1950 Plymouth Special Deluxe 4 Door Sedan.

Moderator and Mentor on IndyGear.com's "Club Obi-Wan" forum Mark "Michaelson" Cross shares with us pictures of his Vintage Plymouth and his experience driving it daily.

"This is a 1950 Plymouth Special Deluxe 4 door sedan. We are only the second owners of the car, as it originally came into Tennessee from Detroit in 1950, and stayed in the Knoxville area until 2003."

"At that time, my daughter and son-in-law purchased the car from a junk yard in complete, though non-running condition for $450. It was a sight to see when they pulled into the front yard with it on the trailer. The interior was rotted out, but the engine was solid, as well as the body of the car. The tires were pretty sad, but still holding air."

"It only took a week to get the motor in running condition, and 2 weeks to replace and repair the interior with a new headliner and tuck and roll seat covers. It is all original in operating systems, with the original 6 volt system still intact."

"The 50 Plymouth had only two 'extras' offered when it was sold, and those were a radio and a heater (yes, a heater was extra!). This car came with both, though the radio does not work. The heater does, sort of. It has a 195 hp flathead 6 cylinder motor, and is standard shift, 3 on the column."

"It's a handful on the road, as it weighs 3600 pounds curb weight, so with radial tires on the stiff suspension system with new shocks, it's like steering the Queen Mary down the highway."

"The kids gave my wife and me the car on our 27th wedding anniversary, and moved onto another project. My wife and I purchased a 1950 Kentucky license plate (my wife's home state), and I've driven it everyday to work. It hasn't let me down, though it sure HATES to start on cold winter mornings."

"Driving old Detroit iron like this can get in your blood. I can NOT even remember NOT having something like this, nor can I imagine not having at least something like in the future."

Updated: This Car has been given a brand new paint-job, has been modified to 12 Volts with more Electrical Work to come... Return for more updates!

An Anecdote...

On July 24th I left work at 7 p.m. and drove home. I put on my 'comfy' clothes and was sitting down to supper when my cell phone rang. It was our youngest daughter..

"Dad, you HAVE to bring the Plymouth over to the drive-in theater! There's a guy here who wants to take a photo of the theater, and would like to have a few old cars in the foreground. I have the Chevelle here, and would love to have it parked next to your car for a photo!'

grumble grumble grumble

"Ok, I'll be there directly."

I put my work clothes BACK on, and my wife said 'Do you want me to ride over with you?'

"Sure, let's take a ride."

We drive over to the theater, about 3 miles from the house, and pull into the exit. I see 4 other old cars parked in a line by the projection building and park at the end of the row.

A man walks up to the car holding a VERY expensive digital camera, and introduces himself, thanking us profusely for coming down for his shoot. I'm told that the Tims Ford antique car club has also been called, and several of their members are also on their way.

Within 20 minutes there are over 30 makes and models of antique cars ranging from 1920's model T pickup trucks to 1950's land barges to chop top rat rods.

The photographer is absolutely stunned, turning to me and saying "I had no clue there would be this many old cars to show up!"

I said "Heck, this is just a few of 'us' that drive these everyday."

He looked at me, and shook his head in disbelief.

Long story short, I FINALLY find out this guy is the head photographer for the magazine 'Southern Living', and is on a story assignment to cover southern drive-in theaters that are still thriving in our part of the country. (ours is a 3 screen).

In conversation with our daughter, it appears she may be involved in negotiations with him to work on ANOTHER article about true southern car clubs/associations, as his only exposure to this kind of this has been in Los Angelos, and he said it was a completely different culture. They just drive their show car/trailer queens to car shows, and rarely if EVER drive them as a daily rig. He was astounded to find this is NOT the case here.

Anyway, we didn't get back to the house until after 9 p.m. Our supper was cold, but it was an interesting evening to say the least.

Not sure when it's suppose to show up, or in what issue, but when I do, I'll give you a heads up.

No new photos either, though my youngest daughter is around with her camera, so maybe I can get HER to shoot something new. Ironically, she REALLY wants to take the car BACK to flat black in color. There's just no satisfying her. (grins)

Regards! M