Plymouth Covnertibles

Beginning with the 1935 PJ model the convertibles received a special sub-frame to provide strength and rigidity. This practice was continued through the 1941 models. Mounting the subframe on top of the regular frame necessitated a special low-height seat. 1936 was the last year for factory fender mount spare tires and although they were not limited to installation on convertibles only very few cars were so equipped.
The 1937 convertibles saw the introduction of vent wings mounted on the door and these were used through 1941. The vent wing remained in place while the entire window mechanism rolled down into the door. (Some '37 models were equipped with a shorter window and had a 'modern' style vent window rigidly mounted on the door).
Plymouth enjoyed a unique sales advantage during the '39 sales year. It was the only Chrysler line to offer a convertible of any type (Chevrolet did not offer a convertible that year either) and two models were available, a convertible coupe and a convertible sedan.
The '39 Plymouth convertible coupe was a truly transitional car--it was the last Plymouth to use a rumble seat and it was the first car to offer as standard equipment a power operated convertible top. The top was raised and lowered by two large vacuum cylinders that mounted behind the rear seat. The cylinders were controlled by a dash mounted switch which allowed the driver to raise or lower the top without leaving the drivers seat.
The '39 convertible sedan was a unique car--not only was it the only 4 door convertible sedan ever built by Plymouth, but it was mounted on a special 117" wheelbase chassis (the other '395 rode on a 114" wheelbase). The body for the car was built by Murray rather than Briggs and it was the most expensive Plymouth ever built to that time, selling for $1150. The car shared the same body as the discontinued '37-38 Chrysler and DeSoto convertible sedans and only 387 were built. Today only a few remain. The car probably would never have been built had it not been for the Chrysler-DeSoto offerings of it the year before. It was only built the one year. Both the convertible coupe and convertible sedan came standard equipped with double sided whitewall tires; the convertible sedan had leather upholstery as standard equipment and a black colored top was optional on both models replacing the conventional tan of years previous.
The only major changes of the 1940 convertible was the discontinuance of the rumble seat in favor of a trunk and the front header bar was now made of metal rather than wood.
1941 saw a dramatic production increase in convertibles, with a 51 percent increase in sales recorded. The war shortened 1942 production year saw the smallest number of Plymouth convertibles built since 1938; only 2,731 were built for the U.S. market and another 73 were exported overseas.
The P15 convertibles of 1946 through 1948 were the last American convertibles to have a Victoria style top with no windows except in the doors. In the car-hungry post-war years these cars sold like hot-cakes and they are still highly prized today.
Convertible production soared with the 1949-1952 models but production declined severely with the 1953 and 1954 models. By this time the vacuum powered top had been replaced by electric tops but other body styles were becoming more popular. The lowly station wagon soon became the everyday family car and the open car began its slide into oblivion. Convertible production reached its U.S. industry peak in 1965 but air conditioning and body styles with vinyl roofs that looked like convertibles helped contribute to the eventual discontinuance of the open car. They had never been sold in great quantity and they cost more to produce--a cost which manufacturers decided was too hard to amortize. Like the horse and buggy, the convertible gave way to modernization--and those remaining examples will continue to grow in value.