The 1949 Suburban was only the industry's second all-steel station wagon, arriving right after the Willys Jeep wagon beat everyone to it.
Lead trim: Suburban 217.8cid L-head six (97 bhp, 1949–1950) · up to 157 hp
Plymouth Suburban1949–1955
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Plymouth Suburban 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 1949 Suburban was only the industry's second all-steel station wagon, arriving right after the Willys Jeep wagon beat everyone to it.
The Plymouth Suburban is a station wagon produced from 1949 until 1978. Before 1949 Plymouth had offered only a four-door "woodie" wagon, expensive to build and to buy; in 1949 Plymouth introduced the industry's second all-steel-body station wagon, following the Willys-Overland "Jeep Station Wagon", together with, for the first time in a low-priced car, an automatic "turn-the-key" ignition/starter combination. The Suburban had a two-door body (plus tailgate) and seated six, and its back row folded flat to give 42 inches of flat floor space, making it popular as a commercial wagon; for 1950 it was accompanied by a four-door Special Deluxe wagon, the last of the "woodies". It rode on the shorter 111-inch platform (the Special Deluxe was 118.5 inches) with vinyl upholstery and Chrysler Corporation's smallest six, a 217.8cid L-head producing 97 bhp at 3,800rpm, on 6.40x15 Goodyear tyres, with a 6.70x15 "Super Cushion" tyre with higher gearing and a high-clearance 18-inch wheel as options and a "taxi package" recommended for heavy loads. The Suburban continued to 1955 with few changes other than annual styling (a new body in 1953 and again in 1955); new for 1953 was the Hydrive automatic transmission, the 1954 models gained a power upgrade to 117 bhp from the ageing L-head six and an optional two-speed "Power-Flite" automatic, and in 1955 Plymouth introduced a range of V8s alongside a 117 bhp 230 cid L-head six, of which the six and the polyspherical-head 157 bhp 241 cid V8 were available for the Suburban. 1955 was Plymouth's best year ever, with 705,455 cars.
Collectors Spotted in the Plymouth Suburban Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Plymouth Suburban 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suburban 217.8cid L-head six (97 bhp, 1949–1950) | 1949–1950 | Inline-6 | 97 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
| Suburban 230 cid L-head six (117 bhp, 1954–1955) | 1954–1955 | Inline-6 | 117 hp | 194 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Suburban 241 cid V8 (157 bhp, 1955) | 1955–1955 | V8 | 157 hp | 217 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
This wagon body outlived its own model line: dropped for 1962, it kept building full-size Chrysler and Dodge wagons through 1964.
The 1949 Suburban was only the industry's second all-steel station wagon, arriving right after the Willys Jeep wagon beat everyone to it.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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