Join us in the mystery of the “balanced ride” Plymouth…

When Helen Helwig gave me this dealership banner, which her husband had gotten with a vintage 1953 Plymouth, I was surprised both by her generosity and by the slogan. What on Earth did they mean by a fully balanced ride, in 1953? If it was a 1924 banner, I’d understand it better. And the slogan… surely that was from Floating Power days, wasn’t it? What of the gyroscope?

I had to learn the answers to all those questions to do the inevitable video…

The main answer to the question was that they moved the rear axle from its 1952 place by four and a half inches… not to the rear of the car, as you might expect, but forward towards the center, cutting the wheelbase by (yes) four and a half inches while leaving the length of the car about the same (they cut that by one inch. Yes, in the 1950s, they made the car smaller.)

On the other hand, they also made a tougher, wider frame for the 1953 Plymouths, and had a higher kickup in the frame to make room for the axle; that let them drop the car down lower to the ground, making it look more stylish and increasing its stability, all else being equal. But all else was not equal, as they also modified the front control arms quite a bit, added an anti-sway bar, and changed the geometry of the leaf-spring rear suspension.

I’ve still never seen the “truly balanced ride” or gyroscope association elsewhere in connection with this car, but I admit my 1953 materials are a bit sparse. This was the last car to have no input from Virgil Exner, who was made the company’s first head of styling in 1953; he modified its appearance a bit for 1954, but the first true Exner Plymouths came in 1955, as part of the “Million Dollar Look” (like this DeSoto Firefly Sportsman).

It is nice to be able to learn something new about something so old, after so long!

David Zatz

David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.

David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.