Thread: brutal honesty needed 38-39 plymouth??

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maybe im in the right church but the wrong pew , if so maybe mustang can move it to its proper place
a fella i know has this car and he wants a little bit more than
i think its worth <$2000> its suppose to be a 38 plymouth needs completly restored or rodded
what yall think i should offer this cat??? the car is in new orleans so a 327 mile trip would be involved..

Seems to be surface rust only, I didn't see any holes. If so, and if a title comes with it, $ 2000 isn't way out of line. These are a little harder to find parts and hot rod items for (like suspension swap kits) but they sure are cool looking.

I'd buy it, I think.

Don

What Pops said as far as price. But as a reference point, the second car pictured below has been for sale for almost a year at $13.5k with no takers.

That's a 39 not 38. The headlights are supposed to be squareish (see second pic below), those are probably a period aftermarket conversion to use a standard seal beam.

The 38 has the ovoid shaped grille (among many other differences).


Edit: apparently someone recently fell in love with the black car, it's no longer on the dealers website.

That thing will make a cool ride and if the floor is in as good of shape as the rest if the car looks I don't think he's to far out of line either. you can always make an offer lower and see if he starts laughing or groaning !!

A good point Denny brought up ,..."what its been thru ",theres a 90 percent chance it was under salt water for a undetermined period of time
Might want to consider dipping this one as a manditory step.

Take a long hard look underneath before you put money up on that,and remember there's very little aftermarket available for it.If it's solid underneath,I think the price is high. Hank

I dont think that is a terrible amount, around these parts a body that solid would go for more.

the cars was not under water during or after katrina , the car is on the west bank across the river from new orleans , i think im gonna offer the guy $500 and see what happens ..

From the looks of the car in the pics, looks like the front sheetmetal, and the majority of the body is in good shape. If you get it for $500.00, you stole it!!! $2,000.00 isn't too far out of line I don't think. Even a hole or two in the floor is easy enough to patch. Guess it depends on how bad you want it and how bad he wants to sell it.....

Make him that $500/750 offer and at least get it on the table for some sort of a reasonable bargaining price beginning. While late '30s cars in restorable shape are getting scarce, a '38/9 Plymouth doesn't really have a lot of takers at any time - even if you are going to have to find a home for your spare Chebbie engine .

As previously mentioned the $2k price is not that high especially if the body and floor is in good shape. Parts are available for those cars, just not as widely available as with Fords. Looks like the car has most of it's parts so that may not be an issue anyway. If you're going to rod it, then it's even less of an issue. There are vendors who make IFS for the car. Been seeing more and more old Mopars, since they are nearly always all steel cars and not easy to find original steel in other makes. Never be as popular as Fords, but not everyone wants to be the same.

39, a one year only car, that's a hump back or trunk back. They come with very stout and cool frame, any aftermarket front clip will fit and a 10 bolt Chevy year sets the tires perfect. From the pictures I'd expect rust in the trunk,where the running boards connect to the fenders and possible front floor near the fenders. Also if your have to replace the rear valance under the trunk lid, someone will need to make it, no aftermarket piece. If I had to by the parts off that car, the nose chrome and ship would be 500, 250 a fender,150 hood w/sides etc. There's more than 2000 in parts, it's really a matter of where you want to go, figure a 3 year project minimum,I'd offer 1000 no more...
Here's my 39 slant back as it sit now, waiting for painter to take it.



Here's a buds 38 and 39 coupes...

i tossed the $500 out on the table and the guy told me he had to think about it , if he stands pat at his asking price i think im gonna give it a pass , i have enough on my plate at the moment , hes had the car a few years i dont think its going anyplace anytime soon .. thanks for yalls thoughts it helped me in my decision making process..

My nephew told me there was a nice running 39 Chrysler 2 door sedan in Charlotte last week end for $7000.00. It had a Chrysler 413, 727TF, and 8 3/4 rear. I did not see the car, but he said was in great shape. He is considering buying it. If any interest, I will see if I can get the guys number and address.
$2000.00 is top price for that car, especially for someone who doesn't need another project.

Jack

It looks like most of the metal is there and in repairable shape but whatever is missing may be hard to find. One point not mentioned so far is the nostalgia angle. My family had two '36 Plymouths, a '40 and a '50 as hand-downs when my grandfather would trade in his Plymouth by trading my Dad's earlier Plymouth and giving us the later model. As a kid I recall a lot of low income adventures trying to keep those Plymouths running and they usually had a tractor-like low gear ratio; especially the '36 model! What I am trying to say is that I was a Fordnatic as a teenager and rebelled against the constant stream of Plymouths as straight-six dogs but my Grandfather swore by the MOPAR hydraulic brakes during a period when the Ford mechanical brakes were scary at best. So for me a '39 Plymouth would be a time machine back in memory lane and I would try to put a 318 into it and I would offer $1000 with the idea of trying to get it. For you with other projects it would seem there is not the nostalgia aspect so unless you have a MOPAR obsession it would be better for somebody else to bring it back to life.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder