1953 Plymouth and Dodge Hardtop Coupes

Chrysler Corporation's Plymouth and Dodge brands were redesigned for model year 1953, whereas DeSoto and Chrysler were given massive facelifts.  Chrysler line sales were good in 1953, but dropped drastically the following year.

Today's post presents 1953 Plymouth and Dodge hardtop coupes, high-end models and a popular body type in those years and beyond.  Previous Plymouth and Dodge bodies dating from 1949 were boxy-looking, and the redesign included softening the lines.

According to some observers, a factor in the 1954 sales decline was the reduced lengths of '53 Plymouths and Dodges compared to 1952 counterparts and competing 1953-54 brands.  But wheelbases for 1953 Plymouth and Dodge hardtops were almost the same as competing Ford and Chevrolet models, though Pontiacs were considerably longer.

Unless noted, images below are of cars listed for sale.

Gallery

1953 Plymouth Cranbrook Belvedere
The Plymouth hardtop was a tidy design.  The rounded-down hood prow gave it a stumpier-than-needed appearance.  Also, the grille design was odd, but distinctive.

1952 Plymouth Cranbrook Belvedere - factory photo
The previous Plymouth hardtop coupe.

Side view, showing that the hood and trunk are short, the passenger compartment greenhouse is long -- dominating the car's profile.

The car seems to look best from the rear, where the short front end is hard to see.

Two high-perspective views of the same car.

1953 Chevrolet Bel Air
A competing hardtop coupe with a longer, more purposeful seeming hood.

1953 Dodge Cranbrook Diplomat
I found almost no images of 1953 Dodge hardtops on Internet searches.  This front quarter view is not very revealing.

1952 Dodge Cranbrook Diplomat
The Previous year's version.

Another low-quality image.  Perhaps few '53 Dodge hardtops have survived.

1953 Dodge Cranbrook Diplomat - brochure illustration
The people in this illustration are too small, but the car seems little-distorted.

1953 Pontiac Catalina
A major Dodge competitor.  It looks like a lot more car for the money.