Mr. Benjaminson,
I am familiar with your name through my many years of magazine subscriptions. I am sure that if anyone can answer this question to my satisfaction, you are that person.
In the past I have owned a few Chryslers, namely a 53 NY 2-dr HT and a 54 NY T & C Wagon. Currently, my Uncle Jack owns a 1951 NY T & C wagon, of which only 251 were produced. This car is in sad need of restoration, as there cannot be very many left. I am a real fan of nearly all things mopar until the early 1970's.
However, my question concerns the 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe. Sometime around 1964, my Uncle Jack also owned one of these. To my knowledge, this car was classified in the P17 Deluxe series. The taillights were rectangular, located just above the rear splash pan in between the trunk and the fenders.
While looking at a website (oldplymouths.com), I saw two different ones pictured that were unlike any I have ever seen. Both had the taillights of the special deluxe, mounted high on the fenders in small chrome fins. I only had a good rear view of one of the cars, but this one had a trunk lid that looked to be from a 1950. The license plate recess is lower than on a regular 49; also, there is a housing for the license plate light ABOVE the license plate. A short distance above this housing is the Plymouth script in block letters.
Here is the link:
http://www.oldplymouths.com/generic199.html
After opening the link, navigate to the photos section, and look 1949 cars - once you get there, look for links to cars owned by Don & Bonnie Turner and Ed & Kathy Woomer - you may even know these people
I'm just very curious if these cars are produced this way from the factory - if so, they are both new to me
I would certainly appreciate any info you could give me about this.
Thank You
Alan Webb
Alan - it would appear from the photos of the cars you mentioned that both parties added the taillights of the special deluxe model to the business coupe. You are correct, the business coupe used a square lamp mounted on the body between the fender and the deck lid. Its my guess the owners thought these lights looked better than the original (I have to agree!) but the correct license is the square one......Jim B.