1951 Plymouth Cranbrook

„From the luxurious ‚jewel-case’ interiors to the gem-like precision of its fine engineering, quality stands out everywhere in this great Plymouth! Now, more than ever, it’s the low-priced car most like the high-priced cars. It offers you a long list of ‚exclusives‘ in the low-priced field, and many features not available even in cars costing hundreds of dollars more!“

The „big“ Plymouth for 1951 had a lot to offer: a solid and durable construction, plenty of headroom and loads of value for the money. One thing that it hadn’t, though, was fashionable styling. Unfortunately, this was precisely what car buyers longed for in the early 1950s. Others delivered, but Plymouth not.

Not that the redesign for 1951 wasn’t a significant improvement: the Plymouth designers, directed by studio head Henry King, had worked miracles to let the angular “Keller boxes” look sleeker and rather modern. The cars received a completely new front end, but the stodgy silhouette of the previous generation remained. Compared to the Plymouth’s more fashionable competitors, it becomes obvious why these cars weren’t so popular.

But, like all Chrysler Corp. models of this era, the Plymouth excelled in sound engineering, and was a great choice for sensible motorists that turned the penny twice before buying. Which might be a reason why so many are still roaming Cuban roads today.