The Plymouth Belvedere (1951-1970)
Introduced on March 31, 1951, the 1951 Plymouth Belvedere arrived as a two-door pillar-less hardtop. It was Plymouth's first vehicle of such design and was built in response to Chevrolet's Bel Air. That vehicle, the first two-door hardtop in the low-priced American market, was introduced in 1950 and ended that model year with great success.
1951
The Belvedere was not a separate vehicle line — rather, it was a subset of the top-trim Cranbrook series. Being built on that car's 118.5 in (3010 mm) wheelbase gave the two door Belvedere very favorable proportions. Powering the Belvedere was the familiar flathead 6-cylinder engine. Displacement was 217.8 in³ (3.6 L), the compression ratio was a relatively low 7.00:1, and output was 97 hp (72 kW) (SAE gross). First year prices started at US$2,114.
1952
Plymouth kept the Belvedere largely unchanged. The biggest alteration was to the color scheme — to further distinguish the top-level Belvedere from other Plymouths, the two toning now flowed from the roof into the trunk, which has been referred to as the "saddleback" treatment. The engine was a complete carry over from 1951. Prices, however, did increase by about US$100 to $2,216. Production for 1951 and 1952 totalled 51,266 units, which was slightly better than a quarter of Chevrolet Bel Air and Ford Victoria production for that same period.
1953
The Belvedere remained a part of the Cranbrook series through '53. For that year, all Plymouth models were completely restyled. Major style changes included a shorter 114 in wheelbase, a one-piece windshield, flush rear fenders, and a lower hood line. In April 1953, Plymouths received the Hy-Drive semi-automatic transmission. Again, Plymouth was behind the competition with Chevrolet having introduced the fully-automatic Powerglide transmission in 1950, with Ford following the next year with its fully automatic Ford-O-Matic transmission.
The engine was carried over from 1952 with the only enhancement being a slight increase in the compression ratio to 7.10:1, which yielded a gross horsepower rating of 100. The shorter wheelbase partly led to an overall stubby appearance that was panned by consumers and critics. Even with a reduced starting price of US$2,132 demand was rather low. A total of 35,185 1953 Belevederes were sold.
1954
Belvedere replaced Cranbrook as the top-of-the-line offering for '54. Now a full series instead of just a two-door hardtop, a buyer could choose a convertible, two-door station wagon, four-door sedan or the aforementioned two-door hardtop, now called the Sport Coupe. Slight styling updates adorned the carry-over body design. For the first time, small chrome tail fins appeared on the rear fenders. In March of 1954, Plymouth finally offered a fully automatic transmission, the Chrysler Corporation's well-regarded PowerFlite 2-speed. Also new was a larger standard engine: a 230.2in³ six-cylinder borrowed from the Dodge Division. Power was now rated at 110hp. Belvedere production slipped to 32,492 for the year.
1955
This was a big year for Plymouth. After the Plymouth Fury line was expanded to become Plymouth's top series in 1959, the Belvedere was demoted to the middle priced model.
1960-1970
The Belvedere remained as Plymouth's middle price full size model through 1964, after which the name was applied to Plymouth's new mid-size model. Mid-size Belvedere based models included the higher trimmed Satellite, musclecar GTX and budget musclecar Road Runner. The name lasted through 1970 after which all mid-size models took the Satellite name.
Note: Only 1964-1970 Belvederes are in this section.
Please see our Classic Cars 1960's section for the pre-1964 years.