1950 Plymouth Suburban - Jay Leno's Garage

[Music] [Applause] welcome to the episode garage after all the McLaren f1 xand the Ford GTS and the P ones and all the fast cars we've done we're kind of slowing things down a bit this week with this one this is a 1950 Plymouth suburban this car was about a utilitarian a vehicle as you could get it was sold to the working man that was the idea it was a two-door station wagon it was revolutionary and it was Plymouth's I think America's first all steel station wagon you know most station wagons of the period either had some wood framing or a wood back part hence the term woody this is the first all steel one it's a two-door most were for doors but this was a car sold to the guy that maybe he was a plumber or a construction guy or real estate agent and he wanted something dependable to get around the engine is about 217 cubic inches it's a flathead engine it's six-cylinder it's 97 horsepower it's got a three-speed transmission this is what my dad would call a good old girl just a good reliable basic American transportation I came home from the hospital in one of these a 1949 model not the station wagon but the coupe and it had the mohair upholstery and to this day I get it always smelled like a wet dog when it was damp outside so whenever I get one of those old cars smells like a wet dog we had that card till I was 7 years old and we went everywhere with it and it never broke and my father loved it until we got a 57 plymouth belvedere which rusted out in about three years but I always remember these I I just like these very much the idea was even in the ad they say you could wash out the interior with soap and water and a sponge just take a hose to clean the whole thing because it's made of what did they say luxurious plastic oh it's great it's got drum brakes top speed maybe 75 miles an hour this car likes to go between 45 and 60 maybe stay on this side a 60 but you know when I get in it and I Drive it it's just so relaxing to drive it's got a nice tube radio when you turn it out goes mmm warms up you here at hum and then the radio plays and you know the whole world just slows down a bit when you have one of these it's a great car to go for ice cream or a slice of pizza or something like that I wouldn't want to drive to San Francisco in it but for getting around town or going to you know one of the big box stores to pick up some lumber or something like that that's what it was built for that's what makes it kind of cool this one has a few options on it very decorative here these door protectors here a handle protector has got the fender skirts of course there was no air conditioning or anything like that available these rear windows slide this seats fold down you've got all kinds of space in here how did I come about this car interesting story this car belonged to a gentleman named Leonard Cole a jet ski he was a Korean War hero he achieved the rank of Sergeant he was awarded the Bronze Star served his country admirably came back from the war bought this car I believe in the late 60s maybe close to the early 70s and pretty much had it his whole life he just restored it and fixed it up he raised some kids when he passed away his daughters contacted me and they thought I would like this car because their dad was a fan and when they did I got the car I loved it and we made a contribution to the Korean War veterans group this helps guys out you know that have PTSD and all that kind of stuff it's a great organization and we made a donation to his name and I and I was I was proud to do it I mean he really loved this car and his daughters just thought it was the greatest and they wanted to go to a good home and this is where it'll stay when I got it it didn't require any maintenance of any kind it starts right on the button it's pretty amazing as I said it's got all kinds of interesting little accessories period things on it I mentioned the fender skirts but it's just a good look at that solid car just get in and you drive when I was really little eight nine ten these all over the place they built about 35,000 of them I think in 1950 it sold for about $1,800 which was what they call the mid price field you know back in those days had the low price field the mid price field and then the high price field you know I just like the way they advertise the car the car for the working man you know not to say women didn't buy cars in those days but it was usually guys and it was for the blue-collar guy who was kind of on his way up as I said maybe a plumber maybe a carpenter or maybe a real-estate guy and it was just one of those cars that would always get you there and I have to admit it's one of the few cars that starts right on the button you know a lot of cars around here these fancy cars that's it for a while it may put a little starting fluid this thing just it just goes because by 1950 Chrysler had perfected this engine to a tee as I said not the most powerful thing but certainly the most dependable doesn't overheat I drive in the summer it's fine and and people like it they just gravitate towards it because it's well it's just a cute car you know it just it does everything right it does exactly what it's supposed to do come on let's look under the hood and I'll show you what this engine looks like cost the plymouth emblem up here the ship as you can see it was you really you're gonna have back trouble if you got to work on one of these to get in here but there's not a whole lot to do as you can see it's a got a big one barrel carburetor hautboy that'll give you the power as I said ninety seven horsepower six volts I mean a simple a car as you can imagine and you know a hundred years from now when your bugatti chiron and your f1 and your p1 mclaren and your la ferrari and your Enzo don't start you just turn the key and this thing will go because it's it's it's basically that simple there's not a whole lot to it you got your generator down here here's your battery oil filter right there I gotta admit I don't know how they got in here but they must know mister take the hood off these things when they work on them because it's a it's pretty cramped but there's not a lot to do just get in it and drive it come around the back I'll show you some of the cool features and this car had some interesting period accessories you know when I was a kid there was something called the JC Whitney catalog which is still around but when I was a kid it was huge and you get every automobile accessory from you know legitimate stuff like intake manifolds to wolf whistles and all this kind of goofy stuff this is a fun thing from that period it looks like an antique stoplight that you have in an intersection maybe in the late 40s or mid 50s and it's attached to the electrical system of your car when you step on the brake the red light and the caution lights light up and flash and then this flashes to signal your directional you're also have directional indicators here I'm not sure if they had directional indicators back in 1950 when this came out because it's an aftermarket unit on the steering column I believe this this was a basic suburban model they built a model called the deluxe suburban which had a lot of period accessories and I think Leonard when he was thought it put a lot of those on for example this had dog dish hubcaps when it came now it's got the full wheel covers and it's got you see a backup light here and few other little things but this is the real genius of this car you open this up here and then you loosen those and that seat falls down so you can get plywood or anything in here and here's something kind of cool you know now when something breaks you could on the internet you look it up you google it but see back in the day you just reached in the back and you got a service manual look you can fix the whole car with everything you don't need a computer don't need an iPhone just what you need a pair of eyes and then this book it's all right in here need parts oh no problem yes that's all right there it's unbelievable yeah they would print these on printing presses and they would hand it to you see and you could keep it so you didn't need a computer didn't have to pay a monthly fee once you got this book it was yours for life doesn't get lost in the cloud just keep in the back of the car this goes up like this you secure it here here locked up tight and it's also had you got your light here for your license plate light I think a lot of this was added I think when Leonard did this he just tried to find all the proper accessories and it's it's just a wonderful car to drive as you'll see in just a minute come on I think we should go for a ride right now and I'm told a couple of head of cattle got loose out on the north 40 and it's the perfect car to go see what's going on oh it starts that's a man's horn son you've been this website before you know I've got another station wagon like this that one's got the Dodge 2:41 Hemi engine the red Ram three-speed with overdrive and it's pretty quick it's a fast car that would be like dad's car see this would be like mom's car but there's just something that's so relaxing about driving it you know the old world slows down we got all this glass area visibility is excellent everything was optional on these cars when you when you bought these new he just got an empty box and then you just would put accessories on it and leather did a wonderful job of finding a lot of the correct theory to test we've got a huge eater big down picky eater down below and you've got an air conditioning system here and this plate press amiss and you open that up and it pulls there you know if you're not in any hurry this is a great way of driving this car was not slowed by the standard of the day it was about average 1950s well before the interstate freeway system most roads were two-lane roads where people travel between 45 and 60 miles and I mean I remember doing it as a little kid the family around the corner from us the boss family they had one of these and now we pile all the kids in it go to Richardson's ice-cream you know I want to get a I was like a huge deal yeah no power steering no but you didn't need it the car only weighs 30 160 pounds something is considered lightweight these days for even those high-performance cars you know a lot of people would find this kind of car and you know stick some kind of Chevy 350 in it do the whole deal but you know I don't know I keeping it original just just seems like more fun to me you know it's more fun to kind of drive the car as the way it was intended to be because it's not a modern car no matter what you do to it you're not really gonna make it a modern car and if you upgrade the engine then you got to upgrade the brakes and then I'm not sure what you have at that point I think it'll always be worth more as it sits right now just a nice original old girl this was all a Leonard's notes he would keep every time he did something to it place that in 2007 okay new bearings and axles and differential upholstery done 12 1976 Oh there's all kinds of neat stuff here good going in your new plymouth gonna be reading that while you we'll pull over up here and I'll show you some of the stuff I found it it says here my new plymouth is equipped with a new type of automatic choke and combination niche ignition starter switch that makes starting procedures a snap this is when manuals actually told you how to do stuff tells you in here how to change a tire now they just say see your dealer what do you got a flat oh my god call the dealer I love the fact that everybody wore a jacket and tie when they drove see that's kind of cool look at that guy's yeah we're gonna go for a drive hang on honey let me get dressed see there was a standard station wagon right there with the wood the mines got the all steel body all your engine information is here pretty cool is that another thing I wish remember that that JC Whitney accessory I showed during the rear window okay traffic guide a must for today's safe driver pull that out I love the fact that Leonard saved all this stuff it is a traffic guide signal once again there's another picture of Leonard right there look how proud he is at the car I think it's great that's really terrific see what this is this is what this traffic guide installation I see there you go that's how to put it in your rear in your rear windows see there you go I love the fact that Leonard saved all this stuff makes me realize I gotta save all the stuff on my car for the next donor cuz you don't really own these cars you just sort of save it to the next person you know I always carried Leonard's picture in the car because well this is his car he did all the work on it people asking about the original owner I'd just take out my go there is right there look how proud he is yeah and again this is his little book where he kept all the notes first engine overhaul 10 1971 had 40,000 miles on it back then what do we got now 40,000 must have been around once that's 50 years ago tie rod ends replaced 1976 why he really kept an accurate journal new wiring harness new fuel pump I love the fact that people save just regular cars like this it's not a fancy car or a big any engine or anything like that it's just a good old girl as your fires don't travel long Auto right more auto records in here lubrication this looks like the one you must have used when he first got the car looks like an old fashioned record book clean - air cleaner 1971 oh here bought it at 11 for 1970 this was car was built in San Diego but a new brake switch in in 71 rebuilt the carbon 71 heavy dodi rear shocks in 73 boy just everything in there every URL changed every bit of lubrication this gives a wonderful history of the vehicle well come on let's go drive it some more you're not so funny to drive a car that it's similar to the kind of cars you drove right when you were a kid cuz they never feel like an adult driving this car I feel like I'm driving my dad's car you know the adults that drove you around I realized I'm probably 25 years older now than they were when I was a kid but they seem so old sit behind I remember being a little kid and sitting my dad's lap driving the 49 Plymouth you know getting the hold on the steering wheel it just seemed like the biggest royal the world and it still seems that way the best thing you can do with an old car like this is drive it just use it you know people let them sit and then the water sits in the block it doesn't circulate then it begins to Poirot you know something like this you want to take out maybe a couple of times a month run a few rounds with it always let an old car like this run for at least 40 minutes or an hour so just to get everything hot get everything sort of flushed out you know as you can say I'm using my $3 optional mirror it's almost hard to believe the cars didn't come with these back in the day but they didn't get to buy everything I just like the way it looks going down the road Papa's car as a guide the whole thing apart himself in his garage and put it back together again I really can't do that anymore it's Marty the too complex too much electronics too many special tools needed these are the only tools you needed to work on this car good set of hands maybe instead of Sierra's craftsman wrenches and you were said you can keep a car like this running for the rest of your life really the first time I went to make at that time the comics four can have lunch hamburgers are 15 cents so for hamburgers or 60 cents fries from 15 cents and drinks with 10 cents or 15 cents for the large one and enough food to feed everybody for a buck pretty good it's amazing how simple the vehicle for back in the day like when you buy a basic car now it's probably got air conditioning has an am/fm radio you know electric windows of the day you've got nothing we got an engine we got a three-speed transmission and got roll-up windows with sliding with them everything else he had to pee you know this is one of those cars either get it or you don't you know you just enjoy the sheer mechanical nosov it you know the fact that a guy could come home take it apart and put it together Leonard had this car probably more than half his life I'm guessing he bought it in 1970 did all the work himself I want to thank his daughters Deborah and Susan for contacting me and telling about this car and thank sergeant Leonard for being an American Hero and for winning the Bronze Star and allowing the rest for us to have this kind of a hobby so let's put his picture up there one more time there you go Thank You Leonard see you guys next week you [Music]

Channel: Jay Leno's Garage

Views: 430,818

Rating: 4.9583554 out of 5

Keywords: Plymouth, Suburban, Christmas car, best car for Christmas, sleigh, holidays, Santa, Korean War Veteran, Leonard Kolodziejski, two-door wagon, Mopar, Disabled American Veterans Cha, Jay Leno, Jay Leno's Garage, car reviews, compares cars, classic cars, vintage cars, sports cars, super cars, cars, car gear, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, Camaro Z28, jay leno garage, jay lenos garage, car collection, cnbc, episode, motorcycle, ford, corvette, tour, dodge, lexus

Id: ngOWkb2cM-k

Length: 22min 44sec (1364 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 23 2018