The 1953 restyle moved this car's gas cap under the trunk lid — and promptly caused a full tank to spill gasoline straight into the trunk until Plymouth added baffles mid-year to fix it.
Median 90 hp across 113 similar cars
Lead trim: Cranbrook Belvedere 217.8 flathead I6 (97 hp, 1951–1952) · up to 100 hp
Plymouth BelvedereCRANBROOK-BELVEDERE · 1951–1953
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Plymouth Belvedere yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe 1953 restyle moved this car's gas cap under the trunk lid — and promptly caused a full tank to spill gasoline straight into the trunk until Plymouth added baffles mid-year to fix it.
The Plymouth Cranbrook Belvedere was introduced as a two-door pillarless hardtop on 31 March 1951, Plymouth's first such body design, developed in response to the 1950 Chevrolet Bel Air and the Ford Victoria (also sold as the Dodge Regent in Canada). It was the two-door hardtop version of the Cranbrook and was powered by the Chrysler flathead 217.8 cu in (3.6 L) straight-six with a 7.00:1 compression ratio producing 97 hp (72 kW; 98 PS) SAE gross. For 1952 it was essentially unchanged apart from the colour scheme: to distinguish the top-level Belvedere, the two tones now flowed from the roof over the beltline onto the trunk ("saddleback" treatment), and overdrive became optional; 51,266 were built in 1951 and 1952. It remained part of the Cranbrook series through 1953, when all Plymouths were completely restyled (a shorter 114 in wheelbase, a one-piece windshield, flush rear fenders and a lower hood line), the Hy-Drive semi-automatic transmission arrived in April 1953 and the engine's compression rose to 7.10:1 for 100 hp (75 kW); 35,185 Belvederes were sold in 1953. The page gives the wheelbase as 114.0 in in its infobox and 118.5 in in its text, so none is entered.
Collectors Spotted in the Plymouth Belvedere Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Plymouth Belvedere yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranbrook Belvedere 217.8 flathead I6 (100 hp, 1953) | 1953–1953 | 3.6 L Inline-6 | 100 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Cranbrook Belvedere 217.8 flathead I6 (97 hp, 1951–1952) | 1951–1952 | 3.6 L Inline-6 | 97 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
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Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Richard Petty won the NASCAR Grand National title in this Belvedere generation, the last before the nameplate was dropped for Satellite.
A 1967 Belvedere played the LAPD's standard cruiser in the pilot episode of Adam-12.
This Belvedere introduced the 426 Hemi and swept the top three spots at the 1964 Daytona 500, Richard Petty among the winners.
Chrysler shrank the Belvedere for 1960 and buyers punished it for being smaller, even though a magazine test called the six-cylinder version pleasant transportation.
This 1957-58 Belvedere hardtop is the car Stephen King made the villain in Christine.
Chrysler's PR chief drove a Belvedere with a turbine jet engine bolted in across the country to prove the idea worked.
Plymouth buyers waited until March 1954 for their first real automatic — the two-speed PowerFlite, arriving right in the middle of the Belvedere's debut model year.
The 1953 restyle moved this car's gas cap under the trunk lid — and promptly caused a full tank to spill gasoline straight into the trunk until Plymouth added baffles mid-year to fix it.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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