"Remember (Walking In The Sand)" - The Shangri-La's

Brings back memories. These old “fat fender” Plymouth/Dodge/Desoto cars were solid and functional. I have great memories of Dad’s ‘50 Plymouth wagon, Uncle Phil’s ‘48 then ‘54 Plymouths (after sliding off the road on Stevens Pass, he said the doors on the two door 54 are HEAVY if you have to open one straight up), then the ‘55 Savoy Grandma won in a drawing. Later, Dad ran a ‘48 Dodge one ton then ‘52 heavy half ton. Oh, I almost forgot my folks’ ‘54 Chrysler wagon. All very solid vehicles.👍

Chloe!!! With a pup! You are too good to us! These bottom-of-the-barrel models were all about the bottom line, and were the unsung heroes of the day. Glamorous? No. Important? Definitely! They made new-car ownership possible for many people of modest means and were probably held more dear than their fancier brethren, which were traded without a backward glance when something shinier came along. I will admit to loving the superstar rides, but there's a special place in my heart for these humble cars. They got 'er done! This is a wonderful example, for sure.

An older woman in St. Louis had one of these about 1980. It was not a show car just well cared for original. I was 25 years old and it seemed ancient to me.

I am waiting for you to say "It weighs 3055 lbs...which is equivalent to YOU weighing 8542 lbs in 2024!"

You're right about the styling on the early 50s Dodges. These cars are the working man's car. Not fancy or glitzy but just basic transportation for folks just starting out. Nothing wrong with them as they were fairly solid and reliable point A to point B transportation. Thanks Jay. This was another excellent and informative video. Well done.

My Dad had one of these he drove until 1960.. Traded it for a Ford Galaxy.

Back in the day, I had a 10 year old 1950 Dodge Wayfarer, dark green, that I drove to high school. It was a tank with no power steering. I loved it. It got me everywhere. Only problem was it burned a tremendous amount of oil. If the battery died, as it sometimes did, my friends would get behind and push me till we had enough speed to pop the clutch and turn the engine over. Great memories.

I am happy you did this one. I owned a 52 dodge coronet club coupe. In 1978 I drove it from san deigo to texas for school then on to kittery maine. I went on with it for 10 years and sold it.Your figures on gas mileage are close. The transmission is the not what you want type. Slow take off. You shift with the throttle. What I mean you take off in high range then when the engine starts rev up you let off the throttle you will hear a click then step back on throttle and it will be in high gear. When ever you move The shift lever the clutch needs to be depressed when you move it. It has reverse, low range and high range. In all I think the plymouth was better because it had 3 speed manual.

Fun going through this plain Jane of a car.

That car looks in great shape. As I'm watching the video I can't help think the wheels look undersized. Don't know if Dodge was using 13" or 14" in the early 50's. As you do your walk arounds you may want to consider telling us the wheel and tire size of the cars you cover. More info is always good.

We had two 1952 Dodges in the family. My grandparents had the bottom line Wayfarer, with a standard transmission . It was grey, and the only option was a radio . My uncle had the green upscale Coronet.Both were purchased new. My siblings and I rode in my grandparents car frequently, uncles car not so much.I was really young( born 1952) so my memory not very detailed. I remember the car was solid and roomy, although the styling a bit stogy . The big thing I recall was that the acceleration of the flat head 6 with the three on the tree transmission was painfully slow. They had the car for 11 years, racking up close to 60K miles. As we got older we made fun of it being so slow off the line, especially comparing it to my dad's 1952 Chevy with the stove bolt 6 purchased used. Anyway my grandparents enjoyed for eleven years, taking the car on vacations up and down the east coast.

I didn't know if the car could reach 100 mph. But she does look stodgy. Thank you for sharing🚙.

My dad's '50 Wayfarer Sportabout was that color originally, but he went with the Dominion Blue when he had it restored.

NIce car, Jay. I think a lot of folks don't realize that Dodge had a "budget" car in this period. It looks well made, with rather sedate styling. And I'd have to take the Nash, since it was very well equipped for the money.

My picks would be the Wayfarer and the Henry J. I can tell that the Chevy shown here is a '51 not '52 as they had different grills & turn signal lights. There was a 1950 Wayfarer shown in the movie 'Liberty heights'.

Well done episode on the Wayfarer looks more racy looking than the Plymouth fast back.. Like the 50 dash and hood. seen a sedan and business coupe in person, both factory original. Well loved survivor car, the bodies on those early Chrysler cars are built like a tank, never seen one rusted out. First choice 52 Wayfarer, second, the Henry J..

Great information 👍

WYR: Fleetline Chevy, Kaiser Henry J (like a miniature '48-'49 Caddy Sedanette. 1952 dashboard, but I like the taller hood on the '50. A friend of my Dad's had an Eldorado with white leather interior but covered with that same bubble-wrap stuff; the body rusted out in the salted Chicago roads, but the seats looked like new !

3:55 Wow, again, I like the dashboard on the '50 over the '52. I like those square gauge pods.

For WYR, I'd take the Ford (although probably not the one pictured because of its smashed-out windows, and the Nash Rambler. This looks like a very solid, if very basic , car. I think the best parts are that front end, and the trunk.

3:32 The rear window on the '52 is bigger and more rectangular, following an industry trend that was evident on many car model of that era, particularly, VW Beetles.

WYR 1: Dodge WYR 2: Dodge. my Dads first car was a 52 Dodge Coronet, with Gyro Matic, nice car, he drove it for 9 years with over 100,000 miles, no issues, other than fading paint, which he had redone in 1959 Prior to that we walked and used public transportation. We took many the vacations with it

Beautiful car!

Yeah, stodgy is a word... but, that's why they're options available! One man's beauty is another man's beast! WYR: 1) Ford 2) Stodgy, yes... but I really like the flying bathtubs... lol... Awwwwws... GoodGirl Chloe! ❤

The year my twin brother and I was born (1948) my parents purchased their first new car-a base level 1948 Dodge 2-door sedan with Fluid Drive. This 1952 looks like the identical color with the identical hub caps as their '48. 1) WYR 1952 Chevy 2) WYR 1952 Nash Rambler

Those plastic seat covers were installed on cars well into the 1960's. My grandmother's '65 Dodge Coronet had them. My best friend's family bought a new 1969 Buick LeSabre and it had plastic seatcovers from day one. When I bought my '91 Chevy p/u new, these came with cloth-covered sun visors. Being an auto tech, I could see me missing some grease on my hands and ruining the sun visors. I had the upholstery shop we used cover my sun visors with that same plastic material and they are still there today. The advantage of the plastic seatcovers is that, years down the road, after the kids are grown and the grandchildren aren't around yet, you take them off and you have new-looking seats. Today, if you have cloth seats, if they haven't already got Scotchguard on them, you can spray it on and the seats are almost as well protected as if they had plastic seat covers.

Scenario 1 - 1952 Ford Scenario 2 - 1952 Nash Great video Jay!!!!

It looks like you can definitely wear your tall hat in that car. KT Keller would approve

One of the first cars I remember from childhood. There was a blue one, nearly identical to the car shown, except I think it was a 50. It had those square dash dials. It sat among weeds on my stepfathers family farm. Guess it had once been a family car, abandoned. I'd see it every time we went for Sunday dinner. I never lusted after this old car, it was too ugly, but I never forgot it either. I remember thinking the DeSlonie family drove very boring cars.

My brother had a '51 Meadowlark with a Slush-O-Matic transmission. My mom sold it to two hippies in 1968, and we later found out that they used it as a getaway car in a bank robbery. Needless to say, that was NOT the car to use! It was old and worn-out and could barely go 60 on a good day.

Someone needs to reproduce bullseye headlights. All MOPARs from that era came with them, but they've been out of production for so long that they cost about $50 a lamp now.

Nice example of the 52 Wayfarer that is begging for a 354 early model Hemi.

I have a 1951 Dodge Mayfair, which is a Canadian only model. It is a 2 door hard top with a Canadian only only 218 cid flat 6 cylinder engine. Roughly 14465 of these car were built for the Canadian market most of which would have ended up in eastern Canada and are long gone due to rust. In 12 years of looking on occation i have only come across a 1952 Mayfair which has some differant trim pcs on the back. The Canadian mayfair was a combination of Belavdere body and Cornet front fenders, hood and grille. From what i have found out my Mayfair is a very rare car.

Wayfarers were real innovative little units. I remember these still operating in my home town during the 1960's. Like the '50 dashboard best. WYR -1- Wayfarer -2- Henry J

1952 Dodge Wayfarer! 😎

I noticed it has no heater, so it might not be suitable for people in cold climates. But the car is in good shape. Our '61 Chevy station wagon had those same seat covers! I prefer the Ford and the Nash. I don't care for the styling of the postwar Mopars until '55.

some of the grill sections and lights look they would fit on the 53 chev

My first car was a 48 dodge business coupe, we removed the fluid drive had straight transmission

"Remember (Walking In The SAND)" - The Shangri-La's

Jay, I'd love to find a henry J that was NOT made into a gasser (I don't think there are any left just like a willys americar) this wayfarer is really nice Id love to have it ,preferably a wagon keep these episodes coming thanks , ken

I thought it was the Shangri-Las- "Remember (Walking in the Sand)"!

Dodge Main 1910-1981 Hamtramck, MI.

I think I'd go with the Ford and the Nash Rambler! Cool video 😎

Uncle Jerry had the business coupe, but a '52 Chevy is hard to beat, along with that Nash. . . :>/

52 Chev and the J. Nicely restored car. 7:15 badge says it has the Gyro matic but the shifter and pedals look like 3 on the tree ,what was it? Always great stuff Jay .

Hi Jay!: Another interesting and not too often seen 1950's family car! The styling IS a bit stodgy, but it''s a Dodge! Doesn't look too bad! Would be a fun driver, even if it doesn't have much sex appeal! WYR#1: Going Ford here, just like the styling a LOT better. #2 Goin' out of the box! Henry J! Always thought those were cool little cars! Like the Allstate version as well!!

Not sure how I missed this episode first time around. The front end of the 52 looks much improved over the 51. Unfortunately, the rest of the car doesn't keep up with the grill and bumper. I like the simplicity of the design, but the body seems a little flabby.

Have you ever considered doing a video on what the best make and model would be if someone was thinking of buying their first classic car?

1952 Chevy Deluxe would be my choice the ones with the hand choke, push button start and the 3 on the tree! Of course I want the one that stalls along the highway but all you have to do is splash some water on it and SHAZAM… It starts back up just in time!

13:35 _... some will say the styling is, stodgy ..._ 💯 agree with _that_ assessment.

Looks like a fun Cruising Car for Summer around town, pile the kids in, go get Ice Cream.

Hard to believe that one is 103 hp while the much much faster 1950 Pontiac 8 is only 8 hp more there were a lot of them on the road,people believed (and were probably correct) that they were more economical and trouble free than the competitors such as Chevrolet seems they were more sluggish than the slightly smaller engined and closely related Plymouths I believe quite a few of them remained on the road past 15 years of age did 4 instead of 3 piston rings on each piston reduce the tendency to burn oil which seems to have plagued the General Motors contemporaries? Stodgy and sluggish but predictable and reliable,also fairly comfortable - did they have more sound deadening than the Plymouths?

There are people who say many modern cars look too similar and to some extent that’s true. However, some of these 40’s and 50’s cars also are almost indistinguishable from others. For WYR, once again I think the “bathtub” Nash looks almost futuristic compared to the others & the Henry J also looks more modern than the others.

5:13 ... with a zero-to-sixty in a _sleep inducing_ 22.1 seconds! I think that's Volkswagen Bus territory.

1952 Dodge for both

My car choices: 52 Ford, 52 Nash Rambler. We had a '53 Ford and it was a great car. Nash made some great, if a bit unusual looking, cars too. Do you have a feature on the Henry J? If not you should do one!

I would prefer the 1952's instrument panel, the 1952 Ford, and the 1952 Wayfarer. That Chevy does not have teeth on the grill bar, indicating that it's not a '52.

2:40 Somehow, I prefer the '50 vs the '52.

A lovely blue bathtub 🛁 🔵😊.

Our cousins had a cream colored '52 just like that one. We had a '52 Chevy Styleline. Even as a 7 year old I saw both vehicles as dull and unattractive... I was mesmerized by Olds and Mercs, far more modern and exciting

WYR 1: All of them. WYR 2: All of them. ChrisFix would probably collaborate with you, but I'm not sure. I see a Citröen/Citroën DS wagon in the video (Can't remember the correct spelling for the manufacturer). Will it be the next episode your community of followers and subscribers gets to see on KZfaq?

Apparently dodge says I'm wrong...my bad!

A collab with a KZfaqr in the model car hobby field? I wonder whom that could be?

a like it or not car but hey how many are even on the road ?

With the car comparisons, the '52 Chevy had a larger, more modern and powerful engine. Plus, with the Chevy's optional semi-automatic PowerGlide, you didn't have a clutch pedal to deal with and you could drive it in "D" almost all the time. If you wanted faster acceleration you would simply start out in "L" and then shift to "D". For faster passing, you'd move the lever from "D" to "L". The PowerGlide wasn't fully automatic until 1953. The '52 Dodge wasn't alone in having a stodgy look, most all American cars did then and for a few more years after that! The Nash's and the Henry J's just looked weird.

LOL my family had all 3 of those.

Buddy had one with the click o matic about 1959 when 200$ got u one he took me for a ride was snow y watch me slide down this long hill he said . a bus pulled up he broadsided 😮the bus next stop it visited the junkyard dog at fordys Used parts 😅joined my wrecked 47 ford woodie which was 500$then

1952 Chevy, 1952 Dodge

the chev gets the prize

This is a rather plain car and for the same money in 1952 you could have had a Pontiac Chieftain. This is a nice example though. In the Would You Rather I would choose the 1952 Chevy in the first scenario. The second is much more difficult but I'd probably choose the Kaiser Henry J because it is more interesting to me. I'm looking forward to your next set of videos from Classic Auto Mall.

Ahh, a trunk for my riding lawnmower.

52 Dash 52 Chevy 52 Henry J song, no clue

WYR: 52 Chevrolet, like Daddy had, Nash Rambler and Kaiser Henry J.

Why did Dodge use the Ram for there hood ornament? Does anyone know?

Henry J

WYR #1: the '50 Chevy

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a two door considered a coupe?

Ford- Henry J

Shan-Gra-Las Remember ( Walking in the rain )

7:18 ... I wonder, is it GYRO-matic? or YEARO-matic? As someone who likes to eat an occasional GYRO, inquiring minds want to know! [ kidding, I think ]

The Chevy, Doge or Ford.

chrysler car of that era were designed so a man could where a hat. fedora hats were big then