1955 Dodge Dodge

Royal Sedan

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

123er4der4545rt

Clear

Gasoline

This is a beautiful piece of American automobile history: a 1955 Dodge Royal V8 in pristine condition. It has been given a coat of fresh paint but everything else you see in the pictures is original: all the chrome, upholstery and all the details you see inside is preserved in the condition it came out of the assembly line 55 years ago. This could be your opportunity to get a classic car in showroom condition for just a fraction of the money you'd spend getting a junked one and restoring it to its former glory. Click on thumbnails for full size pictures From Allpar.com http://www.allpar.com/history/chrysler-years/1955.html Designed by Maury Baldwin, the 1955 Dodge was a totally new car with 120 inch wheelbase and length of 212.1 inches (6.6 inches longer than the 1954 Dodge). The V8 engines were bigger at 270 cubic inches and a polysphere was added to complement the Hemi. The flair-fashioned Dodge had a wraparound windshield and very clean styling lines. There were ten body styles and three series: D55-1 Coronet V8 (D56-1 Coronet six cylinder) D55-2 Royal V8, and D53-3 Custom Royal V8. The basic body styles were: two door sedan, four door sedan, two door hardtop, two door wagon, four door wagon, and two door convertible. The next step up are the Royals. All Royal models have the script "Royal" on the front or rear fenders. The Royal wagon has the script "Sierra" on the rear fender in lieu of "Royal." The two door hardtops are Royal Lancers and may have either "Royal" (early model year) or "Royal Lancer" (middle and late model year) on the front fenders. Body styles are: two door hardtop, four door sedan, and four door wagon. The polysphere V8 was standard on all Royals, the six was not available. The flagships of the Dodge line are the Custom Royals. The body styles are: two door hardtop, four door sedan, and two door convertible. The early model year two door hardtops have "Royal Lancer" on the front fenders; the middle and late model year have an additional "Custom" medallion on the front fenders. The same holds true for the convertibles. The four door sedan has "Royal" on the rear fender with a "Custom" medallion (early model year) or "Royal Lancer" and a "Custom" medallion on the front fender (middle and late model year) along with other Lancer trim. If it sounds like the early model year Custom Royal Lancer and the late model year Royal Lancer two door hardtops are similar, you are correct. However, the Custom Royal Lancer has chrome rear fins, similar in appearance to those on the 1954 Dodge Royal. These fins are not on the Royal Lancers or the Coronet Lancers. The Custom series also has unique taillight bezels and backup light bezels plus a deluxe interior. The fender fins and sweep spear side trim were added to the late model year Custom Royal four door sedan trim package. The 1955 Dodge accessory list is quite impressive. The accessories on my Dodge are marked with an asterisk. 1955 Dodge Accessories * Power Steering, reduces steering effort 80% * Power Brakes, reduces braking effort 35% * 4 way power seat, allows 5 inches fore and aft. * 3.12 5 inches up and down. * * Power Pack, four barrel carburetor and dual exhausts * Spinner Wheel Covers * * Full Wheel Covers (I have seen one Custom Royal with the small covers.) * * Jiffy-Jet Windshield Washer (foot pump operated) Wire Wheels * * Rear Seat Speaker * Spotlight/mirror, left or right or both * Air Conditioner * * Deluxe Plastic Steering Wheel (I believe this is the two-tone wheel.) * * Parking Brake Light Underhood Light * * Map Light * * Glove Box Light * Outside Rear View Mirror (dual mirrors standard on all Lancers) * Backup Lights (standard on the Custom Royal series) * * Tinted Windshield * * Electric Clock (mine still works) * Turn Signals (standard on Royal and Custom Royal series) * Continental Kit * Rear Window Defroster * Variable Speed Off-Glass Parking (on Royal and Custom Royal series) Power Windows, 2 or 4 windows * * Day/Night Rear View Mirror * Radio: 9 tube signal seeking, * 8 tube pushbutton, or 6 tube manual tuning * Heater and Defroster (probably standard on Royal and Custom Royal series) * Bumper Guards, right - middle - left * Wipers (standard) The superior design of the electrical system becomes evident when one realizes that all of these accessories, except two, are controlled by circuit breakers which automatically reset. Even the lights and overdrive transmission are on circuit breakers. This means that any electrical failure of a vital system that is intermittant will not stop the car, but allow safe travel to a repair area with no fear of electrical fire. The clock has a three amp fuse and the radio has a fourteen amp fuse, and that is all for the fuse department. The wiring leaves a bit to be desired as it is a combination of vinyl and varnished cloth insulated wires. The cloth insulation really causes some mechanics to scratch their heads. The eight tube radio is superb. It is not as sensitive to power lines as are transistor units. The tuning is crisp and fade in-and-out rarely happens. On a clear night I can easily pull in stations from over a thousand miles away. The tube warm-up period and the drone of the vibrator are continual reminders that the radio is drawing fourteen amps and has internal voltages of 270 pouring out of the power transformer. Of course it is alot of fun to fiddle around with. The clock in my Dodge is still running after all of these years. I cleaned it once (instead of every six months as recommended by the shop manual) and I may clean it again by the year 2000. The clock has a solenoid which winds it up when a set of contact points close, usually every 3 or 4 minutes. The solenoid makes a loud "clink" and the clock light flashes on every rewind. All 1955 Dodges have full instrumentation. The instruments have black, faces with white numerals and pointers: * Ammeter, -50 - 0 - +50 (-65 to +65 for heavy duty generator on convertible and air conditioned cars). * Fuel Gauge, usual F and F marks. Speedometer, 0-120 mph * Odometer * Oil Pressure Gauge, 0-80 psi, mechanical actuation. * Water Temperature Gauge, electrical actuation. The ash tray is designed to look like a gauge and is located in the dash. The headlight switch is also designed to look like a gauge and contains a separate lever for adjusting instrument panel light brightness. It, too, is located on the dash. The switches along the bottom of the dash are heater blower, defroster blower, ignition, wipers, and cigar lighter. This makes for a very clean dash. When the parking lights are turned on, the ignition switch is illuminated. There are two idiot lights - green for turn signals and red for high-beam indicator. The single turn signal indicator bothers some people, but it is easy to get accustomed to. The heater controls are simple to use. The heater/defroster is designed to be used in conjunction with the cowl vent. There are two summer doors under the dash which allow vent air to bypass the heater. When closed, the fresh vent air is forced through the heater core. There is a two speed heater blower and a two speed defroster blower which are not required at highway speeds, but may be used in city traffic to accelerate the air flow. They may also be used to regulate the flow of air to the Windshield for defrosting purpose8. In very cold weather the summer doors may be opened and the cowl vent closed to allow for recirculatjon of the air in the car. In addition to the adjustable cowl vent, there is a conventional temperature control switch to regulate water flow through the heater core. This unit really puts out the heat, it is very effective. The one drawback is that the summer doors are not controlled from the dash, and the novice driver (or anyone with short arms) needs to stop the car in order to adjust these safely. However, they were designed to be closed once each fall and opened once each spring. The air conditioning system is simplicity itself. There are two controls, one for blower speed and one for cooling. The blower has three speeds (low, medium, high) and the cooling may be set at one of three levels (cold, cool, none). The evaporator and blower are mounted in the trunk above the rear axle. Vents on the rear fenders allow one part of fresh air to be mixed with two parts of air in the car. At high speed the blower moves 300 cubic feet of air per minute, changing the air inside the car every 1 1/2 minutes. The cool air enters the car through grilles in the package shelf. Chrysler engineering was able to avoid the use of clear plexiglass deflectors commonly found in the Brand X cars of this era. The fender vents are opened and closed with levers inside the trunk. Like the summer doors under the dash, they are designed to be opened in the spring and closed in the fall. The air conditioning compressor has a forged crankshaft and forged con- fleeting rods - very rugged. The compressor is driven by two belts, another example of what some may call "over engineered." 1955 Dodge engines There are three engines used in the 55 Dodges - the Getaway Six, the Red Ram V8, and the super Red Ram V8. The flathead six displaced 230 cubic inches. The Red Ram V8 was a polysphere (single rocker shaft) and was used in the Coronet V8 and Royal series as standard equipment. The Super Red Ram V8 displaced 270 cubic inches (like the Red Ram V8) and had hemispherical combustion chambers. This engine had double rocker shafts and old timers called it the "double rocker" instead of the more familiar "Hemi." The Hemi is standard on all Custom Royal series and is optional on all Coronet V8 and Royal series cars. The two V8s share many internal components, and will accept manifolds and other components from the 53 and 54 Dodge Hemi of 241 cubic inch displacement. The six is a flathead and definitely not state-of-the-art for 1955. I have driven both Red Ram and Super Red Ram Dodges and can honestly say that there is a marked difference in performance. The late fifties were a time of inflated horsepower figures, but the 1955 figures were based on engines with accessories and were even a bit conservative. The Super Red Ram could be ordered with the power package (4 barrel, dual exhaust) which puts it way out ahead of the Red Ram in terms of power. The horsepower figures were measured with these power consuming accessories: generator, water pump, manifolds, fuel pump. The Red Ram has low friction valve locks to allow for valve rotation while the Super Red Ram does not have a special provision for valve rotation. On May-24-10 at 15:52:21 PDT, seller added the following information: