Before she laid eyes on this one, chances
are Tina Colby had never noticed a ’55 Plymouth. Unlike a Chevy or even a Ford
of the same vintage, that’s not a car that shows up very often. It’s also not a
model that appeals to most enthusiasts, though certainly not because of its
looks, as hers shows. No, Chrysler’s underdog status back than makes survivors
and support scare now. For the most part, the enthusiast who chooses Chrysler
products nowadays seeks them specifically because they’re not so accessible.
'55
Chrysler Plymouth
But Tina isn’t your average enthusiast,
even by Mopar-owner standards. What appealed to her about this one was
something that her husband Mark’s recently finished T-bucket lacked: a back
seat. And in light of the news at the time that their family was going to grow
by 50 percent in nine months, a car with a back seat made a lot of sense. So
Mark put out the feelers for another car to build; one with a back seat.
What he found wasn’t quite what he
expected, though. The car Norma Turner offered wasn’t a builder; it was
finished, and finished well in fact. Her husband Lloyd – half of Two Pros Rod
Shop in Kila, Montana built it expressly for her. Tragically, though, he did it
despite ailing health. Lloyd and Norma enjoyed the car only one season before
he succumbed to his illness.
Though he built it for Norma it hardly
could’ve been closer to perfect for Tina. For one thing he updated the car with
parts cannibalized from a Camaro, a newer version of the ‘6 that she called her
first car. He clipped the chassis with the donor’s subframe and hung its
10-bolt axle from the Plymouth’s leaf springs.
Lloyd once again pulled from the Camaro’s
carcass for the 350 engine. What he did to it remains a mystery but it wears an
Edelbrock Performer manifold, 1406-series carburetor, and Sanderson
block-hugger headers. The 2-inch Flowmaster damped pipes flank the Camaro’s
TH350, while Hemi valve covers disguise the small-block.
The designs that the Big Three introduced
in 1955 need little more than a shave and haircut. Lloyd nosed the hood, shaved
the door handles, and decked the trunklid. He finished it in PPG Concept
system, a two-stage mix of pearl white and raspberry pearl.
Lloyd adapted the Camaro’s column to the
Plymouth dash and topped it with a Lecarra Mark IV Double Slot wheel. He also
installed the Ron Francis Wiring harness before he turned the car over to
another Ron Francis, this one at Valley Upholstery in Kalispell, Montana.
1406-series
carburetor of Chrysler Plymouth
We don’t know the specific origins of the
GM power seat but Ron trimmed it, the rear seat, and the side panels in a
combination of white and raspberry vinyl pleats and the floor in raspberry
loop-pile carpet. The Colbys made one salient change: clamshell-style lap
belts. You know, for a baby seat.
Mark and Tina Colby are proud
owners/builders but not so proud that they can’t appreciate another craftsman’s
work, even if it was for someone other than them. In fact they regard their
stewardship of Lloyd and Norma Turner’s car as a privilege.
Nor is it lost on them that the car Lloyd
Turner built is a real driver; it turns up everywhere, a real feat considering
the Colbys’ Kalispell home base is at least half a day’s drive from pretty much
anywhere else. “It’s great being able to go to car shows and outings as a
family,” Tina says. “Not every day do you see a baby seat in the back seat of a
car at a car show!”
