1955 Dodge Coronet - Semi-Hemi Powered
In March of 1955 Mrs. Mary Biggs walked into Emmert Hoffman Chrysler and purchased this beautiful Halo Blue Dodge Coronet. Just a year later she had the purchase price of $2751 paid off. She cared for the car regularly and in 1965, just ten years later, paid a princely sum of $68 to have it painted in the original color. However, several years later, we think in the late 60's early 70's , the car was parked in her garage as she could no longer handle the lack of power steering. Almost 50 years later the car was given to her granddaughter and her husband (J. Mitchell), a mechanic, started a sympathetic restoration on it. He deep cleaned the paint (it had literally 40+ years of garage dust, dirt etc. on it.) and while the engine started and ran (D55 270 Semi Hemi - 4bbl), he felt he'd like to freshen things up a bit. The engine was honed, new pistons, rings and bearings were installed, the heads were machined, valve job and cleaned up and the transmission (2 speed automatic) was rebuilt. On the interior,the seats, door cards and headliner were reupholstered in their original pattern and fabric. Brake lines were done, as were the drums and shoes, fuel tank was removed, flushed and repainted with new pump and sender. There is also an electric pump for starting after a prolonged/winter sit. Tires were replaced in 2017 with Coker American Classics in 7-10xR15. Despite there being a lot of new "wear" items installed, everything else is original to the car (the 4bbl carb was replaced with a Holley but the original carb comes with the car). The exhaust is 2.5" stainless with the original tips and manifolds but free flow glass packs to give that V8 a very nice rumble and to assist in breathing out those spent fumes.
Turn the key and the engine fires to life and has a great muscular rumble. Drop it into drive and the car accelerates off the line fairly well for such a large car .. it sounds awesome though as the big exhaust lets everything move out easily. Steering is like new, brakes (4 wheel drum) stop the car very well, with all the windows open (including the 4 vent windows) and the cowl vent, the inside of the car is like the center of a tornado.
From the outside in, the paint, which is 60 years old has some signs of wear that really only appear when you get within 5 feet of the car .. little rubs and scratches, a nick here or there, but overall, this car looks awesome . I think a full on color correction with a buff and ceramic coat would make the paint really pop, much more than it does now, and I feel it looks great. The glass is all good and the car is rust free. The chrome is in very good condition, with hardly any marks. The underside was undercoated as part of the initial sale and it's all in very good condition, the entire underbody is solid and everything under there, working as it should. Under the hood is clean and everything there works as it should.
The interior is the jewel, the blue and white bench seats, the light blue carpet. The dash and door panels are the original paint, but have been cleaned and polished, along with the the knobs, gauges, etc. they are all original. The gauges all work except the speedometer, the current owner feels it's the plastic gear as it was working and then suddenly, wasn't.
I think this is a great car, if my wife would let me, I'd have it in my own garage now instead of assisting the current owner in selling it.
He bought the car about 6 years ago and has put maybe 200-300 miles on it in that time. He owns many other cars and it's now time to thin the heard.
The odometer shows 40,000 miles and that is known to be correct, however, the engine and trans have less than 2000 miles on them.
The original hub caps come with the car (Lancer hub caps are on it now) as well as all the receipts, past registrations, copy of original title, service manual and other 55 Dodge specific automobilia.
I'd really like this car to grace my garage, but not at this point.
Really a great condition, great running and driving car.
Put it in YOUR garage for $22,000.
Any questions, for several hundred additional photos and video, to schedule a time to see her in person, or to simply make an offer, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for the interest!
