South Australia's Highway Patrol ran V8 versions of this Australian-built Chrysler Royal — a locally adapted family car good enough for police pursuit duty.
Lead trim: Royal 230.2 cu in six (115 hp, manual) · up to 220 hp
Chrysler Royal AP1AP1 · 1957–1958
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FactSouth Australia's Highway Patrol ran V8 versions of this Australian-built Chrysler Royal — a locally adapted family car good enough for police pursuit duty.
The Chrysler Royal is an automobile produced by Chrysler Australia from 1957 to 1963 (the page also says production ceased in 1964). After investing in tooling to stamp body panels for the 1954 P25 Plymouth locally, and with Detroit unwilling to assist with the cost of retooling for the new US models, Chrysler Australia developed its own range from existing tooling, retaining the doors and basic structure of the P25 sedan, adapting the 1955 US Plymouth front sheet metal and redesigning the rear quarter panels, and adding a wraparound rear windscreen that gave the Australian glass supplier Pilkington development problems. The first version, the AP1, was introduced in May 1957 as a development of the American Plymouth P25 design of 1954 (built in Australia as the Plymouth Cambridge and Cranbrook, the Dodge Kingsway and the DeSoto Diplomat); plans to market it under those three names were dropped late in development and it was sold only as the Chrysler Royal, revising a name used by Chrysler in the US from 1937 to 1950. It differed from the P25 in using front and rear mudguards similar to those on the 1956 US Plymouth and a larger rear window. The AP1 was originally only a four-door sedan, the Plainsman four-door station wagon arriving during 1958. It came with two versions of Chrysler's valve-in-block straight-6: a 115-horsepower, 230.2 cu in (3.8 L) with manual transmission and a 117-horsepower 250.6 cu in (4.1 L) with the two-speed Powerflite automatic; the 313 cu in (5.1 L) polyspherical-head V8 was introduced as an option during the run and V8 Royals were popular with the South Australia Police as Highway Patrol cars. Dimensions: 115 in wheelbase, 199.7 in long, 73.25 in wide, 63.5 in high, 3,500 lb curb weight. Royal chassis and cowls were also built for ambulance and hearse bodywork, and Royal ambulances were very popular with Australian ambulance services (Commonwealth Engineering completed the first fibreglass ambulance body in June 1958).
Collectors Spotted in the Chrysler Royal Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Chrysler Royal yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
3 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal 230.2 cu in six (115 hp, manual) | 1957–1958 | 3.8 L Inline-6 | 115 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
| Royal 250.6 cu in six (117 hp, Powerflite) | 1957–1958 | 4.1 L Inline-6 | 117 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
| Royal 313 cu in polyspherical V8 (option) | 1957–1958 | 5.1 L V8 | 220 hp | 325 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The final Royal, the AP3, borrowed its face from Detroit's 1959 DeSoto: stacked quad headlamps and triple tail lights on an Australian-built Plymouth-based sedan.
Australia's AP2 Royal grafted odd 'saddle fins' onto its tailfins — a grille-and-rear update that made it instantly distinct from the AP1 it replaced.
South Australia's Highway Patrol ran V8 versions of this Australian-built Chrysler Royal — a locally adapted family car good enough for police pursuit duty.
Chrysler's six-cylinder Royal was the direct heir to the very car that founded the company in 1925, and it stayed Chrysler's cheapest model for the rest of its life.
Chrysler's 1933 Royal broke from how the company had always named cars — it was only the second Chrysler nameplate that didn't reference an internal body code or a top speed.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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