Junkyard Find: 1948 Plymouth Special De Luxe Four-Door Sedan

A 1948 Plymouth Special De Luxe four-door sedan recently turned up in a junkyard in northeastern Colorado, adding to a long list of 1940–1955 Mopar sedans the same observer has documented since 2007. The article notes that most of these cars used flathead straight-six engines, with exceptions including the 1953 Chrysler and 1954 Dodge, which came with FirePower and Red Ram Hemi V8s. It argues that Chrysler’s relatively staid styling and the high cost of restoring valve-in-block engines helped these vehicles disappear. The writer also contrasts Plymouth’s late-1940s sales strength with a sharp 1954 drop as GM’s Oldsmobile and Buick gained ground.