo.” 

Around 3:00 PM on Wednesday, July 11, 1945, this 

1942 Plymouth left Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory 

with Morrison and the plutonium core of what was to 

become the first atomic bomb. The occupants of the 

Plymouth were on a mission to deliver the core of the 

“Gadget” (as the bomb was called) to the Alamogordo 

Bombing Range, 230 miles to the south. The ‘42 

Plymouth pressed into service for this delicate task 

was one of the many used as army sedans during the 

Second World War. 

Quoting Morrison, Goodchild continues: “I remember, 

when we were driving through Santa Fe, which was 

then quite a sleepy little town, I was just thinking about 

what an extraordinary thing it was to be driving along 

there in just an ordinary car and yet we were carrying 

the core of the first atomic bomb.” 

Later that evening, the procession arrived at the 

Trinity site on what had been the McDonald Ranch 

(Author’s note: the McDonald ranch house was still 

some miles from the Trinity site). That same night, a 

much larger convoy left Los Alamos for Trinity; one 

truck was conveying the explosive assembly that 

would surround the core Morrison was carrying. 

Another scientist named Kistiakowsky recalls “For 

reasons of security we transported it at night, but to be 

whimsical, I decided that I would start the trip at ten 

minutes after midnight—Friday the 13th!” 

Still another scientist, Leo Jercinovic, remembers: 

“We traveled, accompanied by a very large entourage 

of security forces, military police in front and behind us. 

I thought this was supposed to be a rather secret and 

quiet affair, but every time we went through a town, 

why, they would turn on the sirens and the red lights 

and we would go through town raising a raucous din—

and of course this was early in the morning. They had 

hoped to warn off any drunken drivers who might drive 

into their paths—which they succeeded in doing while 

waking up half the neighborhood!” 

Interviewed for the Canadian television program 

Prime Time Magazine, Philip Morrison recalled the 

story of transporting the core of the nuclear bomb to 

the Trinity site. “I drove out of Los Alamos in an o.d. 

G.I.-painted Plymouth with a Women’s Army Corps 

driver—with great speed and talent at the wheel—and 

a (sic) armed convoy…because I had in my lap the 

special container which a Navy draftsman and I had 

designed to be the perfect safe home for the core of 

the first test bomb—what we called the plutonium 

core—plutonium sphere.” 

The core was delivered about 6:00 PM to the staff at 

the George McDonald ranch house located at the 

northern edge of the test range about ten miles from 

Ground Zero. Shortly after noon on Friday, July 13, 

the core was transported to the tower where the gadget 

was suspended. 

At nine o’clock in the morning, the final assembly of 

the bomb began taking place. At 3:18 PM the bomb 

was ready for insertion of the plutonium core. Once its 

core was in place, the bomb was hoisted one hundred 

feet atop a tower constructed to hold “the Gadget.” 

That night, as a rainstorm with thunder and lightning 

danced around the armed bomb, Manhattan Project 

scientists nervously awaited the detonation time, set 

for 5:30 AM. At 5:10 the countdown began while the 

scientists watched from the bunker known as S10,000, 

ten miles from the tower at Trinity. What would happen 

was anybody’s guess. There were some present who 

thought it simply wouldn’t work. Others expressed a 

fear the bomb would set the atmosphere on fire and 

incinerate the earth. 

The bomb was detonated at 5:29:45 AM Mountain 

War Time, Monday, July 16, 1945. Weighing about two 

and a half tons, the bomb yielded an explosive charge 

estimated to be the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT. 

When the countdown reached zero, Otto Frisch 

recalls “and then without a sound, the sun was shining.” 

(Author’s note: this day would later become known 

as the “day the sun shone twice”.) Philip Morrison, 

describing the scene to Prime Time, recalls that his 

face went from the “cold of a desert morning to the 

heat of desert noon” ten miles away from Point Zero. 

Oppenheimer, who had led the project from its infancy, 

recalls that some laughed, some cried and others 

stood in awed silence. “There floated through my mind 

a line from the Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita: “I have 

become death, the shatterer of worlds,” he recounted 

later. Ken Bainbridge shook Oppie’s hand and commented 

“now we’re all sons of bitches.” With a 

month’s time, the war was over. 

(Author’s note: Some paragraphs of the original article have 

been deleted here. The original article appeared in the Jan- 

Feb 1996 PLYMOUTH BULLETIN, Volume 37, No. 2, pages 30- 

31. The article was reprinted with permission in the Winter 

1999, Vol. 86, issue of Army Motors. The Army Motors article 

can be found on the internet at the Manhattan Project 

-22- 

website www.mphpa.org/classic/COLLECTIONS/LA- 

MDAV/Pages/LAP-MDAV-054.htm. The internet article was 

reprinted without this author’s permission.) 

THE HE CAR THAT THA DELIVERED the core of the world’s first 

nuclear bomb has been all but forgotten by history. Fate has 

been much kinder to the two B-29 Superfortresses that 

dropped the bombs over Japan than to the car that delivered 

the core of the first bomb to the desert of New Mexico. Both 

planes (built in Omaha by the Glenn Martin Aircraft factory) 

have been preserved and are on display. Everything from 

their serial numbers to the planes’ nicknames to the names of 

the crews have been recorded. Enola Gay, named for pilot 

Col. Paul Tibbets’ mother, which carried a uranium device 

dubbed “Little Boy” to Hiroshima, has been partially restored 

and is displayed at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The 

second plane, Bock’s Car, piloted by Major Sweeney, which 

dropped a plutonium device dubbed “Fat Man” on Nagasaki, 

is displayed at Wright-Patterson Air Force base in Dayton, 

Ohio. Both aircraft (along with 13 others) had been modified 

to carry the atomic bomb. 

Until just recently (1995) the role played by a lone ‘42 

Plymouth army staff car has been all but unknown. Assigned 

to Robert Bacher as head of the “G” Division (“G” for 

Gadget) at Los Alamos, the car that ushered in the nuclear era 

is little known outside of a few black-and-white photographs 

and a grainy piece of movie film. These facts are known: it 

was a 1942 Plymouth P14C Special Deluxe four-door sedan, 

painted olive drab, bearing government license number W- 

44410. Unlike the specially ordered 1941 Plymouth staff 

cars, the “nuclear Plymouth” wasn’t even equipped with 

blackout lamps. Somewhere along the line it received a dent 

in the left rear fender. Its serial number and its ultimate fate 

are equally unknown. (Author’s note: A recent posting on 

The Manhattan Project website claims the car was purchased 

new in 1945 for use at Los Alamos. This is highly unlikely, 

considering the condition of the car in July of 1945 as attested 

to by the photographs. There were no new cars for sale in 

1945, although the car could have been in government storage 

for use by the military.) 

Had it not been for Philip Morrison’s 1995 interview, no 

one would have remembered it was driven to the Alamogordo 

bombing range by a woman driver—who at this time (still) 

remains unidentified. 

1942 P14C Town Town 

Sedan: Bill Call at the start of the 2003 tour

FOLLOWING OLLOWING THE APPEARANCE of 

the original story in BULLETIN 216, 

member John Teske, who worked for 

the U.S. Department of Energy, wrote 

that shortly before the BULLETIN came 

out, their employee magazine entitled 

D.O.E. This Month commemorated the 

50th anniversary of the first atomic 

explosion. On the front cover was a 

photograph (the lead photo of this article) 

of the 1942 Plymouth that carried 

the core to Trinity. With the aid of 

several individuals, including the historian 

of the Los Alamos National 

Laboratory, John obtained three photographs 

reproduced from the original 

1945 negatives. John wrote, “there are 

probably other photos of the car. I 

asked the persons at the Los Alamos 

archives if the files contained other 

photographs of 1940s Plymouths but 

was told they would not be able to recognize 

a Plymouth from other cars of 

the period!” The photos John sent, one 

of which was reproduced on page 12 

in BULLETIN # 218 (May-June 1996, 

Vol. 37, No 4), had only recently been 

declassified. One of the three photos 

John sent showed the car as the trigger 

device was being loaded into the back 

seat at the McDonald ranch house. 

Over the years I made various 

attempts at trying to positively identify 

WHICH 1942 Plymouth had been used 

at Trinity. From the grainy movie film 

captured on VHS tape of the Prime 

Time television program, I tried to 

read the number on the hood of the car. 

I then contacted member Lloyd White, 

who had spent considerable resources 

restoring an original 1942 Plymouth 

Town Sedan that had been an army 

staff car when new (the car is now 

owned by member Bill Call and was 

driven by him on the 2003 Coast-to- 

Coast tour). In his 1999 letter to me, 

Lloyd wrote 

First of all, the Army did not keep 

records regarding their vehicles 

once they disposed of them after 

their military use. I looked up the 

number you listed for the hood 

number of the Plymouth that carried 

Philip Morrison and the core of 

the bomb, and that hood number does not show as a 

number being used on an Army vehicle. The license 

(plate) is a U.S. Government plate, not a U.S. Army 

plate, this tells me the car was probably not controlled 

by the U.S. Army. When vehicles were controlled by 

The “Hulk”: the 1942 “Atomic Plymouth” as 

found. 

-23- 

the Army, the license plate and the 

number on the hood were the 

same. I checked a listing for the 

hood number in some material on 

U.S. Army registration numbers 

pertaining to vehicles during WWII, 

and the hood number does not 

come up—which does not mean it 

wasn’t used, but it was not used by 

the U.S. Army. 

AS THE YEARS WENT BY, BY I more or 

less forgot about the “Atomic 

Plymouth” until I received a message 

this past October from member Gerald 

Fleenor. A recently retired employee 

of the National Nuclear Security 

Administration, Department of Energy, 

Gerald’s news hit like a bombshell: 

Did I know that the “Atomic 

Plymouth” had been found? 

Combining material from Gerald and 

David Hoover of the National Museum 

of Nuclear Science & History in 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, here is the 

story: 

After the war, the Trinity Plymouth 

was transferred from the 

Department of the Army to the U.S. 

Forest Service in New Mexico and 

painted Forest Service Green. The 

Plymouth served the Forest 

Service for a number of years and 

then, according to research done 

by museum curator David Hoover, 

was apparently transferred to the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs. From 

there its whereabouts became 

unknown. In 1995 a rusted and 

partially dismantled 1942 Plymouth 

“hulk” with faded Forest Service 

paint was found in a salvage yard in 

Gallup, New Mexico. This vehicle 

is a six-cylinder, four-door (suicide 

doors on the rear) sedan as was 

the Trinity Plymouth. “It is more 

than likely the original Trinity 

Plymouth,” states Hoover, “and is 

now in the possession of the 

National Museum of Nuclear 

Science & History in Albuquerque.” 

The “Hulk” was in poor condition, 

too poor to be placed on display, in 

the minds of the museum authorities, 

so the museum found a 

replacement to put on display until 

the day the original car could be restored. The display 

Plymouth was purchased in 2007 for $7,000 via internet 

from Frontier Motor Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

In excellent original, drivable condition, with original 

interior and showing 41,185 miles, the car was repaint-

The 1942 “display Plymouth” is a replacement for the “Atomic 

Plymouth” AKA the “Trinity Plymouth” until it can be restored. 

ed in o.d. green to replicate the Trinity Plymouth. The 

museum was told the Ohio car was the “last car off the 

Plymouth line before car production was ended for the 

war.” Delivered new to Patterson Chrysler-Plymouth 

on October 15, 1941, the sale date and serial number 

(11436184) easily disproves this claim, and, unlike the 

“real” car, it is not fitted with blackout trim. 

Because of the condition of the original Trinity 

Plymouth, and its secure location on a U.S. military 

base, special arrangements had to be made by David 

Hoover to take the photos you see here of the car. As 

they have been unable to open the front passenger 

door, it has been impossible to obtain the serial number. 

The only factory identification number found to 

date is the under-hood body number 400-A-37188. 

The car is missing some parts and needs a total 

restoration. 

In addition to the Plymouth, the museum has a fully 

restored 1942 Packard Clipper eight-door Fitzjohnbuilt 

limousine on display. The eight-door Packard had 

also been used at Los Alamos for transporting workers 

and was later transferred to the Forest Service. Both 

the Packard and Plymouth were found in the same 

New Mexico junk yard, spotted by a local military vehicle 

collector who recognized them for what they were, 

bought them both (they were going to be crushed the 

next day!), brought them to Albuquerque and later 

donated both cars to the museum. With the help of 

New Mexico Packard enthusiasts, the Packard has 

been restored. 

Both the Packard and the replica Plymouth can be 

seen daily at the National Museum of Nuclear Science 

& History, 601 Eubank SE, Albuquerque, NM 87123. 

The museum phone number is (505) 245-2137 Ext 

118. The website is located at 

www.nuclearmuseum.org. 

The Trinity Site is open to the public only two days a 

year, the first Saturdays in April and October. The easiest 

entrance is through the White Sands Missile 

Range, Stallion Center Gate, off US 380 between 

Carrizozo and San Antonio, New Mexico. 

AT THE CONCLUSION of my original article I wrote: 

This article is meant to neither condemn nor condone 

the use of the atomic bomb. Plymouth Owners Club 

member Lindy Willis, a retired engineer who worked at 

Argonne National Labs near Chicago recently (1995) 

sent this writer a piece of graphite from Fermi’s first 

nuclear reactor experiment. At the time Lindy wrote 

“thoughtful people, including the scientists who developed 

the project, have wondered from the beginning 

whether nuclear energy would, in the long run, turn out 

to be a benefit or a curse to humankind. On that day 

(in December 1942) they were thinking only of survival. 

We may never answer the larger questions surrounding 

the nuclear energy issue. I personally cut your 

piece of graphite from one of the original blocks (of 

Fermi’s experiment). I assure you it is absolutely safe 

to handle and is free of radioactivity. This was an 

important piece of an experiment which brought huge 

change to the world, its politics and its philosophies. I 

hope you will enjoy having it. Even more so, I hope 

you live in a world which can be freed of curses, 

nuclear and any others!” 

EVEN VEN MORE RECENTLY RECENTL Lindy wrote me from his retirement 

villa in Mexico: 

Another interesting Plymouth connection to the atomic 

story relates to the famous 1939 letter that (Albert) 

Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt, stating that 

recent experiments showed the possibility of releasing 

large amounts of energy from the atomic nucleus, and 

hinted that this might be applied to weapons. The sug- 

The 1942 Packard: in service; 

as found; being restored. 

-24-

gestion was made that the U.S. should be hastily 

expanding its involvement in such research. Such an 

idea seemed crazy in 1939 and the scientists knew 

that only Einstein could convince Roosevelt of its 

necessity. Edward Teller (“The Father of the ‘H’ 

Bomb”) told me of the visit he and Leo Szilard made to 

Einstein’s summer home on Long Island to compose 

the Roosevelt letter for Einstein’s signature. I remember 

Teller saying to me in his heavy Hungarian accent 

that “Szilard could do almost anything but he couldn’t 

drive a car, so we drove my 1935 Plymouth out to Long 

Island to find Einstein’s house.” So, Plymouth had 

already figured in the bomb program at its early inception, 

several years before even Fermi’s 1942 chain 

reaction experiment became the birth of the Manhattan 

Project. 

I haven’t received a BULLETIN for many months, which 

is probably due to mail not being delivered in Caucel. 

So I’d really like to have any recent issues relating to 

the “Atomic Plymouth.” During the war, I served on an 

“APA” (attack transport) and soon after putting to sea 

from boarding 2,000 veteran troops at Okinawa, we 

were told that our destination was the initial landings 

on the Japanese home islands, AND that calculations 

indicated that only about half of us would survive. As 

we steamed north we suddenly altered course to the 

east and were told that the war had ended and we 

were bringing the troops to Seattle. I often reflect on 

the probability that the atomic bomb saved my life and 

many others, both Japanese and Allied. We, of 

course, had not even a rudimentary understanding of 

its science. So even less could I imagine that my 

engine room watches were preparing me to enter a 35year 

career in that science, working alongside the very 

people who had developed the weapon that had saved 

us.” 

1952 Cranbrook 

Cranbrook 

Ed Botchie 

Chambersburg, 

Chambersburg, 

Pennsylvania 

-25- 

(Author’s note: club member “Lindy” Willis worked at 

Argonne National Labs for 35 years on various projects, 

including the world’s first nuclear submarine, Nautilus.) 

FROM ROM ITS INCEPTION in 1939 to the war’s culmination in 

1945, Plymouth played an important role in the development 

of the nuclear age. Considering that New Mexico Packard 

enthusiasts stepped up to the plate to restore the ‘42 Fitzjohn 

Packard limousine, don’t you think the Plymouth Owners 

Club should do the same thing to preserve what may be the 

most historically significant Plymouth of all time? 

PB 

Goodbye to all this--for the duration anyway: The last 

Plymouth leaves the factory before conversion of the plant to war 

production. The Plymouth Company, Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, 

Michigan. 

ALFRED T. PALMER, PHOTOGRAPHER. 

This ‘52 Cranbrook is the third car 

I’ve owned. It followed my first 

car, a green ‘52 Cranbrook and my 

‘72 Duster which I bought new. This 

car I found on a Chevy dealer’s used 

car lot in October, 1974. It was a oneowner 

car with about 57,000 miles on 

it. The dealer sold it to me for $500 

and gave me a one-year warranty. I 

drove this car for a number of years as 

my daily driver and then retired it for a number of years. I started restoring it in 1997 and finally completed it in June 2002. 

Besides the first place at the 2009 National Fall Meet, it has won numerous first places locally, was at the 2004 Invitational 

Chryslers at Carlisle, and a Best of Show at the 2003 NCPC National Meet. PB

In BULLETIN 161-- the last 

edited by Jim 

Benjaminson -- the 1937 

P4 Tüscher-bodied convertible, 

then owned by 

Hans Mentink, was the 

cover car. 

by Bruno Costers 

Vosselaar, Belgium 

Itamerikaanseautomobielclub.nl 

. They liked my 1937 

started 27 years 

ago when I was member of the AAC club in Holland 

Itall 

P4 Kew sedan so much that they asked me for a article 

and pictures to put in their club magazine. 

I had owned my 1937 Chrysler P4 Kew DeLuxe 

for ten years. Built in the United Kingdom, it has 

right-hand-drive and is one of only 73 producedthat 

year. Nineteen thirty-seven was also the first 

year for metallic paints by Chrysler. As with this 

car, I keep all my cars in a dry air-conditioned 

garage. 

After the article was published, another member 

from Holland, Hans Mentink, contacted me and 

A A Plymouth Plymouth 

üscher her 

told me that he owned the same kind 

of car, although it was a convertible 

model with lefthand-drive. 

We have 

been in contact ever 

since, and recently, he 

has sold the car to 

me. 

The car had, at 

that time of our 

meeting, just undergone 

an intensive 

and expensive twoyear 

restoration. He 

had bought the car in the 

late ‘70s from a antique car 

dealer in Holland. Although it 

was in rusty condition, the car 

was missing 

only a few 

parts such as 

the front 

bumper and 

the glove 

box door. 

The 

Chrysler 

still had its 

original 

American 

Bosch 

radio. 

by Tüsc 

-26-

The American Bosch radio 

by Ernst Erb 

Aguest to our website 

radiomuseum.org, Bruno Costers, 

sent me three photos of an American 

Bosch car radio Model 536. Finding this 

of interest, I posed some questions to him 

to learn more about the radio. I also 

wanted to know the type of car in which 

the radio had been placed. This questioning 

resulted, bit by bit, in a very interesting story. I like to 

understand the history behind things such as this radio and the 

car in which it was installed. 

To my astonishment I found that the story 

begins in Luzern (Lucerne, Switzerland) in 

the garage called Garage Epper Luzern that 

belongs to a friend of mine. His late father, 

Ernst Epper, whom I also knew, had established 

this garage. My friend, Kurt Epper, took over 

operation of the garage from his father. Now the garage is run 

by his son, Stefan Epper, who also became a friend. 

I was also surprised to find that Carosserie 

Tüscher (TG) still exists as Carosserie Tüscher 

AG (TC), in Dällikon near Zürich. They now do 

the coachwork for trucks, lorries with trailers and 

motorbuses, etc. In 1936 they showed the following 

plate: 

A rolling chassis of a 1937 Chrysler (in the 

USA, called a Plymouth P4) was imported by 

Tüscher in Zürich, Switzerland. This chassis 

was built on December 1,1936. 

At that time it must have taken two or three months 

before the chassis arrived in Zürich. A copy of the document 

given by Chrysler in Detroit still exists, and from it, the 

owner could even find that it has an original Borg Warner 

overdrive. Called a 1937 Plymouth Six DeLuxe in North 

America, the car was sold as a 1937 Chrysler-Plymouth Six 

DeLuxe in Europe while those assembled in the Chrysler Kew 

factory in the United Kingdom were sold as a Chrysler Kew. 

-27- 

The Kew had 60 unique pieces to make it a right-hand-drive 

car. 

The restoration work on the Tüscher car was done from 

1978 to 1980 by a body shop in Tilburg, 

Holland. The Mentink family used the 

car for 27 years, driving it a total of 40 

000 km. 

Under the hood, on the left side is 

a number -- 203853 -- that is still visible, 

providing evidence that the Chrysler had 

been confiscated during World War Two. 

It would be nice know more details as to who drove this car 

during the war. Since the car was found in a barn in the 

North of France and its original French license plate, number 

74-AD-68, still exists, we had believed that the confiscation 

happened in France, possibly by the Nazis, 

but we also knew that some cars had been confiscated 

by the army in Switzerland. 

Later, a website guest, Markus Hermann, 

sent a picture of his1937 Chrysler, a Plymouth P4, 

with a similar number --10584-A -- under its hood. This leads 

us to conclude that the confiscation number on the Tüscher 

car is also of Swiss origin. Hermann’s car has 

been used only in 

Switzerland (Jura) 

and had become 

a company car 

for a director 

until it was 

retired in 

1963. 

WWII confiscation numbers: Marcus Hermann’s P4 sedan; 

Coster’s P4 Tüscher convertible [inset] prior to restoration.

THE HE AMERICAN MERICAN BOSCH OSCH RADIO MODEL ODEL 536, 536 restored with 

the car and operational once again, was manufactured by the 

Factory export document 

American Bosch company located in Springfield, 

Massachusetts, which was later called United American 

Bosch. 

In the middle, one can see the knobs and scale for the 

radio American Bosch model 536B. The chassis with loudspeaker 

and set was placed beneath the left hand side of the 

dash, under the steering wheel. The space beneath the right 

side was for the heater. 

When the top of the radio case is removed, the tubes can 

be seen clearly. The top, with its interesting logo, also incorporates 

the speaker. 

As can be seen with the controls, only the broadcast band 

was most commonly used at that time. -- Ernst Erb 

radiomuseum.org 

We e are ready to enter the Eru-Michelin Rally held May 2-10,1987, between Estoril, 

Portugal, and Noordwijk aan zee, Holland, a distance of almost 2750 km (1700 mi.). 

Although it was Hans’ car at the time, its future owner, Bruno, is driving. 

-28- 

At the famous Coppa Bella Macchina in the 

area where I live. www.coppabellamacchina.be 

In Belgium: Belgium: 

At the Chrysler's new home [LEFT].

THE HE 

A Plymout ymouth h called Kew 

A P 

Bruno Costers’ 1937 P4 Chrysler Kew 

was featured on the rear cover of 

BULLETIN 150, the January- 

February, 1985, issue. 

Bruno Coster’s 1937 P4 Chrysler Kew saloon was 

assembled at the Kew Works located in Surrey, 

England. Inheriting the ties Kew had with Chalmers- 

Massachusetts, which was later called United American 

production. Knocked-down vehicles were shipped to the 

United Kingdom and there assembled with right-hand-drive 

The motorcycle, 

The motorcycle, a 1922 Saroléa -- one-cylinder 550 cc. four-stroke -- is a 

Belgian make. Bruno has owned two Saroléa and one Peugeot motorcycles. 

-29- 

components added. Likely, the cars originated from 

the Windsor plant in Canada, as the U. K. had lower 

tariffs charged on goods manufactured in a fellow 

Commonwealth country. Even though Belgium . is a 

left-hand-drive country, some right-hand-drive cars 

were sold there. The Kew P4 was brought to 

Belgium by a friend of Bruno’s who sold it to him in 

1977. 

He has enjoyed the car for the past 33 years, taking 

it on many tours with his friend’s own 1937 P4, a 

Tüscher-bodied convertible that has now become the 

sedan’s stablemate. -- LDK

Everyone who owns an old-timer dreams, from time to 

time, of seeing this old-timer in miniature form, sitting 

on a desk or in a showcase. 

In Europe (of 25 years ago), it had been impossible to 

obtain miniatures of these old-timers, especially Chryslers and 

particularly the cars my Dutch friend and I own. 

The first model is of a Chrysler Kew Six Touring Saloon 

DeLuxe from 1937. It is a Plymouth P4 that was assembled 

in England and sold under the Chrysler name. The other car 

is a convertible Chrysler from Switzerland with Tüscher 

PPlymouths 

lymouths 

in in 

Bruno Costers wrote in BULLETIN 156 (Jan.-Feb. ‘86) of his 1937 

P4 Kew and his friend’s 1937 Tüscher-bodied P4 convertible, 

which he now owns, being carved in wood and the Kew, also, 

sculpted in marble. 

-30- 

MARBLE 

Below is an edited reprint of that article. 

bodywork. 

In order to get ourselves nice models, we went to a 

famous artist who lives in our area and asked if he could 

make rough models in wood before starting the actual artwork 

of a Chrysler in white Italian marble. 

After two weeks, the wooden pieces were finished and 

the result was very promising. Indeed, after taking a good 

look at these wooden models, we decided to have two more 

made so we could have two different models of each car. 

Upon the arrival of the Italian marble, the artist, with infinite 

patience, sketched the outlines of the cars on the block 

and then started the actual work. 

After a rough form was obtained, door handles, headlights 

and bumpers slowly began to appear. Again, all details 

were drawn on the outside of the work so that the doors and 

wheels could be chiseled in perfection.

All details were made to precision. After being finished, 

each piece was polished until it was smooth to the touch and 

shining with a soft glow. 

About 90 hours of hard manual labor went into the models 

before they were ready to be admired on the top of my 

desk. 

The work method for both the wooden and the marble 

models was approximately the same, but working on the 

wooden miniatures was a lot easier, as the material is much 

softer than marble and does not chip. 

The main problem of working with marble is in the brittleness 

of the material. Every wrong move with a hammer, 

chisel or grinder can result in unrepairable damage. 

As you can see in these pictures, the artist, Mr. E. 

Verwimp, is a true artist who combines skill and patience to 

make miniatures worth looking at. They’re true masterpieces! 

-- Bruno Costers 

-31-

The Plainsman 

was featured in 

Bulletin 198, the 

“Dream Car” issue, 

with a reprint of a 

Special Interest Autos 

article. 

The wagon also made 

an appearance in 

BULLETIN 205. 

During the heyday of Detroit’s “Dream Cars,” the 

annual auto shows were must-see events and the best 

places to witness just what tomorrow would hold for 

motorists of the future. The American buying public was 

treated to the latest styling trends, innovations, technologies 

and advancements in engineering, as well as a vast array of 

gadgets that could do anything from automatically parking 

one’s car to offering a place to cook a meal and wash dishes. 

As Vice-president of Styling for the Chrysler Corporation, 

Virgil Exner created a new school of automotive design. His 

“Forward Look,” as it was termed, would guide the design of 

all passenger car marques under the Chrysler corporate banner. 

Moreover, the post-war sales boom essentially gave 

Exner carte blanche to transform his visions of tomorrow into 

reality. Across the country and even around the world, 

Exner’s cars became the highlight of many stops on the auto 

show circuit as crowds would gather to see for themselves 

Return eturn of the 

Plainsman lainsman 

-32- 

just what the future held. 

One of the fastest 

growing segments in this 

automotive market in the 

mid-1950s was that of the 

station wagon. Exner’s 

response to this trend was 

the dream car called 

“Plainsman.” The task of 

transforming Exner’s 

designs to a finished 

product fell to the famed 

Italian coach builders, 

Ghia. The actual car was 

crafted on a fully functional chassis with a complete drivetrain, 

so that it could be as practical and usable as any production 

Chrysler. 

Finished in a captivating bronze metallic 

paint with an ivory-white padded top, the 

car was accented by extensive stainless steel 

and chrome. Headlights were sheltered in 

exaggerated canted housings while a split 

front grille allowed for plenty of cooling air 

to the engine. There was a massive chrome 

bumper in front with simulated air intakes 

on the outer edges. To the rear of this 

wagon was a set of cathedral-style taillights 

mounted into the peaked quarter panels. 

The gas filler tube was concealed under one 

of the taillights. 

Factory promotional material stated 

that the Plainsman was designed to reflect 

the “colorful and casual way of life that typifies 

the nation’s westward movement.”

Unlike most of the station wagons available 

at the time, the Plainsman was a 

two-door model and featured a wide Bpillar, 

decorated with a hand-crafted 

steer’s head badge which provided a 

focal point for the southwestern theme of 

the interior. There was comfortable seating 

for up to eight. An upholstery combination 

of leather bolsters with genuine 

unborn baby calf-skin inserts helped 

carry the motif throughout the vehicle. Up to six 

adults could sit comfortably on the front and center 

bench seats, while a rear-facing power seat 

was accessible from the fold-down power 

tailgate. This trendsetting seat could accommodate 

a pair of youngsters in what would 

later be known as the “Spectator Seats.” 

As stunning as this dream car was to 

behold, it was still a test bed for proposed production 

details that would eventually find their 

ways onto the station wagons offered by 

Plymouth, DeSoto, Dodge and Chrysler. 

In addition to the rear-facing seats, 

another innovation first seen on the 

Plainsman was the unique storage of the 

spare tire, which was concealed under a 

flip-panel that comprised the lower portion 

of the right rear quarter panel and 

blended in with the design of the car. 

A functional and utilitarian vehicle, 

the Plainsman offered over 106 cubic 

feet of load space with the tailgate lowered 

and the center and rear seats folded 

down. With the tailgate down, it provided 

just over seven feet of depth for storage 

and a width of five feet. All told, 

there was plenty of room for sports 

equipment, picnic gear, groceries, gardening 

supplies and more. 

The effect was magnificent and the 

buying public was in love. The western-style Plainsman won 

rave reviews wherever it was shown, but as so often happens 

with one-of-a-kind vehicles of this type, it had to be retired 

from the limelight. Unlike a number of show cars that were 

destroyed after their show life was over, the Plainsman was 

more fortunate. Due to the fact that its body had been crafted 

in Italy by Ghia, Chrysler was told by US Customs that the 

car would have to either leave the country or they would have 

to pay the duty within 18 months of importation. Thus, in 

1957, the car was shipped to Cuba where it was loaned to the 

president of the Cuban bank who used it as a family wagon. 

The wagon was eventually purchased by the Chrysler Export 

Manager who was living in Cuba. This gentleman was later 

forced to escape Cuba in order to avoid being arrested by 

Castro’s government, and he took the Plainsman with him. 

In the 1960s, he was assigned to Australia, and while 

there he had several modifications made to the wagon. First, 

in order to comply with local laws, the Plainsman was converted 

to right-hand-drive. While it had originally been pow- 

-33- 

ered by what was described as a 

“Chrysler Special V8,” a modern 440 

cubic inch V8 was installed with plenty 

of power. For many years, the legend of 

the Plainsman circulated around 

Australia. It came back to the United 

States when this export manager retired. 2 

It was enjoyed for nearly 20 years 

as a family car, driven on many occasions 

in the United States. A private collector 

eventually acquired the car and converted it 

back to left-hand drive. Even in its unrestored 

and “as-found” condition, this car is a tribute to 

the skill and craftsmanship of a bygone era of 

show cars. The details of its remarkable history 

and escape from Cuba have been obtained 

from conversations by the owner with the 

export manager’s family. It retains the 440cubic-inch 

V8 engine and automatic transmission 

and continues to be very driveable and street legal, 

although it is in need of a complete cosmetic 

restoration. 

This is a remarkable, trendsetting 

and one-off station wagon in the grand 

tradition of the American West. 

-- Reprinted with permission from RM 

Auctions: www.rmauctions.com 

extensive article written by Leon 

An Dixon on the Plainsman first 

appeared in the February, 1980, issue of 

Special Interest Autos, and was reprinted 

in PLYMOUTH BULLETIN 198. The article 

can now be found on the plymouthbulletin.com 

website. The information in 

the following footnotes was taken from 

Dixon’s article. (Another reference to the 

Plainsman, including a picture of it as an 

RHD vehicle, appears in BULLETIN 205, 

page 11.) -- LDK 

1Although the Plainsman was created while Virgil Exner was corporate 

vice-president of styling, he had little to do with its development. 

The car was designed in total by David Scott, a young designer 

in the Plymouth studios. Thus, as many critics have suspected, 

the vehicle, lacking many of Exner’s styling cues, is not of his 

design. Exner’s one contribution was to encourage Scott to take his 

original design, which was for a cabriolet, and make it into that of a 

sporty station wagon. 

2Following its Cuban sojourn, the Plainsman spent time in Mexico 

and New York before being driven cross-country to San Francisco to 

be shipped to Australia. Years later, it spent time in Japan before 

returning to the United States. After being driven around southern 

California for some time, the Plainsman’s original 260 V8 gave out. 

The 4900-pound vehicle, sorely underpowered with the small V8, 

finally had adequate power with the newly-installed 440. A true 

restoration would dictate a return to original power. However, the 

Plainsman’s actual 260 engine, with correct numbers, is likely long 

gone. 

PHOTOS BY DARIN SCHNABEL / RM AUCTIONS

Introduced in BULLETIN 

276, Fairbanksans Scott 

and Lynn Grundy and Bill 

and Joyce Chace have 

become known to the club. 

Tales of their perambulations 

in the sub-arctic 

regions of Alaska and 

Canada have appeared in 

issues 280, 291and 292. 

by Scott Grundy 

Fairbanks, Alaska 

Last year I wrote about our fantastic road trip up 

the Dempster Highway to Inuvik, Northwest 

Territories, Canada, with the Anchorage 

club, in BULLETIN 291. We had so much fun I 

decided to organize a tour for our local club. I 

proposed a civilized (mostly paved roads) 1,500mile 

round-trip from Fairbanks, Alaska, to 

Canada. Club members leapt at the opportunity! 

We limited ourselves to ten vehicles 

so we would not 

overwhelm facilities, 

and we 

adopted the 

name 

“Adventure 

Before 

Dementia 

Tour 2009.” 

(I love the 

name!) Our 

assortment of 

vehicles ranged in 

age from a beautiful 

1932 

Studebaker that 

was hauled behind 

a vintage ‘73 

Dodge Travco 

motor home to a 

mint low-mileage 

1976 Volkswagen 

convertible. As 

Alaskan Plymouths 

On The Road Again 

last year, Bill and Joyce Chace drove their 1952 Cranbrook 

and my wife Lynn and I drove our comfortable 1955 

Belvedere. 

We departed Fairbanks early on June 28 as 

we had to push to make the dinner show in 

Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory, Canada. The 

major mishap this day occurred when the driver 

of the motor home was “attacked” by his wife 

with a dry chemical fire extinguisher while underway. 

The driver’s window was open and the car following 

thought the motor home was on fire. She claimed 

the discharge was accidental. Sure! We made it to Beaver 

Creek in time for dinner and enjoyed the show, especially 

when a small plane “crashed” through the roof! 

The singing was amazing and world class. 

The next morning we headed south to 

Whitehorse on a frost-heaved but well-maintained 

segment of the Alaska Highway. We spent three 

wonderful nights 

in Whitehorse. 

The town, people, 

food, museums, 

S.S. Klondike 

sternwheeler, etc., 

were terrific, and 

one couple even 

squeezed in a side 

trip to the Takhini 

Hot Springs. But 

best of all was the 

Frantic Follies 

[FROM BOTTOM TO TOP] The group stops at a mountain lake; the women pose with a “stage Mountie” 

at Beaver Creek; the Plymouths with the SS Klondike sternwheeler at Whitehorse, Yukon. 

-34- 

Vaudeville Show. 

It was by far the

est show we experienced on the trip, and we saw them all. 

The Canada Day (July 1) parade in Whitehorse 

was very enjoyable. The weather was super, and 

there were many beautiful children who really 

enjoyed the attention we provided as we wished 

them a happy Canada Day and entertained them 

with strange-looking vehicles and funny sounding 

horns. Our rigs were heavily adorned with 

Canadian and Alaskan flags. We lined up roughly 

according to the age of our vehicles. When the senior 

lady of our group heard “oldest first” she thought she was 

going to have to lead the parade, but the regal ‘32 showcased 

our vehicles. The celebration continued on to the Rotary Park 

where we displayed our cars and the locals thanked us profusely 

for coming. Love those Canadians, eh? 

The drive to Atlin, British Columbia, Canada, included 

stops at the Miles Canyon swinging bridge, beautiful Emerald 

The Miles Canyon swinging bridge 

Lake, Carcross Desert (known as the smallest desert in the 

world), “downtown” Carcross and other highlights. Atlin is 

the most beautiful dying town I’ve ever visited. Atlin Lake 

hosts the highest point of land in freshwater in the world -- 

Birch Mountain, elevation 6,755’ -- on Teresa Island. 

Beautiful downtown Carcross 

The next morning the VW led us to 

the northern-most palm trees (spruce 

trees ”planted” with their roots in the 

air). Another member led us out of 

town to the Pine Creek Falls. It’s 

amazing how much water twists 

through that narrow gorge. 

Then we were off to Skagway, 

Alaska, via the spectacularly beautiful 

southern section of the Klondike 

Northern “palms” 

Highway. Lynn and I departed early because we had logistics 

-35- 

to coordinate for our group in Skagway. This was our first 

drive on this highly scenic route, so we took several 

pictures and arrived in Skagway last! 

Most of the group took the narrated 

Streetcar Tour that afternoon in the reportedly 

refurbished 1927 B Series Mack buses from 

Disneyland. It was a little disappointing to learn 

that the original earlier vintage canvas-topped 

White buses had been returned to Yellowstone 

National Park about five years ago. We also questioned 

the validity of the Mack claim, as everything other than the 

Motometer on the hood and some body parts seemed to be of 

a relatively new design. Regardless, we all found the fantasy 

‘27s enjoyable. Our driver/narrator was delightful, and she 

loved our group. We gave her lots of new material regarding 

Bobby Sheldon’s car, the first to be built in Alaska (in 

Skagway no less). A spectacular fireworks display occurred 

that evening at the waterfront in fabulous weather. 

Queued up for the parade in Skagway, Skagway, 

Alaska 

The 4th of July parade in Skagway was very enjoyable, 

too. We had a Model T touring car from Whitehorse join our 

group. The crowd loved us. Later as we walked the streets in 

our club T-shirts, we had many folks commend our group. 

That afternoon we drove out to Dyea and hiked the rigorous 

Chilkoot Trail (well, only the first 100 feet of this historic 

access route to the Klondike gold discovery, so we could take 

a group photo). 

On the historic Chilkoot Trail Trail

The following day most of our group boarded the narrow 

gauge White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad for a narrated, 

highly scenic excursion. Two couples stayed and toured more 

of the Skagway highlights that afternoon. Their reward was 

hearing “Buckwheat” recite Robert Service’s poems of the 

gold rush. Fabulous! 

That evening we attended the Days of ‘98 show, and a 

member of our group was commandeered to the stage by “the 

ladies of the night.” He was eventually led upstairs by the 

girls and reappeared in a colorful striped night shirt and was 

proclaimed as “Skookum with a wonderfully deep voice!” He 

represented both manhood and our group superbly, and will 

likely be our 2010 club president! 

Enjoying the “ladies’” attention in Skagway, Skagway, 

Alaska 

July 6 found us all queued up for the 

ferry to Haines at 5:45 AM in continued 

superb weather. As the “leader,” I 

planned to arrive first. I was on time 

but was last once again. We had a 

scenic one-hour “sail” and a terrific 

breakfast enroute to Haines. Once in 

Haines, the group scattered, as there 

is much to see. For example, the 

Hammer Museum is really unique 

and hosts a very interesting display of 

about 1,500 hammers from Roman 

times to the present. 

The return drive to Haines Junction, 

Yukon, on the Haines Highway, was breath- 

Oh, the ignominy. ignominy. 

Towed by a Ford! 

-36- 

Haines Hwy. Hwy. 

enroute to Haines Junction, Yukon ukon 

takingly beautiful. We stopped for several photos, pushed our 

Plymouth hard to catch the group (but never did) and bucked 

a very stiff headwind all the way. Well, this, combined with 

our exploration in Haines, caused us to run out of fuel. 

Fortunately, we were on a downhill run and we were able to 

coast to within a quarter-mile of our inn… and gasoline. As I 

walked to the inn, the group greeted me incredulously, but 

leapt to my rescue. As a ‘60 Thunderbird was towing me to 

the gas station I pleaded with all whom I encountered to not 

tell our club president that I was assisted by a Ford. Of 

course, I was later greeted by our Ford-loving president with, 

“I heard a FORD came to your rescue!” 

Most of our group spent the last night of July 7 in Tok, 

Alaska, overeating and enjoying our last evening together. A 

group of us toured the vintage parts vehicles in the Iron Age 

Reclamation junk yard that evening. 

IF YOU HAVEN HAVEN‘T 

ALREADY DONE SO, SO 

, you have my person- 

al encouragement to drive the historic Alaska Highway and its 

marvelous offshoots. The road is paved and has lots of services. 

There is so much to see and do in the North. Driving an 

old car is always best, and 

many vintage car groups 

have made the journey, 

but we have yet 

to see a Plymouth 

group. Please 

come and spend 

lots of money 

enroute; the people of 

the North will love you! 

I enjoyed organizing 

this event. The tour was 

fun and a camaraderie- 

Bill & Joyce; Scott & Lynn Lynn 

At Beautiful Lake Bennett 

building experience for our club. We’re contemplating a tour 

next summer involving the Alaska ferry system to quaint 

Cordova, Whittier and other sites. It should really be fun, 

especially in a well-fueled Plymouth! PB

In BULLETIN 298, a small item 

on Trev Feehan’s factory 

Plymouth-powered Dodge truck 

can be found on page 54 in the 

“Plymouths Cover the World” 

section. 

Here’s more on this Australian 

truck. 

by Trev Feehan 

Nightcliff, Northern Territory 

Australia 

The truck was bought new 

A Pl 

in 1929 by Mr. Sam 

Norton, an apple grower 

from Lenswood, a small town 

about 20 miles from Adelaide, 

South Australia. It was used to carry apples and fruit and 

vegetables to the Adelaide markets until the 1950s, when it 

was retired to work around the farm. 

Mr. Norton bought the truck from Waymouth 

Motors, the Adelaide Chrysler/Dodge agent. It had 

been imported with a cowl, dash and windscreen. 

The sheet metal seems to be the front part of the 

American sedan. The door hinge mounts are in 

the windscreen pillars. The tray (bed) and cab 

were built by Ross Motor Bodies, an Adelaide 

body builder. 

Over the years the truck was passed down 

through the family until Graham, one of the 

grandsons, brought it to Darwin, Northern 

Territory, in the 1980s. I bought it in 1993 and got 

all of its history. It was pretty run-down at that time, 

and the engine had a crack running full length along the 

block, but I rebuilt it to more or less what it was. Graham has 

driven it a few times since and says it seems about the same 

as it always had been. 

It has a Graham Brothers 133-inch one-ton chassis, Series 

UI-C-133 with a four speed gearbox, 600x20 tyres and steel 

spoked wheels. The motor is a 1929 U Series Plymouth 

engine which has a heavy cast timing case that carries the 

Owner Trev Feehan at the wheel 

At work, during apple picking in the late 1940s 

A Plymout ymouth h called Dodge Dodg 

-37- 

water pump. The 

Plymouth cars didn’t have 

this, as their engines were 

cooled by a thermosyphon 

system. I 

don’t know of 

any other 

differences. 

The 

radiator, Water pump on a Plymouth U engine 

bonnet (hood), lights and mudguards (fenders) 

are similar in style to the contemporary 

Chrysler cars. It was marketed as a Dodge 

Four truck. Nobody seems to know about the 

four-cylinder trucks today, but the six cylinder 

models were very popular. Graham said one of 

their neighbours was very impressed with it and 

bought one himself. 

The same truck was marketed as a Fargo with the DeSoto 

motor, a different cowl and wooden spoked wheels. They are 

also very rare. I know of about three that exist here. 

We have a pretty active car club in Darwin, and the truck 

gets a lot of use on club activities and in private running. It 

always creates a lot of interest. 

PB

PLYMOUTH BULLETIN 279 

covered the process of creating 

a Franklin Mint 

model from Lee Lape’s 

1958 Belvedere convertible. 

Now, we read of the same 

being done with Ron 

Water’s 1958 Belvedere 

sport coupe for the 

Danbury Mint. 

by Ron Waters 

Hartford, Connecticut 

Asthe 

Danbury Mint. They had seen pictures of my 

restoration of my 1958 Belvedere 

neared completion, I received an email from 

Asthe 

car on the internet and were interested in creating a scale 

model. 

HERE’S A LITTLE BACKGROUND: I’ve owned my Plymouth 

since February, 1988, when I purchased the car sight unseen 

from an individual in northern California. This was a running, 

driving car with an amateur restoration. 

After transporting the car to my home in Connecticut, I 

fixed a few problems, such as the missing speedometer cable 

and the dash which had been 

painted white by a previous 

owner. I also had the ratty interior 

restored with OEM fabric and 

vinyl. I drove it to car shows and 

cruise nights for several years 

until I decided to have the engine 

rebuilt. About this time, the 

bondo in the quarters began to 

crack. This, and mysterious drivability 

problems subsequent to 

the rebuild, convinced me in 1997 

that a full, body-off-frame restoration 

was necessary for this very 

rare automobile. I also wanted to 

document the restoration on the 

internet, which was a novel idea at 

the time. 

The trunk floor, right quarter 

panel, floorboard and fenders all 

needed patching or replacement. 

Fortunately by this time I had 

acquired MIG welding skills. So 

A ‘MINT ‘ INT’ version 

Danbury Mint photographer 

Danbury Mint photographer Doug Whyte shoots a detail 

shot of a quarter panel molding using a sizing stick for accurate 

scaling down to 1/24th size. 

-38- 

of my 1958 Plymouth 

My car, car, 

99% 

assembled (missing the hubcaps when this photo was taken). 

a full-quarter panel replacement was not that difficult. 

The process took a long time… years. But it was all photographed 

and documented on my website, which I named the 

Finland Gazette – A Celebration of Chrysler's Fin Era Cars: 

1955-61 http://home.comcast.net/~ronbo9. 

The car was finally ready 

for paint in mid-2003. By 

January, 2004, the freshly painted 

Belvedere was back in my 

garage, awaiting reassembly. It 

took another five years before 

the car was assembled and driveable. 

IN EARLY 2008, the Danbury 

Mint was looking for another car 

to add to their already impressive 

collection of highly detailed 

1/24th-scale die cast models. I 

had earlier purchased their 1957 

Chrysler 300C convertible and 

was impressed not only by the 

level of accuracy, but also by the 

working steering linkage, doors 

and trunk lid. 

The email from Danbury 

said that they had seen pictures 

of the Plymouth on my website 

and wanted to photograph it for

Doug Whyte shoots detail of the driver's door jamb. 

possible model creation. They already had the body shell 

from their very popular ‘58 Fury and “Christine” models, so 

they were going to reuse that shell for a third ‘58 Plymouth 

model. After gaining assurance that this wasn’t a scam, and 

that they really were from the Danbury Mint, I arrived at a 

date with them that would work for me as well as the representative 

from Danbury and their photographer. 

Over an hour was spent photographing the car from every 

angle, using a sizing stick to make sure that the scale was 

retained as they scaled it down to 1/24th size. A lot of time 

was spent on the interior and the engine, as those would have 

to be made especially for this model. I was asked to keep this 

quiet until the project had been approved and the model had 

been produced. 

Because of overseas production difficulties, creation of 

the first prototype was delayed until the December 2008. 

I got to see a subsequent prototype in March 2009. They 

asked me to identify any problems that I noticed with the 

model. I was already aware that 

they were going with the Power 

Pak (four-barrel carburetor) with 

dual exhaust for the 318 engine. 

My car has a two-barrel carburetor 

with single exhaust. I wrote up a 

page of discrepancies, which they 

appreciated and sought to correct 

before the final models were created. 

The June 2009 production 

release was a happy occasion for 

me. It was gratifying to see that 

my twelve-year restoration project 

had been given some recognition. 


-39- 

Details of the dashboard and interior are photographed. 

Doug Whyte photographs the quarter panel as Rick Hanmore, a 

rep from the Danbury Mint, holds the sizing stick

Bob Just’s 1966 Canadian 

Valiant (Dart-bodied) convertible 

was featured in BULLETIN 242. 

Justs Justs’ 

’ Valiant Valiant 

Now, he has restored his and 

Laurine’s long-owned 1964 

Valiant station wagon. 

Owners: Laurine and Robert Just 

Red Deer, Alberta 

(story by Bob Just) 

This Valiant was purchased by the current owners in 

July of 1969 from Estevan Motors in Estevan, 

Saskatchewan. We are the documented second owners. 

This is a car equipped with an original 273-V8 which 

became available after January 1, 1964. The car was built in 

June of 1964 and was delivered to Estevan Motors the same 

month. The car was driven as a daily driver until the summer 

of 1980 when it was parked with only 55,000 original miles 

on its odometer. 

A full restoration was started in 1989 in Lloydminster, 

Saskatchewan. The car was moved to Red Deer, Alberta, in 

1996, where a full tear-down was started. 

The pushbutton 904 Torqueflite transmission was rebuilt 

by Ken at Northwest Motors. The engine was rebuilt by Dan 

Just at Red Deer College in the early ‘90s and torn down and 

Like his ‘66 convertible, Bob Just’s ‘64 wagon is technically Dart 

bodied. In 1963-64, Canadian Valiants had Valiant front clips on 

Dart bodies. Since Darts and Valiants shared the same station 

wagon body, the difference is hardly apparent except for the round 

Dart taillights. (U.S. Valiant wagons had vertical rectangular lenses.) 

-40- 

rebuilt by Barry 

Lutz at Ber 

Machine in 2007. 

The 7-1/4 rear 

differential was 

torn down and 

new bearings 

were installed by 

the owner. A complete 

new front suspension 

with parts from 

Just Suspensions was installed. 

New brake shoes, drums, wheel cylinders, springs and master 

cylinder installed. The body work was started by Guy 

Tofsrud at Country Collision and Restoration. The NOS interior 

material came from SMS Auto Fabrics. The seats belts 

The interior has been completely refurbished.

1964 Valiant aliant V-200 -200 station wagon 

273 CI V8 

Serial number 749189261 decoded 

7 - Valiant 

7 - Station Wagon 

4 - 1964 

9 - Assy. Plant Windsor, Ont. 

189261 sequential serial number 

Fender Tag Decoded 

Model VX2 - Valiant aliant 273 ci. V8 – H-45 

Body: 85 - 4dr station wagon (11,146 U.S station wagons built) 

Paint: HH - Light Turquoise 

Trim: rim: HIQ - Light Turquoise cloth /vinyl 

Most 1964 Valiants: aliants: 82%, came with a six cylinder engine, 

18% came with the 273 V8 option, 65.8% had an automatic, 

27.5% had a three-speed manual, 6.7% had a four-speed manual, 

15% had power steering, 0.7% had power brakes, 1.7% had electric 

windows, 27.1% had tinted glass, 49.5% had radios, and 2.3% 

were sold with air conditioning. 

Mor oreTüsc üscher her 

1935 PJ Tüscher phaeton: Paul Curtis and Wayne Brandon 

provided parts and advice in this car’s restoration. A full article 

will appear in the next issue. 

-41- 

were redone by Snake Oyl 

using new webbing 

and rechromed 

buckles. The car 

was reassembled 

and the final 

prep and paint 

were done by 

Comfort 

Collision & 

Restoration. The 

Rallye wheels are from 

a 1969 Dart GT with reproduction 

center caps from Compton 

Wheels and beauty rings from Wheel Masters. Other suppliers 

of parts were RPM, Saskatoon; Laysons; Andy Bernbaum 

Auto Parts; and Year One. 

This Valiant, restored to original except for the Rallye 

wheels, was completed and 

back on the road in June 

2008. 


Bruno’s Bruno’ s ‘37 Tüscher at the Belgian inspection station after purchasing 

it and bringing it into his country from the Netherlands.

Bobbi and Merrill 

Berkheimer were introduced 

to members in BULLETIN 132 

as Merrill began his term as 

national president in 1982. 

They and their Plymouths 

have graced the pages of the 

Bulletin many times… and 

covers, too -- most notably, 

the “before” and “after” 

shots of their ‘37 convertible 

on BULLETIN 156. 

by Bobbi Berkheimer 

Hazard, Nebraska 

4 G 

Merrill, our two boys, Jeff and Greg, and I 

attended the Plymouth 4 & 6 Cylinder Owners Club 

In1972, 

National Spring Meet held in Loveland, Colorado. 

We had not previously heard of a Plymouth club but found 

the Rocky Mountain Region to be wonderful hosts. We 

immediately decided to join the national club as well as the 

Rocky Mountain Region. For the next few years we drove 

from central Nebraska to Colorado, which was a minimum of 

a five-hour drive, to attend their regional meetings. 

After receiving much encouragement and support, Merrill 

and I organized the Prairie Region. Still, we continued, over 

the next 37 years, to remain in contact with the original 

Rocky Mountain members: the Alton Johnsons, the Ken 

Hammers, the Murray Kellers, the Les Leathers, the John 

Toteves and Mary Thelan. As the years went by, we met 

many new members as we now and then continued to attend 

one of their meetings. We’d also continue to see them at 

national POC meets. Years back, we would invite them, 

along with three other car club groups, to our home for our 

Labor Day Week-end Fling. This was a three-day affair with 

4 Generations enerations of Berkheimers erkheimers 

host their Plymouth family Labor Day weekend 

-42- 

tours, “anything goes” games, a hog roast and just plain fun 

and visiting. 

After our boys had grown and were married, it became a 

huge project for the two of us, so we gave up this idea but we 

continued to attend a Rocky Mountain meeting or so each 

year. 

Early 2009, Alton Johnson and Jay Thomas asked if the 

Rocky Mountain Region could tour our Plymouth car collection. 

We said yes, remembering the fun times in the past, but 

Merrill and I agreed that, at the age of 70, we do not have the 

energy to do the games and some of the activities. Still, they 

kept telling us “we know we will have fun,” so we began to 

get excited and were off and running with their request. 

As time went on, we had other Plymouth friends who had 

asked to see our car collection, so we decided to also include 

members of the Heart of America, the Missouri “Show Me” 

and the Prairie Regions. 

Next came getting ready for our Plymouth Collection 

Tour. With the week-long help of our boys Jeff and Greg, and 

Greg’s wife Rita,who had come four days early, we managed 

to get our original and restored cars clean and running, the 

yard spiffed up and the food cooked. Our grandson, Preston,

his wife Megan and our great-granddaughter Taylor, came two 

days prior to the event, so we had our usual excellent and 

appreciated help. 

Some of our cars had not been started or driven in many, 

many years, but they had always been kept in a building. One 

of the cars, a 1950 four-door sedan, started right off. We had 

not had driven it in over 25 years! Others took a little more 

persuading, but we were able to get all of the cars out of the 

building in which they were stored. We then moved many of 

our Plymouth cars into different areas of our place for display. 

We have 160 acres, so there was a lot of room for Plymouths. 

1950 P20 sedan: Not driven in over 25 years! 

SATURDA TURDAY AFTERNOON we met the Rocky Mountain and the 

Heart of America and the “Show Me” Regions at the Ramada 

Inn parking lot in Kearney, Nebraska. We then cruised a few 

blocks to the Great Platte River Road Archway where we 

were greeted by Gary Roubicek, the director of the Archway. 

After a brief welcome, we continued on to tour the Great 

Platte River Road Archway. Inside, we were met by the staff 

Group picture at the Great Platt River Road Archway 

-43- 

who were dressed in authentic clothing 

of the period. They welcomed 

us with smiles and a warm 

“howdy” as we entered the building. 

We were invited to an 

adventure that links our nation, 

transporting us back in time to an 

era when covered wagons, hand- 

I-80 from the Arch 

pulled carts, and trains first crisscrossed 

the prairies. The Great Platte River Road Archway is 

an adventure that pays tribute to the pioneers who passed 

through Nebraska on their ways west. The Archway is a 

1,500-ton structure that spans Interstate 80 without impeding 

the heavily traveled interstate. 

After the tour, we enjoyed a dinner at the Chuck Wagon 

located at the Archway. The dinner, catered by a Come ‘N Get 

It Barbeque, featured pork, beef, cornbread, corn on the cob 

and a salad bar. As we ate, we began visiting and catching up 

with the happenings of our Plymouth family. Later, we headed 

back to the Ramada Motel for more chit-chat and many 

stories while we were getting acquainted. 

What awaits inside? See below… 

MID- ID MORNING ON SUNDAY UNDA we 

caravanned about 25 miles north of 

Kearney to our home for a tour of Lucky the llama 

our Plymouth car collection. There we were greeted with coffee 

and donuts provided by more members of the Prairie 

Region. After briefly chatting, we hit the road down the lane 

and out to our many car buildings. Merrill led the way, supervised 

by Lucky, the family llama, and Mickey, our dog, and 

assisted by our sons Jeff and Greg and grandson, Preston. He 

had many fun, interesting and challenging stories to tell about 

the family quest of amassing a large collection of Plymouths 

from 1929 and on -- cars, pickups and even a 1977 Chrysler

The lean-to 

Sno-Runner snowmobile. 

We -- 

Merrill, Bobbi, 

Jeff and Greg -have 

been collecting 

Plymouths 

since the early 

1960s. In fact 

Merrill still has his 

first car, a 1948 

P15 coupe 

which he purchased in 1954 when he was 15 years old. 

Many topics of conversation were covered by the many 

Plymouth owners. The ladies did some touring along with the 

guys but, as the day went on, they began to gather in lawn 

chairs on the large lawn relaxing and visiting and viewing the 

fruits of Bobbi’s love of flowers and collectables. The weather 

was perfect for this planned day! 

Carolyn Reddish from Holdrege, Nebraska, whom the 

Berkheimers met at the 1980 National Spring Meet held in 

Kearney, shared her love of collecting with the group. She 

Carolyn Reddish 

Mopars everywhere 

Plymouth hubcap heaven 

-44- 

Merrill’s Merrill’ s cars & parts 

showed her personal 

collection of 

many vintage 

ladies’ purses and 

told of their histories 

and described 

the variations in 

the jeweled, silver 

and gold meshed 

and knitted purses 

of her beautiful 

collection. 

By this time, 

many of the guys 

had grabbed chairs 

and joined the 

ladies under the 

shade trees on the 

lawn and were 

ready for some 

food, which had 

been prepared by 

Rita, Megan and 

Bobbi. The head chef was Preston who grilled over 100 tasty 

hamburgers. The entire Berkheimer family served the many 

guests. 

NEXT EXT ON THE LIST of the day’s activity was Keith Danbury, 

a long-time member of the Kearney Car Club and the lead 

guitar player of the Rough Around the Edges band. From the 

back deck of the Berkheimer home, he and two other guitar 

players entertained the Plymouth family with a lot of the 

Rough Around the Edges band

Don Schmidt’s Schmidt’ s ‘51 P22 sedan from Ravenna, Nebr. Nebr 

Brad Skiles’ ‘68 Barracuda from Huntley, Huntley, 

Nebr. Nebr 

Rick Kwiakowski’s Kwiakowski’ s ‘67 Barracuda from St. Paul, Nebr. Nebr 

oldies in their repertoire as well as several 

originals which were hilarious, 

such as “I’m a Spy for Wal-Mart” 

and one that went kind of like this: 

“When I’m gone, just put me in a 

Glad bag out at the curb for the 

sanitation truck, or if I go the 

other way, an oven bag!” 

Last on the entertainment 

agenda was Patsy Cline impersonator 

Melinda Ferre who is 

from a small town about 30 

miles south of Hazard. For over 

an hour, she wowed the audience 

with her spectacular voice, singing 

the original songs Patsy Cline made 

famous. The front deck became a 

dance floor for several of the charter 

“Patsy Cline” 

members of the Rocky Mountain 

-45- 

Art Reddish’s Reddish’ s 1974 Satillite from Holdredge, Nebr. Nebr 

Bill Johnson’s Johnson’ s ‘69 Mod-Top Mod-Top 

Barracuda 

Region. We were pleased to hear that so 

many of our Plymouth family are 

Patsy Cline fans. Alton Johnson 

from Loveland, Colorado, told her 

that he has every album that had 

been originally produced. We 

were told that Joyce Reed got so 

excited she lost her gum! 

SEVERAL EVERAL WHO ATTENDED 

TTENDED the 

Plymouth Family Gathering 

drove their Plymouths. The 

only ones having car problems 

were Stan and Sandy Hicks from 

Briggsdale, Colorado, who blew a 

head gasket on their 1966Barracuda, 

but they were able to baby it back 

home by keeping the radiator full 

Ken Hammers and child- child 

of water. Stan also put a can of 

hood friend, Betty Wolfe olfe

stop-leak in the radiator which seemed to help. 

Many personal stories were shared throughout the day. 

Bill Johnson from both California and Holdrege, Nebraska, 

and a mutual friend, Mary Olson, from Holdrege, joined our 

group. His car is a 1969 Barracuda hardtop which he has 

owned for 30 years, having bought it from its original owner 

in southern California. The Barracuda has the extremely rare 

factory air conditioning (less than 100 of these cars had factory 

air). It also has an automatic transmission, power steering 

and a 318 engine and has put on 115,000 actual miles. 

Another rarity is its optional Mod Top vinyl roof and interior. 

The seats and door panels are done in a mod floral-vinyl 

which matches the fade-resistant mod vinyl roof. Bill drove 

the car back to Nebraska in 2007, the first time the Barracuda 

had left California. Bill was raised on a farm outside of 

Kearney, graduated from Kearney High School, was in the 

Army, a Vietnam veteran, and moved to southern California 

in the early 1970s. He grew up loving cars and has sold cars 

all of his life. Now retired, he spends time in both Nebraska 

and California. After their time with at the Berkheimers they 

drove the car to Yellowstone, and then down the California 

coast highway back to Bill’s home. 

Another fun story is of Don Schmidt’s car, a green 

restored 1951 Cranbrook four-door sedan. Vicki Schmidt had 

surprised her husband, Don, by handing him the keys during 

the 2004 car show at Annevar. It was also Father's Day and 

he was surrounded by friends and family. The former owner 

brought the car to the show. Vicki goes on to tell the story: 

Several weeks before that, we had seen it go down the 

street in front of our house, and I thought Don's head was 

going to spin off his shoulders as he did a double take 

while it went by. He said it was just like the one he used 

to drive to high school, even the green color was the same. 

(No, it was not the same car he had once driven, but one 

just like it.) I later found that our son-in-law, Craig, knew 

who owned it and that the owner wanted to sell it. The 

rest is history! 

It was the biggest purchase I had made without Don’s 

consent or knowledge. I was kind of nervous about making 

the deal on my own and whether Don would be happy 

that I did it. I was relieved… he was VERY happy! 

We have enjoyed taking it to a few local parades and just 

cruising around town on cool summer nights! We've had 

a lot of fun with it. 

Vistors’ istors’ cars: Ken & Joyce Reed’s 1939 DeSoto from 

Independence, Mo; Bill & Winona Krenzer’s 1948 P15 business 

coupe from Prairie Village, Ks. 

-46- 

The Berkheimers’ ‘70 Superbird 

One of the many stories told by the Berkheimers was of 

how they became owners of a 1970 Plymouth Superbird in 

about 1982. Scott Dowse, a friend and classmate of Jeff and 

Greg, had purchased the Superbird, and we all enjoyed seeing 

the car cruise around our area. We had mentioned to Scott if 

he ever decided to sell the car that we would like first chance 

at purchasing it. So about noon on aweekday Scott gave us a 

telephone call saying that he wanted to sell the Superbird. 

Bobbi went flying out to tell Merrill, who was working with 

our sheep. Shortly, we were on our way to town to talk about 

the car. Scott was relocating to Chicago and needed a reliable 

car. We had recently restored a gold 1964 Barracuda. Bobbi 

had been putting some money in a savings account so she 

thought this was the place for part of this savings account. 

After a short discussion, we came to an agreement and we 

had added a Superbird to our collection! We still enjoy hearing 

stories of Scott and our boys. Our boys were allowed to 

take this car out for a spin now and then, just as we have done 

with all of our Plymouths. 

BY THE END OF THE TWO 

TWO DAYS DA 

YS, 94 Plymouth family mem- 

bers had enjoyed a beautiful Nebraska fall day at the country 

home of Merrill and Bobbi Berkheimer. They had a wonderful 

time with others of their Plymouth family from Colorado, 

Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and California. Loyd 

Groshong of Troy, Missouri, traveled 527 miles to get to the 

Berkheimers. 

No tour of our Plymouth car collection would be complete 

without someone finding parts. On Monday morning, 

Vistors’ istors’ Plymouths: Russell & Pin Jenkins 1949 P15 club 

coupe from Drexel, Mo.; Don & Vicki Schmidt’s P20 sedanJim

Picking parts: Jim Holloway found some parts to take home 

to his Barracuda. 

Jim and JoEllen Holloway from the Heart of America Region 

came back and they were able to take home parts for their 

Barracuda. 

Thanks to Greg Berkheimer, Jim and JoEllen Holloway 

and Vickie Schmidt for taking and giving us so many great 

pictures of the weekend. Merrill and I got so busy, we completely 

spaced out on picture taking. 

A few of the very nice thank you notes we received 

are below. Everyone was so appreciative! We also 

had a wonderful time and enjoyed hosting our 

Plymouth family, again! 

YOU’LL GET SHOWERS of thank-yous and none will be more 

heartfelt than ours. We had a thoroughly enjoyable day from 

start to finish: your spectacular collection of cars, the very delicious 

food, your selection of entertainment, your beautiful yard 

and, most of all, your whole family’s gracious hospitality. It will 

be a day to long remember! Thanks so much for inviting us. We 

just wish all of our region members could have shared the experience. 

-- Love, Bill and Winona Krenzer, Heart of America Region 

THANK YOU SO 

MUCH for opening 

your home to us 

and arranging such 

a memorable weekend! 

Your hospitality, 

the museum 

tour, your amazing 

collection of 

Plymouths, the fabulousentertainment, 

the awesome 

weather, all made 

for an unforgettable 

Labor Day 

Weekend! -- 

Again, thank you 

from your friends 

in the Rocky 

Mountains. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the 

wonderful time we had 

last weekend. Ken (a 

former Rocky 

Mountain charter 

member now living in 

Iowa) really enjoyed 

meeting all the old friends 

and all the fantastic cars. 

Again, our thanks! 

-- Ken Hammers and Betty Wolfe 

YOU’LL NEVER KNOW how much we enjoyed being included in 

your celebration. Your sons are great. Of course, the cars are 

amazing. Bill was so thrilled to get to see them. He enjoys the 

unrestored ones as much as the finished ones. 

-- Thanks again, Mary Olson & Bill Johnson 

JUST A NOTE TO THANK YOU so much for the lovely weekend you 

planned and hosted for the fellow Plymouth Club Owners. We 

enjoyed it so much; loved the museum over I-80--one of the best 

museums I have ever been in. Sunday was a beautiful day with 

good food and music and the interesting talk by the lady with the 

antique purses. Then of course, the tour of all the old cars was a 

delight for all the men and women as well. We enjoyed ourselves. 

-- Jim & JoEllen Holloway 

WE JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW that the Plymouth Club members 

who traveled to Nebraska thoroughly enjoyed your outstanding 

hospitality and presentation. Everything was perfect! You are 

indeed the most gracious hosts! 

-- Your friends in the Heart of Plymouth Owner’s Club thank 

you for a most pleasant day! 

MERRILL AND BOBBI, thanks for a great time! I have not had 

such a fun and relaxing time in many years. Seeing old friends 

was so much fun. I really enjoyed my time and appreciate the 

time with you, the boys and their families. -- Denny Cutshall 

LES AND I WANT TO AGAIN THANK YOU for the wonderful day we 

had at your place. I know what work you put into it. Thanks 

again! 

-- Mary & Les 

Leather 

The hosts: Bobbi, Jeff, Preston, Taylor, Rita, Greg, Merrill and Megan Berkheimer 

-47- 

WE LOVE YOUR 

CARS! We really 

enjoyed your 

Mopar gathering. 

What a relaxing 

day… and the cars 

are always so fun to 

look at. The food 

and the entertainment 

topped off 

your perfect day! 

Thanks for including 

us! -- Don & 

Vicki Schmidt

Gallery of Berkheimer cars 

1934 PE r/s conv: Restored by Jack 

Schultz, Medford, Minn. The engine was originally 

in a 1934 sedan that Merrill’s parents 

owned when they brought him home as a 

baby from the Nebraska Children’s Home. 

1961 Belvedere sedan: 40,090 mfg; 3470 

lbs; $2561 

1965 Sport Fury conv: 

1965 Sport Fury conv: “Indy Pace Car” 

318 4-barrel engine; 38,348 manufactured. 

When new this model weighed 3,715 lbs. and 

cost $2,920. Jeff purchased this car shortly 

after he graduated from Ravenna High School 

in 1978. It’s an original car! Still owned by 

Jeff Berkheimer. 

1967 Sport Fury conv: Built with V8 

engine only. 3,133 mfg; 3645 lbs; $3279, 

most expensive Plymouth of the year 

1937 P4 r/s conv: Restored by Jack Schultz. 

Bought from Jim Benjaminson. Found in a 

field 5 miles from the Canadian border. 

1950 P20 sedan: Original interior. We won 

our first national POC 2nd place trophy with 

this car; we have owned it about 30 years. 

1962 Fury conv: Our most recent restoration. 

Painted by Roger Wermeskerch, 

Lincoln, Nebr. 

1966 Sport Fury htp: 40,090 mfg; 3730 

lbs; $3006 

1968 Fury III 4dr htp: 383 4bbl; 45,147 

mfg; 3635 lbs; $3067 

-48- 

1948 P15 conv: Purchased in the early 

1970s for $600 from John, a member of the 

Rocky Mountain Region. His son had driven 

the car to high school. The car has never been 

restored. Jeff and Greg drove this car to 

many of their high school activities from 

1976-1980. It has been a fun car for the family. 

The Berkheimers met the Rocky Mountain 

Region in the Black Hills of South Dakota 

where we spent a few days touring the area 

and then traveled on to Owatonna, 

Minnesota, to the 1981 National Spring Meet. 

1963 Sport Fury htp: Purchased from Jim 

Sheaffer; restoration by Greg. 

1967 GTX htp: Super Commando 440 375 

hp; 3265 lbs; $2747 Painted by Roger 

Wermeskerch 

1968 Sport Fury conv: 383 2bbl; 4483 

mfg; 3680 lbs; $3236; most expensive 

Plymouth of the year

Gallery of Berkheimer cars 

1970 Fury III conv: 3770 lbs; $3415; 1952 

mfg; painted by Mike Olson, Holdredge, Nebr. 

1971 Duster Twister: Twister: 

In Feb 1971 the 

Twister package option was introduced for 

those who wanted a regular Duster with a 

“hot machine” look. Strobe strip pattern 

adorned the hood center. The car also has a 

sun roof; painted Hemi Orange with black 

trim. When we bought the car the front end 

had been wrecked. The car is a driver and 

not restored. 

1986 Shelby Charger: 2.2 fuel injected 

turbo 

1986 Shelby Charger: 2.2 fuel injected 

turbo 

1970 Superbird: 

1970 Superbird: 3785 lbs; $4298; 1920 mfg 

in street form. Nose extension made of steel 

for street version, adding 17.2 inches to std 

Road Runner; Standard engine: 440, 4bbl. 

We bought the car in the early 1980s from 

Scott Dowse, a high school friend of our boys. 

1978 Raod Runner: Greg bought this car 

in 1981 a year after he graduated from 

Ravenna High School. Vivid stripes reach 

from the front corners to the B-pillars which 

carried them up to the arch over the roof. 

Known as the Sun Runner with a t-bar roof 

and lift-out skylights. 

Owned by Greg and Rita Berkheimer, Greely, 

CO 

1984 Scamp GI pickup: 4-speed 

1984 Shelby Daytone Turbo Turbo 

Z: 2.2 fuel 

injected turbo; 5-speed transmission 

-49- 

1970 Barracuda conv: "Red, Red, Red" 

A number-matching car, it’s the only one 

known with this package: red interior, red 

exterior, red bumpers, front and rear dual red 

-painted mirrors. Originally made for a 

California Plymouth dealer’s showroom, 

this car is one of the 52 made with the ‘Cuda 

383 engine. Thirty were made with automatic, 

22 with four-speed tranmissions. Purchased in 

Pleasanton, Nebraska, early in the 1980s, the 

car was restored in 2004. 

1984 Shelby Charger: 2.2 engine 

. 

1984 Shelby Charger: 2.2 engine 

. 

1985 LeBaron conv: 2.2 automatic

Private designer/builder 

proposes a revival 

of the Plymouth marque… 

for a price 

by Michael Leonhard 

Ithink it’s a difficult and tight task to 

bring back a trademark that has vanished 

into thin air, especially nowadays 

when competition in the automotive 

industry is tougher than ever. And 

so it may be for Plymouth, a brand that 

has disappeared yet leaves memories of 

having built great classic and muscle 

cars. 

The most noted Plymouth car ever 

may be the Road Runner. For a possible 

and effective relaunch of the Plymouth 

brand, a re-issue of the Road Runner 

could fit the bill. Overall, it means the transfer of remaining 

memories and spirits of a car brand from yesterday into the 

future. Directly tying in with a time when Plymouth achieved 

success, as it did back in the late ‘60s and the beginning of 

‘70s, I chose the Road Road Runner name for a 

relaunch of Plymouth--a bird and brand rising again 

like a phoenix from the ashes. 

The concept takes most of its cues from the 

Road Runners of the years 1971 and ‘72. In combination 

with its modernized and futuristic shapes, it 

keeps the character of the original car. The front 

looks dramatic and mean, thanks to a headlight section 

made of tinted glass. The headlights become 

visible only when they are turned on. The same 

goes for the illuminated Road Runner logo in the 

center. The big grille opening provides plenty of air 

for the radiator. The Hemi-powered monster gets 

rid of hot air through the typical hood scoops. The 

side view is characterized by a dramatic dynamic 

shape with a low roof line, high belt line, squaremolded 

wheel-arches and big magnesium five-spoke 

wheels (22-inch rear, 20-inch front) combined with 

red-line tires. The powerful looks continue on the 

Plymouth for 2010 ?? 

-50- 

rear with a big diffusor for improved road grip and a dual 

exhaust system. The taillights are styled to match the headlights 

and become visible when turned on. To a large part, the 

roof is made of glass and the A-pillars are made of aluminum. 

The C-pillar becomes a dominating 

design element on the roof section and 

carries the typical interrupted Road 

Runner graphics. The color of choice for 

the body is Sassy Grass Green. The noise 

when honking the horn? “Beep-Beep” of 

course! 

Our Road Runner concept could 

provide the basis for the next level of 

evolution -- an over-the-top performance 

version -- the Superbird. Theoretically, 

the Superbird could be as serious a contender 

on NASCAR ovals as it was back 

in the good old days of the “aero wars.” And it could further

ough up the sports car and super car 

market. 

The car features the typical aerodynamics 

and design characteristics of the 

classic Superbird but in a more refined 

and functional manner. In front is a 

sleek nose cone that slips into air like a 

knife through butter, incorporating a 

spoiler below the centered grille opening. 

The split black nose decoration 

from yesterday has been translated for 

the new Superbird with tinted underglass 

headlights plus a related grille element 

to create a similar look. 

Other specific elements are scoops 

on top of the front fenders, a racing gas 

cap and an exhaust system that is an 

integrated element of the rocker panel. 

The huge rear wing with two panels 

effects enormous downforce. The top 

panel is made of aluminum and is 

adjustable. 

In accordance with the former 

Superbird’s connection to NASCAR racing, it has the 

corporate “Petty” blue paint, Richard Petty’s “43” numbers 

and Goodyear rubber wrapped on NASCARinspired 

magnesium rims (19-inch front, 21-inch rear) 

painted white. 

www.michael-leonhard.com 

…and 2012?? 2012 

THE IMAGES AND PERMISSION TO USE THEM ARE COUR- 

TEOUSLY PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR. 

Another Challenger cum 

Daytona / Superbird 

THIS CONCEPT was created by independent designer Michael 

Leonhard. The car is intended to be built as a one-off of a 

running vehicle using a 2009 Dodge Challenger 6.1 L Hemi 

platform and drivetrain with an all new body finished in 

show quality. The original interior from the donor vehicle 

will be modified to match the concept theme with new seat 

cover designs, door trim, headliner and rear quarter trim 

design. No change will be made to the dash, console, etc. 

ALTHOUGH OFFERED FOR SALE, the 2010 Road Runner’s asking 

build price of $950,000 has proven to be too steep. 

Leonard has had two or three interested parties and an offer 

at half the asking price but he says that won’t cover the fabrication 

costs. He asks: If you know of someone in your 

club who has the financial background and wants the car 

built for him (her), I should appreciate knowing of and getting 

in contact with this person. -- ed. 

GORDON HEIDE from the southeast 

Michigan area brought his latest 

creation fresh from its display at 

SEMA in Las Vegas, Nevada, to a 

Michigan 2009 fall cruise event. The car is supercharged and the headlights are 

fixed with covers that drop down in front of them into the nose cone. 

-- Chris Suminksi 

-51-

Thinking about an article for this 

issue made me think of all the 

Plymouths I have owned over 

the years. 

The ‘62-64s that I have written 

about have their popularity 

based on their drag 

racing days, but how 

about the ‘65-67 

Plymouths? I’m not sure 

about the ‘65s, but I 

know that the ‘66s and 

‘67s have the nickname 

"ducktail" because of 

their indented rear windows. 

I love all three of 

these years. 

In my humble opinion, 

the ‘65 two-door 

“post” is the nicest looking 

Plymouth as the oldstyle 

drag car. I owned 

one of these for a couple 

of years. It was a project 

car for which I had all 

kinds of ideas, but you 

know money constraints 

always get to us in the 

long run, don’t you? The 

car was from the state of Washington, 

so it was rust-free on the outside but 

had rusty floorboards. It was not undercoated, 

and that was the problem. It 

was the “el cheapo” model so it had 

very little chrome. Still, some guy in 

Illinois heard about it. He had been 

looking for one to build a drag car, so 

down the road it went. I wept a bit 

when it left, honest! He had paid for it 

ahead of time and my wife and I were 

gone south of here somewhere for the 

Clif’’s Clif s Notes 

Dreamin’ 

Just Dreamin’ 

LANNY KNUTSON PHOTO 

day. We met him on I-29 heading 

south. The ‘65 looked so neat on the 

trailer. 

I have a shell of a ‘65 Belvedere II 

sitting in my boneyard here. It’s the 

closest I’ve come to owning a two-door 

hardtop ‘65. I have owned a few ‘66 

Belvederes and Satellites, but never a 

nicely finished car. These were good 

drivers but not real great cars and they 

had been “driven hard.” I still have two 

of them sitting in the yard, but they are 

gutted interior-wise and motor-wise too. 

I do not think I’ve ever had a ‘66 big 

block car here. 

I started my second love for 

Plymouths (my first was for those ‘40s 

-52- 

1965 Satellite: Carl Wegner 

models, remember?) while in the U.S. 

Navy back in 1969 and just about done 

with my tour of duty for Uncle Sam. 

(Remember those days? Draft or enlist-those 

were the choices in that era. 

Well, I chose to be a sailor.) I bought a 

‘67 Satellite in September, 1969, while 

aboard the USS Hornet stationed out of 

Long Beach, California (the Apollo 11 

and 12 recovery ship-- “hadda get that 

in, don’t ya know?”) I bought this car 

used, with 19,000 miles on it, from a 

VW dealership owned by Roman 

Gabriel and Merlin Olsen (yes, the guy 

who was later on Little House on the 

Prairie) and called the Gabriel-Olsen 

dealership. They were football stars for 

the Los Angeles Rams at the time. 

(Remember those days?) 

I did own another ‘67 

driver years later in the 

form of a Belvedere II 

hardtop purchased for 

about $250 from a 

“Baser” up here at the 

Grand Forks Air Force 

Base. It had seen better 

days, interior-wise, and 

the paint was faded some; 

but, with a 318, it was a 

nice driver. I used it that 

winter as a work car; it 

had a tremendous heater. 

The car had come from 

Bethlehem, PA, but was 

not a rusty car. My then- 

16-year-old daughter took 

a liking to the car so she 

got to drive it from time 

to time. She had her 

learner’s permit. and, with 

a licensed driver aboard, 

she went for a drive on a 

gravel road. You guessed 

it, inexperience and loose rock led to 

me getting a call while at the 1992 

Mopar Nats in Columbus, Ohio, telling 

me that the girls were okay but the car 

had been rolled in the ditch. I came 

home to a not-totaled-but-not-driveable 

‘67 Plymouth. I sold the car, a piece at 

a time, and made pretty good money off 

of a cheap car, but it would have been 

fun to keep it. My buddy Don bought 

the last chunk of it for the rust-free 

cont. on page 54…

Plymouth Miniatures 

A Plymouth Postcard 

from Paraguay 

Twenty-five years ago, my mother 

and father visited me in Brazil, 

where, at the time, I was living, 

working and raising my family. My parents 

had previously been to Brazil and 

would come a number of other times 

while their health still permitted 

such lengthy travel. Mostly, they 

just remained in Rio de Janeiro 

with my family and me, enjoying 

their grandchildren, balmy weather 

(as opposed to Pennsylvania in 

January) and, of course, the 

beach. One year, however, with 

some time off, my wife and I 

were able to take them on a brief 

excursion to the small neighboring 

country of Paraguay. 

Our stopover in Paraguay 

was only a brief one, but my 

father, a Pennsylvania farmer's 

son, confessed quietly to me 

that never in his lifetime had he 

ever thought he would set foot 

in that landlocked little South 

American country which few 

people from his generation 

(and many in the current one) 

knew much about. He was 

thrilled by his brief stopover in 

Paraguay and never failed to 

mention it to friends or to 

thank us for chaperoning the 

trip. You may be wondering 

why he also wasn’t so 

impressed with Brazil, 

Paraguay’s gigantic neighbor which 

occupies more than half of the South 

American continent? Well, he was, for 

sure, but he had been to Brazil on many 

occasions and was familiar with its beauty, 

tropical climate and friendly people. 

Going to Brazil for five weeks in the 

winter and staying at his daughter-in-law 

and son's house wasn't much different 

than going to Florida for many North 

Americans seeking to escape the cold. 

Brazil is always exotic, to be sure, but it 

wasn’t Paraguay, a littleknown 

spot in the world he 

could only remember reading about 

somewhere in a geography class 60 years 

ago in a one-room school house and 

never again hearing much about (who 

does?) during his lifetime. His 

only son and family lived in Brazil, and 

he’d keep track of us and of news about 

Brazil, but not much of what happens in 

Paraguay makes news in the outside 

world. You might even say that what 

happens there just stays there. 

This little anecdote about my father 

came to mind, and I decided to set it 

down in print in a Plymouth Miniatures, 

because I had recently come across a 

vintage color post card featuring a main 

-53- 

commercial 

street in 

Asuncion, 

Paraguay, 

set sometime 

in the 

early ‘60s. 

As any car 

spotter can 

easily observe in 

the pictures of this 

postcard illustrating my 

article, the newest car on the street 

appears to be a 1960 Ford. I located this 

post card on the table of a seller of literature 

at the Saturday flea/antique 

market in Rio de Janeiro that I 

seldom miss attending. Over 

the years, it has provided me 

with some very curious material, 

all with a Plymouth theme. 

(Obviously, I am digressing 

again from the subject of 

Plymouth miniatures, but I just 

can’t bear the idea of not revisiting 

Paraguay with my father and 

taking my readers on the same 

trip and, even better yet, doing it 

in a Plymouth. We'll return to 

miniatures in the next issue of the 

BULLETIN. They'll be there on the 

shelf waiting where they never 

require an oil change or check of 

the coolant levels.) 

By now sharp-eyed viewers will 

have spotted a late ‘40s Plymouth 

P15, alongside the Ford and looking 

as if it's ready to challenge the 

latter to a cruise up Calle Palma, a 

main commercial street in 

Asuncion, Paraguay's capital city. 

“Hey, watch that VW Bug up 

ahead!” I doubt if much would 

remain of it, if it were tail-ended by 

our big Plymouth. Calle Palma, by 

the way, translates to "Palm Avenue" in 

English, but I certainly don't see any 

palm trees. Hopefully they are further 

down the avenue. I'd guess that our 

Plymouth is out on a shopping spree and 

the passengers not complaining about the 

lack of trees. Asuncion is known, especially 

in Brazil, as a place for finding 

shopping bargains, as it is considered to 

be a duty free port. There are more 

attractive streets to be seen in Asuncion,

I can assure you, but the attraction there 

for most folks is shopping for cheap 

goods. It's also very hot and humid in 

the summer months, maybe even more 

so than some other Latin American 

cities located closer to the equator, and 

can be surprisingly chilly on winter days 

and evenings. I just thought I’d mention 

the climate in case you want to go shopping 

there or, better yet, Plymouth 

watching. 

As for our P15 Plymouth, most 

readers will have noticed, hopefully 

with a grin, that it is the oldest vehicle 

transiting Calle Palma, and that fact 

surely says a lot about our favorite make 

of car. It likewise looks to be in excellent 

condition with no rust or dents. Of 

course, we wouldn’t expect less from a 

Plymouth. I should mention, though, 

that in my experience and despite the 

humidity, vehicles in Paraguay, general- 

Clif’’s Clif s Notes -- cont. from page 52 

floorboards to put in his rusty ‘67 GTX 

out of rust-laden southern Minnesota. 

I have two shells of ‘67 Belvederes 

here; one is restorable, the other is 

rough. There are two four-door sedans 

here too and lots of random parts for 

those years, since many of them have 

rolled through here over the years. 

Someday, I hope to own a real nice 

‘66 or ‘67 B-body hardtop or convertible. 

Speaking of which, I just now 

remember a ‘66 Belvedere convertible 

that I owned years ago. It was a driver 

with a rough top and interior. I owned it 

for about a year and sold it to a guy who 

“restomoded” it with a newer motor and 

the Lemon Twist yellow paint from the 

‘70s cars. This guy traded in a ‘47 

Dodge pickup and some cash. As soon 

as I dropped the convertible’s top before 

he came that Saturday, I knew I should 

have kept it, but, alas, it was not to be. 

Funny how as I go on, I think of more 

of them. 

I just thought of a ‘65 Belvedere I 

should have bought about 20-some 

years ago. Don (another Don) was up 

here in my yard with a very nice red and 

black hardtop with a 273 in it. I had a 

‘70 Challenger project car he wanted, 

but we could not get close enough on 

price, so it went home again. I think he 

thought it was worth about $9500 at the 

ly speaking, are not candidates for rustouts. 

There was a lot of traffic on 

Palma even back then, and the P15's 

owners obviously have no fear that their 

car will overheat before they reach their 

destination. Chalk up another plus for 

our already-vintage Paraguayan 

Plymouth. By now both readers and 

writer are probably wondering about 

how many Plymouths actually made it 

into this small South American nation 

over the years. Your guess is as good as 

mine, but, judging from the number of 

other U. S. cars on Calle Palma in the 

early ‘60s, I’d venture to say a good 

many. 

Vintage postcards are loads of fun 

to collect and are not overly expensive 

to acquire at flea markets, antique shops 

and on eBay. Many of them have 

superb photos or illustrations of old 

cars, trucks, buses, garages, roads and 

time (that was before the car prices went 

nuts) so I passed. If that happened in 

1989 or ‘90, then I would have purchased 

a Sublime cloned ‘70 440 Road 

Runner convertible in very nice condition 

for $4500. I also had bought a ‘70 

Challenger big block four-speed convertible 

for less than ten grand (think 

about that price now). It was Plum 

Crazy. The ‘65 was a nicely done car 

but not priced right for the time. Later 

on in life, I thought I had goofed up, but 

automobilia of every kind, as well as 

being a portrait of the past that reminds 

us of how the landscape once was, of 

buildings and landmarks many of which 

are long gone, and of dress and style. 

You name it, and you might find it in an 

old postcard. Prices usually range from 

50 cents to up to five dollars. As 

always, try to find postcards that are still 

in good condition, and sometimes even 

the message on the reverse (when there 

is one) will provoke memories and 

smiles as we read the writer-sender's 

impressions from long ago. I don't 

remember if my father sent a postcard 

from Paraguay to anyone, but, if he did, 

it was surely to brag that he had finally 

made it there. And now we can confirm 

that Plymouths also landed in Paraguay 

even before my dad. 

-- Bill Brisbane 

williamb@helicon.net 

who was to know at the time, eh? 

Also, I just remembered a nice oneowner 

black ‘66 Belvedere II I owned 

back in those days. Its maroon bench 

interior was very nice. Though it had a 

bit of rust in the rear quarters, it was a 

beautiful driver, for $500, at the time. 

“Dreamin’, I am always dreamin.’” 

… ‘til next time: Happy Plymouthing! 

-- CLIF NELSON 

cknelson@polarcomm.com

�� 

�� 

�� 

Founded 1957

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